Two things I know for sure:

1) Osetkowski did not leave Tulane because Conroy got fired. He would have left anyway.

2) There was no chance of him returning regardless of who was hired to replace Conroy. He was unhappy at Tulane and wanted a change of scenery. He felt the whole program was dysfunctional from the top on down.

One thing I don't know for sure: how Osetkowski will fare at Texas. The fans claiming he's an average player and won't be missed at all on other sites are just being fans. He would have entered next year as a second-team All-AAC performer on the coaches' list and had plenty of room for improvement to become a terrific post player. But his lack of athleticism is real, so it will be interesting to see how he fits in at Texas and against Big 12 competition. I expect him to do very well, but it's no certainty.

It turns out Tulane will have live tackling in its spring game tomorrow, which should make the day more interesting for fans. After practice today, Willie Fritz explained how the practice would work considering the Green Wave's limited number of offensive linemen (eight) in particular and 54 available bodies overall.

"It's going to be a controlled scrimmage," he said. "We're going to tackle. We are going to stay off the quarterback. We'll go 54 plays. We are limited with our offensive line. We have eight guys. The most reps anybody will have will be 36. Some guys will go 18. Others will play some, and we'll see how it goes. We'll do a kicking game at the beginning, and then go and use this as an evaluation process and see who can do everything as close to a simulated game. It's still not a game, but we will snap the ball, have officials out here and do down and distances, all those things."

Fritz added it would be the offense v. the defense rather than two separate teams.

"What I like about this also is the coaches will be out of bounds," Fritz said. "We will be using our sideline communication with headphones, trying to get us acclimated to those kinds of things as well. We'll see how the quarterbacks take charge without having an offensive coordinator in their ear."

As for today's practice, the quarterbacks finally started making downfield connections. Marshall Wadleigh beat a busted coverage to haul in a 40-yard touchdown pass from Darius Bradwell, who then connected with Devin Glenn on a deep fade that would have gone for a 70-yard score if the drill had been live. Those were the first two plays I've seen this spring where the quarterback threw deep to an open receiver who caught the ball. The only other long gain I witnessed before today involved Larry Dace out jumping a DB for a catch.

Glen Cuiellette had some nice throws, too. He hit Terren Encalade, who definitely is Tulane's most polished wideout, for a 20-yard gain on an out pattern with a perfect throw. He hit Trey Scott on a sideline, route, showing much better timing that earlier in the spring.

There were still some down moments. Bradwell fired a quick out that almost took the head off a special teams player standing on the sideline when it sailed behind Glenn and about five yards over his head. Cuiellette dropped a shotgun snap. But it was definitely the highest level passing I've seen in 13 spring practices.

"There was some good stuff," Fritz said. "I noticed coach (Doug Ruse) put in a couple of new things, which was good. Sometimes you start off and the offense is ahead and the defense catches up and the offense starts tweaking things a little bit. We hadn't gone for a few days. I'm glad we came out here."

Donnie Lewis got hurt during Friday's practice, and Fritz guessed it might be a pulled muscle, so he likely will be out of the spring game. Richard Allen replace him on the first unit, with Taris Shenall lining up as the nickel corner. Parry Nickerson manned the other corner and made a nice break to deflect a Devin Powell pass.

"It's good to have him out," Fritz said. "It's good for our evaluation but it's good for these guys to see what they can do and getting them adjusted to how we do things."

Fritz said Brian Webb would remain on the offensive line in the fall but lamented not getting to evaluate him more there. Right after they moved him from defensive tackle, he pulled a muscle and will not practice tomorrow or Monday.

Robert Kennedy got some reps with the first unit at defensive end today, relieving Ade Aruna. Quinlan Carroll continued to work with the first team in Daren Williams' absence due to a concussion.

Running back Lazedrick Thompson returned to practice today, so he has cleared concussion protocol.

Fritz said the Monday practice after the spring game would be beneficial. Tulane's second practice was rained out this week, creating the opening.

Said Fritz: "Tuesday we'll watch tape and then Thursday and Friday we'll lift weights and then we'll have a SAD (Student-athlete discretionary) period where they will not lift to allow them to focus on their studies."

Guerry he has now been out for a month. He is our starting Friday night pitcher. This is a big issue to our fans. Is he doing long toss? Is he throwing bullpens? Is he throwing off flat ground? Is he throwing off a mound? Please work your sources to get us the information on this topic. Thanks.

The team will practice tomorrow and Saturday. There's no word yet on whether they will make up the practice they missed on Sunday or Monday. We know CJ would have skipped it. We don't know what Fritz will do, but he values every practice as a learning, teaching and evaluating tool.

with the news circulating about the team and the fraternity is there any news to this? Are there any fallouts on campus? How will the school handle what can be a sensitive issue?

I had to do quadruple duty yesterday, writing a spring football story for The Advocate, picking up my son from school, writing a Tulane-ULL baseball preview for The Advocate and covering the Pelicans' final home game for AP, so I did not get a chance to post my practice report. Here it is.

One quick thanks to winwave for posting the links of my Advocate stories about Tulane on the GoTula.net site. I appreciate it. It shouldn't bother me, but it gets under my skin when people on both major Tulane free message boards complain about the total lack of media coverage on Tulane. That's certainly been true of Nola.com, although Andrew Lopez has been out to most of the spring practices this year, but I've written a spring practice story for The Advocate after all but one of the first 12 practices. I've written previews for every Tulane baseball midweek game and weekend series. Either I or Scott Kushner have covered almost every Tulane home baseball game, and I drove to Hammond to cover the SLU game (I'm not going to Lafayette tonight). There were three stories in The Advocate today about Tulane. Not sure what else we're supposed to do.

There were a lot of injured players who did not participate in Monday's practice, the 12th of the spring. Andrew Hicks watched from the sideline on crutches as he begins the long rehabilitation process after ACL surgery. Guard Jason Stewart was out along with defensive ends Peter Woullard and Daren Williams, running back Lazedrick Thompson, defensive tackle Eldrick Washington, walk-on defensive tackle Paul Staudinger and Brian Webb, who either has been moved from defensive tackle to offensive line or was wearing the wrong color jersey as he watched practice. Ed Daniels and WWL were at practice, so I did not get to ask many questions to Fritz and find out about all of the injuries, but we did learn that Thompson has a concussion. That's much better than it being another ankle sprain. Woullard was wearing a boot on his left leg.

I no longer can say I have not seen a deep ball completed for the entire spring. Third-string QB Devin Powell (who Fritz does not consider a candidate for the starting job) connected with Larry Dace on a 40-yard pass, with Dace elevating to catch it in front of I believe safety Leonard Davis, although there was a cornerback whose number I did not catch in the area, too. The play drew loud cheers from the offense (Fritz has the defense players on the press box sideline and the offensive players on the other sideline during team drills) on the sideline. I'm not sure they had seen a long completion before that one, either. When it comes to pure passing, Powell is clearly the best of the three quarterbacks, but when it comes to everything else, he's third.

Glen Cuiellette had a decent day. He completed a downfield pass to Devin Glenn and hit Dace on a short out. Darius Bradwell rarely threw, choosing to run up the middle a lot (and it is hard to judge the result since contact is not allowed).

