So early in the spring (practice)

Well, the first day of spring practice is in the books.  You can get a read about it from all of the usual suspects.  No real surprises, except for maybe how sharp Logan Gray appeared to be.

To me, Caleb King is an interesting story early on.  Marc Weiszer has a story on King, whose season last year was emblematic for the entire team – plenty of talent, but lacking in focus.  Take this quote from the kid as an example:

… He admits there’s more motivation now than in the past when Moreno was the workhorse.

“If he was going to get most of the carries, you might not work as hard as you could,” King said. “All the backs are working harder than last year.”

King illustrates that this squad has some growing up to do.  And the coaching staff has to do a better job of getting this team mentally prepared, a point which Kyle King admirably articulates in this post.  Sure, it’s probably an easier task this year without the distraction of the preseason number one ranking hanging over everyone’s heads, but as Groo notes, you can only take that “underdog” chip on your shoulder so far.