So coming out of a spring practice that featured around 30 fewer players than the year before - thanks in large part to 24 seniors using up their eligibility - the most common question is, “How are we going to be?”
Fans do that: They invoke “we” when they talk about the Griz. I usually respond by asking, “By we, do you mean the Griz?”
As for the 2008 team, spring ball brought promise. Fans can count on a decent linebacker corps even though the Grizzlies lost five seniors out of that group. You can count on Mike Ferriter and Marc Mariani catching just about anything thrown their way (with props to Ty Palmer and Bryan Riggs, who made nice catches Saturday).
Cole Bergquist is back at quarterback, though Andrew Selle is providing a nice push to the incumbent. The offensive line looks excellent at times. The safeties are outstanding; the cornerbacks at least somewhat untested. The defensive line is a little green on the ends and ripe in the middle.
And you can count on the coaches to hedge their bets.
“I think we've got a long way to go but I think today, with our execution, shows our kids going into the summer that there was progress,” defensive coordinator Kraig Paulson said after the scrimmage in Polson, where the defense played solidly, especially against the run.
“This isn't the end-all yet, but I'd say the bottom line of this group is they're very willing.”
It was a fairly low-key spring. Down two coaches, head coach Bobby Hauck ran the secondary in the absence of his brother Tim, who took a job at UCLA. Offensive coordinator Rob Phenicie coached the quarterbacks in the absence of Craig Ochs, who's headed for law school.
Things still got done, and players who weren't necessarily on the depth chart made plays. Chase Reynolds stepped into the picture alongside Thomas Brooks-Fletcher and Andrew Schmidt at running back. Tom Martin had a good spring at linebacker. Houston Stockton did nice things at safety.
Saturday, fans saw Austin Mullins, who moves around some, playing at defensive tackle instead of end in place of a banged-up Paul LaMantia. At the end was erstwhile linebacker Severin Campbell.
“I guess what we're always trying to do as a staff is by the end of spring ball just get the guys in the right spot,” said Paulson. “Sometimes it takes a year or two. And sometimes it's not that they're wrong in the spot they were in, but they can help us more in depth.”
Spring ball affords that opportunity. Those summer 7-on-7 sessions are no time to move from linebacker to defensive end.
“That's part of the method to our madness,” said Paulson.
Saturday marked the third time the Griz have concluded spring drills in Polson, and all have come in Hauck's tenure. In 2003, the Griz went 9-4; in 2005, 8-4. Paulson saw similarities with those teams and this one, and so did Hauck.
“We've talked about that a little bit,” said the sixth-year head coach. “We played really good defense in '05. We had to make it work. But the last two years where we've been dominant on defense, we had a lot more experience.”
Nine players who started on defense last fall are gone. Experience is earned, not bought, and it figures that a tough schedule that begins at Cal Poly on Sept. 6 may preclude a fourth 10-win season in Hauck's era.
Unless the Griz can count Saturday's scrimmage. We won that one.
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