- April 9th, 2007, 10:39 am
#75921
We are back home now from visiting LU and I wanted to share my observations of football practice that I attended on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.
Practice structure-well organized, players on the move, everyone engaged in some aspect of the game. A good mix and rotation of individual drills, group activities utilizing both offense vs. defense. Coaches are well coordinated in their running of practice, with every coach actively involved in instruction. A big improvement over the staff's innaugural spring of last year.
Practice Tempo- Players hustle, they are focused, they hit. They also understand common sense and don't look for cheap shots on one another. They stay chest on chest on tackling, help each other up, encourage each other for good play, and pick each other up following mistakes. Coach Rocco constantly stating the relationship between how they practice and achievement of their goals, even in stretching. When it comes time for live contact, the whole team gets pumped, like hound dogs as their cage is being opened. The offense and the defense have a healthy competitive spirit, and they do keep score in their minds, whether in individual battles of O vs. D.
Talent-
O Line-Huge, physical, technique sound, good chemistry, strong depth, and they play with a unit wide pride.
Sene at left tackle punishes attempts to come off the pass rush edge, throwing people to the ground, and then daring them to get up.
Ausberry at left guard- Huge kid who is getting more confident with the scheme which allows him to become more physical.
Godsil at center- He's ok, personnally, I like this kid.
Stone at rt. guard- Bigger and physical, smart player.
Penigis at rt. tackle- Looks more athletic than last year, feet look faster out of his stance.
Thom at Tight End- Looks like we improved at this spot in terms of blocking. Big physical kid who compliments our running game. Didn't see a lot of balls thrown his way though.
Mosier, Davis, Weaver, Cosby, and Vargas could step in and start for any FCS team in the country with success.
Running backs-
Rashad-a healthy Rashad is an exciting thing to behold. He looks sleaker and faster, while maintaining the power. Broke into the secondary repeatedly, where it should be all over in the fall.
Terrell- lightening quick, gets the corner in a hurry, great instincts. Bottom line: a 6 pt threat at any time.
Stokes- I just watched him abuse the defensive end on kickout on the off tackle power play. This kid has a mean streak.
QB
Smith- is well protected in the pocket, sees well and is throwing with more accuracy than last year. Moves well in the pocket, throws well on the edge. I really like his ability to throw well over the middle on crossing routes and vertical seam routes from the inside receiver. He also looks stronger throwing the out with zip. I also saw him make good decisions to throw the ball away when he needed to. Confident leadership.
Back up kid looks solid, nice arm.
Receivers.
Saw few dropped balls. My thought was that passing would not be the gamble it was previously. Short game was on, as I saw the team work a lot on 3rd and medium scenarios. Turner and Jackson were constant deep threats, and I saw an incredible finger tip catch by BT between 2 defenders, stumble, maintained his balance and went on to score, when an average rec. would not have had a chance to catch.
Defense
D Line
Dugan, Ackley, Richards. Dugan is an anchor in the middle and moves well along the LOS. Ackley is an athlete, but is a little dinged.
Inside LBs: Hursky and LLoyd.
Hursky is a leader who is constantly communicating what he sees. I think we may have a little more speed here.
Stevie Ray has the combination of a motor that won't stop running with the jump of experience.
Outside LBs: Redd is a freak. Like someone from March Madness put on a uni and wants to hurt something. How do you throw out there?
Duke is a strong run player who will abuse tight ends.
Secondary looks good at times but still needs to improve. Must close seams faster. I realize that you don't want your DB's whacking your own personnel, so this could change at game time.
Special teams: Coach Rocco works on this a lot, not just at the beginning of practice, or at the end, but at intreval periods throughout practice. Lots of kick coverage, and punt drills. I don't have a good read on the punter, as I was watching from the end zone. Lots of good pressure from the D.
FG/XTPT- Hey, I saw us make more than we missed.
Talked to Coach Gillespie-His comment to me is this, the time is now. It is important for everyone to understand that this is the season, and we're not building toward the distant future. The puzzle pieces are in place for NOW!
Talked to Coach Rocco- He builds competition into everything they do. He doesn't mind shaking the bushes to get everyone on edge to perform. No relaxing for this man or his team.
Talked to Coach Frank Rocco while we watched Sat. practice. Quality Man who gave me a better understanding of how this family is the cumulation of football wisdom, knowledge and integrity.
I'll be back down for the spring game/tailgate. Looking forward to talking with you guys. I am pumped.
Vince Lombardi, football coach for the NFL (1913-1970)
Individual commitment to a group effort-that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.
. I think noon or 1 might be reasonable though unless I get into some serious Madden games online in the morning. I'll catch up with you when I get into town though.
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