Central Michigan University Athletics
Football Season Begins With Spring Practice
3/24/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
March 24, 2003
MOUNT PLEASANT -- The Central Michigan University football team returned to the gridiron last weekend for the first of its 15 spring practices.
Chippewa mentor Mike DeBord begins his fourth spring season as the head coach. He is looking to improve on his 2002 finish where CMU sported a 4-8 overall record and a 2-5 slate in Mid-American play.
The Chippewas got back to work with workouts on Saturday and Sunday. While the team won't don pads until Tuesday's practice, it was still a good chance for the team focus on its objectives.
"Our special teams coverages and returns need to get better as well as our offense and defense," DeBord said. "Last year, we did well stopping the run. But, that's 50 percent of the game. We need to stop the pass as well as the run."
Heading into the workout sessions, DeBord sees no reason to change any positions at this time. But, as usual, positions can be up for grabs.
"We are going to look at every position this spring," DeBord commented. "We will look and see what each player can do and then we'll see if we need to make any changes. As we head into workouts, though, I don't see any changes."
Typically, the most improvement is seen at the onset of practice. Between the first and second day, DeBord noted that he saw improvement in his players. Most importantly, the improvement was in all areas.
"I thought that we were better on Sunday than on Saturday," DeBord noted. "The team started to play through the whistle in individual, group, and team drills. Playing through the whistle is very important."
"I think that this team is getting better at technique, defensive coverage, and passing on offense," said DeBord. "This team is coming along ... better than I had hoped."
The gridders return to practice on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday of this week. Tuesday, the Chippewas will wear pads for the first time since the season finale on November 23, 2002.
