Discipline a focus as BYU opens spring football practices

(Ravell Call/Deseret News)


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PROVO — When BYU opened football practices Monday in the Indoor Practice Facility, the focus was on discipline and accountability — both for the participating players and those nursing injuries through the spring.

BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall will use spring practices to focus on discipline for the 2015 BYU football squad, a move that comes in part from the team’s involvement in a post-game brawl following a loss to Memphis in the Miami Beach Bowl in December.

The head coach said around 10 players will be disciplined for their role in the ruckus, but most of them will see the punishment trickle out as the team gets closer to their first game of the season at Nebraska.

“There’s a point, just with having a chance to reflect on the season ending, where we decided to focus on three words: accountability, discipline and effort,” Mendenhall said. “That really gets you through difficult times and difficult games. I don’t think I challenged the team enough to where they could be disciplined, regardless of circumstance.”

Senior quarterback Taysom Hill participated as much as he could in practice, taking limited opportunities to throw the football while he rehabilitates a broken leg that cost him the majority of last season.

McCoy Hill took the majority of the starter reps at quarterback, but the sophomore from Jordan High who moved over from tight end last year to fill depth concerns at signal caller is also nursing a mild ankle injury of his own.

BYU Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall greets players at the end Brigham Young University football practice in Provo, Monday, March 2, 2015. (Ravell Call/Deseret News)
BYU Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall greets players at the end Brigham Young University football practice in Provo, Monday, March 2, 2015. (Ravell Call/Deseret News)

“He tried really hard. I think he feels like the luckiest person on the planet knowing he’ll get reps with the ones,” Mendenhall said of McCoy Hill. “It’s a delicate balance between letting him go out and carve a name for himself, while also keeping him healthy.”

Running back Jamaal Williams will sit out practices while he nurses a knee injury from the tail end of his junior year, but the 22-year-old back is on track to return before the start of the season.

In terms of being back to a full participant, Williams spoke simply and used his usual sense of humor when asked about a timeline for his return.

“When they tell me,” Williams told reporters after practice. “I can’t do anything about that. I just listen to them and try to be back there when I can.

“I’ve got my own mindset as to when I will be 100 percent. But don’t go off my word; I would say right now is my time to be 100 percent. But I’m not. It’s alright; I’m just having fun right now.”

Even though Williams isn’t ready to be a full participant in practice, the senior said he has taken steps to be a leader on the field — a few years down the road from the days he stepped foot on campus as a 17-year-old freshman.

Williams and the other injured football players have their own regimen that includes rehabilitation with the athletic training staff, and then time spent with their position groups at the end of practice to focus on plays — and also show their support for teammates, many of whom could even be competing for more playing time this fall.

“I just want to show that I’m still a teammate, part of the team,” Williams said. “As much as you want to get out there, you’ve got to show that you are still a teammate. I don’t want to just be me and do my own thing. Just being at practice, and let them know that you are getting yourself ready to help out the team.”

Linebacker Manoa Pikula will also miss spring practices. BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall didn’t elaborate on the reasons, but did mention “academics” as part of the reason withholding one of the top returning players in the Cougars’ front seven.

Jaterrius Gulley, who originally signed with BYU as a defensive lineman, has been moved to offensive line, Mendenhall said. The 346-pound lineman from Hoover, Alabama, won’t be the only position move for the Cougars, added Mendenhall, who will address that area more in depth following Wednesday’s practice.

Alta High grad Steven Richards has moved from tight end to defensive end, and tight end Tanner Balderee will see some time at running back.

“We have phenomenal systems, and we’re always making wrinkles according to personnel,” the head coach added.

Mendenhall regained some defensive coordinator duties from Nick Howell in the offseason, and the head coach will call plays on the defensive side of the ball during the Spring scrimmage next Friday and through the 2015 season.

Neither Howell nor Mendenhall see the move as a demotion for the former, however.

“I think we’re both determined, and we have an unbelievable relationship based on trust and respect. He’s one of my closest friends,” Mendenhall said. “He just wants the best for our players. What I know is that this is what we (believe) is best for our team at this time. He understands that, and I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

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