April 4, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Bright sunshine and cool temperatures greeted Northwestern on Saturday morning as the Wildcats conducted their fourth spring practice, and their first in full pads, outside on NU's FieldTurf Practice Field. It was the first time the `Cats had donned their full gridiron gear since battling Missouri in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29.
With ideal weather conditions serving as a great practice motivator, the addition of the full pads to the Wildcats' workout upped the intensity even more. The 20-period practice was highlighted by the "board drill," a traditional first full-pad-practice exercise that symbolizes the essence of the game -- a one-on-one battle between an offensive and defensive player.
As usual, the Wildcats finished their practice session with several team periods. One of the off-season battles that Wildcat fans are most interested in comes at tailback, where Northwestern has graduated the services of Tyrell Sutton and Omar Conteh. Stephen Simmons (St. Louis, Mo./SLUH), who started the final three regular-season games of 2008 due to injuries to Sutton and Conteh, is a leading candidate to earn the starting nod when the Wildcats open the 2009 season on Sept. 5.
NUsports.com talked to Simmons on Saturday and asked him about his personal goals for the spring: "I'm working on my aggression. Trying to get more yards after the first hit, making more people miss -- just gain more yards."
Simmons also talked about the competition taking place this spring on the offensive side of the ball. "Everyone is working hard, trying to earn a spot. It's not like there's a player in front of us who's been starting for several years. There are great battles going on at our skill positions. The competition makes practice a lot of fun."
SPRING NOTES:
Several 2008 seniors watched Saturday's practice from the sidelines: defensive tackle John Gill, linebacker Malcolm Arrington, offensive lineman Keegan Kennedy and wide receiver Eric Peterman. Arrington is close to 100 percent physically after suffering a knee injury against Purdue last October. Gill and Peterman are both hoping to land with a professional team in three weekends when the NFL conducts its 2009 Draft ... Several of NU's mentors (former players) were on hand to watch practice today. Some of the former mentors include Steve Schnur, Chris Rooney and Rob Johnson, teammates of NU head coach Pat Fitzgerald ... A pair of NU players, defensive tackles Marshall Thomas and Niko Mafuli, won two "board-drill" battles ... Like many NFL and college programs, music is now played at the beginning of practice during the team's dynamic warm-up. The first song that NU's operations staff played? U2's "Beautiful Day" ... The Wildcats closed practice with a Wildcat Games contest, which involved several offensive and defensive linemen. (Throughout the offseason, NU's 10 Leadership Council captains and their teams go through daily competitions in the weight room, winter conditioning and spring football practice as well as in academics and NU's 'Cats in the Community program. The winning team is then excused from Northwestern's annual summer conditioning test.) The selected players had to catch footballs shot from a Jugs Machine, similar to what a return specialist experiences when catching a kickoff or punt return. NU's two winners were offensive guard Brian Mulroe and defensive tackle Jack DiNardo. Despite their athletic prowess, both Mulroe and DiNardo will still be playing in the trenches this fall, not returning kicks.