McBride likes what he sees this spring

OGDEN — Whatever it is Ron McBride is selling, he's found some buyers at Weber State.

The former Utah football coach is entering his second season with the Wildcats and when the school's spring football drills kicked off Saturday, the 83 players reporting for camp sounded like a team fully on board with McBride.

"We all need to buy in and drink the Kool-Aid," senior defensive back Tyler DeBry said. "If we buy in, we'll be successful."

McBride's Kool-Aid is intended to unify the 'Cats as they try to improve on last year's 6-5 record. And the coach sees a big difference between what he saw 12 months ago and what he saw Saturday.

"We were able to get a lot more done than a year ago," McBride said. "We were able to do things at a faster tempo. They know what to expect and what to do. So today was much better. . . . We got right to work."

McBride said the Wildcats will be fine on offense, with seven returning starters and depth to burn at running back. The QB and a solid set of tight ends are also back to help spread the ball around.

Defensively, McBride has to replace a handful of all-conference linemen.

"We know exactly what we're doing," McBride said. "The idea is to have 15 straight days of practice . . . And everybody has got to do exactly what we want."

McBride has been around the coaching block a few times and that experience, he hopes, gives him all the credibility he needs to motivate his players.

"They've got to swallow the Kool-Aid," he said. "In order for it to work, they've all got to believe in this. They've all got to take a big dose of the same stuff."

Practice resumes Monday; Weber State's spring game is scheduled for April 22.

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