Spring practice brings questions
The University of Houston begins spring football practice Tuesday as it begins preparation for the school’s inaugural season in the Big 12.
Here are five things to watch leading up to the Red-White Game on April 7 at TDECU Stadium:
1. Who’s calling plays?
With the departure this offseason of offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson for the same position at Miami, the Cougars plan to experiment with how (and from whom) play calls will be relayed from the sideline to the field.
The answer could be a combination of head coach Dana Holgorsen, run game coordinator/offensive line coach Eman Naghavi and Michael Burchett, who was officially announced as quarterbacks coach on Monday.
“I’ve been involved in the offense,” Holgorsen said. “I think everybody understands my past and I will continue to be involved in the offense. I’ve (called plays) for 20 years. I can do that. We’re going to experiment with everything.”
Naghavi, who spent last season with Tulane as the Green Wave won the AAC title and played in a New Year’s Six bowl, is “a voice in that room that is going to be listened to,” Holgorsen said.
Burchett, a former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Fordham, has been on Holgorsen’s staff for most of the past 10-plus years beginning at West Virginia. As offensive analyst, Burchett has been assisting with the gameplan the last few years.
“I think between me, Burch and Coach Naghavi, we’re going to get a system in place that’s going to be very successful,” Holgorsen said.
2. QB situation
For the first time in four years, the Cougars will enter a season with a new quarterback following the graduation of Clayton Tune. Donovan Smith, a transfer from Texas Tech, and sophomore Lucas Coley enter the spring as the top two candidates for the job.
Coley enters the spring “a little ahead” based on being in the program for a year, Holgorsen said. A former transfer from Arkansas, Coley moved up the depth chart into the backup spot midway through last season and played sparingly in three games.
Smith brings valuable Big 12 experience from playing in 21 games for Tech, including a 33-30 double-overtime win over UH last September. He
threw for 2,686 yards and 19 touchdowns with the Red Raiders.
“Hopefully extremely competitive is what I’d like to see,” Holgorsen said of the quarterback battle. “We need those guys to compete, and they are.”
A third quarterback — incoming freshman Caleb McMickle of Roswell, Ga. — will join the team in June. Holgorsen said there is a chance to add a fourth quarterback when the transfer portal opens April 15.
“We still have room for one,” Holgorsen said. “If one becomes available that we want to put into our program, then we will.
“I’m not going to put somebody in our program that I don’t think fits. We’ll look and see what that looks like in April.”
3. Health of McCaskill
You probably won’t see much of Alton McCaskill this spring, and that’s not a bad thing as the Cougars’ star running back is brought along slowly from a serious knee injury. McCaskill tore the ACL in his left knee 11 months ago during a non-contact play late in spring workouts and missed the entire 2022 season.
“He’s back,” Holgorsen said. “He’s not cleared. You won’t be seeing him out there in the spring very much. We’re going to obviously be cautious with him.” Holgorsen added McCaskill has been “running around and looks good.”
With the loss of the team’s top playmakers, Tune and All-American wide receiver Nathaniel “Tank” Dell, McCaskill’s return to the backfield will be a boost. As a true freshman, McCaskill ran for 961 yards and 16 touchdowns.
“The key is to get him 100 percent for August and get him in a good frame of mind to get him back to where he was a year ago,” Holgorsen said.
Another running back, Brandon Campbell, will miss the spring following offseason shoulder surgery. That means Stacy Sneed and Kelan Walker are likely to get the bulk of the workload.
4. Next for Sack Ave.
The Cougars lost plenty of production to graduation, namely D’Anthony Jones and Derek Parish, who combined for 13 of the team’s 31 sacks. Nelson Ceaser, who had four sacks and 10 tackles for loss, is back. David Ugwoegbu, an All-Big 12 pick and second-leading tackler at Oklahoma last season, joined UH as a graduate transfer and plans to shift from linebacker to a pass-rush role off the edge. UH will also take a look at Zykeius Strong, who “is a different-looking human being” at 6-6 and 265 pounds.
5. Wide receiver cast
Dell’s production will be missed: 199 catches, 2,727 yards and 29 touchdowns the past two seasons. The Cougars added transfers Stephon Johnson (Oklahoma State) and Joshua Cobbs (Wyoming) and signed Ja’Koby Banks (Fort Bend Marshall), who will participate in spring workouts.
The Cougars also added Mikal Harrison-Pilot, the fourth-highest rated signee in school history. That group will join a returning cast that includes Matthew Golden, Joseph Manjack IV, Samuel Brown, Peyton Sawyer and C.J. Nelson.