CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — When Austin Peay State University football team opens its 2016 spring practice, Monday, March 21, it will have a decidedly different feel.

Under first-year head coach Will Healy, the Governors have assembled a brand-new coaching staff, with only J.D. Sellers (running backs) remaining in place from last season. In putting together his new staff, Healy has brought in a blend of youth, energy and success, with his coaching staff tallying 13 conference championships, 10 playoff appearances and nine bowl berths among their collective coaching resumes.

So when practice begins next Monday, the Governors will be presented with an effective strategy for future success. The coaching staff isn’t placing the Governors on a timeline; the future is now for Healy and Co.

“I’m looking to set an expectation of what a practice is going to be like here at Austin Peay,” Healy said. “That’s all-encompassing as it concerns enthusiasm, effort, the speed of practice, tempo and our priorities as an offense and defense.

“We’re going to play hard and practice hard. We’ll be fundamentally and schematically sound. Spring is big for developing young players, and it’s big for us as a staff an evaluation process. We don’t know a lot about these guys; you can watch them on film from last year, but we promised them all a fresh start and that’s how we’ve evaluated them thus far. We’re going to learn a lot about our roster during these 15 practices.”

In the secondary, coaches Brandon Cooper (co-defensive coordinator with West in addition to his defensive back duties) and Eddie Hicks (cornerbacks and nickels) will rely on experience in the form of Roderick Owens, who had an All-OVC caliber season as a junior and will lead a secondary that returns all five starters from its 4-2-5 alignment a year ago. Malik Boynton, Donovan Jackson and Damien Whitfield lead a host of returners in the secondary that offers perhaps Austin Peay’s greatest area of depth.

Maxwell Thurmond, who is pulling double duty as linebackers coach and special teams coordinator, returns Logan Birchfield to handle placekicking duties. Paramount for Thurmond will be finding consistency in the APSU return game; the Governors averaged just 16.5 yards per kickoff return a year ago, although Kyran Moore averaged 21.6 after taking over for the season’s final four games.

“It’s a clean slate for everybody,” Healy said. “I tell people all the time, guys who were really good players for the last staff may not be great for us and guys who weren’t good for the last staff may be great for us. It may a difference in how we teach things or a different scheme, but the fundamentals and the mentality we’re going to coach up over the next 15 practices.”

SCHEDULED APSU SPRING FOOTBALL PRACTICE DATES

March 21-22
March 24
March 29
March 31
April 2
April 5
April 7-8
April 12
April 14
April 16
April 19
April 21
April 23 – Austin Peay Red-and-White Spring Game