Troy Football Spring Practice Notebook: Week Two

Troy is now two weeks and six sessions into spring practice under Chip Lindsey. The offense is beginning to find its footing and the defense continues to work within the slight changes made throughout the group.

Position battles rage on from quarterback to wide receiver to defensive line. Lindsey mentioned at the end of Week 1 that the depth was going to start being organized after Practice 6.

That means, going forward, we’ll start seeing who Lindsey has identified as his playmakers. Troy’s first scrimmage is set to come during Practice 9 at the end of week 3.

For now, though, here’s a breakdown of week two.

Finding a New Bandit

Troy is losing a massive piece of its front seven when Hunter Reese and his 30.5 career tackles for loss graduated. There are two clear front-runners for the open Bandit position in junior Kevin Nixon and redshirt junior Zo Bridges.

The two have split reps at the position pretty evenly so far. Reese has kept his eye on his former position and likes what he sees from both players.

“I think they complement each other pretty well,” Reese said. “Kevin (Nixon) got a lot of playing time last year and you can tell he’s familiar with (the defense).”

Nixon played in 11 games last season and recorded 13 tackles. Nixon was listed as an inside linebacker coming out of last spring but was used in a variety of roles during the 2018 season.

Bridges, though, did not see game action last season and took a redshirt.

“(Bridges’) is fine, he’s going to pick up right where he left off,” Reese said. “We’ll be fine at the bandit for sure.”

Defensive coordinator Brandon Hall is also a fan of what the two players bring to the table as far as talent and athleticism goes.

“Both of them are explosive,” Hall said. “They’re very athletic and very explosive. Coach (Bam) Hardmon has done a very good job with those guys. Those are two guys we’re trying to get involved in as many ways as we can.”

Hall said he hopes to simplify the bandit position for the two, who have very little combined game experience in the role, in order to fully tap into what they can do with their talent.

Change in Coverages

Troy may be replacing a lot of experience in the defensive backfield, but that hasn’t stopped Hall and staff from challenging the defensive backs with a new scheme.

Instead of playing off-man, Troy corner backs are lining up in press coverage and getting physical at the point of contact.

“We’re playing some man stuff because we’re trying to teach our guys to compete,” Hall said. “We’re also playing zone from a press standpoint so even though it looks like its all man press, it’s zone. We’re trying to get our corners to stay square and get their hands on receivers.”

Junior corner Terence Dunlap returns as Troy’s top defensive back and welcomes the change.

“Last year we played a lot of off-man and this year we’re playing a lot of straight press man,” Dunlap said. “We have to hydrate, eat right, sleep and do a lot of extra running. I enjoy doing it. I hated playing off-man last year because it created too much space.”

The result has been two weeks of heated one-on-one battles between defensive backs and wide receivers, perhaps most notably between Dunlap and sophomore Luke Whittemore.

“Me and Luke we go 50/50 every day, man,” Dunlap said. “Luke is one of the best receivers on the squad and to be the best you have to beat the best. Me and Luke just get each other better every day.”

Wide Receiver Depth

Wide receiver has been an area of focus for Lindsey as he continues to evaluate a boatload of pass catchers. Lindsey said on Saturday that he plans on using an eight receiver rotation this season and has started to identify who those eight can be.

“I think Khalil (McClain) and Reggie (Todd) have brought a really nice presence,” Lindsey said. “As a group we’re still trying to find our best eight guys.”

When asked who has stood out as a potential playmaker, Lindsey brought up the aforementioned Whittemore.

“I’ll tell you, Luke Whittemore has really stood out to me,” Lindsey said. “He practices every day, doesn’t say a whole lot and just does what he’s supposed to do.”

Khalil and Chip

Junior college transfer Khalil McClain took advantage of the early signing period and put his name on the dotted line on December 19. He was being heavily recruited by Neal Brown’s Troy staff and Les Miles’ Kansas staff.

His primary recruiter from Kansas? Chip Lindsey.

Lindsey was an offensive coordinator for Miles at the time and was working on building Miles’ first recruiting class. Lindsey and McClain got to know each other through the process before McClain decided on Troy.

Just a few weeks later, Brown left for West Virginia and in stepped Lindsey.

“That was surprising, I was like ‘dang, I was just with him,'” McClain said. “When I was on my official visit to Kansas, it was great.

“Reggie (Todd) was with me too, our other JUCO receiver. I didn’t even know Reggie was coming here. Me and Reggie had a table together at the Kansas visit and we both ended up here. Now he’s my roommate.”

McClain was excited about the Lindsey hire, already knowing that Lindsey was going to throw the ball.

“The offense is pretty fast, we throw the ball a lot,” McClain said. “I’m trying to stay in shape to run the plays, I want to play at least 80 plays.”

Catching up with Sump

Junior Tyler Sumpter returns as Troy’s All-Conference go-to kicker/punter extraordinaire.

Sumpter talked to The Trojan Wall this week about what a spring practice is like under Lindsey.

“It’s intense. it’s definitely intense,” Sumpter said. “It’s organized and everyone’s got a job that they’ve got to do. There’s a purpose behind everything, whether that’s how we warm up or how we do our fundamental work.”

For Sumpter, his work now primarily comes early in practice.

“Special teams (works) a lot more at the beginning,” Sumpter said. “Field goal is considered pre-practice now so really just one period now in punting.”

Sumpter was a second team All-Sun Belt place kicker and third team All-Sun Belt punter in 2018. Sumpter’s punting numbers were impressive, but the conference was populated with Ray Guy Award finalists Cody Grace (Arkansas State) and Brandon Wright (Georgia State).

“I’ve got mad respect for (Brandon Wright) and Cody Grace, they do a great job,” Sumpter said. “It sets a good competitive edge in the league and it’s good to have guys to chase after.