HUNTINGTON - Like much concerning Marshall's football program of late, Saturday didn't exactly go according to plan. The Green and White Scrimmage originally set for Joan C. Edwards Stadium was moved inside to the impressive Chris Cline Indoor Athletic Complex.
Yet all went well. Earlier, the Marshall Memorial Fountain was turned on. Ex-Thundering Herd standout and current Philadelphia Eagle Vinny Curry made an appearance. Then the team got after it.
We saw quarterback Chase Litton connect with University of Miami transfer Tyre Brady for 73 yards on the scrimmage's second play from scrimmage. We saw redshirt freshman QB Xavier Gaines dash for a 36-yard gain. We saw linebacker Artis Johnson with a sweet diving interception off a tipped pass.
But what all now want to see is whether head coach Doc Holliday can restore MU to its previous luster.
When we last saw the Herd, of course, it was capping a shocking 3-9 season with a 60-6 loss to Western Kentucky. Many foresaw a 9-3 season for the team, but 3-9? No way.
There was no reload in 2016. It didn't even look like a team rebuilding, but close followers understood. The offensive line needed a traveling MASH unit. (Oddly, by the way, O-line coach Alex Mirabal chose not to make himself available to the media on Saturday.) Every position in 2016, it seemed, was hit by injuries. As I wrote back then, MU wasn't hobbled by injuries, it was decimated.
Young, unproven players were pressed into playing time, and that didn't work. Holliday and his staff, however, have proven they know how to win. My lone question after the season was why were there so many injuries? With the nice Sports Medicine Institute right by Edwards Stadium, with sweet training facilities, what was the deal? Did it have anything to do with new strength and conditioning coach Luke Day and his staff?
Well, Holliday took some time with me to address that and more. At the end of last season, he said his staff was going back to work "to make sure this never happens again."
Since?
"We've started over," said the coach. "We went back to make sure we crossed all our T's and dotted all our I's, and the entire thing starts in the weight room with discipline and toughness. That's where you develop players.
"We made sure everyone was being held accountable, everyone was getting their jobs done in the offseason, and then we carried that over into the spring."
A heat check was made on the team's health.
"We had a tough spring," he said. "We had some guys banged up heading into the spring. But for the most part we're pretty healthy."
I asked specifically if Holliday had gotten to the root of last season's rash of injuries.
"We went back and looked at everything," he said. "When you have a season like that you evaluate everything because you don't want that to happen again. And there were a lot of things that went into [the injuries].
"We had four or five offensive linemen that didn't go through last winter's conditioning, spring ball or summer workouts. When you don't prepare yourself physically during those periods you're going to have more injuries than normal. That was some of it.
"We were young as well. A lot didn't have the opportunity to go through the winters and summers to prepare for the grind ahead."
Day and his staff, Holliday said, were evaluated. Yet the head coach is confident.
"At the end of the day, I've obviously hired the right people," said the coach. "I have one [Scott Sinclair] at Georgia, one [Joe Miday] at Louisville and one [Frank Piraino] at Boston College. Those were our last three [strength coaches]. It's our philosophy, though, that goes on in the weight room. We bring the right guys in to continue what we've done in the past. We haven't changed the lifts and what we do. We've tweaked a few things, but the philosophy hasn't changed."
His hope, of course, is some of the young players thrown into the proverbial fire last season will be improved.
"[Cornerback] Chris Jackson got baptized early on, but got better as the season progressed," Holliday said. "[Linebacker] Omari Cobb was a true freshman. They got experience, but not only that, they've gone through winter conditioning and spring ball. There's no question they're better."
Remember too, quarterback Chase Litton is finishing his sophomore season this spring and backup Garet Morrell was a freshman.
"There's no question those two have grown up," Holliday said. "They get more comfortable every day. They are both so young. Chase has put on 25 pounds and has had his best spring to date."
Targets for the pair have been added.
"Brady is now eligible," Holliday said. "He had a tremendous spring. [Junior college transfer] Marcel Williams and Darian Owens we like. We'll be adding a couple people too in a couple weeks."
So, no, the sailing hasn't been smooth of late, and that includes the site of Saturday's scrimmage. But, with four practices still remaining, Holliday has hope.
"We have a great bunch of guys that are working their tails off," said the coach. "We're better, no question. We had to get better in a lot of areas and I think we've done that.
"We've helped ourselves with our skill set. We've helped ourselves by developing players. We have a long way to go, but I feel good about where we are right now."
Contact Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827 or mitchvingle@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @MitchVingle.