Claeys Opts For More Competition At Gophers' Annual Spring Game
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Gopher football team will hold its annual spring game Saturday afternoon at TCF Bank Stadium. Kickoff is at 12:45 and it's free and open to the public.
Fans can probably expect a little more excitement this year, because Tracy Claeys has made some changes.
In his first Spring Game as head coach, Claeys is trying something different. Rather than the glorified practices Gopher fans have gotten used to in recent years, this year's spring game will be more of a traditional game.
"We'll already have most of our evaluations done by that day, so game day is more for them," he said.
The players will be divided into two teams -- gold versus white -- and will play two 40 minute halves with a running clock, except for the final five minutes.
"I just want the kids to have fun," Claeys said. "Everybody plays the game of football now because they love to play. So I want them to have fun. We'll draft up the teams.
Gophers offensive lineman Jonah Pirsig says he's excited about the change.
"From what I hear, we're gonna have a game-like situation for the spring game -- something that we haven't done in the past," he said. "We're all really looking forward to it. We're gonna treat it like game day."
It'll be fans' first look at the new offense under new offensive coordinator Jay Johnson. Starting quarterback Mitch Leidner -- still recovering from foot surgery -- won't play. That means there will be a good look at the guys competing for the back-up QB job: Conor Rhoda, Seth Green and Demry Croft. Claeys says right now they're neck and neck.
"They all make mistakes and they all make plays -- probably where they should be after as many practices as we've had, with the new offense," he said. "But they do continue to get better."