bridy-2022 spring practice
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VMI Spring Football Heads into Home Stretch

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LEXINGTON, Va. – VMI Football conducted a lively 90-minute practice Saturday afternoon and Fiorini Field and the workout session showed all the makings of a productive spring ball workout striving for momentum heading into the final week of drills.

Special teams, specific game scenarios, and a live scrimmage session were all part of the activities conducted on a beautiful sunny afternoon in Lexington. 
"It was an awesome day to be the VMI head football coach and be a VMI Keydet," said Scott Wachenheim after drills concluded. "We had several classes come back for reunion weekend and a good number of former players came back. We scrimmaged third and fourth down short yardage situations and four-minute offense and defensive end of the game scenarios and also a thud tempo scrimmage for two-minute at the half. So, it was teaching a lot of nuances, not only for the players but for the coaches and me. We'll get together and study this film."

Coach Wachenheim added the following observations on both Saturday's workout and VMI's first traditional spring practice since 2019 due to the effects of the pandemic on scheduling the past two years.

"I just like the way we competed. I just love the energy that Coach (Nick) Reveiz and the new defensive coaches and the new offensive coaches have brought. I like the energy and attention to detail our young men are practicing with and just an eagerness to get better – that's the most important thing. The offense made some plays, the defense made some plays. Different kids have shined every day and it's a pleasure to coach this team.

"I think the defensive backs have really improved this spring. I really like the way Tahj Summey has improved and Keyser Samuel – two guys that have stepped up and are really getting better every single practice out on the field. Seth Morgan is having a great spring practice and he's been very accurate. What I like is that he has slowed the game down with his reads and his progressions reads in a manner that a quarterback needs to go through and he still ad-libs and makes plays as well as any quarterback I've been around. I just like the maturity of Seth Morgan. On the offensive line – getting Marshall Gill and Ayden Jilson back for a ninth semester - is huge getting these two experienced veteran leaders to come back.  Jarvis Chandler has been out this year with injury but he'll be a senior starter for us next year. On the defensive line, we have three experienced lineman Eric Weaver, Jaylon Haney, and Charles Dixon who have been through the battles in the Southern Conference and we need them to lead the way up front."

"All three kickers are back and our long snapper Robert Soderholm will be back in the fall and glad to have him back along with punter Jack Culbreath and kicker Jerry Rice. Caden Beck has really jumped into the kicking competition and doing a good job on kickoffs and field goals and we have two great holders in Aaron Vardell and Max Brimigion so our special teams are solid."

"Got to finish" is the theme of the last week of spring ball. We didn't get to finish the last season the way we wanted. Injuries played a part in that and in back-to-back seasons as well. If you strand a guy at third base, that's just like striking out so we want to come from third and come home and finish spring ball with everyone having individual purpose in how they get better and if everyone does that, the team will get better."







 
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Players Mentioned

Max Brimigion

#8 Max Brimigion

WR
6' 1"
Sophomore
Jarvis Chandler

#64 Jarvis Chandler

OL
6' 5"
Redshirt Freshman
Charles Dixon

#55 Charles Dixon

DL
6' 0"
Redshirt Freshman
Marshall Gill

#74 Marshall Gill

OL
6' 4"
Junior
Jaylon Haney

#97 Jaylon Haney

DL
6' 2"
Sophomore
Ayden Jilson

#54 Ayden Jilson

OL
6' 5"
Redshirt Sophomore
Seth Morgan

#4 Seth Morgan

QB
6' 3"
Redshirt Freshman
Jerry Rice

#93 Jerry Rice

K/P
5' 7"
Redshirt Freshman
Robert Soderholm

#30 Robert Soderholm

LS
6' 1"
Redshirt Sophomore
Aaron Vardell

#98 Aaron Vardell

K/P
5' 9"
Redshirt Freshman
Eric Weaver

#52 Eric Weaver

DL
6' 3"
Redshirt Sophomore
Tahj Summey

#13 Tahj Summey

DB
5' 11"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Max Brimigion

#8 Max Brimigion

6' 1"
Sophomore
WR
Jarvis Chandler

#64 Jarvis Chandler

6' 5"
Redshirt Freshman
OL
Charles Dixon

#55 Charles Dixon

6' 0"
Redshirt Freshman
DL
Marshall Gill

#74 Marshall Gill

6' 4"
Junior
OL
Jaylon Haney

#97 Jaylon Haney

6' 2"
Sophomore
DL
Ayden Jilson

#54 Ayden Jilson

6' 5"
Redshirt Sophomore
OL
Seth Morgan

#4 Seth Morgan

6' 3"
Redshirt Freshman
QB
Jerry Rice

#93 Jerry Rice

5' 7"
Redshirt Freshman
K/P
Robert Soderholm

#30 Robert Soderholm

6' 1"
Redshirt Sophomore
LS
Aaron Vardell

#98 Aaron Vardell

5' 9"
Redshirt Freshman
K/P
Eric Weaver

#52 Eric Weaver

6' 3"
Redshirt Sophomore
DL
Tahj Summey

#13 Tahj Summey

5' 11"
Freshman
DB