Spring Break
Football team ready for spring practice
Russell Blair
Issue date: 3/17/09 Section: Sports
After a season in which the Huskies ranked 116th out of 119 Division I schools in passing efficiency, offense - more specifically the passing game - will be the major focus of this year's spring practices.
With a new offensive coordinator who specialized in the spread offense, Joe Moorhead, and a four-star quarterback in junior Zach Frazer, UConn has high hopes to formulate a new offensive attack before spring practice is over.
"We have a sense of urgency to change up the offense, but we also have to show some patience," said coach Randy Edsall. "We have a plan set as to what we want to do and I don't foresee any problems with our kids picking it up. We need to be aggressive but smart about how much new material we install and go from there."
A few weeks ago, despite not having played a snap under the new offensive scheme, Frazer made the bold prediction that UConn's new spread offense would be similar in firepower to what the Texas Tech Red Raiders run. Frazer's confidence starkly contrasts with the numbers he put up last season when he started four games in place of the injured Tyler Lorenzen. Frazer completed 55 percent of his passes in 2008 but threw only two touchdowns compared to six interceptions.
"Of course what he said came across my desk so Zach was in my office shortly thereafter," Edsall said. "It's great to have that confidence, but there's a right way and a wrong way to go about it. You need to keep yourself in control and let your production speak for you."
Despite the many predictions that Frazer would be the surefire starting quarterback come August, both Cody Endres and Johnny McEntee will get reps with the first-team offense.
"Zach, Cody and Johnny will all be fighting for that spot," Edsall said. "Nobody has the position sewn up. It's up to the players. If there's a guy that goes out there and shows himself to be No. 1 by the end of the spring, then we'll go with that. The sooner, the better, for us ideally, but we aren't going to force the issue."
With a new offensive coordinator who specialized in the spread offense, Joe Moorhead, and a four-star quarterback in junior Zach Frazer, UConn has high hopes to formulate a new offensive attack before spring practice is over.
"We have a sense of urgency to change up the offense, but we also have to show some patience," said coach Randy Edsall. "We have a plan set as to what we want to do and I don't foresee any problems with our kids picking it up. We need to be aggressive but smart about how much new material we install and go from there."
A few weeks ago, despite not having played a snap under the new offensive scheme, Frazer made the bold prediction that UConn's new spread offense would be similar in firepower to what the Texas Tech Red Raiders run. Frazer's confidence starkly contrasts with the numbers he put up last season when he started four games in place of the injured Tyler Lorenzen. Frazer completed 55 percent of his passes in 2008 but threw only two touchdowns compared to six interceptions.
"Of course what he said came across my desk so Zach was in my office shortly thereafter," Edsall said. "It's great to have that confidence, but there's a right way and a wrong way to go about it. You need to keep yourself in control and let your production speak for you."
Despite the many predictions that Frazer would be the surefire starting quarterback come August, both Cody Endres and Johnny McEntee will get reps with the first-team offense.
"Zach, Cody and Johnny will all be fighting for that spot," Edsall said. "Nobody has the position sewn up. It's up to the players. If there's a guy that goes out there and shows himself to be No. 1 by the end of the spring, then we'll go with that. The sooner, the better, for us ideally, but we aren't going to force the issue."
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