VUU coach feels good going into spring game

Virginia Union first-year coach Michael Bailey feels good about his team heading into today's Maroon & Steel game at Hovey Field.

Bailey has tried to plug a number of holes, particularly in the secondary, over the past three weeks. He's developing depth on the offensive and defensive lines.

While he's pleased with the progress of his young, inexperienced quarterbacks, including freshman recruit Aries McGlone-English, Bailey knows it'll be tough trying to replace Lamar Little, who was slowed last season by injuries after a player-of-the-year performance in 2007.

"I'm glad I'm going into the season with spring practice under my belt," said Bailey, who served as the Panthers' offensive coordinator from 1995 to 2001. "It's helped me to get back in the flow of calling a game, of trying to move the chains."

Bailey's biggest challenge might not be improving the Panthers' performance, in part because there remains plenty of talent from a team that in 2008 slumped to a 5-4 record after being the clear favorite to win the CIAA championship.

Instead, Bailey may have to work on restoring the Panthers' mental edge. They were haunted by lapses that caused an inordinate number of turnovers and penalties.

"We always talk about getting a little better each day out," said Bailey, who doubles as VUU's athletic director. "We hope the spring game will be a culmination of things we've been working on for 15 days.

"We'll focus mostly on offense and try to break in a new quarterback. We've been working on the passing game, especially some play action. But we aren't trying to do anything special."

Bailey said VUU has worked in only about 75 percent of its offense. However, the focus has been more on the defensive and special teams packages.

"We lost almost everybody in the secondary," Bailey said. "We've got a lot of new people in the secondary, and we went hard on the recruiting trail looking for cornerbacks."

The Panthers return the heart of the defense in linebackers Hurley Hemphill, Stevie Johnson and Brandon Smith. Smith will sit out the spring game because of nagging injuries.