CONWAY -- Taylor Reed tried to be cautious when describing his position status while going through his final spring football practice at Central Arkansas.
"It's a competition," he said. "Me and Hayden [Hildebrand] are both competing hard. It's just good to see the process unfold from where we were Day 1."
When pressed, Reed cracked a smile and acknowledged what just about everyone around the program already knows.
"Yeah, I feel like it's my job," Reed said. "And I want it that way."
UCA will have its second of three scrimmages today at Estes Stadium and cap its second spring under Coach Steve Campbell with a final scrimmage at 1 p.m. April 11. Taking almost all of the snaps with the No. 1 offense will be Reed, who even while recovering from a foot injury that ended his 2014 season has managed to take control of the Bears' offense while preparing for his senior season.
Hildebrand, a sophomore from Bossier City, La., has shown enough flashes that Campbell thinks he could play some if needed. But Reed will take most of the No. 1 snaps today and a week from today, and he will go into the summer as the No. 1 quarterback for a team coming off a 6-6 finish.
"He knows it's his car to drive," senior right tackle Kyle Stouffer said.
That's comforting for Reed, who only has to worry about improving the condition of the left foot he injured in an Oct. 18 loss to Southeastern Louisiana. Reed spent the first five games of the season alternating with Ryan Howard. After the injury, he kept suiting up for games but didn't take a snap over the final four games because of an injury that was eventually diagnosed as a Lisfranc sprain.
Reed didn't need surgery, just rest. He was on crutches through the rest of the season and wore a boot through Christmas. Then he started doing squats and exercises to improve his flexibility. He didn't start running until just before spring practices started.
Reed has been able to do every drill this spring, but he's still being cautious while guessing he's at about 85 percent.
"It's kind of a waiting process," Reed said. "It's something you think 'It's just a sprain, it won't be bad. Nothing is broken.' But it just takes time and you have to stay off of it."
Campbell said it could end up helping Reed. Campbell said he's never relied too much on improving a quarterback's running ability in the spring, saying it's an injury risk and can allow for other aspects of the offense to decline.
Instead, Reed can use the month-long spring sessions as a way to improve just about everything else.
"He's being a more vocal guy and a guy who has really taken the bull by the horns," Campbell said. "I think his decision-making has improved with additional reps. He just needs to get more reps and more playing time."
Reed said he believes he has but has been frustrated a bit by an injury that has made what he aimed at improving this spring difficult.
He completed 64.7 percent of his passes in 8 games last year while throwing for 869 yards with 7 touchdowns and 2 interceptions while playing in a rotation with Howard, whose eligibility was exhausted after last season.
Reed said he believed last season that one of the areas he could improve was his footwork and aimed to concentrate on that during spring practice. Now he's having to be cautious about a setback that could put him back in a protective boot.
"One of the main things that kind of gets me in trouble is my feet as far as aiming on targets and getting them set and following them through," Reed said. "So, right now it's been a little frustrating, because that's what I wanted to work on a lot this spring."
There is at least one positive for Reed.
For the first time in his fifth college season he's working at the same school with the same head coach, offensive coordinator and offensive system in which he played the previous season. The El Dorado native started nine games as a freshman at Memphis in 2011, then sat out in 2012 after transferring to Arkansas. He arrived at UCA in the spring of 2013 and spent last spring learning Campbell's new system.
So, recovering foot or not, Reed said he feels as if he's making progress.
"You're growing and maturing in the offense and things are starting to click a little bit more," he said. "It's just fun to come to work every day with Coach Campbell and those guys."
Sports on 04/04/2015