Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Stockstill adjusting to life without spring football
4/3/2020 5:00:00 PM | Football
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Along with the pings of bats and golf clubs, smacks of tennis rackets and the pounding of track shoes, sports fans can usually hear sounds coming from the Middle Tennessee practice football field during late March and the beginning of April.
That's not the case this year.
With the NCAA's ruling that all spring sports have been canceled and practices halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, spring football practice was also abandoned. It made for a pretty sad and unusual time for Blue Raiders head coach Rick Stockstill, who's taken part in some form of college spring practice since he was a quarterback at Florida State from 1977-82.
"It's miserable, to be honest with you. It's not a lot of fun," he said. "It's the first time since a very young age that I haven't had spring practice … and not having spring ball is just different.
"I'm not a stay-at-home guy. I get antsy, and I just don't like it. I like being around our players and our coaches, and I like seeing people and being around people. But, I understand the severity of this situation, and we all have to get ahold of this and do our part to beat it."
Stockstill went straight from playing quarterback for the Seminoles to coaching, taking a job as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Bethune-Cookman. He then held various assistant coaching positions at UCF, Clemson, East Carolina and South Carolina before taking over at MT prior to the 2006 season.
In all that time, he discovered the importance of spring football for a team. It's when bonds are made and sometimes starting positions are solidified. Coaches also have more time to spend individually with players.
While they won't get to evaluate the student-athletes on the field this spring, Stockstill and his coaching staff are still finding ways to have that one-on-one time the spring often provides. Technology has played a huge role.
"We have a staff meeting and position meetings on Zoom, and that's a little different … I'm still not real comfortable doing it yet," he said. "We're communicating every day, and our staff is allowed two hours of meeting time with our players about football per week. We have them broken down into seven groups with their position coaches … and they meet up for about half an hour a few times a week on Zoom.
"We're using FaceTime just about every day just motivating, updating them, encouraging and checking in on their academics and everything."
Personally, Stockstill has found it difficult at times isolating. He's trying to come up with ways for his coaching staff to stay busy while working remotely, and he still has a constant eye on how his student-athletes are doing with workouts provided on video chats by strength coach Matt Hickmann.
A busybody at heart, though, Stockstill has also had to find ways to keep himself busy, and he's trying to get his student-athletes to understand they need to keep busy, too.
"This is the most time off they've ever had, so they have to do a great job of taking care of their bodies," he said. "There's a street in front of every house or a road where they can run or a patch of grass somewhere where they can go do something. They can't use this as an excuse not to work out and stay in good shape. I think they're doing a really good job of that so far.
"Coach Hickmann sends them a workout plan on Sunday night, and obviously it's extremely modified … and getting them creative with what they have at home."
It may be difficult not having spring football right now, but Stockstill knows it's the least of some people's worries.
He and the entire Blue Raiders football program are trying to do their part to stay safe and be ready once they're finally able to hit the gridiron again.
"It's a different experience for everyone involved in this," Stockstill said. "Last week, I called every player and talked to them about what was going on and expectations academically, socially and conditioning. The next day, I called every players' parents and reassured them that their child's safety was my No. 1 concern.
"The biggest thing is we just need to get in a routine, because this is all different for everyone. It would be easy to sit on that couch and watch Netflix all day, but we're trying to stay organized and keep our guys motivated as best we can."
That's not the case this year.
With the NCAA's ruling that all spring sports have been canceled and practices halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, spring football practice was also abandoned. It made for a pretty sad and unusual time for Blue Raiders head coach Rick Stockstill, who's taken part in some form of college spring practice since he was a quarterback at Florida State from 1977-82.
"It's miserable, to be honest with you. It's not a lot of fun," he said. "It's the first time since a very young age that I haven't had spring practice … and not having spring ball is just different.
"I'm not a stay-at-home guy. I get antsy, and I just don't like it. I like being around our players and our coaches, and I like seeing people and being around people. But, I understand the severity of this situation, and we all have to get ahold of this and do our part to beat it."
Stockstill went straight from playing quarterback for the Seminoles to coaching, taking a job as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Bethune-Cookman. He then held various assistant coaching positions at UCF, Clemson, East Carolina and South Carolina before taking over at MT prior to the 2006 season.
In all that time, he discovered the importance of spring football for a team. It's when bonds are made and sometimes starting positions are solidified. Coaches also have more time to spend individually with players.
While they won't get to evaluate the student-athletes on the field this spring, Stockstill and his coaching staff are still finding ways to have that one-on-one time the spring often provides. Technology has played a huge role.
"We have a staff meeting and position meetings on Zoom, and that's a little different … I'm still not real comfortable doing it yet," he said. "We're communicating every day, and our staff is allowed two hours of meeting time with our players about football per week. We have them broken down into seven groups with their position coaches … and they meet up for about half an hour a few times a week on Zoom.
"We're using FaceTime just about every day just motivating, updating them, encouraging and checking in on their academics and everything."
Personally, Stockstill has found it difficult at times isolating. He's trying to come up with ways for his coaching staff to stay busy while working remotely, and he still has a constant eye on how his student-athletes are doing with workouts provided on video chats by strength coach Matt Hickmann.
A busybody at heart, though, Stockstill has also had to find ways to keep himself busy, and he's trying to get his student-athletes to understand they need to keep busy, too.
"This is the most time off they've ever had, so they have to do a great job of taking care of their bodies," he said. "There's a street in front of every house or a road where they can run or a patch of grass somewhere where they can go do something. They can't use this as an excuse not to work out and stay in good shape. I think they're doing a really good job of that so far.
"Coach Hickmann sends them a workout plan on Sunday night, and obviously it's extremely modified … and getting them creative with what they have at home."
It may be difficult not having spring football right now, but Stockstill knows it's the least of some people's worries.
He and the entire Blue Raiders football program are trying to do their part to stay safe and be ready once they're finally able to hit the gridiron again.
"It's a different experience for everyone involved in this," Stockstill said. "Last week, I called every player and talked to them about what was going on and expectations academically, socially and conditioning. The next day, I called every players' parents and reassured them that their child's safety was my No. 1 concern.
"The biggest thing is we just need to get in a routine, because this is all different for everyone. It would be easy to sit on that couch and watch Netflix all day, but we're trying to stay organized and keep our guys motivated as best we can."
MTSU Football Postgame Press Conference @ Wisconsin on 09-06-25
Saturday, September 06
Raider Report Week 2 - MTSU vs. University of Wisconsin-Madison
Friday, September 05
Derek Mason LIVE: Presented by The Boulevard Bar & Grille Week 2 (Video)
Tuesday, September 02
MTSU Football Weekly Presser Wisconsin 9/01/25
Monday, September 01
