The first day of spring practice was exactly what I thought it would be – uneventful. The team worked out in shorts and helmets – the first of three practices the team will practice in shorts and helmets per NCAA rules – in a slightly breezy, but sunny day.

But I have to admit, it was nice seeing the team back together again. And even though it was one practice where the emphasis was more about fundamentals than competition, you could still feel the change in the program. Passes looked sharp, routes looked crisp, and everyone looked to be having a good time.

This team seems to want to get away from last year. Most of the guys I spoke with said they’re not thinking about 2007, and they’re not really allowed to talk about 2007. Winning 12 games, the Big 12 North and the Cotton Bowl are great, but these fourth-ranked Tigers hope to take the Big 12 title and have a shot at a national championship.

“I think the best way to attack complacency is through working hard,” Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. “Whether it’s me working as hard as I’ve ever worked or our football staff or all our players. Are they lifting weights? Are they practicing? We see that great work ethic, and I think that’s how you battle complacency.

“And, you know, we accomplished a lot last year, but we didn’t accomplish the ultimate goals. So we’ve got a lot to prove.”

This is probably the first season since I started covering the team that there aren’t a lot of positional questions going into spring. Really, the only things to look at are punting, position changes and injuries. Everything else is pretty much the same as it was in the fall, which makes my job quite a bit easier.

There are, however, quite a bit of housekeeping items that need to be addressed, so let’s get those out of the way first. This is a long entry. I bolded the names to make them easier to find. Please bear with me, there’s a lot to cover.

** QB J.P. Tillman has left the program for undisclosed reasons. He participated in offseason drills, but won’t be with the team anymore. This is actually the second time Tillman’s left the team. He left last year (I think during the spring) for a couple days before deciding he still wanted to play. I don’t think that’s going to happen this time. The writing’s on the wall in terms of his quarterbacking prospects, and I’m not sure he’s athletic enough to play anywhere else.

** There were a couple position changes to report… Earl Goldsmith moved to wide receiver, though he played tailback throughout Tuesday’s practice. Pinkel said Goldsmith would play TB on Tuesdays because Jimmy Jackson has class. He’ll slide back over to wide receiver during non-Tuesday practices … La’Roderick Thomas is now a WR. He actually made a couple nice catches during the drills, but even he admits he has a long way to go. He ran a 4.59-second 40-yard dash a few weeks ago, which isn’t exactly blazing. However, he was an elusive QB in high school, so I expect great things when/if he gets the ball in his hands… Austin Wuebbels moved from DL to OL for depth. He’s listed as the second-string right guard behind Kurtis Gregory, but Jaysen Palmgren, who is listed as the No. 2 left guard, was starting there early in practice because Gregory missed the first half of practice with a class conflict… Munir Prince, a Notre Dame transfer from DeSmet, made his debut today at safety because of depth issues. Prince probably won’t stay at that position, but because he has to sit out a year, word is that he’ll get work at both safety and corner to be available at a variety of positions in the nickel.

** And of course, there were number changes… DB Hardy Ricks and WR Jared Perry are both No. 4, Thomas is No. 2 (ala Will Franklin, who was at practice), LB Andrew Gachkar in No. 6, Palmgren is No. 71, and LB Jeff Gettys is No. 35.

** The injury bug has hit Mizzou pretty hard this year… S William Moore (torn labrum) and Gachkar (blood clots) will miss all of spring because of injuries. Pinkel said Gachkar’s clots, which were discovered in January, were similar to the trouble MU point guard Jason Horton had prior to coming to Mizzou. Pinkel said he thought Gachkar had a top rib removed to ensure no further clotting. Moore suffered a torn labrum during the Cotton bowl, but didn’t discover the tear until trying to lift weights during offseason conditioning. He was out on the field with his helmet in hand, but Pinkel assured us that he would play this spring… S Mack Breed broke both wrists after falling while running backward during a drill, not a good sign of coordination for a safety. Ricks is still nursing that bad shoulder he suffered in the fall. Pinkel said both should return after spring break at the end of the month… Tight end Chase Coffman, who had bone spurs removed from his ankle in January, is expected to be 100 percent for the spring, according to Pinkel. Coffman did not attend the opening practice because of a class conflict… LB Steve Redmond was wearing the red bib, but still practiced. He suffered a shoulder injury… DE Stryker Sulak, who had knee surgery to repair torn cartilage, also practiced.

