Just more than a week after Spring football practice opened Mar. 15, the recent snowstorm sent coach Dan Enos and his team back to the turf bay inside the Indoor Athletic Complex for Thursday’s session.

But to be clear, it will take more than a snow storm to put a damper on the optimism surrounding Central Michigan.

Junior quarterback Ryan Radcliff is proof of that. A year after being thrust into a first-time starter role, in the midst of a massive transition from the previous coaching regime to its successor, he is finally at ease.

The 6-foot-2, 212-pound Sherwood, Ohio, native has taken time to acclimate to a job he at times struggled with last season, when CMU finished 3-9. The offseason, he says, has treated him well.

“Now that we’re already out here, we already got probably 80-90 percent of our offense in (through) the first five practices,” said Radcliff, who attributed a ton of film study to his level of comfort. “Last year, we had five routes in. We’re so much further ahead as far as install goes, and just what the coaches expect from us — how we’re going to do business.”

Enos, who said in January that Radcliff was “definitely” his starting quarterback despite saying he had a period of regression in the middle of the 2010 season, said Radcliff’s progression is notable.

He is more concerned with finding a semblance of a run game, something that eluded the Chippewas for long stretches in 2010.

Part of that, admittedly, falls on the coaching staff, Enos said.

“It’s myself calling more run plays,” the second-year head coach said. “When our tailbacks had around 30 carries a game, we won.”

Enos also has harped on a sour-looking turnover margin (-11) that ranked last in the Mid-American Conference in 2010. Of note, CMU threw a combined 18 interceptions — Radcliff accounted for 17 — and intercepted just four.

Defensively, senior Armond Staten is expected to lead a linebacker group that lost Nick Bellore and Matt Berning to graduation. Enos said Staten was the team’s most consistent linebacker last year after Bellore suffered an ankle injury that was difficult to get over.

Like Radcliff, Staten said he sees a continuity in the unit that wasn’t there last season, despite losing some key contributors.

“Coming into spring ball, everything’s a lot clearer,” he said. “We understand the terminology. We’re eye-to-eye with the coaches, and we’re all on the same level.”

Enos credited Staten with accepting a leadership role that, in part, came with his rise to prominence last season.

“Here’s the thing about Armond. We benched him the first couple of games because he had an issue,” Enos said. “Alex Smith got hurt and he got another opportunity, and he came and he ran with it.”

Enos said he wants the defense to create more havoc in the opposing backfield, which, in turn, will help create turnovers.

“We got to do a better job of front. We got to affect the quarterback more,” he said.

From what he has seen in the beginning of Spring practices, so far, so good.

“We’ve gotten a bunch of turnovers here in spring ball, which isn’t good for our offense,” he said. “But part of it is because our defense is doing a great job.”