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Mar. 14—GRAND FORKS — New head UND football coach Eric Schmidt will tick off another first in his tenure Thursday when the Fighting Hawks open spring ball at the Pollard Center.
When the team opens spring practice, Schmidt will be the first coach other than Bubba Schweigert to run a UND football practice since 2013.
Here are five big questions to answer at spring ball as the Schmidt Era takes another step forward.
1. What shakes out at quarterback?
With 2024 UND starting quarterback Simon Romfo recovering from an injury
, UND's spring ball will be a testing ground for the quarterback competition.
San Diego State transfer quarterback Javance Tupou'ata-Johnson
, who made one start for the Aztecs in 2024, will receive a long look. Schmidt has a good idea of what he's inheriting as he schemed a defense against him at practice last season.
It's also an important time for young quarterbacks Jerry Kaminski and Jack Sulik to prove they can challenge for playing time, as well.
2. How does the defense change?
For the first time in decades, the UND defense will not be a 3-4 alignment.
UND will implement a 4-2-5 look, which Schmidt brings to Grand Forks from his stops at Fresno State, Washington and San Diego State.
With more defensive linemen, fewer linebackers and more defensive backs, UND's roster will need to morph along with the alignment.
That'll mean position changes for some and a depth chart stacked against others.
It's going to be a competitive spring for the defensive players to prove worth ahead of another round of offseason movement.
3. Can UND look more dangerous at WR?
In 2024, UND's wide receiving corps didn't have a dangerous reputation outside of veteran star Bo Belquist.
With Belquist now gone, UND's wideouts will need to showcase even more progress.
The returners will be challenged by transfer additions.
In the offseason, the Hawks added
Northern Arizona's B.J. Fleming
,
Minnesota's Kristen Hoskins
and
Arizona State's Jamaal Young II
.
The Hawks do return two of their top four receivers in 2024 in Caden Dennis and Nate DeMontagnac.
Both the transfers and newcomers will be looking to develop chemistry with a quarterback group with little college football experience.
4. Are the secondary additions an upgrade?
Wide receiver wasn't the only position addressed via the transfer portal after Schmidt took the head job.
The secondary also received plenty of attention.
UND added junior college transfer Nate Frankfather, Northern Arizona's Zach Lewis and San Diego State's Bennett Walker.
Spring ball is always an important time for transfers to adjust to a new scheme, although Walker specifically should have an advantage knowing Schmidt's defense from SDSU.
5. Who made first-year gains?
It's easy to get caught up in excitement over transfer additions, especially those from the FBS level.
However, it's often proven programs at UND's level really make strides with in-house development.
Spring ball can be a perfect time to showcase freshman gains, where it's not uncommon for rookies to add significant weight and transform into a body type ready for Division I football.
UND's new strength program is entering a second season under strength coach Derek Stein and the team has started to train in the program's new weight room adjacent to the Pollard Center.
Continue reading...
When the team opens spring practice, Schmidt will be the first coach other than Bubba Schweigert to run a UND football practice since 2013.
Here are five big questions to answer at spring ball as the Schmidt Era takes another step forward.
1. What shakes out at quarterback?
With 2024 UND starting quarterback Simon Romfo recovering from an injury
, UND's spring ball will be a testing ground for the quarterback competition.
San Diego State transfer quarterback Javance Tupou'ata-Johnson
, who made one start for the Aztecs in 2024, will receive a long look. Schmidt has a good idea of what he's inheriting as he schemed a defense against him at practice last season.
It's also an important time for young quarterbacks Jerry Kaminski and Jack Sulik to prove they can challenge for playing time, as well.
2. How does the defense change?
For the first time in decades, the UND defense will not be a 3-4 alignment.
UND will implement a 4-2-5 look, which Schmidt brings to Grand Forks from his stops at Fresno State, Washington and San Diego State.
With more defensive linemen, fewer linebackers and more defensive backs, UND's roster will need to morph along with the alignment.
That'll mean position changes for some and a depth chart stacked against others.
It's going to be a competitive spring for the defensive players to prove worth ahead of another round of offseason movement.
3. Can UND look more dangerous at WR?
In 2024, UND's wide receiving corps didn't have a dangerous reputation outside of veteran star Bo Belquist.
With Belquist now gone, UND's wideouts will need to showcase even more progress.
The returners will be challenged by transfer additions.
In the offseason, the Hawks added
Northern Arizona's B.J. Fleming
,
Minnesota's Kristen Hoskins
and
Arizona State's Jamaal Young II
.
The Hawks do return two of their top four receivers in 2024 in Caden Dennis and Nate DeMontagnac.
Both the transfers and newcomers will be looking to develop chemistry with a quarterback group with little college football experience.
4. Are the secondary additions an upgrade?
Wide receiver wasn't the only position addressed via the transfer portal after Schmidt took the head job.
The secondary also received plenty of attention.
UND added junior college transfer Nate Frankfather, Northern Arizona's Zach Lewis and San Diego State's Bennett Walker.
Spring ball is always an important time for transfers to adjust to a new scheme, although Walker specifically should have an advantage knowing Schmidt's defense from SDSU.
5. Who made first-year gains?
It's easy to get caught up in excitement over transfer additions, especially those from the FBS level.
However, it's often proven programs at UND's level really make strides with in-house development.
Spring ball can be a perfect time to showcase freshman gains, where it's not uncommon for rookies to add significant weight and transform into a body type ready for Division I football.
UND's new strength program is entering a second season under strength coach Derek Stein and the team has started to train in the program's new weight room adjacent to the Pollard Center.
Continue reading...
