When asked last Wednesday at the St. Aloysius Touchdown Club meeting about how former St. Aloysius standout J.R. Burnett was doing, new Millsaps coach Aaron Pelch didn’t pull any punches.

“He’s one of our best,” Pelch said of the rising senior defensive lineman. “He’s a model for the kind of football player we want at Millsaps. I can’t say enough great things about him. He’s done an amazing job.”

Burnett will play the three-technique defensive tackle, but he will also be shuffled around the defensive line as matchups dictate. He had 15 tackles, two for loss last season.

Burnett’s rise is one of several story lines from Millsaps’ spring practice as Pelch gets to know his new charges. The first-year coach was Mike Dubose’s top assistant for three seasons before heading west to the Oakland Raiders as the assistant special teams coach and his return to Millsaps has been a whirlwind ride.

“It’s been unbelievably fast,” Pelch said. “We’ve only had a couple of weeks to get caught up on recruiting and get ready for spring practice.”

The biggest chore for Pelch and his staff is the search for a new quarterback from last year’s 7-3 squad. Pelch said that four are battling for the right to replace Chris Graves, who threw for more than 2,500 yards and 30 touchdowns last season.

He has a timetable for when the Majors will pick a starter under center.

“We’re going to get down to two of them by fall camp and by the first week, we should find who our No. 1 should be,” Pelch said.

But the one who inherits the keys to the offense isn’t going to be empty-handed, said Pelch. The Majors return top running back Shane Bowser, who rushed for 688 yards and three touchdowns last season.

Also, the Majors return their top four wide receivers. Michael Galatas led the Majors with 32 grabs for 632 yards and nine scores, while rising sophomore Jason O’Rear caught seven TD passes last season. Bowser was also a threat out of the backfield catching passes, with four TDs off 30 catches.

“I think we’ve got a great, solid group coming back,” Pelch said. “Obviously, quarterback is going to be a question mark for us. We’ve got a great core of wide receivers coming back, five or six guys, and they’ve been phenomenal in their amount of ability. We’ve got a running back who could be one of the best in the country, so we’re excited.”

Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburgpost.com