Higher Standards
SMSU football players hanging around Marshall this summer are putting more work in than in pastBy Andy Rennecke
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MARSHALL - Offseason workouts in football are usually limited to the weight room.
Southwest Minnesota State senior quarterback Josh Shudlick and senior safety Tyler Reed are trying to change that this summer.
The two players have organized 7-on-7 drills at Mattke Field for SMSU players that are staying in Marshall over the summer. There's usually between 20-25 players when they've gotten together on Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays. The workouts are unsupervised and no coaches are allowed to participate due to NCAA rules.
Both Reed and Shudlick felt it was a good idea for players to stay in shape and prepare more before fall camp begins Aug. 7.
"It's all about preparation," said Reed, who led the Mustangs in tackles (101) last season. "All the other teams are out there doing the same things we are. We're just trying to do things more often than them. We lost a lot of close games last year. If there's anything we can do in the offseason to take a play away here or there and get that 'W' instead of a loss, we'll try and do that."
Despite SMSU's 2-9 record last season, its offense began to shine midway through. One of the big reasons for that was Shudlick, who threw for 18 touchdowns on 250-of-444 passing for 2,942 yards last season. The more work he gets with receivers like juniors Blake Wilson and Jordan Wager, senior tight end Matt Fischer, junior running back Zach Wysong and sophomore tight end Shane LaDage, the better.
"We work on drops and some reads," Shudlick said. "You don't get as much out of it as you would watching it on film and breaking it down, but this is still good. I'm getting good timing down with the receivers. I'm comfortable with all these guys. We just want to know where everybody is going in certain coverages and concepts. It gives us a brush-up before camp starts."
Shudlick said last year, he and other players only got together for 7-on-7 drills for about a week. This year, with some encouraging from head coach Eric Eidsness, Shudlick and Reed took it upon themselves to call their teammates to get together as often as possible.
"I tried to get it going right at the beginning of summer, but we didn't have enough guys around," Shudlick said. "Here in July, more people are coming back. We have good numbers now. Last year, we only did this for about a week. This year, we'll be heading into camp having done this for about a month and-a-half."
On defense, Reed said returning players such as junior safety Bryce Haessly, sophomore cornerback Curt Gosser, redshirt freshman cornerback Nate Finkey, senior linebacker Michael Liggins, junior linebacker Levi Bullerman, redshirt freshman linebacker Derek Klinkner, junior linebacker Shaye Thomas, sophomore linebacker Jason Fernholz and sophomore safety Alex Mayorov have all been out to the drills on a consistent basis.
As a defender, Reed said he and his teammates just try and read what the offense is trying to do and react the best it can during the drills.
"We're thinking about game-time situations we might run into," Reed said. "We're reading the quarterback and try and pick up tendencies. That might help us during a game down the line. Whatever we can pick up is a positive.
"Just being able to run around and get in shape even more is what is good for us. It gives us an extra edge if some other team out there isn't doing this. We have to prepare as much as we can."
The Regional Events Center (REC) will open on Aug. 30 when the Mustangs open their season against Minnesota-Crookston at 1 p.m. With the opening of the $16-million facility, there are higher expectations for SMSU this season. Both Reed and Shudlick are aware of them.
"The whole team has high expectations," Reed said. "We're starting over this year with the stadium. We think we'll get a lot more support and it's a great thing for recruiting. We feel we'll be able to start over and really get the ball rolling. We just want to put together a winning season and move toward winning a conference championship."
Said Shudlick: "Usually your expectations are high if you think you can improve each year. Everything is going up for our program right now. I'm excited. When (the REC) is completed, it will be nice to start using it. It's right there when you walk out of our locker room. It's nice to see it getting closer to being done. It makes you work a little harder."
Both Reed and Shudlick came back to Marshall early this summer after visiting their respective hometowns for about a month. They're working out three to four days a week at SMSU.
"I went home for about a month and then come back early," Reed said. "It's not a big deal. I want to be up here as much as I can to talk with the coaches and work out. I have to prepare as much as I can. I had a good year last year, but I'm hoping to have an even better one."
Shudlick said he was pleased that SMSU hired former University of Minnesota and NFL quarterback Cory Sauter as quarterbacks coach.
"The first thing you realize is that he's been around a while. His experience speaks for itself," Shudlick said. "I've already had a couple of good conversations with him. We're going to sit down and go over some things before camp starts. I'm glad to have him here."
Reed and Shudlick are hoping they can have about 12 more 7-on-7 sessions before Aug. 7.
"The more, the better," Shudlick said.
