Spring practice gets underway this Sunday for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team, the first of 15 spring workouts.

"I'm absolutely excited about start of spring football and hopefully getting to have spring ball in its entirety. With everything that we've gone through the past year having the opportunity to get back on the field and get work done fires us up," said Tulsa Head Coach Philip Montgomery. "We get a chance this spring to get back on the field and continue to grow, continue to raise the standard, and continue to push each other to develop at a higher rate."

Tulsa is coming off of 2020 season that saw the Hurricane play in the American Athletic Conference Championship Game, the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl and finish the season with a 6-3 record.

In 2021, Tulsa enters spring practice with 57 returning lettermen, including three players who missed the 2020 campaign. The Hurricane returns a total of 32 players who have started at least one game over their careers.

"We have a veteran team returning," added Montgomery. "A lot of our seniors have elected to come back and play this year with the opportunity, the mindset and the goal to not only get back to the conference championship game but to go out there and win it. That's been our focus."

"Understanding and knowing that within the conference we play and the schedule in front of us, it's going to be a tough track. You have to win close ball games and have to do a good job being able to separate when you have opportunities to do that and being able to hunker down and finish off games. We have to continue to keep building on what we did last year and continue to grow as a unit – as a football team in general, as an offense, a defense, and special teams – we all contribute to that," said Montgomery.

From last year's roster, Tulsa returns 10 starters and five part-time starters on offense, while on the other side of the ball the Hurricane has 10 defensive starters and five part-time starters returning.

Tulsa's offensive line returns all five starters, all of whom earned all-conference honors in 2020. Left tackle Tyler Smith was a first-team all-AAC pick as a redshirt freshman, while right tackle Chris Paul earned second team honors. Guards Dylan Couch and Dante Bivens and center Gerard Wheeler were honorable mention selections.

X'Zauvea Gadlin, who started all 12 games during the 2019 campaign at right guard, returns after missing the 2020 season. Three tight ends with playing experience including two starters – Ethan Hall and James Palmer – return in 2021.

All-AAC second-team receiver Keylon Stokes leads a receiving corps that returns seven letterwinners. Stokes had a team-high 644 yards and three TDs. Juan Carlos Santana, Josh Johnson and Sam Crawford Jr. each had more than 25 receptions for over 350 yards and a combined total of 11 TDs on the year.

Quarterbacks Seth Boomer and Davis Brin have each seen playing time for the Hurricane.

In 2019, Boomer filled in for an injured Zach Smith late in the first half and led Tulsa to a 34-31 win over UCF. Last season, Brin came in against Tulane after injuries sidelined both Smith and Boomer and led the Hurricane to a 30-24 comeback win that included a "Hail Mary" pass to tie the game as time expired.

Shamari Brooks leads a running back corps that saw Deneric Prince gain 475 yards and four TDs in eight games and TK Wilkerson rush for 317 yards and four touchdowns in seven contests last season. Brooks missed last season after suffering an ACL injury a week prior to the season opener. He is the school's all-time 5th leading rusher with 2,700 yards and 23 touchdowns in 32 career games.

On defense, the only loss, although a big one, is Consensus All-America linebacker Zaven Collins.

Returning starters Tyarise Stevenson, Jaxon Player and Anthony Goodlow anchor the defensive front along with part-time starter Cullen Wick. Player was a first-team all-AAC performer last year after totaling 37 tackles and 9.5 TFP for -26 yards. Stevenson, Goodlow and Wick combined for 61 tackles, 11.5 TFL for -45 yards and 7.5 sacks for -37 yards.

Second-team all-conference selection Justin Wright and senior Treyvon Reeves had solid seasons in complementing Collins at the linebacker position. Wright was second on the team in tackles with 62 and had 9 TFL for -23 yards, while Reeves totaled 43 stops and 5.5 TFL.

In addition, Grant Sawyer, with 23 stops and 7 TFL, Robert Revels III, Dorian Hopkins, Brian Johnson and Mitchell Kulkin have all seen playing time at linebacker for the Hurricane. Yohance Burnett, who returns from injury, and is joined at linebacker by Oklahoma is graduate transfer Jon-Michael Terry.

The secondary returns all five starters from 2020, led by safety and leading tackler Kendarin Ray. He had 63 tackles and also a team-high seven pass breakups, while nickel safety Cristian Williams, a second-team all-AAC pick last year, had 48 tackles and four breakups. TieNeal Martin added 27 stops and six pass breakups.

Starting corners Akayleb Evans and Allie Green IV have combined to start 48 games in their careers. Green was a 2020 semifinalist for the Thorpe Award as the nation's top defensive back, while he and Evans totaled 57 tackles and four breakups last year.

Tulsa returns all of its specialists in 2021 including place-kicker Zack Long, punter Lachlan Wilson, deep snapper Adam Higuera and holder Cannon Montgomery.

Brooks, Burnett and Boomer are expected to be very limited in spring drills.

"I'm excited to get back on the field with our guys. I'm thrilled for them to get back out on the field and roll," said Montgomery.

2021 SPRING PRACTICE DATES
Sunday, March 14
Tuesday, March 16
Thursday, March 18
Saturday, March 20
Sunday, March 21
Tuesday, March 23
Thursday, March 25
Saturday, March 27
Tuesday, March 30
Thursday, April 1
Friday, April 2 (PRO DAY)
Saturday, April 3
Tuesday, April 6
Thursday, April 8
Saturday, April 10
Tuesday, April 13