Running back Dontrell Hilliard continues to impress. I guarantee you one of my over-under categories in the offseason is going to be whether he can gain 1,000 yards. Showing the value of the triple option and why the running game will be more successful this year even if the offensive line is bad, Hilliard raced up the middle for what would have been a long touchdown even if the drill had been live because both linebackers thought the QB still had the ball on an option play. By the time they realized Hilliard had it, he was streaking down the field. A couple off coaches congratulated him as he headed to the sideline after his run.

Cornerback Parry Nickerson practiced for the second straight time, something Willie Fritz really wants to see. He believes Nickerson can become a special player again like he was as a freshman before a significant sophomore slump, but he wants to see him in action this week to get a better handle on him. Nickerson did all of the individual drills and played with the second unit in 11 on 11 work, with Richard Allen and Donnie Lewis continuing to play on the first team.

The first-team offensive line was the same as usual, and Kenneth Santa Marina's move to guard appears to be permanent. I talked to him and Fritz about the switch and will have those quotes at the end of the report. With Stewart unable to practice, Chris Taylor did double duty on the second unit, moving to right guard from left guard. Todd Jacquet did double duty at right tackle on the second unit, with Devon Johnson playing left tackle. I would be more comfortable with Jacquet at right tackle than left tackle on the first unit, but Alex Atkins knows what he is doing and appears to think Jacquet is the best option at left tackle. We'll see what happens after the coaches evaluate the tape in the summer.

Quinlan Carroll continued to practice with the first-team defensive line in Daren Williams' absence. Williams is another player with a concussion.

With Eldrick Washignton out, John Washington got reps with the second unit at defensive tackle alongside ends Luke Jackson and Robert Kennedy. The one guy I have noticed during the spring is tackle Eric Bell, so I'll double check Wednesday to see if he's still out there. Tulane has seven scholarship tackles, so it's easy to get lost in the shuffle there.

Although Nico Marley and Eric Thomas are the clear starters at inside linebacker, I'm intrigued by the competition for the backup spots. Zachery Harris, Eric Bowie, Rae Juan Marbley and William Townsend have all had their moments this spring, so I caught up with linebackers coach Michael Mutz to get the lowdown.

On Marley and Thomas:

"Both those kids are very passionate about football. They enjoy coming to work every day and I enjoy working with them. They are really good kiddos. My job is to help them become the best players they can become, and they put the work in and the time in, so I'm very appreciative of that."

On Marley's unique style:

"He's such a unique talent because you don't want to take away from those outstanding instincts he has and still teaching him to play within the framework of the scheme and what he is asked to do. He's a good playmaker, and we need to have him be a great playmaker for him in the fall."

On Harris:

"Zach's a really natural player. He's a very smooth auditory learner. You can tell him something or show him something and he can pick it up, which is absolutely critical in football. Because he picks up things so, fast, he's got a very bright future. Right now he is playing the Will, but once we get to the fall camp we are going to cross train everybody so everyone can feel good about every spot in the corps."

On Bowie:

"Eric's been a pleasure to work with. He's got good speed. He's tough. He hangs on every word in the meetings. He's physical, and he's been very impressive in the special forces stuff when we've done that. It means he's unselfish and he cares. He always makes me smile, so I'm glad he's around. He's actually playing the Buck and the Will, so he's got to be pretty versatile."

On Marbley:

"Rae Juan's another kid that loves football and is always into the meetings mentally. He's real physical. When he hits you, you feel it. He's a smart kid as well. He can pick stuff up. If somebody made a mistake, he can coach them. He's got a very bright future. He's playing Mike backer."

On Townsend:

"Willie's another really smart kid. Obviously having that back end experience is a huge blessing. He's playing both Buck and Mike for us, and so there's a lot on his plate. He handles it great, and he knows where to go and when to go. He's another kid that I'm enjoying working with."

Overall feeling:

"We've gotten a lot better from practice 1 until now. Obviously it's a lot different schematically than in the past, so we've taken it slow. We're just trying to master those basic fundamentals, and we're a much better linebacker corps now than we were when we started. We've really got to keep our foot on the accelerator in the summer to take another step because you can grow quite a bit in the summer."

On how veterans like Marley and Thomas have adjusted to scheme change:

"I thought they were well coached last year, so it's easier. The terminology is a little different, but a lot of the techniques are similar, so you just try to marry it up. Hey, you guys played it like this last year, and we're going to play it like this. They've got so much experience, it clicks and they get it.'

Just returned from the game. Very nice evening here in Lafayette. Pitching continues to be a problem. Coach Pierce should have taken the starting pitcher out two innings earlier than he did. He was getting hit hard.Both teams had 8 hits but UL had base runners and we did not.

One strange play, with a Tulane runner on second, the batter hit a dying line drive to right field. Right fielder caught it and the runner was doubled up as he was headed home. There was no third base coach on the field to direct the runner. Weird.

Weak performance by inch hitters as well.

Still a lot of work to do with the pitching staff.

I caught up with junior offensive lineman Kenneth Santa Marina after practice on Monday to see how the transition was going from tackle to guard, where he has lined up with the first unit since Tulane returned from spring break.

They have you playing guard. How has the transition gone?

"I've never played guard before, but it's a good transition. It's kind of similar, but now I have more help on the inside. At tackle you're usually on an island by yourself. It's not bad. I'm doing great at it and continuing to get better at it."

When did they approach you about the move?

"It was kind of in the beginning to the middle of the spring. After a couple of practices, the coaches told me they were going to try me at guard and see how that goes. I guess everything's been going great because I'm still at it."

What's the hardest part?

"The hardest part is really the pass protection, really shortening my slide, and also kicking back. At tackle I kick back way further than I do at guard, so I have to shorten it a little bit and try to get the tackle mentality out of my head."

How much fun is it for you just to be out here knowing you'll have a chance to play, unlike last fall when you were suspended?

"It's the best thing of my whole entire life. I just have to get back at it. It's been two years since I've been out there, and now I'm back out here."

Did you know you would be back in good graces with the coaching transition, or were you worried?

"Throughout the whole way I kept my head on straight and continued to move forward. Even thought the stuff in the past affected me, I'm getting better at that so I'm able to stay here and get better with the new coaching staff."

What was it like practicing when you knew you couldn't play last year?

"It was terrible. It was really terrible being out there trying to get better and having in your mind I'm practicing but I can't do anything each week."

I know you didn't think it would be this long before you put yourself in position for major playing tine when you got here as a highly rated recruit. How eager are you to be a starter this year?

"I'm ready to get out there right now. I want to get out there the game tomorrow pretty much, but I have to have faith a little bit. Two years ago I was in the rotation as a blocking tight end, but now if I'm out there for a full game, it will be the best experience of my life."

Do you see a dramatic difference with the new coaching staff? The offensive line did not play well last year.

"Yes, coach Atkins is going to be great. Learning his technique and going over it in the locker room every day and going over it in meetings, you have to bring it from meetings to practice and practice to team and team to the game. That's what he tells us."

What is Atkins like?

"He's a great coach. I love him. I wish he were here a little earlier."

What are the biggest differences between him and what was going on before?

"The difference would be probably pretty much the technique. Some of it is similar, but coach Atkins wants to keep everything tight and vertical where the old coaching staff, everything was more of an NFL style. This is more of a college style."

What is your best asset?

"It's hard to tell because I really don't key into what I'm really strong at. I always key into the weakness and try to get that better and match everything else."

Did you consider leaving last year or after last year?

"No, never. I'm going to get my degree here."

Doug Stewart from Nevada.

http://www.rgj.com/story/sports/col...-doug-stewart-leaving-nevada-tulane/82899560/

It’s obviously only mid-season, but today’s game against ECU offers a great opportunity.

