Hounds set for start of spring football

PORTALES — Second-year Eastern New Mexico University football coach Tye Hiatt is anxious to get his team on the field again.

The Greyhounds will do just that beginning today when they kick off spring football with a 3 p.m. practice session. The team is slated for 14 practices before ending the spring campaign with the Green & Silver intrasquad game, set for 6 p.m. on April 29 at Greyhound Stadium.

“For the last, about, nine weeks, we’ve done a lot of lifting and running and conditioning,” Hiatt said. “I can tell you our players and coaches are excited to get going and improve on last fall.”

ENMU went 4-7 in 2021, including 1-6 in the Lone Star Conference. In their lone conference win, they pulled out a 50-47 decision over Western New Mexico at Silver City, scoring two touchdowns in the final minute.

Hiatt & Co. are looking for bigger things this season. With the addition of Great Northwest Athletic Conference members Central Washington, Western Oregon and Simon Fraser (B.C.) for football, the Hounds will have a nine-game conference slate — Texas A&M-Commerce is moving up to the Football Championship Subdivision (Division I-AA) Southland Conference — plus non-league outings against New Mexico Highlands and former LSC member Tarleton State.

The schedule is to be officially released in the near future, Hiatt said.

He said the Hounds are looking to accomplish several things during the spring.

“On defense, we want to get everybody in the right position and get the football,” he said. “Offensively, we want to take care of the football better; we’ve got to work on ball control. For us to take another step offensively, we’ve got to be able to run the ball a little better.”

ENMU has had several changes on its coaching staff, including associate head coach/defensive co-ordinator Jamison Bisch and offensive line coach/running game coordinator Jamaal Lewis, who both were added in February.

Bisch came to ENMU after four years at Bemidji State (Minn.), where he helped the Beavers make it to the second round of last year’s NCAA Division II playoffs.

“We feel grateful to have him join our staff,” Hiatt said.

Practices will generally be on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons, and on some Saturday mornings, Hiatt said.

With more of his own recruits in toe, Hiatt is hopeful the staff makes wise roster decisions.

“A big thing at the end of the day is we want to get the right people on the bus, and knowing what their roles are,” he said. “We felt we signed a really good class, and we’ll have some transfers in.”

He said last year the Hounds were a bit young and inexperienced at a number of positions last season.

More familiarity with the LSC is also a plus, Hiatt added.

“I definitely think that going into Year 2, that familiarity will help us,” he said.