Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 14, 1990 TAG: 9003142529
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LEXINGTON - LENGTH: Medium
When drills began on Feb. 23, second-year head coach Jim Shuck had 82.
That's a solid number of returning players for a Division I-AA program. For Shuck, it's even more significant.
Everybody came back.
And at VMI, with its tough academics, disciplined military lifestyle, honor code, that doesn't happen too often - in any sport. It seems someone always leaves for one reason or another.
"That's been a real positive," said Shuck, whose first team lost its first eight games but closed the year 2-0-1. "It might be a little crazy to think everybody will still be back after the second semester. When the kids go home for the summer, some may decide that they might not fit into the VMI system, but so far we're intact."
Throughout his first season, Shuck stressed the importance of convincing his players that the program, which hasn't had a winning season since 1981, was moving in the right direction under his leadership.
"One of the big things was getting the freshmen to come back for the second semester," Shuck said. "I think our upperclassmen have had a lot to do with that."
For Shuck, the high turnout was essential.
When he was hired last January after serving as assistant coach at Army for five seasons, Shuck brought the wishbone offense and the multiple-50 defense with him. Both had to be taught from scratch. By the end of the season, the Keydets were just getting the hang of them.
"[During spring practice] you have a chance to do a lot of teaching," Shuck said. "You can work on the little things that are going to make you a better football team.
"You can really slow down practices and spend a lot of time developing individual skills and improving techniques. It's hard to do that during the fall when you're preparing to play a game every week."
For the players, spring practice is a time to jockey for position on the depth chart. The Keydets didn't have a lot of senior starters last season, but their spots will be up for grabs.
In addition, VMI has few positions where just one player is secure.
For example, last season the quarterback spot was almost equally shared between sophomore Tony Douglas and freshman Tony Scales. That was typical of many positions as Shuck routinely rotated players trying to find the right combinations for his new system.
"I think we're greatly ahead of last year at this time," Shuck said, "so much ahead it's not funny. In a lot of positions the competition is really good. Basically, spring practice is your chance to make the ball club and move up the depth chart. Then it's up to you over the summer to do the things necessary to keep that position."
Shuck is expecting even more competition for spots when fall practice starts. He's already signed 22 recruits for the upcoming season.
"We got some we didn't expect, and lost some who we thought this was the perfect place for them," Shuck said. "We recruited some size and speed. We got a lot of multidimensional athletes. Some of them are very competitive in other sports. I like that because that shows something about their competitiveness and athletic ability. We tried to recruit kids from winning programs and for the most part we've done that. Still they're going to have to come in and show what they can do.
"We feel like we're on the right track. We're moving ahead, but we've still got a long way to go."
by CNB