DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Terry Sims era of Bethune-Cookman football opened with a bang on Monday afternoon, as the Wildcats took part in their first spring practice of 2015.
Bethune-Cookman went through 26 periods for the opener, using several periods for individual group work with the coaching staff at various positions. Several former players were seen walking the sidelines, including Rony Barrow, Joshua Richardson, Tim Burke and Jordan Murphy.
From the sidelines, several Wildcats players could be heard yelling at their teammates to keep hustling, well after plays had ended. The enthusiasm was for the Cats to jog and keep hustling back to the line and to huddles after the play, and to continue to go full-steam at 100 percent from the start-to-end of practice.
Head coach Terry Sims oversaw the day, while coordinators Jim Pry (offense) and Charles “Yogi” Jones (defense) guided their particular areas. However, on a few occasions, Sims got involved on the field with teaching, showing players – particularly on the offensive side of the ball, where to line up on certain assignments.
Quarterbacks Quentin Williams and Larry Brihm split time amongst the first and second team offense on Monday. Both got equal work, and ran several offensive sets in 9-on-9 play.
The receiving core for the Wildcats is as deep as it’s been in quite some while. With returners Frank Brown, Jaime Wilson, Darian Baker and Jawill Davis, just to name a few, back in the fold – added Jontavious Carter who sat out the 2014 season with injury, the receivers could be the deepest group on the 2015 roster.
Senior safety Marquis Drayton could be seen and heard taking charge in the defensive backfield for the Wildcats. The native of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida is one of the starters returning to that side of the ball which lost a lot following the 2014 campaign. However, he looks to be the emerging senior leader for the defensive unit.
The running backs all got equal work with Danny Dillard, Michael Jones and Anthony Jordan. All three were used in a variety of packages for the Wildcats, and looked in good form after the opening day. The playing time shifted greatly with each one running with the 1’s and the 2’s.
The offensive line for B-CU will be big in 2015, as offensive line coach John Powers worked with the group on day one. He worked on protection with the core, as well as rising senior Dariusz Bladek providing some much-needed teaching and guidance from the sidelines to the group.
Footwork was key, as they went through several drill working on footing and blocking assignments during individual group sessions.
Courtesy: BCUathletics.com
