Skip Holtz era begins at Louisiana Tech - KSLA News 12 Shreveport, Louisiana News Weather & Sports

Skip Holtz era begins at Louisiana Tech with start of Spring practice

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RUSTON, LA (KSLA/Louisiana Tech Sports Information) -

Louisiana Tech's football program hit the gridiron for the first time under new head coach Skip Holtz as the Bulldogs opened its 2013 spring practice schedule with a two-hour workout at Joe Aillet Stadium Friday afternoon.

The first session under the Bulldogs new head coach and coaching staff featured an introduction to the team's new offensive and defensive schemes.

"It was great to be back on the field today," said head coach Skip Holtz. "It has been a long journey since getting hired in December to finally getting back out on the field. We have talked to players, we have met with them and we have done agility drills. It has been great to get back out here with a football, to see if a receiver can catch and if a quarterback can throw. We have an awful lot that we have to get done this spring and we are a long way away but I expected us to be in this position with 31 seniors leaving and so much inexperience on the field."

The wide receiver corps, despite loss of their top two players from 2012, returns the most depth on the offensive side of the ball. That depth and experience showed in the first day of practice.

"I was really impressed from a receiver standpoint, especially with [D.J.] Banks and [Paul] Turner and the way they caught the ball," Holtz explained. "I liked what they did, I liked what Hunter Lee did and I liked [Jon] Greenwalt. Some of those guys made some really great plays today in pass skelly."

The most experienced position on the defensive side of the ball is on the defensive line with the loss of only one player from the 2012 position group. However, Holtz explained the difficulty in evaluating that position without the players wearing pads. Per NCAA rules, the team can only practice in helmets the first two sessions.

"It is hard to evaluate the offensive or defensive linemen without any pads on; it is like they are out there in their underwear. It is hard to evaluate those guys that play up front," said Holtz.

Louisiana Tech's next open practice for media and fans will take place Monday at 4 p.m.

For complete coverage of Bulldog Football, please follow the official home of Louisiana Tech Athletics at LATechSports.com.

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