Special Teams A Positive In Scrimmage
4/2/2016 5:02:00 PM | Football
The Sam Houston football team held its first scrimmage of 2016 spring training camp and head coach K. C. Keeler was pleased with some aspects and saw a need for improvement in other areas Saturday.
“I thought it was a really good effort. The kids flew around,” Keeler said. “We liked the intensity.”
The Kats return 54 lettermen from last year's 11-4 team that reached the NCAA Division I Football Championship semifinals for the fourth time in the past five years. That number includes 17 starters.
“You could see that ball security was an issue and you could see that tackling was an issue,” Keeler said. “But you sort of expect that when you haven't done those things all spring long. Next time we have a chance to tackle, we're going to have to do a better job with both.”
In two seasons as Bearkat head coach, Keeler has directed Sam Houston to a 22-9 record, back-to-back NCAA Division I Football Championship semifinals berths and a multitude of school records. The Kats stood No. 3 in the final STATS FSC national poll.
“One of the bright spots of Saturday's scrimmage was special teams,” Keeler said. “We were really clean executing with special teams. I really like what Kyle Segler has been doing with special teams. He has done a good job of getting all the assistant coaches involved in special teams.”
During the last five years (since 2011), Sam Houston has won more FCS playoff games (13-5 record) and posted an overall better mark (56-19) than any program except North Dakota State.
“All in all it's been a pretty competitive spring,” Keeler said. “A lot of spots are up for grabs. With us having so many players coming back, some of these guys are just trying to earn a spot in the dressing room in August among the 95 players we can have a preseason camp.”
Sam Houston spring ball will climax Friday at 7:30 p.m. with the annual Orange-White spring scrimmage at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium. Keeler sees “playing clean” as the most important area the team must focus upon.
“We talk a lot about playing clean and not making mistakes,” Keeler said. “We're not where we want to be with that but the effort is good.”
