The Terp football team opened practice Monday, preceded by Media Day where the coaches and players talked about the upcoming season.

TATE TO STRONG SAFETY
One of the day’s biggest announcements was highly-regarded recruit Kenny Tate has been moved from wide receiver to strong safety.

The Terps are very deep at wide receiver, and after spring practice, strong safety was the one position where Friedgen was concerned about depth. Senior Jeff Allen is at the top of the depth chart currently, ahead of walk-on Drew Robinson. Senior Dominique Herald, who will be suspended for the season-opener because of an unspecified violation of team rules, could also get into the rotation when he returns.

Tate earned high school accolades as a safety at nearby De Matha, but coach Ralph Friedgen said he was initially apprehensive about asking the 6-foot-3, 215-pounder to make the switch, fearing he could lose credibility as a recruiter.

But Tate accepted the move, saying he wants to be an impact player. Friedgen said Tate will have the option to move back to offense and does not plan to keep him on defense if it does not look like he will play.

“I think he’s excited about it right now,” Friedgen said after Monday’s practice. “I just asked him how he thought he did, and he said he made a lot of freshman mistakes.”

QUARTERBACKS EXCEL DURING DAY ONE
The first thing Friedgen said when addressing the media after the team’s first practice was how well the quarterbacks performed.

“We were much more comfortable at quarterback,” Friedgen said. “I thought our decision-making was better. We got rid of the ball better. I thought I saw improvement from all three of them.”

Earlier in the day, he suggested the position is still wide open, declining to put junior Chris Turner at the top of the depth chart. Senior Jordan Steffy and junior Josh Portis will also compete for the starting spot.

“We may play multiple quarterbacks,” Friedgen said. “I don’t know. I think that’s an area where if we get the production of it that we expect, we have a chance to have a good offense.”

HITTING THE GROUND RUNNING
Friedgen declared this season’s Terps his fastest and most in shape group since taking over the program during his Media Day address.

He put that to the test during Monday’s workout.

Five Terps failed to pass Friedgen’s conditioning test, which forces players to run 12 100-yard sprints with 30 second rests. Players must complete each sprint in a certain time based on their position.

Friedgen said those who did not pass were dropped to the bottom of the depth chart and given an opportunity to complete the test on Tuesday.

None of the five who failed to pass were among the top two on the depth chart at their positions, according to Friedgen.

QUOTABLE TERPS
“It’s spreading it out and still being able to run the ball. The West Coast. You can do it all on the West Coast.”- Junior wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey on the new offense under new coordinator James Franklin.

“I feel real astute with it. I’ve been studying real hard. The playbook opens up this year because we have a lot of intangibles with it. Our passing game is short, long, quick, fast, explosive and it’s going to be a good time for us this year.”- Portis on how he’s grasping the new offense.

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