Good lively scrimmage action there. We had a little 3-on-3 drill and the nice part about the spring so far is the depth on the offensive line and defensive line as I mentioned before, we can get in there and really get some good live action with our big guys. That's important in terms of control of the line of scrimmage and really developing the kind of toughness you want on both side of the ball. Spring practice is feeling so much better because you can work on so much more when you can go and really allow your big fellas to get after it. That's really been the emphasis for us is that toughness on both sides of the ball - offensive line and defensive line. You can talk about it all you want, but you've got to create those situations in live, padded opportunities and we had another one of those today. We had one Wednesday, we had one Saturday, so it's been really good work. In terms of the preparation, it's the first time I've been able to prepare this way in developing that toughness on the offensive line and defensive line.
Injuries
Nothing major. Some typical spring practice ailments, but nothing that would keep anybody out for the remainder of the spring other than Joe Schmidt, who's working his way back in. Jarron Jones, who had the screw pulled out from that fracture. The guys who were out today will be back in short order. I think we had a couple of concussions, I think we had a hamstring, but nothing major.
What was Jarrett's?
Concussion. He's been impressive.
Torii Hunter balance between sports
It's been really good. I think we've worked out a schedule that allows him to do both. Of course he's not playing a lot of innings, so we've been able to do both on the same day where if he went through a full practice, I think what we're alerted to is if he's in the lineup for a nine-inning game that we wouldn't practice him on that particular day. There's been good communication between Coach Aoki and myself in terms of balancing the schedule for Torii, but he's had a good spring for us. He's been actively involved in all of our spring and really hasn't missed that much at all.
Requirements he had to meet?
Yeah, he had to meet an academic requirement that we had kind of laid out. He's going through this first year kind of to see how he fits. I think he's still going through that process right now.
Established in football first?
Yeah, but still had not fully got him the chance to kind of miss anything, so we had to still sit down and work out a schedule that would allow him to do both because we're not in a position to say, 'All right, just focus on baseball in the spring.' He's got one foot in, but he knows that football is still the most important thing right now.
Play all three receiver positions?
He has the ability to play all three. I think we would prefer that it's two at this time, but certainly he's more unique than any of the other players that we have in that he could play all three if necessary.
It would probably be more than anything else the X receiver position.
Tight ends
Durham Smythe is someone we feel really confident in as a pass catcher in our offense, so it's been really more about consistency in in-line blocking for him. Tyler Luatua gives us that second tight end that has a little more strength and size and has not established him as the same kind of pass catcher as Durham.
Nic Weishar continues to get bigger and stronger. We know what he can do. He's got real good ball skills, but we've got to continue to work on his blocking. He's up to 240-something pounds, so he's getting there.
We're also working Chase Hounshell, but there's a bit of a transition there. He wants to go out and attack as if he's a defensive lineman and there has to be a little bit more patience there. He might be somebody that can help us. I think Durham Smythe, you start there and he gets the bulk of the work, and then our second tight end, Luatua and then we're trying to find the third.
Jumbo package with someone like Alex Bars?
I think that we have a couple guys we feel like we can put on the field that can certainly help us in unbalanced offensive sets and certainly Bars is a guy that can do that. We think McGovern is athletic enough to do that as well. We think we have two guys in particular that fit that.
Special teams
Our focus has been on a lot of technique work, really working a lot on developing our holder, DeShone Kizer. Working with him quite a bit as it relates to our PAT field goal work. And then a lot of technique work and our punt returns and then setting up our returns and kickoff returns. You're not doing a lot of ball catching right now while we're inside, we'll wait till we get outside. We've been going every day with ST. It's been part of our emphasis. A lot of technique work right now. Fundamentals, footwork, corralling the football.
Punt returns and kick returns
I think last year we felt like there were two or three guys that did a nice job for us. Amir Carlisle did a nice job for us, Greg Bryant was back there. I think we've opened it up to everybody and I don't know if I'd say right now that we have a frontrunner. It's really something that you kind of hone in on when you get outside and then we'll give four or five guys the opportunity in June and July to spend most of their summer on it.
Shumate and Redfield
I like our safeties. I like Redfield and Shumate. Their development is clearly evident and so much different from where we were this time last year or any time during the season. We don't see the missed assignments, we see clearly two guys that have grasped the whole of what we're doing out there. They've settled into two solid football players back there for us.
I think [Shumate's] last couple of games really started to build that confidence level and certainly it started with the way he played when he got back in the lineup. He got that confidence back and certainly certainly the last game he played with him and Max. Then there's for both of those guys just a lot of confidence right now. They feel really confident with the system now with the work they're doing.
Bowl practice beneficial for them
Yeah, the bowl preparation was absolutely crucial for both of those guys defensively for them to really I think see where they needed to grow. They get in this year and know it's time to really deliver. I think they look back on the year and see that there were clearly some tough times for them, but they're going to be better defensively.