1. A win could, depending on the Cincinnati game today, put us on top of the AAC standings before hosting a very hot Cincinnati this coming weekend.
   
2. It would mark our first sweep of the year in conference.
   
3. A win would likely move us up about 4 places in RPI while a loss would likely drop us 7 places from our current #40 position (depending on how opponents do in their games).
   
4. It would add yet another win against a projected “top 50” RPI team. That would make our record 6-2 against such teams (according to Warren Nolan).
5. It would likely propel us into the top 25 or at least put us in the national discussion in the various polls.

A loss would not be devastating, of course, but a win would be terrific. From an RPI standpoint, when home victories only count 0.7 and losses count 1.3, going 2-1 results in a 1.4-1.3 weekend, which is not what we need. After the SELA loss at home earlier in the week, our RPI went from #45 to #55, mostly due to the 1.3 loss but exacerbated by our opponents’ poor showing at the same time.

Anyway. Continued great pitching, solid defense, timely hitting, and, hopefully, a large home crowd always gives us a good chance.

Roll Wave!!!

Apparently we have another late addition, long snapper Geron Eatherly of Texas. Was committed to Oklahoma State. Apparently we offfered a full ride and he flipped to us...
https://mobile.twitter.com/EatherlyGeron

The best news from Saturday's practice, which was exactly like all the others, is Parry Nickerson finally returned from his leg injury and participated. He was one of three players who fielded punts on special teams and also did individual and a little bit of team drills.

Zach Block did not have good distance or hang times on his punts. Dontrell Hilliard tried to field one and dropped it. Then Larry Dace tried to field one and dropped it. Finally, Nickerson held on to the third one before Hilliard caught the next one. The fifth punt was a low wobbler that caused Block to hang his head but actually took a good bounce and went out of bounds at the 6. Would have been perfect in a game even if the execution was not what he wanted.

In 7 on 7 passing drills, Glen Cuiellette missed an open Hilliard on his first throw. Darius Bradwell then threw way behind a walk-on receiver (I think Frank Thomas) who had gone in motion. Bradwell completed a pass to the same receiver on his next attempt. but the good passes were few and far between. The drill ended when Taris Shenall jumped a route and just missed what would have been a pick-six on a Bradwell throw.

Willie Fritz confirmed Andrew Hicks will miss the season with the ACL tear he sustained in practice last week. Tulane will need a couple of its incoming freshmen to contribute at wideout because the numbers are scarily low. Rickey Preston will not be back this spring, either, but no player beside Hicks is out for the fall.

There's nothing new to report on the depth chart. The offensive line was a little different because Chris Taylor and John Leglue sat out, with Todd Jacquet at left tackle (speaking of scary; Ade Aruna ran around him like he was not even there on one play), Kenneth Santa Marina at left guard, Junior Diaz at center, Leeward Brown at right guard and Devon Johnson at right tackle.

Zachery Harris is the linebacker who gets the most reps with the first unit other than clear starters Nico Marley and Eric Thomas, but Eric Bowie got some work, too, and William Townsend appears to be a pass-rush specialist when he gets out there with that unit.

Eric Bell got some time with the second-team D-line along at tackle, with Peter Woullard and Robert kennedy at end and Braynon Edwards maintaining his spot inside. Quinlan Carroll looks very quick off the edge, but how much of that is due to inadequate OTs? I'm not sure. Carroll told me he finally feels 100 percent healthy after suffering an ACL injury against Houston in 2014.

I would give some play-by-play, but I don't want to sound like a broken record. Taris Shenall almost had a pick-six against Darius Bradwell when he jumped a route in 7-on-7 work. Bradwell also could not connect with walk-on Frank Thomas in the flat after Thomas went in motion and had no one close to him. Glen Cuiellette did not fare much better.

I will post Fritz' full quotes tomorrow, but he admitted the low numbers at wide receiver and offensive line have affected the way Tulane practices. By my count, the Wave had 57 scholarship players practicing at the start of the spring. Hicks, Daren Williams and Rickey Preston have not practiced this week, lowering the number even more.

“We’re a little thin in spots, so I’m having to slow down the tempo when we’re repping plays,” he said. “Usually I like almost three plays in a minute, but we just don’t have the depth, so we’re having to extend practices a little bit longer than we normally do.”

The immediate impact will be on next Saturday’s spring game, which originally was going to feature the first live tackling in Fritz’ tenure.

“It’s going to be difficult for us to tackle,” he said. “I really wanted to do it, but with the numbers that we have, I’m very hesitant to get out and tackle. We had seven offensive linemen at the end of practice today. We have three scholarship receivers for the rest of the spring. We’re having a tough time at some positions.”

Fritz added that the team's conditioning was not great, another concern in practice. He expects a different situation in August.

“We’re not in great shape right now,” he said “We really used our offseason program to get stronger. This summer we’re going to run like crazy and be in incredible shape when fall practice rolls around.”

Tulane has four practices left, with the listed schedule of Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Fritz seems to like back-to-backs, though, so I would not be surprised if Wednesday's workout gets moved to Tuesday.

Fritz is hard-nosed, but he's also very generous. For the second straight Saturday, he imported refs for the practice, and when they left the field, he had the entire team clap for them. Earlier this week, Jack Curtis told me that when Georgia Southern went on the road, Fritz was the first guy to get in there and unload luggage from the inside of the bus. He is an every-day guy in the way he carries himself and does not put on any airs.

I like RPI, specifically in baseball with its long season. Winning is what counts and beating good opponents counts more. And “running up the score” doesn’t mean anything. Nor, in my mind, should it. You win or you lose. It’s all that counts.

But, I don’t like the fact that a team’s RPI can go down even with a win under some circumstances. For example, had we not played Alabama A&M, a truly terrible team with a 5-27 record and a current 13 game losing streak against Division 1 opponents, our RPI would be #35. Had we played them on the road and won, it would by #36. Beating them at home leaves us at #40. Too bad that game wasn’t rained out.

Even beating a so-so Illinois team two out of three at home hurt us—a lot—because it covered three games. We only got credit for 1.4 wins against 1.3 losses (barely .500) and added 36 wins and 39 losses to our opponents’ record. Had we not played them at all, we would be ranked #31 by RPI. Surprised? Of course, we all expected Illinois to fare much better this year-- and maybe they still will. I hope so.

Nonetheless, there are at least two positives about this disturbing situation (RPI going down despite a win). One is that it encourages teams to play tougher competition, not just load up on weak teams. It also encourages schools to play more road games, not just play before friendly crowds in familiar surroundings. Both of those are good for college baseball in my view.

As noted with the Alabama A&M example, winning at home or on the road can affect RPI a great deal also. We’ve only lost two games at home, against Illinois and SELA, but those each counted 1.3 in the loss column. Had we won either game (and it doesn’t make any difference which from and RPI standpoint), it would have added .7 in our win column and subtracted the 1.3 from our loss column. We’d be #28 in the nation from an RPI standpoint.

Winning one of the games we lost on the road (pick any one) would have added 1.3 to our win column and reduced our losses by 0.7. That would have moved us up to #29.

As the year goes on, the impact of a single game will get less and less, but as of now, winning or losing has roughly a ten place result in RPI positioning. By the end of the year, it will be more like 5 places.

