First off, I know it was an open practice, but some things I saw are going into Barzil for my minimal peace of mind.
I only got to stay until about 5:20, so I only got to see about 15 minutes of full O on D work. The rest of it was technique oriented and offense/defense installation, which was very interesting, but not as sweet as a scrimmage of course.They were in shorts. There were some recruits parents there, but no recruits. Chidera uZo Diribe and Devaughn were both on the field, but not participating.
First thing I noticed was that a few offensive players were not wearing jersey's. Instead they were wearing some all black nike high-tech looking thing. Players I identified were Prich, Evan Harrington, and at least one OL (unidentified). I have no idea what it means, but feel free to speculate.
Before practice, Castor was getting a lot of work in from all different spots. Brookhart was with him and giving him technique advice on every kick. At first, I was really pleasantly surprised, because his kicks used to look like he learned to kick back in the 50's. Now, they come off his foot with a much higher trajectory. However, about halfway through his kicks, they started going haywire more often then not. He was slicing and hooking them. If he kicked it too far right on one, you could bet he would overcompensate and kick it to far left on the next.
Practice started with team FG work. Castor made his first, then proceeded to miss every single one after that. The coaches even gave him two extra chances so that he wouldn't end on a bad note, but for whatever reason he just kept booting them wide until the coaches couldn't use up any more time.
Technique work was interesting to watch. Having watched the Hawkins version of technique work, it was really impressive to see. Tui was teaching the DT's the proper body mechanics of how to sweep inside. Conrad Obi really stood out in those drills as the strongest and fasted of the group. As did Bonsu. Scary dudes! Richter is obviously behind the other guys, but Tui was really working with him and called him "the strongest guy on the team". Then they went and did a lot of 2 on 1 gap assignment/penetration stuff.
I also watched Kennedy work on the WR's. He was working on routes, and he was demanding perfection. Every guy was getting yelled at to some degree, both good and bad. Dropping a ball was never a good thing. Ever. I will tell you who stood out, even with the caveat that they were in shorts, not pads. Canty. That kid looked fast and dangerous. I know he disappeared last fall when the pads went on, but Nik has mentioned he looked good in the 2d spring scrimmage. It was cool to see the kids getting such a good learning experience where previously for many years they really didn't get it.
The QBs were helping the WR in their drills by throwing routes. I gotta say, Tyler is really rifling them in there. His accuracy issues sure look like they've been improved on. Burnette's deeper balls really floated. Hirschman didn't stand out either way as I didn't get to see him really.
During the breakouts, Kanavis was putting the DE's through speed and cut work. Hartigan looked impressive and bigger, and Forrest West was scary. Thats all I saw there. Every other group I missed for some reason or another, like only have 2 eyeballs.
Next, the O and D began the installation of stuff. The D was working on how to react to the wildcat, while the O, well, the O stuff is in barzil. Hate me if you like. Here is a tidbit: This staff may be installing a west coast offense, but they are not pretending that nothing has changed in the offensive game since 1991.
The scrimmage stuff I saw was pretty interesting. Little to no Iformation, with a lot of 3 WR set out of the shotgun and just a TE. Since they weren't in pads and were doing 2 hand touch, I took most everything with a bit of salt. The running plays were mostly effective, especially one early that went for a big gain. The coaches were all over the players, making the entire defense touch any offensive player that went for a decent gain, asking them to really finish. Tyler looked really good and comfortable. He went through his progressions rapidly and with panache, finding a checkdown when his WR's were covered. The D made sure to double cover Prich :lol:. Every coach was involved here, giving individualized feedback to guys after nearly every play. Not a lot of swearing today, just making sure guys were doing the right thing even when situations were against them (like Embree getting after Prich on what to do when he's bracketed by that double team).
Speedy looked good catching the ball out of the backfield, and Tony Jones looked damn good running. He sets up blocks well.
Kyle Slavin toasted Mahnke for a big gain on an out route. Mahnke.. sigh. Good to see Slavin looking the part of a D1 TE though. He always looked to damn skinny. More depth at TE can only help. Didn't see any other TE's.
Our starting nickel package involves Major and Rippy at LB with Sandersfield at nickel.
We need more depth at WR very badly. Our 2d string is rough. Darden looked slow today, and with Canty getting some time with WillJeff and Prich in our #1 3 WR set, there wasn't much to throw to for the 2d team (which was Hirschman at QB). Cefalo caught a few balls on out routes, but eh.
The LB's looked good. Especially Rippy. He broke up a few passes (coaches loved it), and seemed to know what to do in space. Its great to see him getting going. Right now, Webb is running with our 2s! Liloa was around, but he seemed pretty lost when they were installing the D. Our CB's weren't really tested beyond one short throw on Jered Bell (which he did a good job tackling), so I don't have much to say there.
Since it was no pads, nothing much to say about OL or DL, but I did see bakhtiari pick up a safety blitz very nicely. OL seemed on top of it, and after the first big run (more due to a brain fart on the scheme than getting dominated) the DL stiffened noticeably.
