After one spring practice this week, Idaho State wide receivers coach DJ Steward called sophomore wideout Xavier Guillory into his office. When Guillory walked in the door, Steward noticed something odd.
“His hands are shaking,” Steward said.
Turns out, Guillory is a dogged competitor. He admits he can go overboard sometimes. On this afternoon, he wanted to see how many passes he could catch off the JUGS passing machine, so he stayed on the practice field long enough to catch 1,000 balls.
“That’s the type of guy he is,” Steward said. “He wants to be great all around. He wants to not have any limitations in his game. I’ve just been impressed by how hard he works.”
“That’s one part of my game I wanted to get really good at,” Guillory added. “I’ve noticed in spring camp that it’s helping. It’s helping me make catches that last year, I struggled with, or even over-the-middle, contested catches."
Idaho State wide receiver Xavier Guillory makes a catch during Saturday's practice.
After two weeks of ISU spring practice, stories like those have reinforced what was already beginning to crystallize: Guillory will be the leader of this wide receiver corps. He’s only a sophomore, but last season, he reeled in 20 receptions for 259 yards and one touchdown — which might not blow you away until you realize he was an option behind first-team all-conference pick Tanner Conner, who has rocketed up NFL Draft boards in recent weeks.
“It’s always gonna be hard to replace a Tanner Conner,” Steward said, “but you’re gonna be saying a lot of other names, bringing a lot of pride to this university, for sure.”
Elsewhere in the receivers room, Idaho State rosters players like Christian Fredericksen and DeMonte Horton, Shane Dailey Jr. and Cyrus Wallace, which is the group that will try to make up for the losses of two key-pass catchers: Conner and tight end Jared Scott, an imposing tight end.
Can they do it? The answer is a little complicated. A lot has changed since last year, when backup quarterbacks Sagan Gronauer and Hunter Hays split time running an offense that failed to consistently maximize Conner’s abilities, struggled to generate points with its starter on the shelf and, in the final game of the season, threw a goose egg on the scoreboard.
It was a grisly sight, but now things are different, at least on the surface. Charlie Ragle has taken over as head coach. Starting quarterback Tyler Vander Waal is back from injury. The Bengals have hired coaches like offensive coordinator Taylor Mazzone and Steward, who players rave about. Conner might have moved on, but the holdovers from last season’s receiving corps feel adamant that they can turn the page, that last year’s struggles are just that — last season.
Only time will tell whether that comes to fruition. For now, in early April, here’s what we know: Wideouts like Guillory, Fredericksen, Horton and Dailey have experience. They might be ISU’s four main receivers, but Guillory threw out a few other names to remember: Century grad Jovan Sowell, sophomore Benji Omayebu, even freshman Jeff Harris — “the smoothest route-runner,” Fredericksen said. They’re all athletic pass-catchers who are ready to flourish in the team’s new offensive system, which projects to feature receivers in more prominent capacities. With Vander Waal back in the fray, perhaps that’s not such an audacious idea.
During ISU’s scrimmage on Saturday, which completed the second week of spring practice, it began to take shape. On one occasion, Vander Wall unleashed a pass downfield to Horton, who bobbled the ball and corralled it on his way down. On another, he checked it down to running back Soujah Gasu, who ran for a first down before defenders brought him down. When the Bengals say they’re ready to roll out a revamped offense, these are the kinds of plays they point to.
Then again, these receivers weren’t perfect. On one play, Guillory ran a slant and caught a pass over the middle, only to fumble as he went to the ground. Later, Vander Waal targeted Fredericksen on the outside, but cornerback Josh Alford jumped the route and snagged a diving interception — prompting the white-jerseyed defenders to spill out onto the field like moths to a flame, celebrating the play.
“I struggled a little bit today,” Guillory said, “but I know he’s gonna help me bounce back.”
By he, Guillory meant Steward, who spent last year coaching receivers at Pittsburg State in Kansas. Now he’s helping receivers like Guillory and Fredericksen refine their games. It hasn’t all been roses. Steward, Guillory says, has revealed flaws. He told Guillory he needed to become quicker. He feels like he already has. He helped Fredericksen work on his releases. Fredericksen feels like he’s enhanced that part of his repertoire too.
“It hurts, it stings to know that you’re not as good at something as you could be,” Guillory said, “but it’s helping me improve my game.”
“Last year, we were only allowed to use one or two releases. That was the coaching rule,” Fredericksen said. “This year, he’s tripled my toolbelt for release packages. I feel like I have a lot more freedom off the line. Now he’s teaching me how to use those releases and when to use the right releases.”
Idaho State wide receiver Christian Fredericksen hauls in a pass during Saturday's practice.
The thing about Steward’s teaching, though, is that it isn’t all football. Lots of coaches say that — how many times have you heard a coach say he wants to make his guys better men, too? — but what separates Steward is that he mixes in life lessons on the practice field.
Here’s an example: In practice, when a receiver drops a pass, Steward will offer advice. Then he’ll go right into how the mistake ties into life. “In life, adversity hits,” Steward will say. “What are you gonna do now? Are you gonna bounce back, are you gonna fall into the sandtrap?”
Other times, if one of his receivers misses a block, Steward will say something like this: “Don’t ever go back to a block or chase a block, because that’s already done. You already made a mistake. Don’t go back to it. Just keep moving forward and moving up.”
“I’m like, OK, he’s really relating life to football,” Guillory said.
“I think a lot of guys respond well off of that,” Fredericksen added.
The part that really matters, though, is whether that will translate to wins this fall. After last season, which featured just one, Idaho State fans want to see change. Players feel it’s imminent. They’ll have to wait several more months before ISU visits UNLV in September, but in the meantime, Guillory will keep catching thousands of footballs, hauling them in until his teammates get tired of feeding them into the machine.
“It was worth it,” Guillory said.