And, in the end, while RPI is a good "indicator" of a team's relative position, many other factors will play important rolls in determining who gets "at large" bids to the NCAA regionals, who hosts, and who are selected as "national seeds." We need to win

Roll Wave!!!

I see on his twitter that Coach Fritz is planning on football camps in Monroe, Shreveport, and Lake Charles, as well as two at Yulman. I guess he's serious about Louisiana after all, even north Louisiana, where we have been almost absent for many years.

https://twitter.com/CoachWEFritz

Roll Wave!!!!

I am covering the baseball game tonight, so this will be quick, but here are my quick thoughts:

1) It's obviously a risky hire, but I like it better than everyone else on the seemingly underwhelming list of candidates that has been posted elsewhere. When Dunleavy had talent, he won in the NBA, and his teams in those years looked very well coached. I was against James Jones (coached at Yale since 1999 and never had a good team until he got really good talent for that level the past three years), really against Greg Gary (nothing other than playing at Tulane recommended him, although I loved his shooting stroke when he played for Perry Clark) , Doug Gottlieb (wrong personality, would not have been committed enough in my opinion), or Joe Pasternack (his resume is good, but I talked to a few people who did not like his personality and felt it would be a bad fit).

2) There is no direct precedent for a hire like this in college basketball. Larry Brown won a national championship as coach at Kansas, while Dunleavy has never coached in college. Avery Johnson is much younger than Dunleavy, and for what it's worth, I've never been an Avery guy, dating back to the days when the Mavericks were my favorite NBA team and he coached there. Dunleavy had a rep as a really good Xs and Os coach early in his NBA career. It's been a long time, like maybe forever, since Tulane had that.

3) Obviously the assistants he hires will be key. Tulane has not had good enough players to win since the first two-thirds of the Perry Clark era. Dunleavy can't change that if he does not upgrade the talent level.

I missed about the first hour of a morning workout that ended at exactly 10:15, the time it was supposed to stop according to the schedule. The Wave has reached the midpoint of spring drills, with seven workouts before today and seven more after today.

The day featured more of the same, heavy on position instruction and tackling drills administered by Willie Fritz and very light on completions during 11 on 11 work. I did not see a significant gain on any pass play, but Fritz continues to be upbeat about the development of the QBs. As has been the norm, the very first pass of the 11-on-11 work at the end of practice, this time from Glen Cuiellette, was nowhere close to being complete on a downfield throw.

Parry Nickerson did not return as Fritz had hoped, missing another day with a leg strain. And Daren Williams, who did not participate in Saturday's workout, remained out with an unspecified injury. Defensive tackle Brian Webb was on the exercise bike when I arrived and also sat out the practice. Peter Woullard went down with a right knee injury during a contact drills and stayed down for a few minutes while trainers attended to him, but once he got up, he walked without much of a limp.

The tackling drill Fritz administered today was for the linebackers and defensive backs. One player took a three-step run at another and drove him straight back on to a cushion, with Fritz hollering out " right shoulder, left hook" for the first half of the drill and "left shoulder, right hook" for the second half of the drill. The player being tackle holds a cushion in front of him and lands on a cushion, allowing the hits to be pretty ferocious without the chance of anyone getting hurt. The drill went on for about 10 to 15 minutes.

The offensive linemen got yelled at quite a bit today. Todd Jacquet got an earful from Alex Atkins when he stopped playing after his man beat him to get to Cuiellette. No whistle blew since quarterbacks are not allowed to be hit, and Cuiellette took off running while Atkins chewed out Jacquet. Devon Johnson took some criticism today, too.

The first-team offense in the 11-on-11 work had Terren Encalade and Trey Scott at wide receiver, Dontrell Hilliard at running back, Devin Glenn at H back, Charles Jones at tight end, Jacquet at left tackle, Chris Taylor at left guard, Junior Diaz at center, Kenneth Santa Marina at right guard and John Leglue at right tackle.

The first-team defense had Quinlan Carroll and Ade Aruna at end, Sean Wilson and Tanzel Smart at tackle, Nico Marley and Eric Thomas at linebacker, Dedrick Shy and Richard Allen at Donnie Lewis at cornerback and Richard Allen at nickel (Jack Curtis says he almost always uses corners rather than safeties at that spot, a departure from what Lionel Washington did) and Jarrod Franklin and Leonard Davis at safety.

The second-team defense had Robert Kennedy and Peter Woullard at end, Eldrick Washington and Braynon Edwards at tackle, Zachery Harris, Rae Juan Marbley and William Townsend at linebacker (with Townsend blitzing off the edge), Jeremie Francis and Stephon Lofton at cornerback and Roderic Teamer and Will Harper at safety.

Quarterbacks are not supposed to be touched, but Cuiellette got inadvertently tripped up as he ran downfield on one play and landed awkwardly. He got up fine. Darius Bradwell will be a load when he runs downfield. He has a thick chest and runs with a purpose.

Ed Daniels showed up today and asked a few questions after practice along with me. Here is what Fritz said.

What are you thoughts on where the passing game is?

"I thought we had a good day. This is all new to everyone, the quarterbacks, the receivers and the offensive line. We are doing a better job of protecting right now, a better job of running routes and catching the ball and the quarterbacks are becoming more accurate. It's a work in progress, but we are a lot better today than we were three or four practices ago."

Has any one quarterback distinguished himself as a passer?

"We have three guys who have shown some things but not consistently. It's kind of a yo yo right now. One guy is third, second, first and the next day it may be different. We're looking for someone who can be consistent. Not even consistently great, just consistently good where you know what you're going to get out of him every single day. They are starting to get there."

Will you have a trimmed down playbook until you start to see that consistency?

"Well, we're throwing quite a bit at these guys right now--a lot of different sets, motions, formations. We have a lot of moving parts with our offense. That's also part of the evaluation process. If they have a hard time figuring things out, they are going to have no chance of in-game adjustments and halftime adjustments and each week having a little bit different playbook depending on the opponent that you're playing. That's part of it, too. We're throwing a lot of stuff and seeing what sticks and which guys can learn it."

So offensively and defensively do you feel like you'll be relatively complicated?

"You have to be great in fundamentals and techniques, but you have to have enough diversity offensively and defensively. You can't let them get a bead on how you're going to line up every single time. Teams are too good, coaches are too good and players are too smart, so you've got to be able to do some different things, but there's that certain point in there where the kids aren't able to react properly to what you're trying to do, so you have to have a happy balance there."

So if a guy is a good athlete but is not picking up the scheme, would he sit in favor of a guy who isn't as good?

"Yeah, he would be limited in what you are going to have him do. You may have a guy only in a certain package because that's what he can do. Hopefully we don't have guys like that here at Tulane."

You mentioned the other day you switched to Seahawks tackling system a few years ago after teaching something else your whole career. Can you elaborate on that?

"One of my coaches came up to me, (linebackers) coach (Michael) Mutz as a matter of fact about three days before fall practice my first year at Georgia Southern, and he said hey, watch this (video). I watched it about 10 to 20 times. I watched it a bunch and I decided to go ahead and implement what they were doing. I think it's great for football. Number one it keeps the head out of contact. Number two, you can do a lot of different drills and take the body to the ground. It's more rugby-like tackling. Anyone can google it. It's just Hawk tackling, Pete Carroll tackling. It was very gracious of coach Carroll to share this with all levels of football. They do it in the NFL, Division I, II, III, high school. It's one of the things I talk about when I speak in clinics, but I call it Wave tackling."

What is Daren Williams' status?