Then, I had to leave to go play soccer as they were setting up the next drill. Doh.
I only got to stay until about 5:20, so I only got to see about 15 minutes of full O on D work. The rest of it was technique oriented and offense/defense installation, which was very interesting, but not as sweet as a scrimmage of course.They were in shorts. There were some recruits parents there, but no recruits. Chidera uZo Diribe and Devaughn were both on the field, but not participating.
First thing I noticed was that a few offensive players were not wearing jersey's. Instead they were wearing some all black nike high-tech looking thing. Players I identified were Prich, Evan Harrington, and at least one OL (unidentified). I have no idea what it means, but feel free to speculate.
Before practice, Castor was getting a lot of work in from all different spots. Brookhart was with him and giving him technique advice on every kick. At first, I was really pleasantly surprised, because his kicks used to look like he learned to kick back in the 50's. Now, they come off his foot with a much higher trajectory. However, about halfway through his kicks, they started going haywire more often then not. He was slicing and hooking them. If he kicked it too far right on one, you could bet he would overcompensate and kick it to far left on the next.
Practice started with team FG work. Castor made his first, then proceeded to miss every single one after that. The coaches even gave him two extra chances so that he wouldn't end on a bad note, but for whatever reason he just kept booting them wide until the coaches couldn't use up any more time.
Technique work was interesting to watch. Having watched the Hawkins version of technique work, it was really impressive to see. Tui was teaching the DT's the proper body mechanics of how to sweep inside. Conrad Obi really stood out in those drills as the strongest and fasted of the group. As did Bonsu. Scary dudes! Richter is obviously behind the other guys, but Tui was really working with him and called him "the strongest guy on the team". Then they went and did a lot of 2 on 1 gap assignment/penetration stuff.
I also watched Kennedy work on the WR's. He was working on routes, and he was demanding perfection. Every guy was getting yelled at to some degree, both good and bad. Dropping a ball was never a good thing. Ever. I will tell you who stood out, even with the caveat that they were in shorts, not pads. Canty. That kid looked fast and dangerous. I know he disappeared last fall when the pads went on, but Nik has mentioned he looked good in the 2d spring scrimmage. It was cool to see the kids getting such a good learning experience where previously for many years they really didn't get it.
The QBs were helping the WR in their drills by throwing routes. I gotta say, Tyler is really rifling them in there. His accuracy issues sure look like they've been improved on. Burnette's deeper balls really floated. Hirschman didn't stand out either way as I didn't get to see him really.
During the breakouts, Kanavis was putting the DE's through speed and cut work. Hartigan looked impressive and bigger, and Forrest West was scary. Thats all I saw there. Every other group I missed for some reason or another, like only have 2 eyeballs.
Next, the O and D began the installation of stuff. The D was working on how to react to the wildcat, while the O, well, the O stuff is in barzil. Hate me if you like. Here is a tidbit: This staff may be installing a west coast offense, but they are not pretending that nothing has changed in the offensive game since 1991.
The scrimmage stuff I saw was pretty interesting. Little to no Iformation, with a lot of 3 WR set out of the shotgun and just a TE. Since they weren't in pads and were doing 2 hand touch, I took most everything with a bit of salt. The running plays were mostly effective, especially one early that went for a big gain. The coaches were all over the players, making the entire defense touch any offensive player that went for a decent gain, asking them to really finish. Tyler looked really good and comfortable. He went through his progressions rapidly and with panache, finding a checkdown when his WR's were covered. The D made sure to double cover Prich :lol:. Every coach was involved here, giving individualized feedback to guys after nearly every play. Not a lot of swearing today, just making sure guys were doing the right thing even when situations were against them (like Embree getting after Prich on what to do when he's bracketed by that double team).
Speedy looked good catching the ball out of the backfield, and Tony Jones looked damn good running. He sets up blocks well.
Kyle Slavin toasted Mahnke for a big gain on an out route. Mahnke.. sigh. Good to see Slavin looking the part of a D1 TE though. He always looked to damn skinny. More depth at TE can only help. Didn't see any other TE's.
Our starting nickel package involves Major and Rippy at LB with Sandersfield at nickel.
We need more depth at WR very badly. Our 2d string is rough. Darden looked slow today, and with Canty getting some time with WillJeff and Prich in our #1 3 WR set, there wasn't much to throw to for the 2d team (which was Hirschman at QB). Cefalo caught a few balls on out routes, but eh.
The LB's looked good. Especially Rippy. He broke up a few passes (coaches loved it), and seemed to know what to do in space. Its great to see him getting going. Right now, Webb is running with our 2s! Liloa was around, but he seemed pretty lost when they were installing the D. Our CB's weren't really tested beyond one short throw on Jered Bell (which he did a good job tackling), so I don't have much to say there.
Since it was no pads, nothing much to say about OL or DL, but I did see bakhtiari pick up a safety blitz very nicely. OL seemed on top of it, and after the first big run (more due to a brain fart on the scheme than getting dominated) the DL stiffened noticeably.
Then, I had to leave to go play soccer as they were setting up the next drill. Doh.
