University of South Dakota Athletics

In less than one month's time, South Dakota's spring football season has come and gone. The Coyotes held their final scrimmage Sunday out on the new practice field and followed up with their final two practices Monday and Wednesday, completing an efficient sequence of 15 spring workouts in 29 days.
 
The decision to move Saturday's practice to Sunday proved fruitful as Sunday's forecast was spot on and an impressive group of Coyote supporters was able to watch the team run through about 75 live plays. Many of those reps went to younger Yotes.
 
"We got the reps to the people we needed to see," said head coach Bob Nielson. "We are starting to see more and more improvement out of the young linebacker group. Players like Dakota Smith, Jakari Starling and Tre Thomas, redshirt freshmen who are showing a lot of athleticism and a lot of improvement. Young corners, like Tre Jackson, also had a great day.
 
"Offensively, we played a few more of the younger receivers. Marquis Majors had several nice catches and Carter Kuchel continues to improve. I thought the running backs looked good again – Ben Klett and Canaan Brooks, and then Lincoln Gibbs was back healthy. They all took reps during the scrimmage."
 
Health wise, Nielson stated the team is in a much different place from where they were at a year ago when 10-12 players were still getting back to full speed throughout the summer. That number may be down to one or two following this year's spring slate.
 
The focus of the team now turns solely on academics. Next week is the final week of classes ahead of final exams. Afterwards, the Coyotes will have a chance to break away before the summer session starts on May 20.
 
As for the coaches, Nielson and his staff begin an evaluation period where they will be out on the road visiting schools and working to gain information for the 2020 recruiting class. Camp season begins shortly thereafter.
 
"We do some follow up with our players here over the course of the next week," said Nielson. "I get a chance to meet with every player individually. I'll be out on the road doing some 2020 recruiting as well before we start focusing on summer camps in June."