The Sooners kicked off the spring schedule Monday with their first practice in Everest Training Center.

In a press conference before practice, head coach Bob Stoops said he was excited about the way the team worked during the winter.

“(I’m excited about) the overall attitude of the team and the way they have prepared and trained leading up to spring ball,” Stoops said. “We’re anxious to get back out on the field.”

Stoops said he was pleased with the way the team headed into the spring by the way it finished last season.

The Sooners ended with a 27-0 shutout of Oklahoma State University and a bowl win over Stanford University in the Sun Bowl, which snapped OU’s three-game postseason skid.

Stoops reiterated that complete-team improvement would be the main focus during the spring.

“We have to improve in all areas,” he said. “More than anything what we always try and do is build depth.”

Stoops said major strides were made near the end of last season that will make the team better this year, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

Stoops said OU would be better at the quarterback position.

“I definitely believe we will be better at quarterback. That’s because we played the entire year without Sam Bradford. Landry (Jones) has a full year under his belt, he threw for almost 500 yards against a ranked team in the bowl game and had an excellent game against Oklahoma State as well. That showed his progression through the entire year.”

Stoops also mentioned improvements on the offensive line. Because the Sooners played without many seniors on the offensive front, the young players are returning with game experience.

Offensive linemen junior Jarvis Jones and sophomore Ben Habern will return from injuries and join the team for most of the spring, and redshirt freshman tight end Gabe Ikard and senior tight end Erik Mensik will provide the line with more depth, Stoops said.

Defensively, Stoops said he thought there wasn’t any reason the team could not be as good as last season.

Junior weakside linebacker Travis Lewis returns after leading the Sooners in tackles the past two seasons. Hard-hitting sophomore linebacker Ronnel Lewis will play strongside backer and redshirt freshman linebacker Tom Wort will man the middle after recovering from a torn ACL last season, Stoops said.

The defensive line returns senior Jeremy Beal and junior Frank Alexander at the defensive end positions, and senior Adrian Taylor (when he returns from injury) and sophomore Jamarkus McFarland at tackle.

The secondary has strong personnel in senior safety Quinton Carter, junior safety Sam Proctor and senior corner Jonathon Nelson, but lost starting corners Brian Jackson and Dominique Franks to graduation and the NFL, respectively

Grooming the defensive backfield will be the job of new secondary coach Willie Martinez, as the Sooners look to strengthen their secondary in preparation for next season.

Stoops spoke highly of his new secondary coach. He said Martinez brings great experience to the team.

“He’s been a lifelong secondary coach,” Stoops said. “I think he’s going to be a big plus for us.”

OU’s next practice is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.