Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Opens Spring Football Practice
3/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
March 27, 2007
HUNTINGTON - Head Coach Mark Snyder and his staff conducted the Thundering Herd's first practice session of the spring on Tuesday at Joan C. Edwards Stadium. Marshall's third year head coach said that the Thundering Herd has plenty of work ahead as it prepares for the 2007 season.
"It is great to be out here on the field," Snyder said. "The enthusiasm was good today, but we have some work to do. It was a typical first spring practice."
The coaches and players enjoyed nearly perfect weather with sunshine and temperatures in the high 70's. The Thundering Herd welcomes back 15 starters from last year's squad and those veterans will be looked upon for leadership.
Senior quarterback Bernard Morris is one of those veterans and he said the first day went as expected.
"The first day you have a lot of returning players, but you do have some new faces so it probably was not as up-tempo as the coaches would have liked," Morris said. "We have a lot of work to do and I know everyone is going to do what it takes to get where we need to be."
Morris who is Marshall leading returning passer and rusher said he likes what he sees on both sides of the ball. Last year, the Orlando native completed 116 of 188 pass attempts for 1,346 yards and eight touchdowns. The signal caller also rushed for 324 yards and two additional scores.
"I think one of our strengths this year will be our interior line up front with Doug (Legursky) in the middle and Ziegler and Leggett," Morris said. "Those three guys have played a lot of snaps. I also really like our receivers and the depth and experience we have there and at tight end. We should be able to do alot of different things offensively in the passing game."
Morris also likes what he sees on the defensive side of the ball.
"Our defense definitely has a lot of speed," Morris said. "Those guys can really move from east to west. When you look across and see talented athletes like Josh Johnson at linebacker and Albert McClellan at defensive end it makes you take notice. I think we have a chance to be pretty good on both sides."
Thundering Herd fans will get there first opportunities to see Marshall practice on Thursday and Saturday. Marshall will conduct open spring practice sessions on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. and on Saturday at 10:30 a.m.
Fans are reminded that recording devices of any kind (video, etc.) are not permitted at the practices.
