Hello Celebritys

The 2011 TCU spring game is in the books and there is a lot to talk about. This was the public’s first opportunity to see the 2011 Horned Frogs in person, and I hate to say it, but can we have Andy Dalton back?? Kidding…kind of… Anyways, let’s get to the good stuff.

- The quarterback position has a long way to go. I thought Casey Pachall looked much better than Matt Brown, but neither QB was spectacular. I would say Brown is the better runner, but Pachall made better throws and reads. Don’t get me wrong, both QB’s made some nice plays, but there were also a couple bad throws and a tendency to hold onto the ball for too long.

- I love TCU’s stable of running backs. Ed Wesley was held out, but we got to see a good dose of Matthew Tucker, Aundre Dean, and Dwight Smith. Dean had a few nice, hard runs. I had questioned him last season since a lot of his yardage came in mop up duty, but he can be a force for TCU this fall. I was also very impressed with Dwight Smith. His speed moving laterally is just as impressive as his straight on speed. On one play Smith juked left, and cut back right to leave a defender on skates.

- Skye Dawson seemed to be Pachall’s receiver of choice. Dawson made numerous catches and could easily be the replacement for Jeremy Kerley this season. Josh Boyce had a couple catches also. It was a rough day for Antoine Hicks. Hicks dropped a sure TD in the end zone and also got the wind knocked out of him after falling on the ball and fumbling.

- My biggest concern for the offense headed into this season is the offensive line. The defense was able to get pressure on both QB’s and every yard on the ground was hard earned. I don’t know if it had to do with how well TCU’s defense was playing, or if there are some concerns there.

- The defense looked outstanding. The first and second team were flying around the ball and delivering hard hits. Tank Carder didn’t participate, but as far as I could tell the rest of the first team defense was intact. At this point, the defense is light years ahead of the offense. That is to be expected though.

- Stansly Maponga is a beast. There is no other way to put it. We saw what he did last season, and 2011 should be ever better. It seemed like Maponga was in the backfield in almost every play. I was also impressed with nose tackle Ray Burns. I remember seeing Burns make a few good stops and a tackle in the backfield.

- I think Travaras Battle will be a good corner for the Frogs. He made a couple of good pass deflections and was also in the mix on running plays.

- The construction on the stadium is looking good. I can’t wait until it’s completely finished because it is starting to look extremely cool. I was surprised at how good the field looked considering all of the construction going on around it.

- If you didn’t check out the spring sale you missed a good opportunity to scoop up some jerseys.

Overall I would say it was a good spring game. Both sides of the ball have improvements yet to make, but all of that should be ironed out by the time September rolls around. This team is a work is progress, but I have no doubt Patterson will have the guys ready.

I had the chance to ask Jeremy Clark of PurpleMenace.com a few questions about the latest on TCU recruiting, the future of the Frogs and more. Check out Angry Trey’s Six Pack of Questions below…

Angry Trey: How long have you been writing for Purple Menace?

Jeremy Clark: I started with PurpleMenace in late January of 2005. Actually, I remember my first interview like it was yesterday, it was with Ryan Christian. He was trying to decide if he was going to take a preferred walk-on spot at TCU or Oklahoma State.

Angry Trey: Purple Menace is known for their recruiting news, what is your favorite part about following and writing about TCU recruiting?

Jeremy Clark: My favorite part is getting to know the kids and their families throughout the process. I've developed a lot of friendships over the years with several players and their parents. The other thing I enjoy is to watch these kids grow into men. We talk to these kids when they're 16-17 years old and it's fun to watch how they progress from high school players to college players and on to the NFL, guys like Jerry Hughes. I tell a lot of people this story, over five years ago I was in the middle of doing a recruiting interview with Andy Dalton when he got a call from TCU. He told me he would call back, which honestly I thought I'd have to call him back, kids hardly ever call you back. About ten minutes later he calls me back and said TCU had just offered. It was really cool to hear that emotional high he had getting that offer, I knew right then he was going to commit, and about a week later he did. Reflecting back, it was a neat moment because of the career Andy had. I talked to perhaps the best quarterback in TCU history who five years ago was just looking for an opportunity to help TCU win. Now, he's leaving TCU with a bag full of records and an overwhelming admiration from TCU fans for the heights he helped the program achieve.

Angry Trey: Rivals has TCU's 2011 Class ranked as #26, do you think we will continue to see the Frogs climb up those rankings?

