It was a beautiful Saturday morning/afternoon at West Point, as the Army Black Knights registered Spring Practice No. 8 and leaving just five remaining practices.
Today practice session showed a lot of energy on both sides of the ball, as well as a lot of young guys getting reps in. It was encouraging to see all the players come out today and truly put in the work and register some game reps.
GoBlackKnights.com caught up with senior record breaking quarterback Kelvin Hopkins get his thoughts on the progression of the offense and his outlook on this upcoming season in our Q&A session.
GBK: It’s a new spring football camp and obviously a new college football campaign, where you and the team are coming off of a story book 2018 season.
That being said, what did you learn from 2018 season that has prepared you for the 2019 spring practice and upcoming season?
Hopkins: Honestly speaking ... everyday is an opportunity to get better.
GBK: Last year it was about getting accustomed to the new members of the offensive line with the exception of veteran center and captain Bryce Holland. But this spring it’s about getting accustomed to a new center now that Holland has graduated. Can you talk about how that transition is coming along?
Hopkins: It is going and we have a great O-line coach. I’m trusting the guys who are there. Bryce was a great player, great leader and a great teammate and his presence will be missed. But you know we have a lot of guys that can go in there and fill that spot and do an excellent job.
Right now it’s Jack Sides and he’s doing a great job. He was a guard for us last year and I want to say that he started 2-3 games at guard. He’s done a lot of great things this spring. In the fall it might be Peyton Reeder or it may be freshman ... it doesn’t really matter, that’s up to the coaches to decide. Whoever it is, we’re going to trust them to do the job because the coaches are going to put them there because they trust that person to do the job.
GBK: Does this 2019 Army football team have the potential to be as good or better than the 2018 squad and if so, what do you see in and with this group of coaches and players to make that happen?
Hopkins: You know, each team is going to be different and we are aware of that. We have a lot of young guys and last year I felt that it was a really mature team that had played a lot of reps, a lot of snaps and the identity of this is going to be different.
I feel like last year we didn’t know what this team was until maybe the 3rd or 4th game. I think that it’s too early to start talking about what this team can do and what the goals are. We are just trying to get better right now, but you know, we’ll figure that out and do the best we can to accomplish our goals and take ownership of it.
GBK: Speaking of young players. What young player has impressed you the most so far this spring?
Hopkins: Oh yeah, there’s definitely been a few of them. We had Tyhier Tyler at quarterback today and he did some really good things. The coaches took the red jerseys off the young qbs and see how they would run against the physicality and stuff like that. TT had some really good runs today and Jabari [Laws} and Mike Mbony ran a lot harder than I did when younger. A lot of stuff is getting thrown at them and I feel like our offense has gotten a lot more complex compared to when I was a freshman. They are really physical and they are making plays ... they showed that today.
GBK: We seldom talk about the other side of a players’ life at West Point, so here’s a chance. First, what is your major and do you have any idea what you want to branch and why?
Hopkins: I’m a Philosophy major, which is one of the smaller majors here at West Point and I think for my class, we have maybe 12 people in that major. It’s a great major and I love it and a good department. Each class is
challenging, but it offers a new experience and it’s not something that I’ve known a lot about, so it’s new waters and I’ve discovered a lot things about myself that and I never thought I would enjoy reading theories, but I definitely do.
As far as branches go, I’m looking at Armor as probably my No. 1 right now. As far as the culture and all of the officers that I have met, and that culture is where I see myself as far as my leadership style and who I am would fit best.
Stay tuned for additional observations, as GBK continues its coverage of spring practice.
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