Holt ushers in new era at Idaho

The first day of football practice could just as easily be subtitled “What did I do over summer to improve?”

It’s a chance to show off new muscles, added foot speed and weight gained or lost, depending on the goals of the player.

The University of Idaho football team met new strength and conditioning coach Aaron Ausmus this summer and the results were put on display as Vandal veterans went through a near three-hour practice Monday morning. Freshmen had a separate workout Monday afternoon.

“They look totally different than they did four months ago,” said new head coach Nick Holt, who helped recruit Ausmus from his former employer USC. “He’s made a huge difference.”

Defensive ends Brandon Kania and Mike Anderson both added roughly 15 pounds. Tackle Eric Davis put on 20. Tackle James Coley bench-pressed “in the mid 400s, up nearly 50 pounds,” according to Ausmus. Several offensive linemen dropped between 5-7 pounds and lowered their body fat. Center Jarrod Schulte gained eight pounds but trimmed his body fat.

Receiver Wendell Octave picked up 10 pounds. Quarterback Michael Harrington appears sturdier.

“Overall we accomplished 260 pounds of muscle gain, when you take their new weight from May and how much their body fat was,” Ausmus said. “It averaged out to 4.4 pounds per guy. That was taken in early July and we’re probably even a little more lean because we did a lot of running in July.”

Kania weighed 224 pounds when he came to Idaho four years ago. He was probably a touch lighter at the conclusion of spring drills.

“I put on about 17 pounds,” Kania said. “He’s got us working hard and we’re keeping a fast tempo. I’ve just been eating and the workouts really helped. It wasn’t too much that it wore us down, but it got us better and we have more muscle mass.”

Octave discovered the benefits of peanut butter.

“I’ve been eating peanut butter all the time,” he said. “When I wake up in the middle of the night, I eat a straight peanut butter sandwich. With the program he has us on it’s going to put muscle on you.”

Ausmus started in April, so he wasn’t able to conduct winter conditioning. He looks forward to working with the players full time.

“The biggest thing is teaching them to work out with tempo,” he said. “When we’re on the practice field we’re not allowed to stand around, so in the weight room we teach them the same thing. They don’t realize it, but they’re getting a lot of conditioning in the weight room.”

Harrington sharp

Junior quarterback Michael Harrington had a nice stretch of completions but he was stung by several dropped passes and some fumbled exchanges. He threw most of the summer with returning receivers and his surgically repaired elbow seems to be holding up fine.

“Right now I couldn’t be happier,” he said. “I’m not going to go into the locker room and cringe (like last year).”

Harrington tended to throw side-arm last year to compensate for the pain his elbow. His motion appeared slightly more over the top Monday. He had plenty of zip on the ball.

“We haven’t tinkered with his release much, but we’ve worked a lot on his mechanics,” quarterbacks coach Jonathan Smith said. “I do believe right now, after going through spring, he understands the offense and he’s coming along. He did some good things as far as changing plays at the line the way we want.”

The receiver position is one of the team’s bigger question marks. Octave, Jeff Stowe, Jimmy Labita and Bobby Bernal-Wood each caught between 15 and 30 passes last year.

“As time goes on you’re going to see us grow and emerge and the timing is going to be really good,” Octave said.

Harrington’s timing was lousy this summer… on the golf course. He gladly traded much of his time on the links for 7-on-7 passing drills with his teammates.

“I got the ‘Tin Cup’ shanks,” he said. “I hit the 70s a couple times, but not as much as last year.”

Coach’s corner

Practice was conducted at a brisk pace, though Holt was disappointed at the sometimes sloppy play.

The offense and defense were chastised on different occasions for sloppy huddles. A receiver was lectured for not finishing off a route by running into the end zone. And the players were called back to repeat a conditioning drill when someone didn’t do it properly.

“It’s upbeat, there’s no walking or we do up-downs,” Octave said. “We get a lot more things done and our bodies are ready for that type of tempo.”

Holt said depth needs to be developed across the board.

“We don’t really have any superstars on defense, but we have a couple really nice players,” he said. “I like our athleticism and we’ve improved our speed on the edges. I think we’ll play well as a unit.”

And the offense?

“I expect us to be really solid and be way better than what they have been around here,” Holt said. “We’ll be a lot more open and make things easier for the quarterback to see stuff because we’ll be spread out and not as packed in. Hopefully we’ll be better. That’s why I’m here I guess.”

Notes

Lakeland High grad Eric Nave might miss the season with a back injury. He was competing for starting center with Jarrod Schulte last spring. “It’s something he and his family think is really serious and we’re trying to find out the status of that,” Holt said. … Idaho’s first scrimmage will be Sunday night at 6 p.m. at Moscow High. Other scrimmages are scheduled for Aug. 18, Aug. 21 and Aug. 27. … Coaches and several support staff wore T-shirts with the phrase “I’m in.” Said Holt: “It means that we believe and we’re totally committed.”