University of South Dakota Athletics

?? A month ago during a brutal February, very few would have believed University of South Dakota's football team would have a clear green field and temperatures in the 50s greeting them for a series of spring practices scheduled to begin on March 20.
 
And yet, there it was last week at the new artificial turf practice area. The gated field was full of players in helmets and jerseys for the first time since November with a lot to get done in a short time.
 
Among those tasks is installing a new defensive system. Additionally, there are waves of personnel decisions to sort out both with new players and with familiar names.
 
At many spring practices across the U.S., programs are also looking to decide what direction they'll be going next with their quarterbacks. That will not be the case at USD, however, where Austin Simmons will be entering his second season as a starter and his fifth year in the Coyote program.
 
But just because the quarterback job will be a lively topic of conversation does not mean it's not a significant part of the offseason. To the contrary, the last time a quarterback had a second year as a starter at that spot for USD, coach Bob Nielson and offensive coordinator Ted Schlafke, the Coyotes had the top offense in the nation.
 
That was Chris Streveler, who earned All-America honors and set school records as a senior before moving on to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. While Simmons has a different set of skills, a similar improvement and comfort level with the position in the Coyotes' up-tempo attack could mean big things in 2019.
 
"Getting that year under your belt does a lot for your confidence," said Simmons, who completed 288 of 471 passes for 3,127 yards and 18 touchdowns last season, leading the Missouri Valley in passing yards and total offense. "It can be a huge advantage. One thing for me will be to remain as calm as I can at all times. If a play breaks down, just do my best to make a play happen. It started to get easier to do that as the year went on last year and that's what I want to keep moving forward with."
 
Streveler completed 164 passes in 273 attempts for 1,947 yards in 10 games as a junior and came back with 316 completions in 481 attempts for 4,134 yards as a senior in 13 games. While that jump in production is probably not typical, it certainly hints that the Coyote offense has the potential make a move in 2019.
 
"Austin definitely got better as the season went along last year," Schlafke said. "A lot of the development for Chris happened from the end of his junior year to the spring of his senior year. I expect a lot of the same improvements out of Austin. That's four or five extra months in a leadership role directing the whole thing."
 
There are different ways of measuring such things. Schlafke said that Simmons and the offensive line made significant improvements over the second half of the season in 2018 though the quality of the schedule over that time made the progress less obvious. Likewise, some of the ways Simmons will take steps forward may be initially hard to measure.
 
"You learn the offense, you work to execute the offense, and then you move toward mastery of the offense," Schlafke said. "That's what's been thrown his way. It's the challenge of going out there and mastering it instead of just going out there and running plays. And elevating teammates is what the position is always about. Whether you can throw really well or run really well, it's about getting the most out of your guys."
 
Simmons has eight of his top nine receivers from a year ago returning. The Coyotes also have their top running backs returning, so there are many skill position players who can be expected to improve along with the quarterback. It could make for quite a show.
 
"We've got a lot of playmakers," Simmons said. "We got the whole receiving corps coming back outside of Shamar (Jackson). Up front we have some guys with experience. At running back we have some guys with experience, probably one of the best stable of backs since I've been here, and we have some older guys coming back at tight end. I think there is a lot to build on and a lot of playmakers across the board."