Luginbill’s Thoughts of SDSU Spring Football Eternally Hopeful
Spring football opens Monday at San Diego State, and that means Coach Al Luginbill is thinking spring thoughts.
He says he’s excited about getting started. He talks about the importance of making strides with the young athletes. He frets about the work that lies ahead.
The discussion eventually rolls around to probably the most important variable for the Aztecs this spring--continuity.
A year ago, Luginbill was new to the program, having replaced Denny Stolz. He had a handful of new assistants. They were practically learning players’ names as they instructed them on the field.
A year later, a system is in place. Familiarity, Luginbill hopes, will breed improvement.
“It’s no longer a struggle,” he said last week. “The young men can just go out and take care of business. The staff understands the players, and the players understand the staff.”
Despite the growing pains, SDSU was 6-5-1 last season--the first winning season for the Aztecs since 1986--and 4-3 in the Western Athletic Conference.
There has been just one coaching addition this season--Steve Fairchild was named recruiting coordinator/quarterbacks coach, replacing Steve Devine, the former offensive line coach. Dave Lay, the offensive coordinator who previously dealt with quarterbacks, will take over responsibility for the line, and Dan Underwood will take over running backs and tight ends.
Luginbill said he will work the team hard over the 20 practices he is allowed by the NCAA--15 in which contact is allowed--partly because the team still is not quite where he would like it to be and partly because it is relatively young. There are just 16 seniors on the roster.
One of them is 6-foot-8 quarterback Dan McGwire. His 1989 statistics, while good, didn’t match his stature. He threw for 3,651 yards, the second-highest season total in school history, but was inconsistent.
“I’ve talked with Dan several times about where he is and where he needs to be,” Luginbill said. “If he improves like most players going from their first to their second years, this offense will be an excellent group.”
McGwire will have several targets in wide receivers Jimmy Raye, a healthy Patrick Rowe (he missed last season with a knee injury), Dennis Arey and redshirt freshmen Merten Harris, Jake Nyberg and Will Tate.
“I can’t believe anybody in the western United States will have better speed than us out wide,” Luginbill said.
The Aztecs have four or five running backs jockeying for position this spring, and Luginbill will be watching the offensive line closely, attempting to fill both tackle and guard slots.
But what he will be working hardest on is the defense. The Aztecs averaged 30.7 points a game last season but allowed 31. The biggest culprits were, in order, the linebackers and secondary.
To that end, two of the four community college transfers Luginbill brought in are linebackers, and one is a cornerback. The linebackers, Andy Coviello (Sacramento Community College) and Lou Foster (De Anza College in San Jose) are enrolled at SDSU and will participate in spring drills.
SDSU will practice on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays and scrimmage on Fridays. There will be no contact during the Monday drills, and Friday’s scrimmages, according to Luginbill, will be 120 plays or longer.
The team will be off April 9-13 for spring break, and the annual Red-Black game will conclude drills on May 5 in the Aztec Bowl.
Aztec Notes
Two players are injured and will miss spring practice: senior center Nick Subis (broken foot) and freshman defensive lineman Greg Porter (dislocated shoulder). Junior offensive lineman Kevin Macon (dislocated toe) is questionable.