Asked who will replace the school's all-time passing leader, head coach Dick Tomey sounded more like he was auditioning for "CSI: San Jose" than evaluating quarterbacks.

"We are not going to find our quarterback this spring, but we will start accumulating evidence," he told the San Jose Mercury News.

Adam Tafralis set San Jose State career marks for total offense, passing yards and pass completions and completed 64 percent of his passes over the last two seasons. He led the Spartans to 18 wins, more than any quarterback in two decades.

As spring practice opened March 7, there were five candidates vying to fill his shoes and no clear front-runner among Cal transfer Kyle Reed, senior Sean Flynn, juniors Chad Bozzo and Myles Eden and sophomore Jordan La Secla. Because they all lack significant game experience, they weren't off limits from defensive contact this spring.

"We need to know who can avoid the rush and perform with people around them," said Tomey, who is entering his fourth season with the Spartans.

He has 43 letter winners back from last season's 5-7 squad, including 13 who started at least six games. They were a few breaks short of going to a second straight bowl game, including an overtime loss to unbeaten Hawaii and a four-point loss at Louisiana Tech.

Tomey's teams give themselves a chance to be competitive almost every weekend by playing intelligent, aggressive football. The Spartans were the least-penalized team in the WAC last season and led the league in turnover margin (plus-13). He has no patience for laziness or incompetence, something he hammers home each spring.

"That's what this is all about," he said. "Looking at guys in different positions, coaching technique, coaching fundamentals and giving ourselves a chance to have the team that we want to have in the fall."

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