Spring Practice Hooky

I finally made it out to watch spring practice for a while this morning, after three weeks of bad weather and work obligations. Being there for the first time is kind of surreal. The practices are open to the public, but, today at least, there was hardly anyone watching. It was basically me and about a dozen other middle aged white guys, most sporting some form of Kentucky Blue. I felt like Buddy Garrity.



Today was a good day to attend weatherwise, not so much from a football standpoint. The spring game is tomorrow. As with the regular season, the day before the game was pretty much special teams, half speed, helmets but no pads. I was hoping to see Chip Cosby out there, to get some ideas about what to look for. But Chip, who has done a great job covering the practices for the Herald Leader these last three weeks, didn't appear to be there. Nonetheless, here is what I was able to glean with my spring football virgin eyes.



* I tried to watch Mike Hartline throw, but this proved difficult. It was a special teams practice. So the quarterbacks were off by themselves on the far field at Nutter, doing footwork and throwing drills. At a pretty deliberate pace. You cannot tell much, but even in a drill with no one harassing him, Hartline had some good throws and some bad ones. Between that and the somewhat tepid reviews of his performance this spring, I'm kind of resigned. Hartline may become a serviceable QB over the next couple of years, but he will never even be a "good but not great" SEC starter along the lines of a John Parker Wilson, Matt Flynn or an Eric Ainge. This is probably what UK needs to be an 8-9 win team with him at the helm. It probably isn't there.



*Randall Cobb was returning kicks and holding on field goal attempts. He was not working out with the QBs. Of course, this may have changed after I left. I like Cobb as a holder. With as many kicks as we've had blocked, it makes sense to have a holder who'll make defenses consider playing it straight.

*Lones Seiber slipped and fell on his ass while kicking once. The only thing missing was Lucy Van Pelt.

*UK recruit and former Boyle County WR Jordan Aumiller was looking on. Brooks walked up to him, warmly greeted him, shook his hand then asked if he'd started working out yet. After a less than 100% positive response to his question, Brooks muttered something and walked away with one of the Buddy Garritys.

*Derrick Locke and Dickie Lyons were working out together on the sidelines. They were taking turns running 40 yard sprints with a trainer harnessed to their backs while trying to slow them up. Grueling. Lyons appears to be further along than Locke, who was laboring a bit at the end of his runs. Both were doing far better than you and I would, trust me.

*Cobb carries himself differently than the other players. In what was an otherwise relaxed atmosphere, he seemed very serious about getting the kicking practice done quickly and correctly. When his turn to hold was over, he went over and hugged Lyons, did a jump/hip bump with Locke and playfully squirted water on a game assistant coach. He is comfortable in his own skin, and seems to have an aura. This has been mentioned more than once by coaches and other observers. Today, I totally saw it.

*That said, Cobb looked a little shakier than I'd like fielding punts. Winston Guy, on the other hand, may strike some fear in the SEC as a kickoff returner come fall. Look for it.

If I make the spring game, or some part thereof, tomorrow I'll have more. Looks like a gametime decision.