ORLANDO (UCFKnights.com) – It may have been the second day of spring on the calendar. But for the UCF football program, Tuesday was the first day of spring drills.
The Knights were up and at 'em early Tuesday. The first practice session of the 2017 calendar year began before the sun was up.
The 2017 spring practice sessions are the second go-round for Knights head coach Scott Frost. He said there was a marked difference between this year's first day of spring and last year's. Senior defensive lineman Jamiyus Pittman said "night and day" was the best way to compare this year and last.
"The first day was good," Frost said. "You could see them shaking the rust off a little bit. But we're still so far ahead of where we were last year. There was a lot of teaching last year, trying to get people familiar with our scheme on both sides of the ball. The guys kind of picked up where they left off so we're going to be able to detail things a lot more this year."
Sophomore quarterback McKenzie Milton is going through his first spring practice as collegiate player, despite starting 10 games as a true freshman last season.
"I feel a lot more comfortable with the way we're trying to get the offense flowing," Milton said. "We simplified some of our terminology to (allow) us to move a little faster going into the spring. I think our tempo is going to look a lot better."
The Knights' Tuesday practice was in helmets only, as mandated by the NCAA. Wednesday's practice will be more of the same. The team will don shoulder pads for the first time Friday.
The Knights will take advantage of 15 spring practices. They will work out three times per week for the next five weeks.
