CONWAY — The Central Arkansas football Bears opened spring practices Saturday inside Estes Stadium, putting together what head coach Clint Conque felt was one of the best first days he's seen in his long career.
"I've been doing this for nearly 30 years, and we didn't have the mistakes you ordinarily see on the first day of spring practice," said Conque, who is entering his 13th season at Central Arkansas. "It was really encouraging to see. First, it was just awesome to be back out on the field. And I thought the attitudes and energy were both very good. The guys were very sharp, very crisp and very focused. If we can have this same mindset for 15 days this spring, we're going to become a better football team."
Conque attributed much of that to the coaching staff and the stability within it. The Bears retained all of their full-time staff this offseason, putting the preparation ahead of where it was this time a year ago.
"We're much further along with our teaching and with those guys who are starting their second year here, they are much more comfortable with our offensive and defensive schemes, with our players and setting expectations," Conque said. "Our coaches have high energy and are highly organized, and of course the players feed off the coaches."
Much of the practice was spent in 7-on-7 pass skeleton drills, where several Bears on both sides of the ball turned in excellent first-day showings.
"One thing that really stuck out to me is that I think Jesse Grandy is much more confident and stronger, and maybe even faster," Conque said of the wide receiver who led UCA with 49 receptions for 788 yards and nine touchdowns as a junior last season after transferring from Ole Miss. "He caught some really nice deep balls and underneath routes. He's got enough experience now that we've got the ability to move him around in some formations, and I thought he did well with that today."
Conque also thought receivers Dominique Croom and Blake Gardner turned in good days, and redshirt junior quarterback Wynrick Smothers drew the head coach's praise as well.
"Wynrick really threw the ball with confidence and authority and looked like a 4th-year guy," he said. "And he looked really strong. He still can't take snaps under center after having his left wrist surgically repaired, but he looked to have good command throwing the ball today."
On the other side of the field, the Bears were happy to welcome back junior defensive back Radarius Winston. Winston missed the entire 2011 season with a foot injury.
"It was really good to get him back on the field," Conque said. "He's not as strong yet in his lower body as he will be heading into next season, but it was good to see him out there again. His ability to communicate, and his veteran play, will make our secondary even better."
Junior safety Jestin Love, junior linebacker Justin Heard and senior linebacker Seth Allison also stood out on the first day, along with punter Kevin Buford.
Conque said there was little to report on the offensive and defensive lines after day one, given the format of practice, but looks forward to further evaluation in the coming days.
"It's hard to really identify much on the lines since they weren't put in competitive situations throughout the day," he said. "I know they're working hard in drills with their position coaches, and we'll get to see more of them in game-like situations in the coming days and we'll know more about where we stand there."
UCA will be looking to fill several vacancies on the offensive line created by the departure of 2011 seniors Matt Dickerson, Brad Jakel, Joe Lehocky and Logan Roubique.
The Bears will practice three more times – on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday – before breaking for 13 days. They'll resume with a pair of practices on March 28 and 30 before their first spring scrimmage on the 31st. The spring will conclude with the Purple/Gray game on Friday, April 13.
