2014 spring football begins

PROVO, Utah - BYU kicked off spring football practices Monday as old and new players regrouped at the SAB practice fields.

"I thought our team worked hard today," BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "We're certainly starting from a different place offensively than a year ago in terms of how much they know about the new system. We have more depth at defensive line than what we've had in quite some time, and we also look more athletic at corner than we have in a while."

After warming up and going through conditioning, the team spent most of the afternoon in individual and position drills. The last segment of practice was dedicated to skelly and 11-on-11 as the players wore only helmets.

Running back Jamaal Williams made his presence known with back-to-back catches, later followed by a touchdown run to cap off the day. Quarterback Taysom Hill led the first-team offense while Christian Stewart manned the second group. 

Among the new faces was junior college transfer receiver Nick Kurtz. He and sophomore Michael Davis, who was originally recruited to play receiver but switched to cornerback last season, both saw significant time at the receiver position today.

"Nick and Michael are just going to get worn out this spring," Mendenhall said. "They got tons and tons of work today, which is great. They will continue to work a lot until we get Mitch, Ross and our two transfers back this fall."

Spring practices will continue for the next five weeks, ending on April 4.