TU to search for next quarterback
BY ERIC BAILEY World Sports Writer
Friday, February 03, 2012
2/03/12 at 6:04 AM
Tulsa begins searching for its next quarterback during spring football drills, which begin on March 6.
The Golden Hurricane will practice on 15 days culminating with the April 7 spring football game, coach Bill Blankenship announced on Wednesday. The game's time will be announced at a later date.
Tulsa last looked for a quarterback prior to the 2009 season, when G.J. Kinne beat out Shavodrick Beaver and Jacob Bower for the position. Kinne started the last three seasons for the Hurricane.
"Obviously, some real key battles for us are going to start at the quarterback spot. We're going to have four scholarship quarterbacks in camp and several walk-ons that will compete for that spot. It's really important that gets decided this spring," Blankenship said.
Kalen Henderson, Cody Green, Joseph Calcagni and Dane Evans are the four scholarship quarterbacks taking part in spring drills.
Tulsa will hold seven sessions before spring break, opening on March 6, and eight more following the week-long break. Practices normally will be Tuesday, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays during the spring and all workouts are closed.
"Spring is going to be here pretty quick," Blankenship said. "We're anxious to build continuity off the season that we just had. We felt like bowl practice and leading up to the bowl game was very positive for us. We were able to red-shirt a good number of our freshmen last year, so these are guys that we're anxious to get into the mix and see how they compete."
Tulsa's second-year head coach pointed out needs on the offensive line, tight end and placekicker.
"We need to fill in some holes on the offensive line. We've got quite a few bodies, but we need to see who's going to step up and be the leaders there. Similarly at tight end with the loss of Clay Sears and the backups," he said. "Again, there are a lot of jobs that are open. I think another big deal is place-kicker Kevin Fitzpatrick being gone. We'll be competing for the job this spring, and who will get to compete with incoming freshman Daniel Schwarz for the job in fall camp.
"Similarly, the deep snapper position is up for grabs and we want to continue to see Cole Way develop as our punter."
2012 Tulsa spring practice schedule
March: 6, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 27, 29, 30, 31
April: 3, 5, 6
April 7: Spring game
Eric Bailey 918-581-8391
eric.bailey@tulsaworld.com
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Blankenship
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