ABILENE - ACU head football coach
Keith Patterson stepped onto the field with three goals in mind for his team this spring: 1. become an explosive, play-making team, 2. treasure the football, and 3. develop a physicality and toughness that matches the people of West Texas.
None of those could be fully achieved during Tuesday's first practice, but it is the first building block on the way to the 2025 season.
"I thought the guys were excited to get out there. They've been in 8 weeks of training and lifting, and it was time," said Patterson. "They were ready. It was a good day."
The Wildcats are coming off their best Division I season with a United Athletic Conference championship, an appearance in the FCS Playoffs, and a first round postseason win -- all of which ACU had never done before.
But, as Patterson alluded to, progress is not like a linear graph. During Monday's team meeting he pointed out how few of the current players had been at ACU for more than two years. The coaches number even fewer. Turnover is the world they live in, particularly in the transfer portal era.
So, it is important to remember you can't emphasize the foundational pieces of the program enough.
"You think you're always going to pick up where you left off, but you really have to recalibrate and go back to square one," said Patterson.
The reigning UAC Coach of the Year now enters his fourth season leading the Wildcats. He also understands the group of players that suited up to practice on Tuesday will look different come summer and fall.
"We've got 65 players on our roster. That's not my [whole] team. My team will be here in June," said Patterson. "We will spend June, July and August preparing for the season. All I'm trying to do now is individually, whatever their talent ceiling is, we're trying to hit it. We are teaching and coaching individuals within the framework of our scheme.
"This is going to be the core of our team, but it's not all of them. We're probably going to bring in 40 people that are not here that will show up August 1."
Patterson points out that's not unusual, and it doesn't mean ACU is in any way starting behind the proverbial 8-ball. It's just the way college football is now. And, adding players after spring ball worked out for the Wildcats in 2024.
"A year ago at this time we didn't have
Sam Hicks,
Kaghen Roach, or
Will Shaffer. Think about that. We brought in three All-Americans in May, and four all-conference players."
When it comes to those three goals outlined to the team, protecting and taking away the football, and playing physically could probably be on the list each year. This spring especially, the coaches will try to cultivate a mindset where making explosive plays on both sides of the ball is a major focus.
"I feel like defensively we've got to be more explosive. You can't be a spread, hurry-up, no-huddle offense, and play bend-but-don't-break defense," said Patterson. "We were not able to be as aggressive [defensively] as we wanted to be at times last year. We didn't force the turnovers, sacks, fumbles, tackles for loss.
"We have to continue to see ourselves as an explosive, play-making offense. That was the difference in our team a year ago – you had
Sam Hicks,
Nehemiah Martinez I,
Blayne Taylor. The first few years it felt like everything had to be grinded out. We want to continue to see ourselves as an explosive, play-making football team."
Perhaps not a lot can be gleaned from one practice in mid-March. But from the eyeball test, Patterson likes where his team stands.
"Compared to the last two springs we've got more talent, and are in better shape than any spring that I've been here. We've got to add the right pieces to the puzzle in May, and get those guys acclimated to the way we do things."
ACU will hold 15 total practices and finish on April 18. The Wildcats will not have a spring game this year.
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