** WR Danario Alexander could start practicing in April, according to Pinkel, but he’ll probably be limited on the contact. Alexander said roommate WR Jeremy Maclin has been a big help in his recovery, which is ahead of schedule. Alexander ran a 4.52-second 40-yard dash a couple weeks ago. He said he expected to run a 4.9. Pinkel commented that the 4.5 was like jogging for Alexander.
“With a guy like me coming back from almost the exact same thing, it gives him great belief and great courage that he can come back and do the same thing I’m doing right now,” Maclin said. “The doctors do you good. The trainers do you good. The rest is up to him. The harder you work, the better you come back and the faster you’ll come back.”

In other news and notes…

** I talked to QB Chase Daniel about captains and he said every senior has taken some sort of leadership role so the foundation that was laid by last year’s senior class doesn’t crumble. Daniel and DT Ziggy Hood were today’s captains, but official captains won’t be named until fall camp.

“I’m going to try and bring to the table just the vocal leadership day in and day out,” Daniel said. “Keeping everything cool at practice. Keeping it high-strung and a high attitude practice everyday.

“There really are no captains so far this year. So everyone’s working as hard as they possibly can. Even underclassman leadership. I’ve seen some of that happen, so that’s even better to know that we’re doing the right things as seniors and it’s lingering down to the younger kids and they’re finding out what to do.”

** Jake Harry is listed as the team’s starting punter, but three walk-on’s have joined the team. Former Rock Bridge P Tanner Mills and former Duchesne P John Clark had decent first days. Both were all-state punters in high school. Clark was especially good, consistently hitting his punts 50 yards or better. Jackson HS P/K Grant Ressell also punted, and he is listed as the current backup to starting K Jeff Wolfert. Punting is going to be one of the big battles to watch this year. Harry did not impress last year, and was equally as unimpressive Tuesday. About two of every three kicks were ducks.

** TE Jon Gissinger, who got a lot of work with the first team at tight end because of Coffman’s absence, is the team’s starting long snapper in place of Steven Blair, who graduated. Gissinger didn’t long snap last year, but was pretty good at it. LB Brock Christopher is once again the backup along with OL Elvis Fisher.

** Punt returns aren’t really a question, but incumbent Maclin was joined by Trey Hobson, Perry, De’Vion Moore and Carl Gettis.

** Mizzou had some visitors watching practice. Defensive coaches from the University of Washington and Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Heacock watched practice and took notes. Pinkel noted that they were friends of his and we weren’t to interview them. Heacock won the Frank Broyles Award this year, the same award that MU’s OC Dave Christensen was up for in January.

** Even though it was the first day, emotion still ran high. WR Tommy Saunders and CB Castine Bridges got into a scuffle during 7-on-7. It was broken up pretty quickly, but I think Saunders won.

That’s all I have in terms of notes. I know this was a long entry, but it was the first day and there was a lot to report. I won’t be around for the second practice on Thursday (I’ll be in KC with the basketball team), but I’ll have some tidbits from some of today’s interviews on the blog that afternoon.

I leave you with the latest spring depth chart. Probably won’t see much deviation from this until the first scrimmage on April 5, and even then, don’t expect any moves on the first team. I’ve noted walk-on’s with a (WO) and last year’s starters with an underline.