"He's injured right now and we'll get him back as soon as we can."

I talked to defensive coordinator Jack Curtis on Saturday. I will post it tomorrow. He is not big on giving specifics about individual players, but he gave a good overview of his philosophy as a coach.

Another good story on the Offensive line, Guerry. Thanks!!

My take at this point:

On paper, we may have the worst offensive line going into 2016 of any team in the BCS and probably worse than many in the FCS. Including true freshmen, we have 12 scholarship linemen on the roster. We haven’t had a decent offensive line in years and lost three starters off of last year’s woeful line. Not that the players lost were very good, but they were apparently better than the guys they kept on the bench-- guys we’re depending on this year.

We have two returning seniors, Chris Taylor and Todd Jacquet. Taylor has started 28 games in his career and has had periods of very good play and other times that were not. He’s undoubtedly our best lineman, regardless. Jacquet has started 18 games in the past four years, several at tight end as a freshman. At his best he’s been inconsistent. At his worst? Consistently bad. That sound harsh, but it’s what I have observed. This year, we’re evidently moving him to the critical left tackle position. He needs to improve greatly.

We have two redshirt juniors on the team. Kenneth Santa Marina was one of the most highly thought-of recruits in the Curtis Johnson era. In his three years so far, he’s redshirted, appeared in six games (mostly on special teams), and sat out a year in academic exile. If he doesn’t contribute in this, his fourth year, it could well be his last at Tulane. Jason Stewart’s football future is also on the line. He’s also entering his fourth year at Tulane and has yet to get within about 50 pounds of a realistic playing weight. Whether it’s lack of discipline, a hormone problem, or whatever, I’d guess this is his last shot.

We have three sophomores on the line. Raul Diaz will most likely man the very important center position this year after starting in four games as a redshirt freshman. Like Chris Taylor, Diaz has shown some real potential. His health is critical in that we don’t have a “tested” center anywhere on the roster behind him. John LeGlue and Devon Johnson are the other two sophomores and will likely compete with Santa Marina for the tackle spot opposite Jacquet. LeGlue actually started one game last year and probably is the leader for the position, but he has very limited experience in game competition. And he hasn’t looked particularly good in those appearances. He did, however, take up the slack last year as a deep snapper and will probably compete for that job also. Devon Johnson is another veteran who hasn’t done much. Many fans expected him to take over the starting right tackle job last year. Instead he showed up overweight (though not in the Jason Stewart class) and fell far down the depth chart. Even though he appeared in 11 games, it was exclusively on special team and in “garbage” time. Though this will only be his third year, he’s another one who needs to show something soon.

We have three redshirt freshmen: Leeward Brown, Keyshawn McLeod, and Keeyon Smart. Brown got a lot of pre-season hype last year but was redshirted anyway. He appears to be out of shape based on pictures and his listed 344 pound weight. But someone has to grab the left guard position and he might be the guy. He still needs to trim down and get down to business. McLeod is apparently getting a shot to back up Diaz at center, probably because, at 250 pounds (roster weight), he’s simply not big enough to play elsewhere on the line. At 6’4” he needs to add some size and muscle. Smart, of course, is a big disappointment this spring. His brother has a tremendous work ethic and may be the best player on the team. Keeyon’s lack of eligibility (for whatever the reason) cannot be taken as a good sign. He needs to “fix” whatever the problem is and get ready to play. By most accounts, he could be a really good player.

Our two incoming freshmen, Tyler Johnson and Phabion Woodard, both look to have future potential, but, in truth, NEED to redshirt. With Smart’s future in question (only based on his current ineligibility) and 2-3 guys who can’t seem to control their weight, we could be down to 8-9 offensive linemen very quickly. An injury or two could make the situation almost impossible. Since we almost always lose a few starts along the offensive line even in a near injury-free year, the situation is critical and these kids may be forced to play.

Of course, what I’ve described above, is my impression of the group we have based on past performance. Thus, my original “on paper” caveat. Between now and the end of spring practice, we could see some major changes. Some guys may all of a sudden “get it.” Could a defensive lineman move to the O-line? Over the next few months, will we add a transfer or JC lineman who can step in immediately? Will the new coaching staff, new techniques, and improved strength and conditioning produce necessary results? Will the “potential” shown by some of these guys turn into down-after-down performance? All of these things could happen.

Our QB play will be important this year but I don’t see any way that we’ll get “all-conference” level play at the position (though there is always hope). Regardless, the O-line will be the key to our offensive performance this year (and most years). Coach Fritz and staff have inherited a woeful legacy in this line. We’re all hopeful for a winning season and a bowl bid; some of us are dreaming of even bigger things. But, if the line plays like it did last year, it will be hard to improve much on our 3-9 record. A win or two based on special teams alone and reduced turn overs would be about all one could expect. But, I really like our coaching staff and Coach Atkins and Coach Speer are particularly impressive in my mind. If we can stay healthy, I look to major improvements.

Roll Wave!!!

The rain started falling hard just after Tulane's first practice in pads on Friday morning, which was perfect timing. It was even better for me because after I conducted interviews under the stadium, the rain stopped again, allowing me to stay dry walking back to my car. And that, of course, is the most important thing.

As you would expect, it was a spirited practice today, with everyone knowing the first contact workout would be followed by a week off for spring break. There was no live tackling--Willie Fritz, like most coaches, has altered his philosophy on hitting as his career has gone alone--but the energy is always higher when pads are on.

Here are a few notes:

1) Donnie Lewis Jr. is making a good early impression on the new coaches. On the first play of an 11-on-11 team drill, he jumped an out route and picked off pass from Glen Cuillette intended for Andrew Hicks and raced to the end zone for a touchdown. Lewis had a second interception off of walk-on Dylan Richman, who has been around for a while but has a horrible hitch in his delivery.

"I just read my keys," Lewis said. "I watched the quarterback, saw it and just trusted my instincts and went. That's definitely a good start with a pick-six."

Lewis has liked what he has seen in the first week of practice and does not plan to crazy for spring break, saying he will follow the workout routine the coaches gave him while back at home in Baton Rouge.

"It's new coaches, a new system and new everything," he said. "These coaches are coming out and pushing us even more knowing that we had a 3-9 season last year. That gives them even more of a reason to push us."

Lewis said the toughest part of spring so far has been learning the new system, which has a different terminology, a different tempo and different techniques. He also has noticed a higher emphasis on tackling. On Friday, they had a donut drill, administered by Fritz, where an assistant coach rolled a tire and the player had to make a form tackle of the tire, sticking his outside arm through the tire while driving it to the ground. Fritz applauded the players who did it the best, including linebacker Eric Bowie and cornerback Parry Nickerson.

"I definitely need to tackle better and work on my leverage," Lewis said. "The coaches are talking to me a lot about my leverage. I have length, good speed and good mobility."

2) The very, very early pecking order at QB is Darius Bradwell 1, Glen Cuillete 2 and Devin Powell 3.

That's not the order they go in team drills and 7-on-7 work--Cuillette goes first, followed by Bradwell, then Powell--but Bradwell has been slightly better in my view. Cuillette made the mistake on the opening play of 11-on-11 today and did not complete many passes, also throwing an interception to William Townsend on a deflected ball. Bradwell seldom threw perfectly, but he did get the ball to his receivers, making Rickey Preston go low to catch a throw, Hicks go low to catch another one and Josh Rounds jump up to catch a swing pass. Rounds then juked Nickerson with a sweet move. Not all of Bradwell's throws were caught, though. He had one that went into the ground about five years in front of his target. I joked that he should have been called unintentional grounding.

