When it comes to building a successful football program at Humboldt State, new head coach Rob Smith knows exactly what he wants.

And it starts with bringing in more freshmen.

“We want to recruit a quality freshmen class, first off,” said Smith, who began his first spring practice at the Redwood Bowl this week. “We want to build the program out of current high school seniors and use transfers to solve depth issues and to fill holes. We need to get more young players in the program and we need more of a balance.

“And it starts with recruiting the best high school seniors and keeping them in the program.”

Smith, who was hired in late january, has been busy recruiting players and coaches in his first two months in charge and after recently completing his staff, he can now turn his attention to the playbook and coaching the 79 players in camp this week.

On Saturday morning, the Jacks held their first practice in full pads, and while Smith admitted it was “sloppy,” he has been happy with the attitude he has seen from his players.

“I’ve been really pleased with the response of the players,” he said. “They’re very anxious to please and overall it’s been a good start. We’ve had a couple of productive practices this week.”

The immediate concern for the coaches is getting the players used to a new system, with Smith calling all his own offensive plays, a change from the defensive background of former head coach Doug Adkins.

“Right now, it’s really about learning and it’s all about the players understanding our expectations,” Smith said.

Despite the high numbers in camp, the recruiting this year is far from over, especially with most of the coaches getting such a late start on the process (defensive coach Shay McClure is the only holdover on the staff).

Most notably, Smith and his assistants are looking to add depth on the offensive line and a linebacker.

Smith added that he has liked what he has seen from his quarterbacks.

“The top three, Brian (Hildebrand), Garret (Hubrich) and Mike Proulx all have ability,” he said. “Right now, we’re really focusing on getting them to understand our system, because it’s new to them, and their decision making.”

According to the coavch, all the players in camp, many of whom have been speaking highly of the new staff, will begin the new era with a clean slate.

And that’s a message Smith been trying to impress on them.

“As a coaching staff, we don’t know or care who did well last year,” he said. “We want them to focus on the little things like accountability.”

The Jacks will hold three scrimmages during the spring session, the first of which will take place Saturday at 10 a.m. in the Redwood Bowl.