ABILENE, TX — On Monday, the Abilene Cooper High School football team started spring practices. The Cougars went full pads to begin the week, taking it one day at a time.
Head coach Aaron Roan said offseason training went well. The team worked on strength, speed and agility, which satisfied the coaching staff so far.
“We’re excited to be able to get into this setting,” Roan said. “Last year with COVID none of us were able to do that so we’re looking forward to being able to get out on the field and work to continue to get better at what we do.”
Roan said the main goal is to develop the offensive and defensive lineman this spring. He said it’s the key to the team’s success during the regular season. As of now, all position-coaches are teaching the playbook, boosting the players’ confidence.
“I think offensively we’ve got a young group of skill kids that we’re looking forward to being able to evaluate them in the pads,” Roan said. “We have a good group of returners really in all positions, but seeing those guys in continued leadership roles really helps.”
There are many returners on the defensive line. The inside and outside linebackers is where the coaches will rely heavy on this spring. The secondary has some experience and there will be some new faces offensively.
“We have three offensive linemen with varsity experience coming back,” Roan said. “There’s some newness at the quarterback position, but we’re looking for a competitive spring out of that position group and in some of our other skill areas as well.”
There’s plenty of room for improvement these next four weeks. The spring game will be Thursday, May 20.
