Spring Football is officially underway at Southern Utah University, as the Thunderbirds have begun working towards their Big Sky title defense.
Demario Warren, who is entering his third season as the head coach of the Thunderbirds, answered questions following the first day of practice in 2018.
Q: How did it feel to be back out on the field?
A: Awesome. This is what we do. We love to coach football so we’re out here getting to see how far they’ve come since last Fall and we’ve got some new guys out here running around, so it’s really exciting to see. I thought the offense was really prepared and kept the pace of practice up, so we’re excited about where we started day one.
Q: What did you see this team do in the weight room the last few months, and how did that prepare the team for today?
A: Coach (Jeremy) Fradin did a great job and I think you can see it out here. We’re a much bigger, physical team. The guys almost gained over 700 pounds in nine weeks of work, so they did a great job of putting on mass and getting bigger and stronger.
Q: After losing a lot of seniors on the defensive side of the ball, what’s the game plan for the coaches this spring to fill those gaps?
A: Complete and get back to the fundamentals. We haven’t had to coach all the fundamentals all the time in the past like we do now, so we’ve got to get back to the details and have our guys locked in. And we’ve got to build depth, because we don’t really know who’s going to step up when the lights come on so we’ve got to have a lot of guys ready to go.
Q: The whole coaching staff is back for another spring. How big of an impact does that have?
A: It’s a blessing. It’s very fortunate to have these guys. We’ve got some great coaches on staff, and I’m sure they’ll be able to get other opportunities, but for these guys to be here for the third straight year is really a blessing and we’re grateful for them coming back and being able to coach one more year.
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SUU Athletics Strategic Communications
