Notes from around the country as spring football starts to heat up.

Indiana
DiNardo dishing out the pain at Indiana
Yeah, spring football is still a few weeks away for first-year Indiana coach Gerry DiNardo. And you know, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

According to DiNardo, the Hoosiers need the extra time to get in better shape.

"You have a non-bowl team which hasn't done anything since Dec. 1 and is just in awful, awful shape (physically)," DiNardo told the Bloomington Times-Herald. "It's painful to get in shape, and I'm the one driving the pain, so I would imagine, at times, I'm not the most popular guy around.

"But they've said they want to go somewhere they haven't been but I've been (to bowl games), so if we follow that logic, I -- and my staff -- are the only ones who can take them there that they're in daily contact with."

And while the response has been positive for the most part, DiNardo told the Times-Herald it's easy to spot the ones who aren't real pleased with the new attitude at Indiana.

"Their response has been fine, but I'm sure there are not many guys who are going to say to a new coach, 'I don't like what you're doing.' Body-language speaks, and I'm sure there are some guys (who think that).

"I think it's very hard for seniors, to take them out of their comfort zone. It's hard for somebody who is a senior who has seen himself as having had some success here — though it hasn't been team success," DiNardo said. "I think I probably create some uneasiness in their lives."

DiNardo will bring a West Coast scheme to the Hoosiers, a change from the option-based attack former coach Cam Cameron ran. So, DiNardo is kind of flying blind since watching old tapes doesn't exactly help evaluate the players.

"Evaluating them based upon the past makes no sense," he told the Times-Herald. "I haven't had a lot of time to watch tape, and don't know that I would watch a lot if I had time. Starting on March 23, I'll get to watch our team run our offense, defense and kicking game."

Miami
Coker impressed by Winslow, Geathers
Replacing Jeremy Shockey will not be an easy task for Miami, but Kellen Winslow, Jr. is ready to try. In a battle with David Williams for the starting tight end spot, Winslow has been turning heads in spring practice.

"Really I've been impressed with him for the two days we've been out, which we needed to be with Shockey being gone," coach Larry Coker told the Palm Beach Post.

Winslow, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound sophomore, is considered the better receiver while Williams is a better blocker. But Winslow gained 20 pounds in the offseason and has worked on his blocking.

"That's one of the things I'm trying to work on. I've got to block 300-pound guys so I have to have good technique," Winslow told the Post. Right now I'm just really observing and learning. They're telling me the plays and everything's going through my head so fast."

Another player who is stealing some attention is junior WR Jason Geathers. Geathers made several tough catches in tight coverage and also showed his ability as a deep threat consistently on Tuesday to key a crisp practice by Miami's offensive unit, which is looking to replace seven starters from a unit that set a school record for points scored with 475 in 2001.

"Jason Geathers had a great day today, he really was exceptional, and I thought the whole offense practiced very well," said head coach Larry Coker. "Defensively, the linebackers really stood out. But the offense was really efficient today and that really stood out."

Georgia
Temperatures, tempo rise in Georgia
The weather warmed up and so the did pace of the Georgia practices.

After an unusually cold first day of spring practice, it was warmer as the 'Dawgs practiced in helmets, jerseys and shorts or sweatpants. More importantly, the practice was a little crisper, a little more intense.

"Certain things, you just can't tell in shorts," Georgia coach Mark Richt said. "We don't want to be optimistic too soon, but they were really running around with good effort on both sides of the ball. The tempo is really good."

Richt also agreed that the players are more in tune with the coaching staff in the second spring practice season of his Georgia career.

"It has a lot to do with being familiar with us, in what we expect as coaches" Richt said. "They know how to run our drills."

Richt said the practices will start involving more contact at the team's next session on Thursday. The team will not practice Wednesday.

"Thursday, we'll put shells (helmets, shoulder pads and shorts) on and allow contact," Richt said. "There won't be any tackling, but we'll have collisions, what we call thud. We'll have a better feel for what's going on out there."

USC
Cassel moving to tight end
Tired of watching from the bench, Trojan QB Matt Cassel will play tight end next season.

"The most frustrating thing with my personality is not to be able to play," Cassel told the L.A. Daily News. "Sitting on the bench is not normal for me. My options are to sit on the bench as a quarterback or go in at tight end and have some fun and contribute."

Cassel, a redshirt sophomore next season, has played almost as much at tight end for the Trojans as quarterback. He has one reception for 12 yards and played QB against Cal, completing 1 of 2 passes.

"I think he's too good of an athlete not to be able to contribute and help the team," USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow told the Daily News.

Cassel will still practice at QB a little bit next season and plans to return to QB in 2003 after Carson Palmer graduates.

"I definitely want to compete for the quarterback job the year after next," Cassel told the Daily News. "But there's an opportunity to play now and I want to take advantage of it."

Redshirt freshman Matt Leinart will backup Palmer and Billy Hart will be No. 3.