The closest to a big pass gain came on a rare accurate deep ball from Richman, who is not in the running for playing time. But Larry Dace, who usually catches everything within his reach, made a poor attempt to locate the ball as it floated down to him and let it go through his hands. Later, Dace made the catch of the day, getting his foot down just inside the sideline on an out pattern.

Obviously, nothing is decided at QB. There will be more ups and downs from Bradwell and Cuillette in the next 12 practices.

3) Sean Wilson must not have impressed the coaches before spring practice started

If I had listed a lock for first-team status going into the spring, I would have put Wilson only slightly lower than Tanzel Smart and Nico Marley, but he has not worked with the first team yet. The D-linemen running with the first unit were Ade Aruna, Daren Williams, Smart and, believe it or not, briefly Braynon Edwards. The second-team line was Robert Kennedy, Luke Jackson, Eldrick Washington and Wilson. Washington then moved to the first unit, with Edwards sliding back to the second unit.

The starting O-line was Todd Jacqet at left tackle, Leeward Brown at left guard, Junior Diaz at center, Chris Taylor at right guard and John Leglue at right tackle. The second O-line was Devon Johnson at left tackle, Brown at left guard, Keyshawn McLeod at center, Jason Stewart at right guard and Kenneth Santa Marina at right tackle. Tulane has nine bodies on the line, so that encompasses everyone.

4) The coaches are really emphasizing finishing every play

That includes running to the sideline after finishing a rep. A couple of players drew the coaches' when they thought they were loafing as they went off the field. They have to run, not walk, or risk getting yelled at as Fritz' staff tries to change the culture. Sherman Badie has been criticized by Fritz quite a bit for not finishing plays this week, but Fritz was happier with his effort on Friday. Dontrell Hilliard appears to have really separated himself from the crowd at running, but there are plenty of us who think he separated himself in the preseason last year and the coaches didn't notice. Hilliard is in shape and is running well.

5) This and that

The lights were on this morning because the cloud cover made it dark. …When Devon Johnson left 10 minutes early because he had to meet with a tutor, Alex Atkins yelled at him to change the time in the future because that was under his control. … In a sign of respect between two of the most talented players on the team, linebacker Nico Marley gave a fist bump to Hilliard after Hilliard stoned him in a blocking drill.

I talked to Kevin Peoples yesterday. Here's what he said.

What do you like the most about Tanzel Smart?

"First of all, before I met him I just liked how dang good a player he was. You put on that film, and as coach your responsibility is to be able to like a player like that. But after getting to meet the kid, he's the hardest working kid on our team. He gets the most reps. He wants to fix all his technique flaws. He's hungry. He's got a chip on his shoulder. He's exactly what we're looking for in the way he plays and the way he approaches the game."

Sean Wilson started off spring drills not with the first team but has worked his way up. What has he shown you?

"Sean's steady as heck. He's got good length. He is another very conscientious kid. He wants to do right. You tell them what you want them to do, and they do everything in their power to do it. It's really a pleasure to coach those guys. Sean's a great kid and he's a good player. He does everything we ask him to do."

So has it been easy to coach them?

"Absolutely. It's easy to work with these guys. The work ethic was here. I've been very blessed with the transition. They've been a joy to coach."

Eldrick Washington began the spring on the first team before getting banged up a little bit. What do you like about him?

"First of all, weight room wise and numbers wise, he's phenomenally strong in the weight room. He's another kid that really works hard, so between those three we are going to have a good chance to have--I would consider those three kids starters. Unfortunately, injuries happen, and when one does, the other one has to step up."

How much weight would Braynon Edwards have to lose to play for you?

"I tell you what, he's an unbelievable athlete. He's lost some weight from when we got here, and that's going to be a big thing for him in the summertime, having the table discipline. If he could lose 20 to 30 pounds, it would be outstanding."

Ade Aruna arrived with terrific raw ability but little football experience. Where is he in his development?

"He's close. He's another great work ethic kid. He's hungry. These kids are hungry to win, and it's easy tow work with those guys, but he's a special player. This is a very talented group. Ade might be the most talented guy. If he puts some things together he's going to have a real, long successful football career if he can stay healthy and do all that stuff. I think he's going to have a huge year for us."

The other end spot is wide open, but Quinlan Carroll has gotten a lot of reps with the first unit. What have you seen from him?

"Quinlan was a guy that sort of surprised us. Coming in you have some ideas and you hear some things, but he's exceeded our expectations. His quickness--he's got confidence in his (formerly injured) knee. He's doing a great job. Daren Williams, who has not been with us because of an injury. He was having a good spring, too."

When did he get hurt?

"It's been a little over a week ago now. It was after we got back from spring break. We have to take all the precautions we need to. We'll get him back in the spring. He's got a concussion. He doesn't want to have a concussion, but he's got to go through protocol. He's a tough kid."

What about Peter Woullard and Robert Kennedy?

"Both of those guys have done great. Peter is really coming along and Robert is a strong, powerful guy learning to play fast. It's a great group."

Some of the assistants on this staff inherited no depth at all. Do you feel like you got the good end of the stick?

"I don't know. They say if you love New Orleans, New Orleans will love you back. Getting here and having this group of guys, I feel very lucky. The work ethic has been great. I'm happy with those guys."

You have five practices left. Where do you want these guys to improve the most?

"We need to improve on everything. We're trying to install the defense. We put in a few new things today, so we have to try to get as much installed and have a good idea going into the summer of what next year will involve, but we have to get better at everything--playing faster, stopping the run. But again, you tell these guys what you want, and they are going to do everything to fix it and solve the problems."

With last night’ 14 strikeouts, we are now striking out 8.9 times every 9 innings, a fearsome pace. This continues a trend begun in 2012 when we struck out only 5.34 times per 9 innings. Since then, our K numbers have risen to 6.55/9 innings (2013) to 7.2/9 innings (2014), to 7.9/9 innings (last year, to today’s partial-season numbers.

Of the players with at least 20 at bats, we have six players fanning more than once every third at bat:
Pierce 10/20 (50%)
Brown 21/46 (46%)
Rowland 11/26 (42%)
DeHart 19/45 (42%)
Hope 38/100 (38%)
Willsey 28/75 (37%)

As a team, once we get to two strikes, we’re striking out over half the time (51.8%). And we’re getting to two strikes almost half of our official at bats (48.4%). Despite last night’s season-high five “called” third strikes, we’ve only struck out looking about 25% of the time (24.3%). I think that is pretty good, but don’t have any data to support that thought.

We’ve obviously put up better power numbers this year and that tends to correlate somewhat with more strikeouts, but almost a strikeout per inning over a long stretch is pretty darn high. The only solution I’ve preached for 50+ years is to hit “good” pitches early in the count and don’t swing at bad pitches. Taking good pitches or swinging at bad pitches can get you to 2 strikes very quickly. And when you get to 2 strikes, the pitcher has a big advantage and the umpire also comes more into play. The only time you can make an out taking a strike or swinging and missing is with 2 strikes. That’s a big deal and accounts in large measure for the huge discrepancy in success depending on the count. We’re hitting .149 with 2 strikes and exactly .400 prior to 2 strikes. Both we and our opponents have posted similar stats for many years. The ratio will probably never change much.

To better success...

Roll Wave!!!!

