Hokies ready to begin spring practice on SaturdayHokies ready to begin spring practice on Saturday
Football

Hokies ready to begin spring practice on Saturday

BLACKSBURG – Head coach Justin Fuente and the Hokies will hit the field on Saturday morning for the start of spring practice and will follow up with another on-field session on Sunday. In total, the Hokies are scheduled for 14 practices leading up to the 2018 Spring Game on Saturday, April 14. A total of 40 letterwinners and 14 starters return for Tech in 2018.

Complete Spring Football Preview
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Earlier this week, Fuente discussed the progress that his young squad has made in the weight room under the direction of Ben Hilgart.

"I think one of the most telling things I've seen is the gains that we have made," Fuente said. "I think that is indicative of really two things. One, Ben and his staff do a fantastic job down there, and the other thing is our youth. When you have a young football team, you obviously have more area for gains. When you have an older football team, those gains tend to be a little smaller with guys being a little further along in their development in bench press, squat, hang cleans and all of that sort of stuff. When you are dealing with nine seniors and three quarters of your team being sophomores or younger, it's good to see those big gains because you need those things.

"All of that being said, I'm excited about the way we've worked," Fuente added. "I like our attitude and our work ethic, though we have a long way to go. We are looking forward to getting to practice and getting out there and running around."

Hard Hat Award Winners
Prior to the start of spring practice the Hokies went through a grueling strength and conditioning program led by Ben Hilgart and his staff. Here's a list of the 28 Hokies who performed at an elite level during Hilgart's regiment and receiving a coveted hard hat on Friday. Senior RB Steven Peoples was crowned the overall hard hat champion for his exemplary performance throughout winter workouts.

Steven Peoples – Hard Hat Champion
Adonis Alexander
Dan Bailey
Emmanuel Belmar
Xavier Burke
Austin Cannon
C.J. Carroll
Divine Deablo
Clay Dean
Daniel Griffith
Damon Hazelton
Jarrod Hewitt
Hendon Hooker
Jarrett Hopple
Zachariah Hoyt
Josh Jackson
Dalton Keene
Khalil Ladler
Ray Minor
Chase Mummau
Yosuah Nijman
Bradley Parcell
D'Andre Plantin
Braxton Pfaff
Dylan Rivers
Tyrell Smith
Ricky Walker
Ryan Willis

Youth, Open Competition will be Spring Themes
Jimmy Robertson chronicled some of the position groups such as linebacker and wide receiver where opportunities abound for young players to step up and make an impact in 2018.

J-ROB'S POSITIONS TO WATCH
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The Evolving QB Position
QB Josh Jackson enters his sophomore campaign after re-writing Tech's freshman record book. On Monday, Fuente addressed his expectations for what he wants to see from Jackson and the less-experienced signal callers on the Tech roster.

"I'm sure I will be asked about the quarterback situation, so the bottom line is if we played tomorrow, sure, Josh [Jackson] would be our starter," Fuente said. "But quarterback, like every position, we have very few guys who are above or beyond reproach in terms of competing for their jobs. So he'll go out there and we will divide the reps between the other two guys with [Ryan] Willis and Hendon [Hooker]. There are already some things that we know about Josh that we don't know about the other two, that we will need to try to simulate in terms of when we scrimmage, we'll have to do some live work with Willis and Hooker that we will not do with Josh. Josh has more than proved his ability to handle the toughness it takes and all that sort of stuff. So, we will divide it up and go let them compete, I like the way all three of those kids have worked. I make no bones about it I love Josh's competitiveness and I look forward to getting him out there and going and getting after it."

Restocking The #LPD
Numerous opportunities are now open for players to step up on Tech's defense with several notable departures for the NFL, including the Edmunds brothers, Greg Stroman, Brandon Facyson and Tim Settle. Co-defensive coordinators Bud Foster and Galen Scott both spoke at length on Monday about the potential of players to get looks at new positions, and who they're most excited about seeing take the next step in spring.