Why spring football comes early for some
For most Midstate high school football programs, later is better as it relates to spring practice.
But those that have practice early see it as a way to get ahead of the game.
Of the 116 schools that have set spring practice dates, 107 will have some part of their workouts in May, including 57 that won’t begin before May 1.
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The other nine schools will be finished by the end of April.
The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association allows schools up to 10 spring football practices and two scrimmages over a maximum of 15 days. Schools can practice anywhere from Jan. 1 until the end of their school year.
At one extreme, Lipscomb started on Feb. 26 and wrapped up on March 13 — a week before the first day of spring.
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“We have so many baseball players, soccer players and track runners,” coach Scott Tillman said. “We wanted to get it in before their season got so heavy.”
The first day of spring sports games was March 10.
On the other end of the scheduling spectrum, Ensworth traditionally practices near the conclusion of the spring sports season and will go out in shorts the week of Memorial Day.
“We don’t graduate until May 31,” coach Ricky Bowers said. “We always go that last week. We have very few boys that don’t participate in something in the spring, and we don’t want to interfere with any of the other sports. It’s the only time that really makes sense to us.”
Those teams practicing early have a variety of reasons.
“Most teams go in May because they have a chance to scrimmage somebody else,” said Livingston Academy’s Bruce Lamb, whose team concluded spring practice on Thursday. “To me, spring practice is for younger kids, to see how they’ve improved.
“We don’t scrimmage anybody. We try to get the young kids out there, see how they react to things, see if they get better. We’re not worried about playing somebody else. We’re just worried about us getting better as a team.”
Off-field development is a factor at Father Ryan.
“Our timing comes from sitting down with our strength and conditioning coach and figuring, from a strength-gain standpoint, when’s the best time for us to go out,” said coach Bruce Lussier, whose team finished spring practice last week.
“When we get done, we’ve got a five-week window to get back in the weight room and continue our strength development before finals, rather than getting back in there later and taking two weeks off for finals.”
Father Ryan also has a physical education/wellness class period in which all football players are enrolled. The Irish conduct their spring practice sessions during that time frame, increasing the number of athletes who also play spring sports.
For Rossview coach Ron Lambert, scheduling spring practice in April has a practical result. Most injuries sustained during those workouts, except for the most severe, would allow for a return prior to the start of the season.
“We went about two weeks later last spring, and we had one kid (offensive lineman Branden Brick) that broke his ankle in our final scrimmage,” Lambert said. “He missed our first four games. We may have him back quicker in a similar situation if we go a little earlier.
“We’re just trying to be proactive with the potential wear and tear on the body, and we didn’t want kids to feel overwhelmed by the number of practices that would seem to go back to back. You hit 10 days in May and a kid gets banged up, misses some of June and possibly July. This allows more of a recovery period.”
Reach Maurice Patton at 615-259-8018 and on Twitter @mopatton_sports.
MIDSTATE SPRING FOOTBALL
When teams hold practice.
Done by April 30: 9
April and May: 50
All in May: 57
Most common date: April 28-May 16 (15 schools)