Tulane's ninth spring practice under new coach Willie Fritz played out a lot like the previous eight in perfection conditions Tuesday morning at Yulman Stadium. It's really hard to gauge the strength of this team because its best attributes on offense--the talented running backs and the freedom for the quarterbacks to run--does not translate to accurate analysis when there is no tackling of anyone in team drills and no touching of the quarterbacks period. When Darius Bradwell takes off like a tank on a zone-read play, would he get downfield if he were allowed to be hit? It's hard to say, but Fritz' history indicates the answer is yes.

The one thing that can be gauged, though, is the passing game, and I can't sugarcoat it. Bradwell and Glen Cuillette are pitiful when they throw downfield. That's just the reality. It could change as they gain more experience in the offense, but in 26 years of covering college football, I've never seen less accurate quarterbacks in practice. Here are words I never, ever thought I would write: Devin Powell is by far Tulane's best passer. I'm still not taking him seriously because of all the other things Fritz requires his quarterbacks to do, and Powell has been the third quarterback in the rotation, but he completes pass downfield in team drills, something Bradwell and Cuillette almost never do.

As has been the trend at almost every practice, the first throw I saw yesterday was Bradwell overthrowing an open Trey Scott on a deep ball in a seven-on-seven drill. Scott, Devin Glenn and Terrell Encalade have consistently gotten open this week, but the ball rarely gets to them. Bradwell did complete about a 20-yard pass on curl--in to Encalade a few plays later, but even that one was high and slightly behind him, forcing him to jump to make a nice grab.

When they started 11 on 11 work, Bradwell overthrew an open Glenn on his first pass. Then Cuillette tried to hook up with Encalade on a deep sideline pass and threw it too wide, forcing Encalade to try to catch it over the wrong shoulder. He didn't, and he may not have been inbounds anyway.

The three quarterbacks rotate in and out pretty quickly in Fritz' practices, a difference from CJ's, when each one got a long stretch. Powell came in and connected with tight end Charles Jones for a nice gain. Cuillette replaced him and misfired for Scott deep. Powell returned a little later and completed a pass on the sideline with good touch before hitting Encalade with a perfect deep ball on the last play of the practice.

Most of the plays in between were runs, with Bradwell in particularly preferring to tuck the ball and head up the middle with plenty of steam. But again, it's hard to rate those plays with no one being allowed to touch him.

Ade Aruna scored the only touchdown of the 11-on-11 portion, picking up a fumbled handoff between Cuillette and Josh Rounds and running 10 yards into the end zone. I had not noticed Aruna a whole lot this spring until that play.

Sherman Badie has improved significantly with each practice. He looked tentative before spring break and the coaches were on him a lot. Now he looks like he did in the preseason and the first half of the regular season in 2014, running with speed and balance.

As they do every day, they spent plenty of time on tackling drills, emphasizing the should to things Hawk tackling system Pete Carroll coaches. One player (I did not catch the number). It was linebackers and defensive backs tackling linebackers and defensive backs while the other position had separate drills. At one point, a player got criticized for hitting Nico Marley too high in the drill (I did not catch the number), which seems a bit harsh. It's hard not to tackle Marley high.

The practices are efficient and organized, ending right on time and moving from drill to drill smoothly. I think there was too much speculation under CJ's tenure that practices were disorganized, but I will say in the second half of last fall, the defense routinely finished its scout team work about 15 minutes before the offense, so all of the defensive players just stood there watching the rest of the way. I'd never seen anything like it covering any team's practice before, and it was almost every day. Maybe it was the influence of Jason Rollins helping the defense practice faster, but it was strange and made it feel like things were deteriorating. There's no standing around under Fritz and his staff. Although they allow frequent breaks because of the low numbers at key positions (offensive line, wide receiver, linebacker), their guys are active when drills are live.

I've liked what I've seen from Encalade and Scott at receiver. They get open. The next step is getting the ball to them. Andrew Hicks and Rickey Preston are banged up, leaving the group even more thin than it was at the start of spring.

Nothing changed on the depth charts yesterday. Kenneth Santa Marina continued to get time at right guard with the first unit, with Todd Jacquet and John Leglue manning the tackles. Sean Wilson continued to practice ahead of Eldrick Washington at defensive tackle after not getting a sniff on the first until for the first week-and-a-half. Wilson is not a good interview, but I'll try to talk to him soon to see what was holding him back at first. He probably won't say, but you never know.

Parry Nickerson was out for another practice. I'm hearing now he has plantar fasciitis, but Fritz told me last week he had pulled a muscle.

Tanzel Smart had to leave practice midway through to go to class. I'm just guessing Fritz did not have to deal with that at Georgia Southern or Sam Houston State. I'm also guessing he won't have to deal with that in the fall now that Troy Dannen is AD and will do what he can do in his power to help his coaches.

They have not announced yet whether the 10th practice will be Thursday or Friday (the original schedule is Friday), but Saturday's coaches' clinic practice will be a 3 p.m. I am not covering baseball for The Advocate on Saturday, so I will be at that football practice.

Guerry do you have anything on Montalbano's injury? I'm hoping it's not the UCL.

I've been focusing on the quarterbacks as the reason for Tulane's abysmal passing attack in the spring (and trust me, I am not exaggerating when I say there are no downfield completions in 11-on 11 drills in most of the practices. Zilch, zero, nada. But the complete lack of depth at wide receiver is just as significant.

Today, Tulane's second-team wideouts were Reed Green and Chaz Augustini, a pair of walk-ons who have never played in a game. Green almost came down with a lofted sideline pass from Darius Bradwell but could not hold on to it as he crashed to the ground, and he came up a little gimpy on one leg after the effort.

The reason for the shortage: Rickey Preston and Andrew Hicks are not practicing due to injuries, and Hicks is now questionable for the fall after having surgery to repair a torn ACL Thursday. The injury happened last week in practice when he knocked knees with a teammate at the end of a pass route, but no one knew how serious it was at the time.

"He went across the middle, he bumped knees with somebody, he got up and he walked off," coach Willie Fritz said. "It turned out to be an ACL."

Preston suffered a concussion in practice and has been in the concussion protocol all week. His return for the last week of spring drills is possible but not certain.

As a result, Tulane has converted tight end Trey Scott, former walk-on Larry Dace and Terren Encalade as the only available true wideouts, with H back Devin Glenn also in the picture but not lining up wide. That meant Augustini and Green got a lot of work Friday, with predictable results. Green's near catch was the only thing close to a completion at the 11-on-11 drill at the end of practice. With four receivers coming in for the fall, the problem will not be nearly as severe, but this team has zero proven, productive wide receivers.

With Daren Williams out with a minor injury, redshirt junior Quinlan Carroll has been getting a lot of reps on the first-team defense. Carroll has three career tackles but has impressed the coaches in the spring, practicing ahead of Robert Kennedy, Peter Woullard and Luke Jackson. I talked to defensive line coach Kevin Peoples today and will post his comments about all of the defensive linemen soon (except for Jackson, whom I forgot).

Nothing changed on the depth charts today, although Eric Bowie got more time with the first unit at linebacker when the Wave used three linebackers. The starting corners were Donnie Lewis and Richard Allen because Parry Nickerson continues to be sidelined by a leg injury. Leonard Davis continues to start at free safety ahead of Roderic Teamer. Kenneth Santa Marina continues to start at right guard. And Sean Wilson continues to start with the first unit at defensive tackle after beginning spring at the bottom of the depth chart.

