New offensive system will be U's spring focus

The Gophers have finished their first two weeks of spring football practice. The team will take a week off for spring break before resuming. Tracy Claeys, who is entering his sixth season with the Gophers and his first full season as head coach, was asked if things have been different this spring.

"Not really, I'm not really worried about whose team it is, as far as that goes," Claeys said. "I've had a lot of input into doing the practice schedules and things like that [before]. I realize now that the buck stops with me on decisions.

"When we talk about moving people around and all that type of stuff, before I could always make suggestions, and now it has to be the final decision when you do things like that. But for the most part, the change in offense is the biggest difference. I'm excited to see how that goes and the improvements that we make there."

Claeys said new offensive coordinator Jay Johnson will try to install the basics of his system.

"When [we] get to the end of spring ball … we'd like to know how the offensive line is going to line up and play, how we're going to do that depth chartwise," Claeys said. "Then we want to make sure that everybody is comfortable with the different communications and the calls offensively. If we get those two things — along with determining how the [backup] quarterback situation is going to play out with Mitch [Leidner] not there [to start spring practice] — we'll have a good spring."

Leidner recuperates

Claeys was asked how he thinks Leidner is progressing after foot surgery.

"Very well," Claeys said. "He'll be mad at me all spring because he thinks he should be able to do more. He's getting along well and moving around but we're not going to take any chances with him."

Recently, CBS Sports ranked Leidner as the fifth-best quarterback prospect in the country for the 2017 NFL draft, an assessment Claeys agreed with.

"No question, and I think he deserves every bit of it," he said. "When you go back and watch the film and what he did the second half of the year, and the guys who [rate the quarterbacks for 2017] watch the film, we didn't protect him very well the first part of the year. The second part of the year what he did, and against some great competition on the road, giving ourselves a chance to win in the fourth quarter, I thought he had a tremendous year last year considering the injuries he had to his foot.

"That's why to fix it — I mean they feel really good about the surgery and where he's at and that — but we'll go slow with him because we can't afford to have a setback. That was some major surgery that they did."

Replacing future pros

One of Claeys' challenges is finding replacements for some future pros. The Gophers had three prospects at the NFL combine — Eric Murray, Briean Boddy-Calhoun and De'Vondre Campbell — and all are predicted to be drafted before the fifth round. The Gophers could have as many as four players selected.

Claeys was asked how a team replaces that kind of talent.

"It's all about recruiting, and you do the best you can," Claeys said. "De'Vondre did awfully well, ran well, and it's good for him. He has improved as much as any player since he first started at the University of Minnesota. He has worked hard. He got his degree. I'm happy for him, he deserves everything that he gets. He's one of those kids that can play a 4-3 [linebacker] or the 3-4 guy on the edge.

"Briean and Eric were at practice yesterday, back from the combine, and it was good to see those kids get rewarded because they are good football players. At the same time I think we have done a good job recruiting."

Finding strengths

On offense, the Gophers' biggest strength should be having a senior quarterback in Leidner, but Claeys said there are several groups that fans can expect to see good things from. The most important unit will be the offensive line.

"[At] wide receiver we should be awfully good, and it's hard for anybody to argue that at tailback we're pretty good," he said. "I would argue, tight-end-wise, we can be as good as anybody. I think everything is a strength on offense. If we get our offensive line straightened out, then I think we'll score a lot more points than we did this last year. Those other positions, there's good kids there, they'll work hard. That will all get worked out. We have to get it all worked out up front for us on offense."

And on defense?

"Defense is just getting the secondary rotation [settled] and knowing who's going to play where and in what situation," Claeys said. "We have some younger guys there. You deal with this every few years. A few years ago we were pretty young when Eric Murray was playing.

"Kids don't want to wait anymore, it's hard to have a lot of depth. You know you have kids playing and kids go somewhere else because everybody wants to play right away. With all of that, you end up having some young guys every few years, and this year it will be in the secondary. Damarius Travis [a senior safety who received a medical redshirt] coming back was a huge help, because he's like a coach on the field."

SID'S JOTTINGS

• If you were going to rate the best players who were ever released by the Twins in franchise history, no doubt the best of those players would be David Ortiz, who was released in 2002. In fairness to the Twins, Ortiz didn't get a job from the Red Sox until spring training in 2003. Ortiz will retire after the 2016 season as one of only four players in baseball history with three World Series rings and 500 homers, joining all-time greats Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Reggie Jackson. The only negative in Ortiz's career was the New York Times story in 2003 that linked him and 103 other players to positive drug tests.

• In the days when eight Minneapolis high schools had football programs and before the suburban teams became dominant, one of the highlights for those teams was a Friday night game played before capacity crowds — sometimes drawing 15,000 — at old Parade Stadium. Now there is some talk of starting a Friday night high school showcase football game at the Vikings' planned small stadium at their new Eagan complex.

• It's sad that Brenda Frese, who had a 22-8 record in the lone season she was with the Gophers (2001-2002), didn't get along with some people in university administration and left Minnesota for Maryland. She has posted a 370-107 career record at Maryland, including going to the past two Final Fours, and has a 30-3 record this season. It's too bad, because Frese would have stayed here under the right circumstances and made the Gophers women's program as good as any in the country.

• A recent USA Today mock draft has the Vikings taking Ohio State cornerback Eli Apple in the first round. Apple played against the Gophers in the Buckeyes' 28-14 win last November and recorded two tackles and a pass deflection.

Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on 830-AM at 7:40 and 8:40 a.m. and Sundays at 9:30 a.m. shartman@startribune.com