3/21/2023 football Edit

Hollingshead, Reed, Smith detail WKU's first day of spring practice

Western Kentucky OC/QB coach Drew Hollingshead after day one of spring practice.

Drew Toennies • InsideHilltopperSports

Staff Writer

Western Kentucky kicked off the first day of spring practice on Tuesday afternoon, returning to Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium with several new members of the coaching staff and roster.

Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Drew Hollingshead, quarterback Austin Reed and wide receiver Dalvin Smith went in-depth on the Hilltoppers' progression on the field.

Hollingshead, who formerly worked as the inside receivers coach for Mississippi State, discussed how the transition has gone for him since joining the Hilltoppers' coaching staff this offseason.

"We had a really good offseason. I'm proud of how we've progressed as an offense. Stepping into a role like this is never easy, especially after the success we've had the last two years."

— Drew Hollingshead

Hollingshead said offense has always been his specialty as he's always strived to be apart of really great programs and offenses. He added that he's had his eye on the Hilltoppers for a while now.

"Offense has always been my thing and I've always wanted to be apart of really good programs and really good offenses. And Western Kentucky and the success we've had the last few decades, from afar, this place is really special, and one I've had my eye on for a long time."

— Drew Hollingshead

Hollingshead said turning on the television at Mississippi State and seeing Reed sling the football was awesome. Having been around Reed for the last two months, he said that he's one of the best quarterbacks in the country.

After an eventful offseason and an explosive season under center for the Hilltoppers, Reed talked about how it felt to get back out onto the field with his teammates and revealed how things were looking on the offensive side of the ball.

"It was fun to be back out there with the guys. We got a lot of new faces and we have a lot of new coaches as well. It's a different vibe being out there with all those new faces and trying to get everybody into the flow of how we do things."

— Austin Reed

Reed, who closed out last season as the nation's leading passer, said he's been working on a few things this offseason. He said winning more games, putting up more yards, diversifying which plays he runs, using his running back more and raising the completion percentage are among a few of his personal goals to improve upon. As a leader, Reed said he's been working on staying steady throughout.

Having worked with Ben Arbuckle last season, Reed talked about his relationship with Coach Hollingshead and how the new addition to the coaching staff is helping the team progress.

"Coach Drew is awesome, he's great. There's parts about Drew that are different from Coach Arbuckle and I feel like those parts can help us and can also help myself because it's a different viewpoint."

— Austin Reed

Smith, who made a major impact on the offensive end last season, talked about how the offense looked in day one of spring practice, detailing what the team is looking to improve on from last year.

"Most of the challenges we're running into is really critiquing our routes and making sure we're getting to the exact depth. Outside of that, it's really all the same."

— Dalvin Smith

Smith said that he's working to improve his route running ability to be even more explosive next season.

With Hollingshead working under coaching legend Mike Leach and his air raid offense system, Smith talked about how the offensive playbook has varied since last season with the new coaches.

"It's fairly similar, they're putting in new plays here and there but it's not a drastic change. He's bringing in his IQ of the air raid system from Mississippi State and we're just adding it to ours."

— Dalvin Smith

Western Kentucky will return to Houchens-Smith Stadium later this week to continue the spring practice schedule.

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