Miami (FIUSports.com) – FIU opened its first spring under new Head Coach Ron Turner on Tuesday, March 19. Along with Turner, the Panthers were led in their day one drills by a new coaching staff, as well. That staff includes: Andre Patterson (Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Line), Josh Conklin (Defensive Coordinator), Jason Brooks (Defensive Secondary), Andrew Hayes-Stoker (Running Backs), Kort Shankweiler (Tight Ends/Tackles), Steve Shankweiler (Offensive Line/Run-Game Coordinator), Cameron Turner (Quarterbacks/Wide Receivers), Tom Williams (Linebackers) and Kevin Wolthausen (Special Teams).
Collectively, the staff boasts nearly 200 combined years coaching in football. To say it is an experienced coaching staff may be an understatement.
Most notably, yesterday's spring practice, which kicked off at 9 a.m. at Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium and was open to the public, began with special teams drills. FIU special teams play, led by Wolthausen, was arguably one of the most important roles for Turner in fortifying his new Panthers staff. Check out Wolthausen's FIU bio HERE.
Who was there?
The FIU spring roster is presently made up of 77 student-athletes, plus a handful of talented walk-on candidates looking to earn a full-time spot on the roster.
The 77 student-athletes include 48 who have earned letters wearing the FIU blue and gold in past seasons. The other 29 have either redshirted in recent seasons, or are now eligible after transferring or due to injury.
Did you know?
79 percent of FIU's roster hail from the great state of Florida (61 players), with 23 different Sunshine State counties represented. 40 percent of the roster (31 players) comes from the local Tri-County region.
We will miss you. The FIU roster saw the graduation of 23 players who had a combined 579 career starts. That figure is 76 percent of the career starts (759) totaled by the 2012 roster of players. For the mathematic fans, the FIU roster returns 29 student-athletes who have a combined 180 career starts.
Can't wait to see…
Quarterbacks Jake Medlock and E.J. Hilliard taking snaps in a pro-style offensive system. Although the base formation may be one with the quarterback taking snaps directly under the center, the playbook will still include plans to run from the spread, shotgun and such. Akil Dan-Fodio is back at quarterback this spring after playing at tight end during the 2012 season. He came to FIU in 2011 as a talented high school quarterback out of Georgia.
Veteran running back Kedrick Rhodes leading a young pack of Panthers in the backfield. Rhodes is poised to break every rushing record in the FIU record book in his upcoming senior season. Behind Rhodes are Shane Coleman, Lamarq Caldwell and Jakhari Gore. Plus, Jerrico Lee, a 2010-11 part-time starter at defensive tackle, is back and lining up at fullback.
Willis Wright, Glenn Coleman, Jairus Williams, De'Andre Jasper, Dominique Rhymes, Raymond Jackson, T.J. Lowder, Fred Porter, James Louis, Adrian Jenkins, Rockey Vann, Richard Burrows, Clinton Taylor and Chris Sullivan battle to get into the main receiver rotation. A very deep position.
Ya'Keem Griner, Zach Schaubhut, Junior Delpe and Ricky Fernandez re-invent the tight end position in the FIU offense.
The offensive line expand to over two teams come fall practice. The silver lining is the present group of linemen are definitely getting much experience out of the 15 spring practices.
We'll spotlight the defense tomorrow!
Spring Practice #2 begins Thursday morning at 9 a.m.
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including U.S. Century Bank Arena and Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelors, masters and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU is worlds ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission and enrolls nearly 48,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. More than 140,000 alumni live and work in South Florida. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
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