Troy Football Spring Practice Notebook

3/19/2018 4:33:00 PM | Football

By: Adam Prendergast

TROY, Alabama – Quick, name the college football programs that rank in the top eight nationally in victories the last two seasons. Did that list include Troy? If not, back to the drawing board.

Head coach Neal Brown has led the Trojans to 21 victories over the past two seasons, which is the eighth-best mark in the country – only Alabama, Clemson, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State and Washington have more.

Troy returns to the football field this week as the Trojans open spring practice on Tuesday at 4 p.m. It will be Troy's first official football activity since a 50-30 blowout of Conference USA West Division champion North Texas in the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl on December 16.

With Brown entering his fourth spring practice at Troy, there are ample storylines to keep an eye on during the month-long spring practice culminating with T-Day on April 21 at 12 p.m.

Quarterback Battle: For the first time in recent memory, Troy has a true quarterback battle on its hands heading into spring practice. Junior Kaleb Barker and redshirt-sophomore Sawyer Smith will battle throughout spring and possibly into the fall for the QB1 duties.

"They are both ready and they both have game action," Brown said. "Last spring was really beneficial for both with Brandon out as they took turns leading the ones. I've been really pleased with what they've done in the winter so far from a leadership standpoint and when working on their own.

"I think exciting is a word that is used too much, but I am. I'm excited and I'm intrigued for us as a football team and for those two guys individually to see what they are going to do. I've got a ton of belief and a ton of confidence in those two guys."

Troy has been in a unique position the last eight seasons as just two players took the overwhelming majority of snaps at the quarterback position – the Trojans were the only school in the country last year to have just two starting quarterbacks start the previous eight season openers (Corey Robinson, 2010-13; Silvers, 2014-17).

As far as when a decision will be made, don't hold your breath.

"We won't do anything until the end of spring. We just to make sure we know by the time we play Boise State who the guy is going to be, "Brown said. "We're not necessarily a two-quarterback system. When it's evident, a decision will be made. Right now, we're going to split reps evenly and they are going to spilt days on who is leading the No. 1 offense."

Loaded Backfield: Silvers isn't the only record holder departed from the Troy offense as the Trojans said goodbye to Jordan Chunn. Not only did the Trojans lose one of the best nicknames in college football – MegaChunn – they also lost a ton of production with he and Josh Anderson moving on to hopefully a professional career.

All is not lost however for Troy however as the Trojans have a "stable" of backs waiting to take over. Returning juniors B.J. Smith and Jamarius Henderson both have feature back potential for Troy, while Kevin Perkins, who comes loaded with a nickname in tow (KP3), was one of the top JUCO backs in the country.

"This is as deep as we've been at the running back position," Brown said. "B.J. Smith is ready to take the next step and then you've got Jamarius who is dynamic and can make some explosive plays. Add Kevin Perkins to the mix who was one of the best junior college running backs in the county last year – a bigger kid at 225 pounds."

But wait, there's more! Jabir Daughtry-Frye is back from his ACL injury that cost him the 2017 season plus the addition of redshirt freshmen DK Billingsley and Jamal Hourel.

"Jabir is a guy that we're going to get touches and be creative in how we get the ball to him," Brown said. "We have a stable of running backs that have unique skill sets and we have to figure out what they do best and then who is going to compete to get the most reps."

Defense Better than 2017? The majority of the preseason talk heading into the 2017 campaign was focused on the offense, while Troy quietly built one of the best units in the country on the other side of the ball.

When the dust settled on the season, Troy's defense was statistically one of the best in the country as the Trojans led the nation in red zone defense, ranked seventh in rushing defense, 11^th in scoring defense and 24^th in total defense.

The question for Brown and defensive coordinator Vic Koenning, can Troy be better in 2018?

"The key for us is to continue to be dominant up front," Brown said. "When we get into the fall this is going to be one of the best defensive units we've had here with an opportunity to be as good or better than a year ago. I'm not so sure we're going to show that in the spring because we've got so many guys who are going to be limited due to injuries."

Troy will be without All-Sun Belt bandit Hunter Reese, All-Sun Belt cornerback Blace Brown, safety Melvin Tyus, linebacker Justin Whisenhunt, defensive end John Hines, defensive end Kelvin Lucky and defensive tackle Michael Robinson during spring practice – some of those players will see light non-contact work.

Coaching Carousel: Troy will have three new faces on the practice field come Tuesday with the addition of Sean Dawkins, Brian Blackmon and Brandon Hall to the coaching staff. The 2018 season marks the first time in Brown's tenure that Troy has replaced more than one assistant coach.

"Having some healthy turnover is a positive," Brown said. "From a head coach and coordinator standpoint you go back and reteach everything. When you work with the same group for a while you just assume, when you have new faces and new people you don't assume, you go back and teach. There is always new energy when you bring new people to your staff and they each bring something different."

Injury Bug Bites Hard: In addition to the previously mentioned defensive players who will miss most or all of spring practice, the offensive side of the ball also will down a few regulars. Offensive linemen Kirk Kelley and Bubba Hudson in addition to tight ends Sam Letton and Gabe Hill will all be very limited during the spring. Louisville wide receiver transfer Traveon Samuel will be a no-go early in camp, but is expected to be back on the field midway through.

"Injuries are what they are, it's part of the game and there is no sense pouting about it," Brown said. "We have to push the guys who are injured to get quality mental reps to stay fresh. The thing you tend to see is when you give people opportunities they usually step up, and I think that's what you'll see in spring ball."

Buy Tickets, Get Some Bling: Season tickets are now on sale for the 2018 season at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Troy plays host to six home games during the 2018 campaign, including visits from Boise State, Georgia State and Louisiana.

Season ticket packages start as low as $60 and all ticket prices are identical to those from 2017. Fans who renew or purchase their tickets by Friday, April 27, will receive numerous incentives including a replica Troy football Sun Belt championship ring. Fans can purchase their tickets by visiting TroyTrojans.com/tickets or by calling 877-878-WINS.