Broncos opened up fall drills on Monday

Published 9:33 pm Wednesday, August 6, 2008

By Staff
KALAMAZOO – The Western Michigan football team laced up its collective cleats and strapped on its collective helmet for the first day of preseason camp.
The team, which was supposed to practice at Bronco Field on Davis Street settled for working out at Waldo Stadium due to thunderstorms that ripped through Kalamazoo during the morning.
As is the case with every WMU football practice, the afternoon began with place kickers getting their reps. It was the first time freshman and Grand Haven native John Potter had a chance to put a leg into it donning the Brown &Gold.
The staff reported the ball popped off the foot of Potter as he kicked with strength and accuracy.
The Broncos all donned various colors of jerseys during the first day of preseason practice but the color breakdowns were a little different from seasons past.
Usually, the entire defense wears black jerseys but now the first string defensive unit wears gold, normally reserved for WMU quarterbacks. The Western Michigan signal callers now wear the very noticeable red jerseys not seen at Waldo Stadium since head coach Bill Cubit's first year on campus.
A couple of Broncos have changed positions during the offseason.
Anthony Williams is now a tight end, working under Jake Moreland, while University of Miami transfer Doug Wiggins, who will sit out the 2008 campaign, is now a safety after being brought in as a wide receiver.
The Broncos worked in 7-on-7 drills multiple times throughout Monday afternoon with Tim Hiller working with the first unit with Drew Burdi and Robert Arnheim also working in with the second/third units.
On the sidelines, reserve receivers worked on their hand-eye coordination with position coach Mike Grant and equipment manager Kenico Hines.
After practice most of the team headed for the locker room but a significant number of Broncos stayed on the field, continuing to work.
The entire wide receiver unit did push ups in unison with Coach Grant. Hiller threw 10-yard passes to roommate Scott Gajos and even one half hour after practice ended, Dervon Wallace was in the end zone working on foot technique.
Dowagiac freshmen Jamie Simpson will wear No. 7 for the Broncos.