Other than a little bit of video, new UConn Huskies football coach Bob Diaco hasn't seen any of his new charges on the field in person with the exception of the conditioning drills.
Now on Monday, Diaco will get to see that as UConn opens up spring practice, the first of 15 including the Blue/White game on April 12. And he'll do so with most of the 2013 team, not all though.
We already knew that OT Xavier Hemingway, DE/TE E.J. Norris and RB Joe Williams, who never suited up, had left the program before the spring semester. And when you persuse the 2014 UConn spring roster that was released, you'll notice a few players are no longer listed.
Safety Ty-Meer Brown is no longer listed on the roster as it appears the neck injury he suffered during the 2013 season has ended his career. QB/WR Scott McCummings, who blew his Achilles tendon in the preseason, is also no longer on the roster.
You'll also notice there are two true freshman on the roster in LB Chris Britton and CB Jamar Summers. Both were early enrollees.
The only position change that I could notice was that Andreas Knappe has been moved from the defensive line to the offensive line.
It's going to be interesting to see what transpires during spring practice.
You have a battle at the quarterback position, you have to replace most of your offensive line although it appears Gus Cruz has gotten through his cardiac issue as he is back listed on the roster.
Most importantly, both sides of the ball will have to learn a new system.
So what does Diaco hope to accomplish over the next month?
"If we can walk out of the spring after 15 practices and the team understands how we expect the games to be played, not necessarily what the plays are, but how we expect the games to be played with the proper energy, effort and detail and mental toughness necessary to execute over periods of time, if we can end spring football with that implanted into the DNA, it will be a positive thing.”
We'll get more about the career-ending injury for Brown as well as how the first practice of the spring went on Monday.
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