TENTATIVE SPRING DEPTH CHART

Left Tackle
Dain Wise, Jr.
Elvis Fisher, RsFr.
Thomas Hellm, RsFr. (WO)

Left Guard
Ryan Madison, Sr.
Jayson Palmgren, RsFr.
Tony Plourde, RsFr. (WO)
Kevin Mansco, So. (WO)

Center
Tim Barnes, So.
J.T. Beasley, RsFr.
Brendon Donaldson, RsFr. (WO)

Right Guard
Kurtis Gregory, Jr.
Austin Wuebbels, RsFr.
Ryan Schleusner, So. (WO)
Kirk Lakebrink, So. (WO)

Right Tackle
Colin Brown, Sr.
Mike Prince, So.
Bryan Webb, RsFr.
Dan Moore, RsFr. (WO)

Tight End
Chase Coffman, Sr.
Jon Gissinger, Jr.
Caleb Medley, RsFr. (WO)
Andy Loyd, So. (WO)
Levi Hamilton, Jr. (WO)
Marvin Norman, RsFr. (WO)

Quarterback
Chase Daniel, Sr.
Chase Patton, Sr.
Dominic Grooms, So.
Jimmy Costello, RsFr. (WO)

Tailback
Jimmy Jackson, Sr.
Derrick Washington, So.
De’Vion Moore, RsFr.
Joe Otey, RsFr. (WO)
Ryan Evans, RsFr. (WO)
Titus Wonsey, RsFr. (WO)
Shawn Scott, Jr. (WO)

X-Wide Receiver
Jared Perry, Jr.
Blake May, Jr. (WO)
Adam Casey, Sr. (WO)
Chris Gares, Jr. (WO)
Terry Dennis, RsFr. (WO)

H-Wide Receiver
Jeremy Maclin, So.
Forrest Shock, So. (WO)
La’Roderick Thomas, So.
Michael Oldroyd, Jr. (WO)
Nathan Hill, RsFr. (WO)

Z-Wide Receiver
Tommy Saunders, Sr.
Earl Goldsmith, Sr.
Brandon Gerau, RsFr. (WO)
Tyrone Reece, Jr. (WO)
Drew Yanker, RsFr. (WO)

DEFENSE

Defensive End
Tommy Chavis, Sr.
Jaysen Corbett, Sr.
Chris Earnhardt, RsFr.
Zach Milligan, So. (WO)

Defensive Tackle
Ziggy Hood, Sr.
Jason Townson, Jr.
Terrell Resonno, RsFr.
Joe Schumacher, Jr. (WO)

Nose Tackle
Jaron Baston, Jr.
Andy Maples, Jr.
Dominique Hamilton, RsFr.
Brandon Shipman, Jr. (WO)

Defensive End
Stryker Sulak, Sr.
Tyler Crane, So.
Bart Coslet, So.
Michael Keck, RsFr.

Weakside Linebacker
Sean Weatherspoon, Jr.
Connell Davis, Jr.
Chad Collard, RsFr. (WO)

Middle Linebacker
Brock Christopher, Sr.
Luke Lambert, So.
Jeff Gettys, So. (W)
Cameron McWright, So. (WO)

Strongside Linebacker
Van Alexander, Sr.
Marquis Booker, So.
Marlon Galbreath, So. (WO)

Strong Safety
Justin Garrett, Sr.
Munir Prince, Jr.
Matt Davis, So. (WO)

Free Safety
Del Howard, Jr.
Gilbert Moye, RsFr.
Roderick Harris, RsFr. (WO)
Fred Trotman, RsFr. (WO)

Cornerback
Castine Bridges, Sr.
Tremane Vaughns, Sr.
Trey Hobson, RsFr.
Tony Buhr, RsFr. (W)

Cornerback
Carl Gettis, So.
Kevin Rutland, So.
Erik Rudin, Jr. (WO)

SPECIALISTS

Punter
Jake Harry, Jr.
Tanner Mills, Jr. (WO)
John Clark, So. (WO)

Kicker
Jeff Wolfert, Sr.
Grant Ressel, RsFr. (WO)