The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team’s first three practices of the spring couldn’t have gone much better, coach Russ Huesman said. Now, after two weeks off, the challenge for the Mocs is to pick up where they left off before spring break.
The Mocs resume spring practice tonight at Finley Stadium, and Huesman is hoping to see the same level of energy and excitement that he saw in the first three practices.
“We’ll see tomorrow,” Huesman said Tuesday. “We did a conditioning mat drill yesterday and they were a little sluggish, so hopefully we ran spring break out of them. That’s why we didn’t practice yesterday, because I knew they’d be a little sluggish.”
Like a lot of his teammates, defensive end Jaron Norfleet went to the beach and relaxed. Near the end of his stay in Panama City, Fla., he said, his thoughts turned toward football again.
“I thought about football a little bit, more toward the end of the week because I knew I had to get back in the mindset to be ready for practice,” he said. “We’ve got three weeks left, and we need a good three weeks of practice.”
Huesman said during spring break that he felt very good about his decision to practice three times before the break and then take the two weeks off. Of course, he said, a big reason he felt good about it was because of how well those first three practices went.
Adding to his good feeling was the sight of several of his players — offensive lineman Chris Harr, linebacker Gunner Miller and wideouts Sloan Allison and Chris Marshall — lifting weights on campus on the first day of spring break.
“It was spring break and they were in there lifting, and I think that’s kind of the mentality of our football team,” Huesman said. “The first three practices, that mentality — even last year as a new staff, it wasn’t anywhere near like it was the first three practices.
“We’ve still got to keep pushing, and we’ve still got to do more.”
The Mocs will practice in full pads tonight and will practice Friday before scrimmaging Saturday.