Practice Notes

Rock · August 18, 2005

I will try to keep general impressions so as not to give specifics on any particular individual.

First Impression:

practice was well organized. Every time a whistle blew, everyone on the field knew where to go and how much time they had to get there. Inidivuals jogged to areas - didnt waste time.

Facilities:

Very nice. Lots of work being done to tennis pavilion. Looks to be a really nice set up with nice location. Took a quick look inside athletic center and the facilities are top notch. Everything in order, clean, put away. Very nice facility.

Caught my eye:

One of the offices (heard this on a thread in the past) had a series of helmets in the window. Ragin Cajuns, Southern Miss, and a North Texas. But the NT helmet used a diff. font. Cant remember if it was a previous entry or not. I like the script better. Really tired of changing the logos every couple years. Its here, its recognizable, its effecient ... i.e., leave it alone and press on.

Defense: looks good. Seems to have a tad more spirit than offense did. Of course it was hot and second practice but this is what I saw. Secondary could use an inch of height. If I were an opposing coach, I would try to exploit NT in this area specifically with my tallest receiver. Let man beat them deep a couple times. Remember bend dont break?

However, they looked to be on target and had more focus. Why u might ask? I say the coaching is directly related. The defensive coach was yelling his arse off and "right in the think of things" with the kids. There was more of a "Bill Cower" approach. Good or Bad, u need to get in front of the kid and guide him - even if it takes every other play of the day.

Bottom line, they looked to be the better of the 2.

offense: receivers seemed to run routes fine, but didnt catch the damn ball as much as they should have. Johnny seemed to put more emphasis on catching the ball where as some others simply took their eyes off the ball or thought about being hit in the back of their mind. I used to play receiver and (optional) tail back so I can relate. Bottom line, is that they will need to catch everything thrown at them when game time comes around if we want another title and some out of conf. wins.

QBs looked good on some plays and not so good on others. Did not see any consistency which scared me the most. One fo them stood out more than the others, but even he had a few "crappy" plays. Note, this was not due to athletic ability. They just didnt seem to have every player with his head in the game at the same time. Now my "Bill Cower" quote earlier takes over. I know we have a great staff and things are getting better every year. BUT, I really wanted to see anothe coach with his face next to the player, taking the snap, on his knees with the kid, walking or running the route with the receiver --> on every other play if need be. Perhaps that is just my style growing up in a military family and being taught by military personnel during my youth. Okay, I wanted to see more "Bill Cower".

Line:

Looks to have good size and be capable. They simply need to "gel" and back one another. I saw too many holes open up on one play and plug everything on the next. We will need consistency. More practice will solve this.

Running game: runners looked good but seemed to be a tad short. Didnt see Jemario or Patrick run. One particular individual looked to have good quickness and very good sight - always found a way to find another yard and not let the first man take him down. he was very elusive. Okay, he was #22. Others were running hard, but #22 stood out. I did not see any sloppy play on their side.

Tight ends. A couple of quick out patterns were short and should have been a solid play, but receiver dropped ball or pass was off mark. I was probably more dissappointed in that particular play than any other. Again, I think it was more mental mistakes.

Bottom line:

Overall I saw more mental mistakes. Kids should gain confidence as things progress, but I would like to see it sooner. I see that as one of the big differences with a mid major and a well established team. Look at the top QBs around the country. Specifically the new QB for Lousiville for example. When he took the field, he was the general. I would like to see somebody step up and take control and right the ship. I think that will help the team to "gel" and we will play better off in the end.

Let me give u an example, when kennedy was in the game, the first play saw him pacing in front of the offensive line, shouting at them, pumping up the other defensive players ... taking charge (specifically the NO bowl game). Hell,, the offsense was probably more aware of him than the snap count or antyhing else. I saw his presence on the practice field also. That is what I want to see again.

***

I see potential. I dont want this to come over as a negative report. There are a lot of positives. I am simply reflecting on where things could improve. Dont count this team short. I have faith in them and look for success.

***

Also, I did not see any slackers. I didnt see kids walking around deciding for themselves what they should be doing. I saw organization.

well ... my 2 pents worth.

Feel free to comment/debate.

mdmeangreen · August 18, 2005

Great practice update man! Makes me wish I there watching myself, instead of stuck in the office @ the nations capital! Well, I can speak for all of us I'm sure when I say mental mistakes are to be expected; believe me, even the Trojans (no, not ours, the mighty ones!) are having the same issues- they'll get worked out before the first game.

Still, I recall my biggest concern I took from the one practice I was able to see last year was the dropped balls from the WRs- this needs to be resolved ASAP! Why can't we become more of a well rounded offense, instead of the one dimensional approach!

Also, I'm willing to bet we keep things vanilla for the LSU game- wouldn't want to reveal to MTSU too much of the new wrinkles!!!