Hounds winding down spring football drills

PORTALES – As incoming Eastern New Mexico University football coach Kelley Lee gets ready to begin his second stint with the program, one area he feels pretty good about is at safety on defense.

“We felt like we have pretty good players there,” Lee said as the Greyhounds begin to wind down spring drills leading into Friday’s 5 p.m. Green & Silver scrimmage at Greyhound Stadium. “We’ve watched them, and they were all-(Lone Star) Conference type of players.”

Among them are seniors Zerrian Meander and Colby Russ, both of whom were here for two years before Lee left for a high school job in Texas. Both are also graduates of Canyon’s Randall H.S.

Russ played in 2018 and 2019, then transferred to Missouri Western the following season. He came back to ENMU because of Lee and the fact he wanted to be closer to home.

He said he likes what he’s seen so far.

“We have a lot of veterans (on defense), and the energy is high,” Russ said. “The previous time I was here I was (honorable mention) all-conference (in 2019 at outside linebacker).

“It was kind of crazy coming back. You see a few familiar faces, which was really nice.”

Meander was a redshirt in 2018, then played cornerback the following year. He said he was happy to hear from Kelley when the coach took the job in January.

“I knew what to expect, and it felt very comfortable,” Meander said. “I feel like we’re very mature guys, and we have expectations for our last season.”

Lee, who went 21-12 as the head coach from 2017-19, said spring workouts have gone well and as they approach what will be a controlled scrimmage to wrap it up the Hounds are in relatively good health.

“I’m really pleased with where we’re at,” he said. “Our scrimmage the other day was almost like a game. You like to see it go back and forth (between offense and defense), and it did.”

Russ said he will play more of a combination linebacker-safety role, meaning he will be asked to do different things during games.

“I like to run side to side and use my speed,” he said. “On top of that, I’ll now be blitzing (the opposing quarterback) some. It’s nice to be able to utilize a lot of my skills.”

Meander’s transition to safety took a bit of time, he said, but he thinks he’s adapted well. Last year as a starter at safety, he was second on the team with 65 tackles, including 43 solo stops.

“It was kind of a big adjustment going from corner to safety,” he said. “But I took it with an open mind, and I just do my best.”

The Hounds have a summer program consisting of weights and conditioning which begins in June. They return for the start of practice in early August and open the season with a Thursday night game against New Mexico Highlands on August 31 at Greyhound Stadium.