"They wanted to see a reaction out of me to get better," Wilson speculated. "They wanted me to get angry to get that first spot back, so I got it back. Last spring was the same thing. They put me on the second team and wanted to see me improve. I think they did it because some people don't take that well, and they knew I could."

I had Fritz to myself today--he would not comment on whether or not he was interested in the Sam Houston QB transfer or not--and here's what he said. For starters, he told the team the practice had started slow but finished fast is post-practice address before coming over to talk to me.

On the H-back position:

"What we've got to do this spring especially--we're adding four receivers in the fall--but I also don't want to just play a receiver in a position just because that's what we're supposed to do. I was talking to Sherman (Badie) and Dontrell (Hilliard) and Josh (Rounds) and Lazedrick (Thompson), saying you guys have to learn some receiver stuff so that we can put you out there. We'll teach them three or four routes because those guys are good athletes. It will help us with our depth and now we're not necessarily running two backs."

On if lack of depth at receiver and offensive line was unprecedented in his coaching career:

"When I was the head coach at Blinn (Junior College), I think I had 54 on the team, so I had to do a really good job of managing practice. The thing we're trying to do is be physical but stay on our feet. We're finishing plays with effort, but we're not finishing plays and taking guys to the ground. That's what we're working on."

On Tanzel Smart:

"The number one thing is the guy wants to be a great player. He works extra every single day, not every other day, every single day. I'll go in here and do a little running, and he'll be in there on the elliptical. He's trying to keep his weight down. He's trying to get a little bit quicker. He's a good athlete. I bet the guy's a good basketball player. He's got good movement. He's got long arms. He's got a great jump off the ball. We've got to take advantage of his quickness. Sometimes you get those guys inside and you have them keeping the offensive linemen off the linebackers. We got to take advantage of him. The linebackers need to keep those offensive linemen off him."

On Sean Wilson:

"We feel like we've got three or four guys who can start. Eldrick Washington's been hurt a little bit and been out, but Sean's got good size, good quickness, good power, and so does Eldrick. Up on the defensive line we feel like we've got eight guys that can play Division I football."

On Ade Aruna:

"He's got to put together a year that matches his athletic ability. He's a tremendous athlete. He's got great want-to, and he's just like a sponge. He's absorbing everything that coach Peoples is teaching him. He is going to be a great player, and we need him to be that way next year."

On the other end spot:

"Quinlan Carroll has impressed me. Peter Woullard has done some good things. Kennedy, Luke Jackson, we have some guys who can do some stuff there. If we have to, we can also play a linebacker at that position."

On getting transfers:

"It's difficult for us to get transfers. They've got to graduate and they have to have a high GPA, so it's difficult for us to get transfers. We're going to build this program into a consistent winner with high school kids."

Fritz also talked about the injury to Hicks and said they are going to work on kick returns next week after ignoring it in the first three weeks of spring drills.

After Saturday's practice, I talked to Jack Curtis for the first time. It wasn't the wide-ranging interview I have posted in the past with coordinators because I had to talk to Fritz and players for the notebook I was working on that day, but Curtis, who doubles as the safeties coach, talked about how he ended up on Fritz' staff at Georgia Southern and gave an overview of the Wave defense.

What is your impression of the defense you inherited?

“Well, every day we come out here and we’re learning and installing, so we’re going at a really slow pace right now. We want to get our guys playing fast, and in order to do that they have to know what they’re doing and understand the defense. We’re not going real fast. We’re seeing the speed pick up. Every day we come out here and see it a little bit faster. We’re getting better. I think we’re ahead of where I thought we’d be with the defensive line right now. It’s really a talented group there. Things on the back end are a little bit slower with the adjustments and learning what to do, but I’m very pleased with where we’re at.

How would you describe your defensive philosophy?

“Our philosophy is you have to do a little bit of everything and be pretty good at it to be able to adjust to what other teams are doing. We’re going to blitz about a third of the time, we’re going to drop about a third of the time and we’re going to play base about a third of the time. We have to do it all to be good in today’s game because you are going to see different opponents do different things to you, and you have to be able to adjust to what they’re doing. We have to put enough defense in to give ourselves a chance to win and at the same time keep it simple enough that our guys can play fast and know what they’re doing.

What are your impressions of Leonard Davis and Jarrod Franklin?

“I’ve been really impressed with Leonard just with his leadership ability. I think that comes with him playing quarterback in high school and being in a leadership position. He’s come out here and kind of taken over that in the secondary. He’s a very football smart kid out there on the field. He can get people lined up. He sees things fast and reacts quickly. I’ve been very impressed with what he’s doing.

“Jarrod Franklin has showed up a couple of times and made some real nice plays this spring. He’s had some interceptions. He’s a talented player as well.”

The previous staff used Franklin at linebacker primarily. How is he handling the adjustment back to safety?

“I think he’s in a more natural position. They had him playing a nickel, and our nickels are basically a cornerback. We are a little bit more athletic and a little bit more cover ability at our nickel with the defense we are playing. He’s a kid that’s big enough to drop into the box. He’s 205 pounds. We can play him as a linebacker when we get the eighth man in the box.

What are your impressions of the defensive line?

“Tanzel Smart and Ade Aruna and some of those guys are really playing well. It’s a talented group. There are going to be a lot of guys in that group that can play, so probably at this point I’d say it’s one of our strengths on defense. That’s a good thing up front. We’re going to be able to apply some pressure on people without having to blitz. We can win some one-on-ones.

What are your impressions of the linebackers?

“That group probably has the most on them about learning. There are a lot of different alignments, and usually that group takes a little bit longer to get going and know what they’re doing, but everybody’s locked in and giving great effort out here. I’ve been real pleased wit that. These guys have bought in to what we’re trying to get accomplished. It makes coming out to practice a lot of fun.

Willie Fritz inherited you at Georgia Southern and retained you as defensive coordinator before taking you with him to Tulane. How did that play out?

“I’ve known him for a long time, but I’ve never coached with him until he came to Georgia Southern but had several guys that I’ve coached with over the years that coached with him. It’s an unusual situation when a coordinator can stay on from a previous staff to a new staff, but I was very fortunate to stay on at Georgia Southern and be part of that. He’s a fantastic guy to work for. I love him. It’s been good. We’ve been winning a lot of ball games with him, but that’s what he’s done his whole career. It’s been fun to be hitched up on his wagon. It’s been a great ride, so I’m looking forward to doing some great things here at Tulane.”

Did you have choice to go to Army when your former coach at Georgia Southern, Jeff Monken, took the job there?

“It was up in the air. I don’t know for sure. I was not going to be the coordinator at Army, and once that happened, it happened pretty quick. I was not going to go to Army as the coordinator.”

How did you get the job with Fritz?

“When he came in and accepted the job on the official day, he called me up that night and we went out and he offered me the job that night. Of course I’d known of him for a long time but never had worked with him. We had a lot of mutual friends. For instance, Doug Ruse our offensive coordinator, I coached with him about 17 years and he was with coach Fritz. (Defensive line coach Kevin) Peoples had coached with him about three places already, so there was a connection there.”

How much had you talked to Fritz in past

“Not real often. We were more of acquaintances and saying hello at conventions and that sort of thing. We’ve been to clinics together and seen each other a few times. It was more of a friendship. There were times he had a question and he would call me and I’d call him, so we were not once a week buddies or anything like that. It probably went back to ’96 when I first met him.”

As you predicted they moved it up a day.