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Charlie Mager | LUTV
May 2, 2016; 4 p.m.
The Lindenwood football team ended their spring practices with their annual spring football game at Hunter Stadium.
The scrimmage alternated between the offense and the defense with one-on-one drills between the two squads, with the offense pulling out a 47-42 win on the final drive of the game.
Photo by Charlie Mager
Lindenwood’s defensive coordinator, Deion Melvin, enters his fifth season with the team, and stresses the importance of spring practices and the conditioning that it entails.
“We’re moving them (all players) around so much, and the practices are very fluid,” Melvin said. “Also in the spring we have the opportunity to condition them in morning workouts, so they get a little more conditioning in the spring as opposed to when the season starts in the fall.”
Spring practices also give the players the opportunity to acclimate to the new coaching staff, as Lindenwood hired five new coaches during the off season: Running Backs Coach Austin Bell, Defensive Line Coach Jamie Marshall, Corners Coach Bryan Baldwin, Wide Receivers Coach Marc Kolb, and Offensive Line Coach Brice Carlson.
Carlson also works with the players individually to discipline the students to perform at the college level.
“It’s not just playing, it’s meeting room, how they are in the meeting room, how they are one-on-one talking to the coaches, how they are working out with their strength and conditioning staff,” Carlson said. “They have to be brought in, they have to understand to play at a higher level which they haven’t done yet, so I’ve been pulling that out of them little by little.”
Head Coach Patrick Ross like the new coaching staff and understands that change is a part of the game.
“Change is good a lot of times, so the situation we were in offensively, we really needed to bring some fresh blood in here,” Ross said. “The other guys did a great job, but it was time for some fresh blood, so they’ve really done a nice job of winning our players over.”
The Lions will begin their summer workouts in June before opening the 2016 season at home against the University of Central Oklahoma on September 1.
