The Chris Petersen Era Officially Commences With the Opening of Spring Practices on March 4th

The University of Washington released its schedule for the upcoming Spring Football practices yesterday. According to the UW's sports information department, Chris Petersen will implement a "split spring" strategy very similar to what Steve Sarkisian implemented in 2013. This means that the Huskies will hold two weeks of practice, take an extended break and then reconvene for the final two weeks of allotted practice time before holding the annual spring game on Saturday, April 19th.

According the UW Sports Information Department, Chris Petersen will host an opening press conference at the Founder's Club on Monday, March 3rd. The Huskies will open spring practices on Tuesday, March 4th and then hold six total practices before taking a break following their closed practice on Saturday, March 15th. They will then break until they start again on Tuesday, April 1st at which time they will use up their remaining allotment of nine more practices culminating in the spring game on April 19th. The annual spring game is free to the public and will be broadcast live on the Pac 12 Networks for you west-coasters who are lucky enough to have access to the Pac 12 Networks.

With the exception of the March 15th practice, all Husky practices will be open to the press, but not the public. The UW SID also informed that Coach Petersen will not make available for interview any injured player, any true freshmen or any redshirt freshmen players during the spring practices.

The decision to split the practices into two sessions is consistent with a strategy that many schools have implemented over the last several years. The rationale is mostly practical as UW's Winter term finals week kicks off on March 15th while Spring quarter commences on March 31st. The break in the spring schedule also affords the new coaching staff several coaching luxuries including time to allow dinged players to heal, time to assess performance in initial workouts and process any position changes and time to change up the routine after becoming more familiar with the players they are inheriting should they deem it necessary to either speed up or slow down certain parts of their various installations.

The decision to split up the practices is also very good for your fellow bloggers who are always looking for more ways to stretch out the football season.

The full release from the University of Washington SID is included below.

2014 UW SPRING FOOTBALL SCHEDULE & POLICIES

Spring Practice Dates, with player/coach interview schedule:

Press Conference with Coach Petersen, 1:30 p.m., Mon., March 3, Founders' Club

Lunch served at 1:00 p.m.

1. Tue., March 4 – 8:15 a.m. – offensive players & asst. coaches, Coach Petersen

2. Thu., March 6 – 8:15 a.m. – defensive players & asst. coaches

3. Sat., March 8 – 10:15 a.m. – offensive players & asst. coaches, Coach Petersen

4. Tue., March 11 – 8:15 a.m. – defensive players & asst. coaches, Coach Petersen

5. Thu., March 13 – 8:15 a.m. – offensive players & asst. coaches

6. Sat., March 15 – CLOSED TO ALL

7. Tue., April 1 – 8:15 a.m. – offensive players & asst. coaches, Coach Petersen

8. Thu., April 3 – 8:15 a.m. – defensive players & asst. coaches

9. Sat., April 5 – 10:15 a.m. – offensive players & asst. coaches, Coach Petersen

10. Tue., April 8 – 8:15 a.m. – defensive players & asst. coaches, Coach Petersen

11. Thu., April 10 – 8:15 a.m. – offensive players & asst. coaches

12. Sat., April 12 – 10:15 a.m. – defensive players & asst. coaches, Coach Petersen

13. Tue., April 15 – 8:15 a.m. – offensive players & asst. coaches, Coach Petersen

14. Thu., April 17 – 8:15 a.m. – defensive players & asst. coaches

15. Sat., April 19 – 1:00 p.m. – open to the public, live TV coverage on Pac-12 Networks

• All practices (other than March 15) are open to the press in their entirety. Press MUST enter via the double doors on the southeast side, just west of the loading dock doors. The final spring practice session, on April 19, is open to the general public (free admission) and will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks.

• Video and photos made be taken during individual drills just after stretching (roughly a 20-minute time period). There will be no photography or videography allowed whenever the team lines up in formation and/or in 11-on-11 (even if during that 20-minute period). UW communications staff will be on hand to advise when the start and end of the photo/video period. Videographers and photographers must shoot from the field level and from the same areas from which they would shoot on a game day (i.e., not in, or behind, the team bench areas, etc.).

• Outside the photo/video portion of practice, members of the press are asked to view practice from the stadium seating areas (designated area yet to be determined) rather than from the sidelines.

• Player and coach interviews will take place on the field, near the tunnel entrance, at the end of each practice.

• No injured players, nor players who will be freshmen or redshirt-freshmen for the 2014 season, will be available for interviews.