Jeremy Clark: Absolutely. The 2011 class, rankings wise, was the best in the Patterson era. The 2012 class is already starting with a bang with seven commitments, three of which are part of our Rivals 250 Watch List, which ranks the top 250 players in the country. I've told several people, give me the top 20 prospects in Texas for the 2012 class and ask them who their favorites are. I would guarantee that 90-percent of them have TCU among their top five schools. Four or five years ago that wasn't the case. It's extremely impressive the way the coaches have improved recruiting each year, it comes with winning and program progress. It's not just in Texas either. They landed six players from outside of Texas in 2011, and they already have one of Louisiana's best for 2012 in defensive end James McFarland and are among the favorites for other recruits nationwide. I expect this class to achieve greater heights than the 2011 class. It won't compare in quantity with a limited number of scholarships, but the quality will certainly be there.

Angry Trey: Johnathan Gray has narrowed down his choice of schools to 3 and you reported he was recently at a TCU practice. Obviously the Frogs are in the running to land him, but what do you think TCU's chances of signing him are?

Jeremy Clark: I think the chances of landing Johnathan are very good. For a top prospect in the country, Gray is a very humble kid. He takes the process in stride and is getting very good coaching from his father James, who played at Tech, about the process. James is also very humble about the process, you'd never know his son is one of the most coveted players in the country. The Gray's have been very complimentary of each school that has showed them interest and haven't tipped their hands to which way they are leaning. For TCU, the chances are good because of their proximity and program. Most importantly, they graduate their players which is a big plus to the Gray's. If TCU landed Gray, it would start a landslide of recruits to follow suit.

Angry Trey: What kind of career do you think Andy Dalton will have in the NFL?

Jeremy Clark: I believe Andy will have a good career in the NFL. I read somewhere recently that Andy spent a majority of his time at TCU running out of the spread. I thought to myself if that guy had ever watched TCU play. Andy played a significant amount of time under center and is a magician at play-action passes. He has an NFL arm, it isn't the strongest but it is adequate and he has decent speed. The best quality about Andy is his intelligence, he doesn't make too many mistakes, which in my opinion can take him a long way. I don't know if Andy will be a starter in the NFL in his first three years, but I definitely feel he has a chance to have a promising career. He's succeeded at every level so far.

Angry Trey: From what little we saw last season, and what you have seen thus far in the spring, how do you feel Casey Pachall will be at QB for the Frogs this season?

Jeremy Clark: It's funny you ask this because I was just commenting to a few people about Casey's play this spring. Honestly, the offense is moving just fine and he has shown an ability to make plays. It's almost like it was just expected. He hasn't made a lot of mistakes and I even asked Patterson about his play and he mentioned that he's not noticing him because he's not making mistakes. Granted, he hasn't scrimmaged yet, but through the first five practices he's definitely holding the reigns to the offense and is getting respect from his teammates at the same time.

I would like to thank Jeremy for his time. To read more of his work, please check out PurpleMenace.com.

Day two of TCU spring practice is in the books. Coach Patterson was pleased with what he has seen in these last two practices and said there has been “lots of energy.” It is early though and this team hasn’t put on the pads yet. Here are my observations and a few minutes of audio from Coach Patterson from this afternoon.

- I thought Casey Pachall looked good. He was making the right reads and putting the ball in the right places. Pachall took all the first team reps while Matt Brown worked with the second group. More on that below.

- Tight ends Logan Brock and Corey Fuller were both making nice catches. Not just regular catches, but catches with guys in their face. Hopefully TCU will utilize the tight end position more this season.

- Josh Boyce and Skye Dawson looked sharp in their routes and catching. With those two and Antoine Hicks, I think this receiving core will be just fine come September.

- Speaking of the receiving core, Coach Patterson mentioned that they have changed the way they call plays a little bit to make it easier for the new WR’s coming in this fall. They changed it two years ago, but did not change it last season due to so many returning starters. Does this mean Patterson hopes to get Brandon Carter and/or LaDarius Brown on the field this season as true freshmen? Or it could be they just wanted to simplify things…Stay tuned…

- Redshirt freshman Sam Carter could be a star in the making at strong safety. He looked good today and others have said he looked sharp yesterday also. “We’ve only taught two days but really it’s amazing, he is a very smart player” Patterson said after practice when asked about how quickly Carter was picking up the position.

