Bulls Kick off preseason practices under Maurice Linguist

In an off season which offered change and uncertainty there has to be some relief in “getting back to the grind” for the Bulls. Even if the weather was sweltering.

For the first time the team took the field under Maurice Linguist, who replaces one of the most successful regimes in the schools history.

Between a complete coaching staff overhaul and a number of players departing this is going to be a rather new look team.

Some of the names you’ve come to love are still there. Kyle Vantrease will lead the offense and Kevin Marks is still in a position to make a lot of noise in the UB record books. But even with those names Linguist is adamant that every spot on this team is up for grabs.

“Ultimately, we’re going to pour into these guys put the ball down and let guys play. The film is going to tell the story. The film doesn’t lie, the film is going to tell the story. We’re going to gather a ton of information off of this first practice,” — Maurice Linguist

In a lot of ways this season will also measure how solid of a recruiter Lance Leipold was. With openings all over the place you have Leipold recruited guys competing in a new system with a new coach.

“At the end of the day, what we have to do is commit ourselves to a process. Commit ourselves to a way of doing things. We have to challenge and push one another, encourage one another, come together and connect that locker room, and then ultimately we’re gonna make sure that we’re finding out who the winners are in these one-on-one battles.” — Linguist.

As things develop we’re going to do some light position battle pieces, but this may be one of those seasons you go into the opening game and the coach is using pencil to fill out the position chart.