Just like he does for every spring practice, LSU football coach Nick Saban sets objectives for the LSU football team to accomplish.
Saban announced those objectives and other spring goals Wednesday as the Tigers prepare for spring practice, which begins next Monday and will run through the Spring Game, April 11.
“We’ve had an excellent off season program,” Saban said. “I really like the way the players have worked, and we’ve had very few problems relative to guys making improvements physically.”
Saban said the first and foremost goal for the 2003 LSU football team is to establish an identity as a team.
“That’s always the first objective,” Saban said. “What are people going to say about this team? Do they play hard; do they play with toughness; do they play with character? Can they compete for 60 minutes in the game?”
The second objective for the Tigers is to establish team chemistry. Saban said the players need to trust in each other and believe if everybody does their job, the team can be successful.
The third objective is to improve discipline and execution in terms of offense, defense and special teams.
Saban also cited three specific areas where the team needs to improve: turnover ratio, big plays — giving up less and making more — and quarterback efficiency.
In the Tigers eight wins in 2002, the turnover ratio was plus seven. In the five losses, it was minus eight.
“We put the ball on the ground too many times on offense and didn’t get enough turnovers on defense,” Saban said. “That’s something that we’ve always tried to emphasize and feel like we need to improve on.”
The fourth year LSU coach said the defense did a good job at the beginning of the season not giving up many big plays, although the offense did not really produce many big plays.
As the season went on, the defense began to give up more big plays, which resulted in more points allowed.
Saban stressed the importance of continued improvement at the quarterback position during spring practice.
Once again, Matt Mauck and Marcus Randall will compete for the starting quarterback job, while Rick Clausen, Michael Harrison and Lester Richard continue to develop.
“It’s much, much too early to worry about the starting quarterback because we don’t have a game for quite a long time,” Saban said. “I think that is something we will deal with based on the progress people make. Matt won the position last year. Marcus played a lot and improved. We don’t have a quarterback controversy right now. We just have two guys we want to continue to grow and develop.”
Mauck, who was injured in the Florida game and missed the rest of the 2002 season, has made good progress with his foot injury, Saban said.
Mauck’s recent progress has been delayed though because he had a screw removed from his foot that was rubbing a tendon, causing soreness in the foot.
Saban said Mauck will practice in a red shirt for most of the spring and will be limited in how much he can do.
“Hopefully he will be able to get the reps he needs at his position in terms of throwing the ball and executing the offense,” Saban said.
Others expected to spend most of spring practice in a red shirt are wide receiver Devery Henderson (arm), defensive end Marquise Hill (shoulder), center Ben Wilkerson (back), corner back Randall Gay (shoulder), tight end Kory Hebert (shoulder) and defensive lineman Torran Williams (stress fracture in foot).
While some positions have returning starters and quality depth, there are a few certain positions where holes will need to be filled, particularly at running back, linebacker and safety. On special teams the roles of long snapper, kicker and kick returner also need to be filled.
Saban and the coaches plan to experiment with the offensive line by moving right guard Stephen Peterman to left guard, with Rudy Niswanger and Terrell McGill competing for Peterman’s old position.
“It is always a goal in spring practice to get the best players on the field,” Saban said. “Everybody has an opportunity in the spring. We really don’t have a depth chart.”