- This team is young, but Coach Patterson said he’s been very happy with all of the redshirt freshman and sophomores. He also noted that he has “really enjoyed up to this point the level of enthusiasm of trying to get better, communicating, and listening that this group has done to this point.”

- For your Dwight Smith update, he looked good and is fully healthy from all I know.

- Remember how people were making a big fuss about the new Nike cleats TCU wore in the Rose Bowl? Well, they must not have been that bad because there were players wearing them in practice today…

Here are the post practice questions I got in with Coach Patterson. To listen to Patterson’s comments, the .mp3 is posted below.

Angry Trey: Is this spring different than last year’s since the team is younger?

Coach Patterson: No. For the last 14 years we’ve taught it the same way. Same coverage got taught 14 years ago that just got taught today. The same blitz package got taught the same way. Yesterday we taught the tackling drill without pads on. It was younger so it wasn’t as good as what last years was but you have to have a starting point. You got to see how much a team can grow in 15 days because we teach spring ball just like it’s part of two-a-days. You get 29 practices in the fall and 15 in the spring. This is the growing up stage of our part of it. We are very physical in the spring, we are very demanding in the spring, we believe we have to get stronger in the spring, and academically we have to get ourselves in the right position so you can clear your mind come summer time so you can handle the grind when you get in the fall.

Angry Trey: I know you are looking for players and talent but is this the point when leaders start to emerge?

Coach Patterson: I don’t know, right now in the teaching phase everyone is trying to hang on. We’ll get through 5 days of teaching and then we start over and were not teaching anything new. The same thing happens in the fall. You go through 5 days of teaching and then you go into an evaluation stage, then you go into a getting better stage, so right now just like all of us, we will only be as good as our weakest link. So if one guy isn’t getting it done, it affects all of us.

Angry Trey: Is the QB job Casey’s to lose or is it an open battle?

Coach Patterson: No, right now he is just the next guy. Somebody asked me yesterday if this is the lowest amount of quarterbacks we'll have in the fall and the answer is no. We had to go in Andy Dalton’s freshman year, he was the starter, Marcus Jackson was the backup, and then Yogi Gallegos came in as a true freshman which is what we will start the fall with this year too.

Coach Patterson was asked other questions also, the full media session is below. It’s around six minutes long.

TCU football is back…At least for a couple of weeks. The Horned Frogs begin their march towards another Mountain West Conference title as spring practice gets underway today. The Horned Frogs return 11 starters (six defensive, five offensive) from its 2010 squad that posted a 13-0 record. There are a lot of questions for this team that need to be answered this spring, here are my biggest concerns.

QB: Who is going to step up and fill Andy Dalton’s shoes? Is the quarterback job open, or is it Casey Pachall’s to lose? The spring prospectus lists Casey as #1 on the depth chart. I personally think Casey will be a quality QB for the Frogs, but watch out for Matt Brown.

Leadership: The biggest leaders from last year’s team are gone. Dalton, Kirkpatrick, Johnson, etc… have all moved on. Who are the guys that will step up? The Frogs have Tank Carder returning and we all know what he is about. I think Tanner Brock and Ed Wesley could be leaders, but do they want to assume that roll?

Defensive Secondary: TCU has to replace Tejay Johnson, Alex Ibiloye, Colin Jones, and Jason Teague. Those four players had a combined 85 career starts for the Frogs. That is A LOT to replace. It looks like it will be on sophomores Trenton Thomas and Travaras Battle and seniors Johnny Fobbs and Tekkerrein Cuba to get the job done. Those four players combine for a total of 9 career starts…All 9 coming from Cuba.

Dwight Smith: The legend of Dwight Smith is that he CAN be a great player. That is yet to be seen though. Smith had a good spring last year before injuring his knee in the spring game, but he is fully healthy and I am anxious to see what he can do. Can he show enough at running back to earn playing time in a deep TCU backfield?

Offensive Line: Like the secondary, the Frogs have big holes that need to be filled. TCU has to replace 4 of their 5 starters from last season. Can this new group form a cohesive unit and keep Casey Pachall off the ground?

Those are pretty big concerns, but I don’t think it will be as rough as it appears. Yes TCU has to break in a new QB, but a steady dose of the running game with the Frogs experienced backfield should take some of the pressure off. I worry every offseason about the team rebuilding, but Gary Patterson continually finds the right players to fill in the holes. I have no doubt the holes will be filled once again this spring.