Head football coach Aldrich, players, community excited for Spring Game

The Augustana football team is gearing up to finish their spring season on April 30, with their Spring Game.

The Vikings have a new look this season with a new quarterback, new defensive tackles, new safeties and, most importantly, a new coach.

Head coach Mike Aldrich was promoted to the position last month when Brad Salem resigned.

With the new coach has come a new practice design, one that Aldrich hopes will help the team next fall.

"The one thing I've been trying to do is have a lot of situational things," Aldrich said. "I may, in the middle of practice, call out third and 10 and our offensive players get one opportunity to get the first down. I want to make it pressure-filled."

That pressure, Aldrich hopes, will carry into the fall and help the Vikings build on an 8-4 season last fall.

For now, though, Aldrich is hoping to keep the team injury-free and help the freshmen learn more of the team's strategy.

"We are looking to fine tune some fundamentals this spring," Aldrich said. "The younger guys aren't used to clawing for wins because we have had success since they got here, but we want to breed some toughness.

"Beyond that, we want to stay healthy. If we have guys getting hurt, it doesn't allow us to grow as a team," he said.

The growth will be visible to a public audience at Kirkeby-Over Stadium in two weeks, where the team will split into blue and gold and scrimmage.

"I hope to make it a simulated game instead of the situational plays we ran last year,"

Aldrich said. "We'll kick off and have the offense drive down the field from that spot. It'll be an offense-versus-defense oriented game, so it should be a fun one to watch."

Along with the style of play, the audience will see the new players step into a role.

"We have a couple question mark positions that we want the freshman to show us what they can do," Aldrich said. "Our defensive tackles and the quarterbacks are two positions that are being looked at pretty closely."

The Vikings graduated three defensive tackles last season but hope that sophomores Aaron Jung and Jason Engstrom can fill the roles.

Sophomores Josh Hanson and Ryan Schutz, along with freshman Tanner Foth, are competing for the job under center.

"Hanson has been running first team most of this spring," Aldrich said. "But Schutz is right behind him, and Foth has been very impressive with what he has shown us."

Two other sophomores, Zac Kallas and Isaac Jorgenson, are hoping for increased playing time.

Kallas started the final four games of the season, tallied 38 tackles and tied junior Nick Andreas for team highs with four interceptions.

Jorgenson punted and played tight end in 2009, where he hopes to play more next season.
"Last year was something to build on," Kallas said. "Hopefully I can build on the success had last year and make the starting lineup all season."

Aldrich, though, won't be announcing any starters this spring.

"We need to look at a player's strengths," Aldrich said. "How we can shape the defense or offense to work with those positives."