By Chris Raimondi, Sports Editor
With the arrival of Kennesaw State’s football spring practice schedule, one more element has been added to the program’s long list of firsts—a depth chart.
The team practiced nearly all of last semester with three segments of 15 practices. Now under official NCAA ruling, the intensity has ramped up with just 14 team practices left before the summer arrives.
“We stayed away from depth charts in the fall, but it’s time to establish some depth charts and find out who can play,” KSU head coach Brian Bohannon said. “That creates competition which makes each young man better. We have to get a pecking order going into the fall.”
The first full-pad practice of the spring will be held on Friday, March 6, three weeks before the first spring game at Fifth Third Bank Stadium March 28. The Owls, as of Monday, have 185 days until kickoff against East Tennessee State Sept. 3.
“I don’t know that keeping them motivated will ever change,” Bohannon said. “We’re doing the ‘Win The Day’ competition again this semester, we still talk about E.A.T, effort, attitude and toughness, but we’re graduating a little bit to more scheme than we did in the fall.”
The speed of practice visibly increased compared to last semester, which can be attributed to players’ settling into a routine. “We had a group of guys who knew what to do, versus the last time we came out,” Bohannon said about the first day of practice.
Only 70 players will be on roster when the Owls kickoff in Johnson City, Tennessee. Currently there are 92 players on the roster, making this slate of spring practices the final audition to earn a spot on KSU’s first football team.
KSU brought in 16 players on signing day earlier last month, and six of them had their first practice Monday, the rest will join the team in August.
Fans will be able to see a tentative depth chart for the Black and Gold spring game at the end of March, according to Bohannon. “I’m not sure when we will post the depth chart, but we definitely have an idea of a pecking order going into the fall, though that could change as well,” Bohannon said.
Fewer players were on seen “muscle beach,” the team’s program for injured players, for the first spring practice compared to the number that ended the fall practice schedule in red jerseys.
