Without a full complement of coaches, full-blown practices would be challenging--juggling kids with limited position coaches who may not yet be comfortable coaching in Crouch's system. Don't take for granted that the assistant coaches that are there are completely comfortable with the system yet. Coach Crouch's offseason program with weights, running, agilities, etc can clearly establish his style and expectations and help him get an idea of where his program sits. Couple that with 7-on-7 and scheme implementation, the kids will be learning and getting better even without pads. Spring ball might not be as productive as it might be at other programs not experiencing such turnover. Lastly, the longer the pads stay in storage, the more the suspense and excitement build with the kids and community. I can see plenty of reasons to hold off til August. But hey, what do I know. I'm just riffing.