Football | 3/20/2017 11:47:00 AM
GREELEY, Colo. – Coming off back-to-back winning seasons, Northern Colorado football is slated to begin spring practices on Tuesday, March 21. The Bears will get 14 practices before the pinnacle of the season with the annual Blue and Gold Spring Game on April 22 at 12:00 p.m.
The Return
After a season-ending shoulder injury in week two of the 2016 season, redshirt sophomore quarterback,
Jacob Knipp returns to the field and will be full-go throughout the practices. Knipp will be joined at QB by mid-year transfer,
Conor Regan and redshirt,
Elway Tubbs.
Keaton Mott will miss spring ball this year due to recovery time for an offseason injury.
Rebuild Up Front
The Bears lost three of their four starting defensive lineman, along with two of their starting linebackers to graduation. There will be a lot of spots up for grabs on defense and the competition begins tomorrow. The only starting returns on defense up front are defensive end,
Keifer Morris and linebacker,
Noel Reid.
UNC brought in three mid-year transfers for the front seven in defensive tackles
Tank Terrell and
Michael Ihejeto, along with linebacker
Henry Stelzner.
Along with the three transfers, Northern Colorado returns defensive linemen,
Eddie Gonzales,
Lane Scott, Khari Bailey,
Chuck Davis-Ezeli and get back
Kadim Phillip from injury. All five have seen playing time throughout their careers.
On the backers side, UNC has gotten solid snaps from returners
Nick Johnson,
Denzel Hatcher,
Luke Nelson,
Jacob Bobenmoyer and
James Riddle.
On The Line
Linebacker,
Isaiah Williams will be looking for a permanent home on the defensive line. Williams will be making the move to defensive end after playing some snaps at the position this past season.
Special Teams University
UNC remains a lethal force on special teams. The Bears will have two-time, First Team All-Big Sky Special Teams player,
Hakeem Deggs and 2015 CFPA Punt Returner of the Year and STATS LLC All-American,
Ellis Onic II back for one final season. The duo is on the verge of breaking nearly every kick return and punt return record in program history.
A Bevy of Backs
Running backs and defensive backs are a plenty for the Bears. They once again return their stable of RBs with
Trae Riek,
Brandon Cartagena,
Anthony Davis and
Zachary Lindsay.
On the defensive side, Northern Colorado only lost one DB in senior,
Thomas Singleton. They return,
Michael Walker,
Marshaun Cameron and
Vincent Heard who come with a year of experience under their belts.
They also add mid-year transfer,
Isaiah Swopes to the mix, along with redshirts
Denario Critton and
Jerone Jackson. The team will also get back
Willie Fairman to give UNC depth at DB.
Coach 'Em Up
After losing defensive backs coach, Charles Gordon to the Denver Broncos, head coach,
Earnest Collins Jr. will shake off the rust and get back to coaching a position. Collins will oversee the DBs this season and have former GA,
Isaac Williams move into a full-time role as an offensive assistant to help with the o-line.
Pushing People
The offensive line has three open spots for the taking and plenty of candidates to fill the positions. As of now,
Cody Wilson will look to take over the center spot that
Austin Hendrickson held for the last four seasons, which leaves a guard and tackle position up for grabs.
Joe Layzell,
Austin Bown and
Dan Ryan all enter spring ball with game time experience, but the Bears also added transfers, Austin Walton and
Suraj Dhillon last season, so expect them be looked at seriously over the course of the practices.
From the Court to the Gridiron
Former men's basketball player,
Gerad Davis was added to the spring roster by Coach Collins. Davis is looking to make a name for himself at wide receiver. UNC returns a plethora of receivers that all made major contributions in 2016. Familiar faces running routes in the spring will be Deggs, Onic II,
Alex Wesley and
Frank Stephens.
Full Schedule:
Practice 1 – Tuesday, March 21 (7:30-10:00 a.m.)
Practice 2 – Thursday, March 23 (7:30-10:00 a.m.)
Practice 3 – Saturday, March 25 (8:45-11:15 a.m.)
Practice 4 – Tuesday, March 28 (7:30-10:00 a.m.) – Full Pads
Practice 5 – Thursday, March 30 (7:30-10:00 a.m.) – Full Pads
Practice 6 – Saturday, April 1 (8:45-11:15 a.m.) – Full Pads
Practice 7 – Tuesday, April 4 (7:30-10:00 a.m.) – Full Pads
Practice 8 – Thursday, April 6 (7:30-10:00 a.m.) – Full Pads
Practice 9 – Saturday, April 8 (8:45-11:15 a.m.) – Scrimmage 1
Practice 10 – Tuesday, April 11 (7:30-10:00 a.m.) – Full Pads
Practice 11 – Thursday, April 13 (7:30-10:00 a.m.)
Practice 12 – Saturday, April 15 (8:45-11:15 a.m.) – Scrimmage 2
Practice 13 – Tuesday, April 18 (7:30-10:00 a.m.)
Practice 14 – Thursday, April 20 (7:30-10:00 a.m.)
Spring Game – Saturday, April 22 (12:00 p.m.)