Football Continuing to Take Shape in Spring Practice
March 24, 2018 | Football
The Cardinals trained in full pads for the second-consecutive practice.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It's only been a couple of days since Louisville has strapped on the pads at spring football practice, but there is a continuing enthusiasm about returning to the field.
The Cardinals, across all position groups, made significant gains in their offseason workouts. Even some of Louisville's youngest players displayed extraordinary marks during testing days.
The motivation though is to fast forward the clock to being on the gridiron and carrying over those results.
Louisville practiced in the comforts of the Trager Center on Sunday for two hours, beginning the day with light stretching followed by drills at each of the position groups. The tone changed the moment head coach Bobby Petrino signaled for an intrasquad scrimmage.
"I thought it was good," assistant coach Chris Klenakis said. "The contact was good. It was good to get the pads on yesterday and today, and today to get some team situations where we got live work. It was good for us."
Units on both sides of the ball showed progress, including the offense under new starting quarterback Jawon Pass. As the redshirt sophomore continues to learn the system, he has the luxury of Mekhi Becton on his offensive line.
A starter in 10 games last year, Becton played a pivotal role in the Cardinals' offensive success. The Highland Springs, Va., native is figured to be even more effective in the trenches with a year under his belt and an offseason in which he lowered his body fat and improved his strength.
"He has a chance to be a real good one," Klenakis said of Becton. "He came in and didn't miss a beat. He's sure a pleasure to watch out there."
Another player drawing plenty of focus is freshman and multi-skilled Chatarius Atwell, also known as Tutu. The Miami, Fla., native was called one of the top players in Florida. Though he starred as a quarterback at well-known Miami Northwestern High, Louisville believes his speed at receiver makes him even more valuable.
During the testing days, he clocked a team-best 4.33 in the 40-yard dash. Now, his main focus is understanding the Cardinals' playbook.
"My first week went well, just working hard and getting stronger and getting to know the system," Atwell, said. "My biggest thing was to get my work done in high school, so I could come up early and start college early. I wanted to get ahead with my classes and be in the system."
With his limitless skillset, being able to pass and catch, Louisville has plans to utilize Atwell in different capacities.
"That's the beauty with our system – we're able to adapt it to our players' talents," Klenakis said. "That's good coaching; that's the key to coaching is being able to adapt your system to your players' talents. We take what the players do well and we use the systems that benefit their talents."
Louisville returns to practice on Tuesday, continuing to eye its spring game on April 14 at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.
