2015 Colgate Football Spring Roster HAMILTON – Colgate Football holds its first two of 15 spring practice sessions this week at Andy Kerr Stadium.
The Raiders have workouts set for Wednesday and Thursday before taking the next week off for Spring Break. After that, it's a Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday schedule until the final week of Maroon & White Game, which is set for April 18 (3:30 p.m.) at Andy Kerr.
- Click below for the archive of Dan Hunt and Eric Malanoski on the Colgate Football Spring Practice Preview Show.
Head coach
Dan Hunt has his eyes on a few points of emphasis entering the spring.
"The key story line defensively is replacing
Mike Armiento (DB) and
Kris Kent (LB)," Hunt said. "Those are the big two. We have the people to do it, it is just a matter of seeing how we move them. Whether we move
Chris Morgan (CB) to safety or somebody else steps up at safety, that is the big one defensively.
"Offensively, it is continuing to develop
Jake Melville (QB)."
Hunt also mentioned position battles expected to take place, starting with the offensive line.
"Right now we have more capable starters on the offensive line than there are positions," Hunt said. "There are seven kids or so who could start and obviously only five of them can start at a time, so that will be a great battle."
The tailback position returns four ball-carriers who saw plenty of action last season, but Hunt says that may change with the 2015 season.
"With the running back spot, we're looking this year to be heavy on one or two guys instead of all four, so that is going to be a good competition there," Hunt said. "We also don't have a fullback right now, so were looking at
Tyler Butler (LB) and
Dan Grasso (LB) at fullback. One of those two will stay and one of them will go back to linebacker.
"Overall, we have a lot of kids coming back playing positions that they played last year, and we want to continue to gain experience practicing what we do."
Budding StarsHunt expects to keep a watchful eye on the continued development of a few budding stars.
"Patrick Afriyie (DE) is ready to become one of the most dominant players in the league," Hunt said. "I am also interested in watching
James Holland at running back and
Alex Greenawalt at wide receiver. All of those kids are ready to take the next steps to be dominant players."
Hunt says consistency on offense and a continuation of last year's strides on defense and special teams are must-haves for the 2015 Raiders.
"Last year we were up and down, and our execution was good at times and other times it wasn't. We have to develop the attitude that we are going to stay on the field and score points offensively. If I was going to look at one area, that would be the biggest.
"Second would be to get better on both defense and the kicking game. Now it is time to take the next step to have those two areas be completely dominant."
Colgate Spring Practice DatesWeek 1 – March 11 and 12
Week 2 – March 24, 26 and 28
Week 3 – March 31, April 2 and 4
Week 4 – April 7, 9 and 11
Week 5 – April 14, 16 and 17
Maroon & White Game – April 18 (Andy Kerr Stadium, 3:30 p.m.)Colgate Football Spring Practice Preview
