After a disappointing end to the 2003 football season, a Hokie football team that is searching for answers at a lot of positions will open spring football practice on Saturday, March 27th. Spring football will consist of 15 practices and will conclude with the annual Maroon-White game on Saturday, April 24th, at 2:00 p.m.

(And yes, there will be another great TSL spring football game tailgate, so put that on your calendar. More details at a later time.)

Going into spring football, the news concerns position changes, injury status of players, and off-season dismissals or departures. Here's the lowdown on each:

Position Changes

Will Montgomery will move from offensive guard to center, displacing Robert Ramsey and Tripp Carroll on the depth chart. This puts pressure on Brandon Gore to step up at Montgomery's vacated guard spot.

True freshman George Bell will be tried out at fullback, instead of tailback. Sources say that the Hokies have pictured Bell, who is 5-11, 225, and recently ran a 4.67 forty, as a fullback from the beginning. Bell's high school coach, Richard Bailey describes Bell as a punishing runner with the best hands on his high school team, so he could very well be an effective blocker, runner, and receiver from the fullback position.

Vinnie Fuller, who started his career as a free safety, has been moved back to free safety, and Jimmy Williams has been moved from free safety to boundary cornerback.

The Jeff King experiment at fullback appears to be over, and he will work as a tight end. John Kinzer will work at fullback, along with Bell.

Nic Schmitt will no longer work at placekicker, and will instead focus on punting, kickoffs, and competing for the holder's job.

Michael Hinton, who entered the program as a cornerback, will work out at Rover.

Injuries

The following players will miss all of spring practice due to injury: OL Andrew Fleck and DT Jason Lallis.

Dismissals

Freshman linebacker Mike Brown, according to Coach Beamer on BeamerBall.com, will not participate in spring practice and has been "dismissed" from the team. Beamer didn't offer any further comment.

Please note that all spring practices and scrimmages are closed to the public.

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