Spring games are just tools for the coaches

It’s a very big weekend for spring football games across college football, including at Auburn and South Alabama.

As always, fans will come away from these glorified scrimmages with many overreactions, both positive and negative, but here’s something to keep in mind: every team playing in a spring game will accomplish exactly what its head coach wants to accomplish.

For instance, at Auburn, Gus Malzahn has made a commitment to improve the Tigers’ passing game. It’s important for a number of reasons, including the goal of showcasing explosive attack to recruits such as wide receiver Justin Ross of Phenix City.

Ross, the state’s No. 1 recruit for 2018, said he is strongly considering Auburn, only because he believes they are now committed to a strong passing game. If Malzahn wants to, he can line up his best offensive players against a bunch of defenders who are deep on the Auburn depth chart.

The result will be similar to what we saw at last year’s spring game inĀ Louisville, where Lamar Jackson threw for 500 yards.

It’s not like there’s no reason to attend the spring game of your favorite team. Watching how newcomers or a certain individual player performs can be fun and informative, butĀ no matter how good or bad the offense or defense looks overall, just know that’s how the coach set it up.

For Threaded Fasteners, I’m Randy Kennedy with your Nuts and Bolts of the Game.