DUDLEY, Mass. (3/19/2024) - The Nichols College football team kicked off their 2024 Spring Football practices on Tuesday morning. Hear from Head Coach
Vinny Marino on his thoughts heading into the Spring Practices for 2024 and what his goals for the program are.
OVERVIEW
"This spring we are looking to improve every practice at every position. We have to learn to practice better as a team, so everyone gets better. This group of young men have worked very hard in the weight room this winter and we have seen a lot of improvement in our size and strength. This is a hungry football team that knows they have a lot to prove come the fall. We will spend a good amount of time practicing the fundamentals and techniques that we will be implementing. It's a great chance for our new coaches to teach and connect with the players. This spring we will be spending a good amount of time on special teams. We weren't good in that phase last year and it needs to be a phase we win every week. It's one of the fastest ways to turn a program around. We will be committed to improving on special teams and finding the players who can impact the game in a positive way in this phase. I am excited about the staff we were able to put together. They are high energy coaches who can teach. I am confident our players will develop under their tutor ledge.
OFFENSE
"We have a tall order on Offense to get back to being one of the best offenses in the conference. We have to replace an extremely productive QB and RB. The QB competition is one I am looking forward to. I want to see who wants to take the leadership role and who our kids rally around. We have a bunch of WR's and TE's back who have played a lot of football. That will help in the development of our young QB's. We will be young at RB, but I do feel there is some explosiveness in the group. They all will need a great spring of development so they can make a big impact on the offense. It is also a great thing that we have 4 out of 5 of our starting Offensive linemen back. They all need to take the next step in being an offensive line that can dominate opposing defensive line. We must also develop depth at the OL. I am excited to see what Coach Case will do with them this spring.
DEFENSE
"We have a lot of work to do on this side of the ball in order to compete for the CCC Championship. We weren't good in too many aspects and our players are very hungry to improve and play better defense. I am excited for Coach Lund and his staff to get the defense playing sound, tough, and smart. He and the staff will bring great energy and the players are excited about the change. He has a wealth of experience, and it should make our players feel good about the position he will put them in. We will have plenty of competition as you can imagine across every position. We have to stop the run this fall and that will be a major point of emphasis this spring. Our Defensive line needs to create chaos at the line of scrimmage versus the run and pass. Our Linebackers need to be great tacklers and play more physical. I am looking forward to seeing who steps up at this position. The defensive backs have a good amount of ability, but they have to play with more discipline and toughness. I am confident in our staff to get a lot more production out of our players and it starts this spring.
