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DeKALB – For the past two seasons, few college football teams have started as many freshmen as NIU.
But as spring practice kicked off Wednesday, fourth-year head coach Thomas Hammock said this year’s team has notably matured from last year, and it’s showing in all aspects.
“I think they have more confidence,” Hammock said. “They have an understanding of what we want to do on offense, defense and special teams. They can go out and execute. I think the great thing about us is if you look at it, we’ve got a full team getting ready for the season. There are 95 guys out there working to get better.”
[ Photos: NIU football holds first spring practice at a foggy Huskie Stadium ]
The Huskies practiced for less than two hours Wednesday morning without pads, the first of 14 spring practices and a spring showcase at the end. The next practice is at 7:30 a.m. Friday followed by an open-to-the-public 10 a.m. practice Saturday.
The Huskies are coming off a worst-to-first season in 2021, following their winless 2020 campaign (0-6), with a MAC title and bowl appearance.
“I think it went pretty good for the first day,” sophomore offensive lineman J.J. Lippe said. “It was a pretty solid start like coach said. We definitely got to improve on a lot of things, a lot of technique because we’re not hitting right now. Today was a technique kind of day, but we were able to get after the D-line a little bit, too.”
Wednesday was also the return to the field for a pair of 2020 freshman standouts who missed extended periods of the 2021 season. Harrison Waylee was one of three running backs in rotation, along with Mason Blakemore and Antario Brown, although without pads more of the focus was on the passing game in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills.
Additionally, safety Devin Lafayette was hurt in the season opener last year and turned a corner health-wise in the past three weeks or so, Hammock said.
“They had a bounce; they were springy,” Hammock said. “Harrison Waylee, he didn’t look like he missed any time.”
Lafayette’s return adds a lot of depth to the safety group, which is creating competition in the secondary.
Lafayette said it’s easy to see that level of competition at any position.
“You’ve got guys going hard because there’s competition everywhere,” Lafayette said. “Everyone’s fighting for a position to grab somewhere.”
Lippe said the team’s experience is showing up, as well, and making for a different type of practice than last year.
“We treat it with the same attitude, but obviously we have a lot more experienced guys out there,” Lippe said. “A lot of people are coming out and able to practice at a higher level than we were last year. Everybody knows their assignment right now, knows where they’re supposed to go. There’s not a lot of the new mistakes we were making as an offense at this time last year.”
Overall, Hammock said he was pleased with Day 1 of practice.
“I thought it was sharp,” Hammock said. “I thought the guys played at a high level, were able to play fast and stay on our feet. That’s the most important thing you want to see, guys have the ability to practice hard and compete as well as the ability to stay on your feet so you can get work done.”