Cal Football Spring Ball 2023: Scrapbook #1

Spring Ball begins its month long trek.

A change in format as I try to juggle both writing about practice and getting photos & videos to share.

The scrapbooks will be a paid post moving forward, so make sure you are subscribed to Write for Cal to get the latest updates from Spring Ball!

Editor’s Note: Injury Update - Rob Hwang (Lower Body)

I unfortunately hurt my ankle and was unable to make practice today. I will be fully healed and ready to go come Saturday’s practice.

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In the meantime here’s some of the top quotes from Coach Wilcox after the first practice.

Question: How long do you expect the new blocking schemes, style of play to kick in and feel more natural with the guys?

Coach Wilcox: It's just a matter of getting used to the techniques and the schematics that are a little bit different. And then it's just the repetition that creates those patterns and where it becomes, you know, muscle memory and not something they're thinking about it play by play.

Question: Dramatic change for the offensive lineman in terms of technique or skill?

Coach Wilcox: Well, there's, I think, in football, there's a carryover from scheme to scheme. I mean, everybody runs some form of inside zone, you know, counter, it's just how you run it, what the coaching points are, and the technique, the specifics within that play, aiming point, I mean, all those things matter. So I wouldn't say they're all the same. But there's, you know, if you look across college football, everybody runs inside zone, we're gonna run it. So does everybody else, and we'll need to get good at how we run it.

Question: What did you see seeing [Sam Jackson V] doing out there today executing what you guys are gonna be doing this year?

Coach Wilcox: Yeah, he's a great athlete, sharp kid. And he just needs practice. And he's getting reps in practice. You know, the decision making, his position and the other positions, so line tight ends, receivers, running backs and got decisions to make within these given plays. It's just not going out there and throwing one on ones; that's not football. That's, you know, it's not 7-on-7. 7s can be beneficial, but we got to play the game.

Question: Officially speaking. Is there a quarterback competition?

Coach Wilcox: Yeah, there's competition at every position. What we're focused on is guys improving, we’ll release the depth chart, when it's appropriate to release it. Right now, you guys can take a stab at it. But we're just trying to get better as a team.

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