Saluki Football opens 2018 Spring practices

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CARBONDALE, Ill. - The 2018 Southern Illinois football team opened spring practices with a spirited two-hour session on Thursday afternoon in Saluki Stadium. Here's a Q&A with head coach Nick Hill about the 2018 team, focusing on turnovers, Sam Straub's health, and more.

How did you think the first day went?

I thought it was really good. Everybody was excited to get out here. We've had a great six weeks of conditioning, led by Meade Smith, our strength coach. We've seen big gains in the weight room, and six weeks is the perfect time. Everybody is hungry to get back on the field. We had great weather today and great tempo. We changed a few things around with practice, and I thought that was good. It's exciting to get back out here and get better at the things we need to improve on.

Do you talk about 2018 expectations this early?

We've only talked about our expectations for each day. That's our focus. The season isn't even in my mind. We need to get better from this practice. It's cliche, I know, but we have to get into that routine where it's fundamentals and taking care of what's in front of us. Now, after this practice, it's about taking care of your body, being on time and watching film. Then, Sunday, come out and have an even better practice than we did today. If we commit to that, we have a great group of youth and experience that understands what the season takes and what we need to get better at.

Are there any specific areas of focus for spring ball?

Our emphasis is the same as last year. The emphasis is turnovers. We doubled our turnovers on defense (in 2017), but our offense committed 12 more turnovers than the year before. It's a team thing. That plus-minus is on both the offense and defense. How many times did you take it away and how many times did you turn it over? We have to get better as a unit. Obviously, when you're out here competing against your own team, there's going to be a winner and a loser. Today, the offense won. We have a belt out here that we're going to compete for each day. Somebody in the offseason gets to keep it. The offense has to do a good job of cherishing the ball, and the defense has to grow on what they did last year and be known as a defense that year-in and year-out is going to take the ball away.

QB Sam Straub missed the end of the season with a hand injury. How did he look today?

Good. We had him on a little bit of a pitch count, just because it's the first day, but at the end, he kept wanting to go. He probably isn't where he wants to be throwing the football because he hasn't been throwing for a long time. He's had a lot of physical therapy. But he went about 75 throws today and was able to do full-team things. I'm excited for Sam's senior year.

Offensive coordinator John Van Dam left for Lafayette College.

We're very appreciative of everything he was able to do here. He was on my first staff. He has an awesome family, and we're going to miss them. As you find out in the coaching profession, there's going to be turnover, and you have to do what's best for your family. With that, I'm excited to get back in there with the quarterbacks. This will be Sam (Straub) and my fifth year together. Practice is a little different for me, back over there calling the plays and scripting practices. I had to adjust a little bit of my day-to-day routine, but I'm excited about it. That's what I grew up doing and cut my teeth on it.

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