Georgia State’s football team will look to build momentum on last year’s bowl season when it starts spring practice on Thursday.
Coach Trent Miles’ squad went 6-7 last season and returns 17 starters, making it one of the more experienced teams in the Sun Belt Conference.
Miles wants to see a few things that most coaches want to see during the next 15 practices: maintaining health and improving player development, which is football-speak for every coach and player getting better at what they do.
“We’ve seen it in the weight room, now we will see it on the football field,” Miles said.
Of course, there are more things that Miles needs to see that are specific to his team.
The first is finding a quarterback.
There are four likely competitors to replace Nick Arbuckle, named the Sun Belt Conference student-athlete of the year after passing for more than 4,300 yards and leading the Panthers to their first bowl game.
The three include two returnees, redshirt sophomore Emiere Scaife and redshirt freshman Aaron Winchester, and Utah transfer Conner Manning, a redshirt junior. Scaife and Manning have played a few snaps in games, while Winchester hasn't.
Scaife has spent two years in Georgia State’s offensive system, Winchester one and Manning brings the experience of playing in a Pac-12 program and passing for almost 9,500 yards in high school in California. The fourth is Brett Sheehan, a Collins Hill grad and transfer from South Alabama who sat out last year.
The winner shouldn’t be considered the next Arbuckle. That wouldn’t be fair.
“We want them to be the best player that they are, not anybody else,” Miles said.
However, the winner should be able to do some of the things that Arbuckle did successfully: learn from game film, absorb coaching, read defenses, put teammates in the proper position and make throws. He doesn’t have to be the leader, but he should be able to lead.
Miles said the offense will be adjusted to fit the talents of whoever wins the battle.
“It’s an open competition,” Miles said. “We will see.”
