A look inside spring practice for Valdosta State football

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - Valdosta State football kicked off spring practice in early March, but Tuesday was the first day that media got a chance to come out and catch up with the Blazers.

In Graham Craig’s first season as head coach, the Blazers began 2-4 before rattling off four straight wins to end the regular season and vault into the Division II playoffs. It ended in a loss to Albany State, but gave their coaching staff and about 20 returning players for 2026 some good big game experience.

One of their recent signees, Valdosta own quarterback Tyrieke Wade was on the practice field on Tuesday. Wade led his Valdosta high school team on a deep playoff run last fall practicing here. Coach Craig said there will be a position battle at QB in the fall, giving Wade an opportunity to show what he can do under center as a freshman.

After calling the plays last year himself, Craig brought back Brice Carlson to be the offensive coordinator and Offensive Line Coach. He was on staff as OL coach in 2024.

Coach Craig highlighted some differences that he’s seen so far in his second spring leading the Blazers.

“The biggest thing for us from last spring to now is being able to have a coaching staff that’s been together for the most part, just having the guys here that are going to be with us in the fall to be able to evaluate these position battles earlier than what we did,” he said. “A lot of those are going on right now and a lot of quarterbacks are able to get more reps than what we were last spring. So that’s the biggest difference and something that we’re seeing right now that we’re really excited about.”

The Blazers first scrimmage is at 9 a.m. on Saturday. Aside from that, the team has six more practices and one other scrimmage befor the spring session wraps up.

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