March 17, 2008

RUSTON, La. - Louisiana Tech head football coach Derek Dooley and his Bulldogs may be just two practices in to their spring workouts, but already a number of players have emerged as leaders for the squad. Dooley added he was glad to see so many of his players step up and show the character he wants in a team leader.

"I see a lot more guys with some leadership qualities that are taking ownership into how we work, and that's a good thing," Dooley said. "There's a real comfort level in a lot of guys out there."

The majority of the players stepping up to lead in practice were mainly upperclassmen. Most of them, Dooley believes, learned a lot in their first year in his system and are comfortable enough to take on that role as a team leader and dictate the tempo in practice.

"Most of them you see a nice comfort. It takes a certain level of comfort with the coaches, the system and the team to be vocal and be a leader," Dooley said. "You move from, `how can I survive practice?' to `how can I affect others?'"

Having so many players showing pride in how hard the team pushes itself during spring workouts helps maintain the intensity and excitement from the first day of spring practice on Saturday. Dooley said he was pleased after Saturday's workout and was again on Monday. Having a core group of leaders on the team helps keep the focus on improving and remaining consistent, Dooley said.

"The first day is easy, but sometimes the second day slacks off but it was good," Dooley said. "We've got a good tempo and pretty good competitive spirit as a team and you always look forward to the first day of pads, which is Tuesday. You start to move away from the running and throwing to seeing who's going to stick their face in it."