Derik Stevenson: It’s Time – BYU Spring Football Has Arrived

There is something beautiful about the opening play of a football game. The kickoff. By the time you come out of the tunnel on game day, the tension and hype have been building for too long. The buzzing in your head and butterflies in your stomach have been driving you crazy. It’s finally time. All the theory discussions and strategy talk are now history. The time spent watching film and in the weight room has been fine, but this is what you signed up for. Strap it up. Lock and load. There is a four-man wall that needs blowing up. The opening salvo. That is what Day 1 of camp feels like.

Sep 7, 2013; Provo, UT, USA; Brigham Young Cougars running back Jamaal Williams (21) reaches for extra yards during the second quarter at Lavell Edwards Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports

And shut up about it only being spring ball. Football is football. The tension that builds up in a player’s system in-between seasons has some of these young men ready to pop. Watching Cougar basketball has been fun-and-all this January/February, but these young men have been living the last 10-12 years of their lives with explicit permission to legally assault and batter other human beings for the fun of it, while others cheered them on. Spring ball is ice water in the hot desert….or Thanksgiving dinner on fast Sunday.

But spring football is different than “real” fall camp. The Cougars don’t have an opponent to worry about yet. So their sights will hopefully be turned inward. If you watch closely, throughout this first week especially, you’ll see that spring ball is much more “mental” and “emotional”, as opposed to when they’re gearing up for another team where everything is very “physical” and “tactical”. It’s about setting the tone for the year. It’s about figuring out what type of team you want to be.

First, there are leadership voids that need to be filled. While KVN and Cody Hoffman weren’t your typical vocal leaders, they were the on-field captains regardless of whether or not they participated in the pregame coin toss. During the first few days of camp select returning starters and possibly a few new additions to the roster will begin laying down their markers as the teams new leaders. On the defensive side of the ball, I’d expect Bronson Kafusi and Alani Fua to up their respective games and position themselves as the natural leaders of the D. Hopefully, Taysom Hill and Jamaal Williams continue to mature and evolve into the leaders the O needs. I don’t care what anyone says, it’s always best when your most talented players are also your team captains. If they can also vocalize their leadership, you’ve hit the jackpot, and you’ll have team leaders that the other soldiers would follow to into the depths of hell and back.

Nov 30, 2013; Reno, NV, USA; BYU Cougars quarterback Taysom Hill runs a pass play in the first half of their NCAA football game with Nevada Wolf Pack at MacKay Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Lance Iversen/USA TODAY Sports. BYU won 28-23.

Second, speed is everything. Go Fast Go Hard has to be a strategy that tries to wear the opponent out physically and mentally. Especially when playing at altitude at LES. Our guys have to get GFGH down to such an exact science this spring, that even if the visiting team does catch their breath, their brains are going to be too slow to counteract what the O is throwing at them. Precision and conditioning are going to be huge when it comes to our offensive success in 2014. I’m hoping Year 2 of GFGH is twice as good as it was Year 1. I think we’ll have a pretty good predictor of that by the end of spring camp.

So wedge-breakers….crack open your ammonia smelling salts and take a deep whiff. Put your mouthpiece in. Unless you’re like I used to be, and you roll without one because it gets in the way of talking a lot of trash. Let’s kick this thing off.