By Bryan Bloodworth
NORMAL – Unlike early in his football career at Illinois State, Brock Spack no longer has to put an emphasis on coaching effort.
Winning will do that.
“We’re always coaching effort, but we haven’t had a really coach effort anymore,” said Spack, whose team concludes 15 sessions of spring practice Saturday with the annual Spring Showcase at Hancock Stadium at noon.
The event can be heard on WJBC 1230 AM beginning at 11 a.m.
“It always used to be such a grind always trying to get guys to play hard,” added Spack. “We haven’t had to do that as much. There’s a culture here of winning and there’s a standard of play every time they take the field, so from that standpoint it’s been pretty good.”
Festivities begin with the eighth annual Kids Football Fest with registration at 9 a.m. and activities running from 9:30 until 11 a.m. The event is free and open to all Reggie’s Kids Club members ages 12 and under with adult supervision.
Activities include a catching station with the Redbird quarterbacks, a field goal station with the Redbird kickers, throwing accuracy, tackling stations and an obstacle course. In addition, participants will have the opportunity to dress up like a Redbird football player and get their picture taken with the ISU cheerleaders and Reggie Redbird.
Fans can then attend the Redbird Barbecue, which will be held from 11 a.m. to noon on the Hancock Stadium East Concourse near the end zone. For $6 (cash only), a lunch of a hot dog or hamburger, side dish, chips, cookie and a drink will be served prior to the start of the annual Spring Showcase.
“I think you’ll see a spirited competition,” said Spack. “We’re going to run the clock and get out of here as quick as we can. We want to get some work done in about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes.”
And what can fans expect to see from the Redbirds?
“We won’t show a whole lot in the game,” added Spack. “The passing game may be a hair different maybe than what they’ve seen, slight differences but not a lot to the naked eye. The passing game should be a little different to them.
“You’ll see a group that runs pretty well; a pretty athletic crew and a team with some depth. This has been the deepest we’ve been in the spring since I’ve been here. I like the development of our team.”
Spack admits he was concerned about depth along the front seven of the defense going into spring drills.
“But, I think we’ve addressed some of that and we’re starting to develop some younger guys who have played pretty well,” Spack continued. “I think we’ll be fine there.
“We have a pretty good stable of (running) backs). We have tough kids, who run hard and can catch the football real well. They’re all pretty good in protection and complement each other real well.”
Bryan Bloodworth can be reached at [email protected]