Philosophy with position switches
I think there's one particular position that we look at is one that has that flexibility and that's the big skill positions. When you're talking about big skill players, you're talking about tight ends, linebackers, safeties that have that flexibility to move and play other positions. Those guys generally in the high school ranks are still growing and filling out. They haven't reached that potential yet physically, so where they are in high school is not necessarily where they might be in college. There's a lot more room for that position to work itself in college than maybe an offensive lineman. A power position is generally a power position and skill is skill. That big skill position, the positions I've kind of outlined to you, I've always kind of had my eye on that one being where they could move into other positions. If I like a player that maybe another coach couldn't project at a particular position or hadn't shown himself, it's usually that big skill position.
Which guys have stood out in toughness
I think we clearly have tried to use the younger players in those positions, but we also want to see a guy like Steve Elmer. I think we've seen improvement there in his ability to sustain and block. Nick Martin is much stronger and more effective than he was last year coming back from a pretty substantial knee injury and the hand injury. You could see he's a much more explosive player than he was last year.
Then I have to unfortunately move right back to those freshman offensive linemen in Bars and Nelson.
Far and away the story is Jerry Tillery. He's just a unique player. One that I can't remember that I've coached. He's running with the first group and he's impressed. Today during three-on-three drills, they had a tough time blocking him. He just has a unique ability at such a young age to use his hands. He has had incredible teaching from one of the all-time great defensive line coaches, Pete Jenkins. He's one of the great ones. You can see it in his ability to use his hands and where we spend the first year and a half trying to get these kids to not drop their head and be overextended, he immediately can use his hands and size to his advantage. I don't want to put him in the Hall of Fame. I'm still leery to talk about a freshman, but he's a unique talent.
Left guard
It's been really good. I would probably give you the look at it in this respect: Quenton Nelson is extremely explosive, strong and can overwhelm a defender. Alex Bars is extremely efficient, technically so far above the normal redshirt freshman. Technically he's so good. You have two guys here, one that is really physically at times dominant and one who you think he's a junior and that he's been in the program three or four years. It's going to be hard to make the call because you like what they both do at that position.
They'll have to both play. They're going to have to get in the game and it might be that Bars plays some tackle too. If he's a guard, he's a guard. We don't see Q as a tackle right now, but they're guys that are going to have to play.
Right side of the OL
We like what Elmer's done. We thought he was sloppy at times and he's really cleaned up a lot of those what we would consider unforced errors in technique. I think he's really become more technically sound. He's a big, strong kid. Once he's eliminated a lot of those, it's allowed him to work so much more efficiently with Mike.
Mike's long and what Mike has to continue to work on is not getting his head out in front of him and him being overextended and he's getting better there.
Quarterbacks
I like what they're doing. They're very competitive. They're working very well in the classroom. I like what Mike's doing with them. Here's my observation. When Coach [Chuck] Martin was running the offense, there was a real focus on the quarterbacks and protections and really being cognizant of how to protect themselves. That was his thing. That was his wheelhouse. That was a huge point of emphasis. Coach [Matt] LaFleur was concepts, concepts, concepts. It was a heavy emphasis on concepts. Those two things they're really good at. Some of the fundamentals, which we saw were exposed last year, are the areas that Mike Sanford is really strong at. There's that piece that was kind of missing that was being coached and we're seeing that development with some of the fundamentals that maybe weren't emphasized to the point that I like. We're seeing that come together in practice. Where are we with them? I'm seeing them so much more in tune with the fundamentals of the position and doing the little things that I think now can accelerate their growth because they know how to protect themselves. They've got great understanding of the concepts. It's been really good for both of them because they've got 3/4 of it already down.
Can you measure ball security in that?
Oh sure, yeah. You can see mistakes that are made based upon being careless or not taking care of the football properly and we're certainly seeing less of that.
This post was edited on 3/25 12:45 PM by Andrew Owens
Injuries
Nothing major. Some typical spring practice ailments, but nothing that would keep anybody out for the remainder of the spring other than Joe Schmidt, who's working his way back in. Jarron Jones, who had the screw pulled out from that fracture. The guys who were out today will be back in short order. I think we had a couple of concussions, I think we had a hamstring, but nothing major.
What was Jarrett's?
Concussion. He's been impressive.
Torii Hunter balance between sports
It's been really good. I think we've worked out a schedule that allows him to do both. Of course he's not playing a lot of innings, so we've been able to do both on the same day where if he went through a full practice, I think what we're alerted to is if he's in the lineup for a nine-inning game that we wouldn't practice him on that particular day. There's been good communication between Coach Aoki and myself in terms of balancing the schedule for Torii, but he's had a good spring for us. He's been actively involved in all of our spring and really hasn't missed that much at all.
Requirements he had to meet?
Yeah, he had to meet an academic requirement that we had kind of laid out. He's going through this first year kind of to see how he fits. I think he's still going through that process right now.
Established in football first?
Yeah, but still had not fully got him the chance to kind of miss anything, so we had to still sit down and work out a schedule that would allow him to do both because we're not in a position to say, 'All right, just focus on baseball in the spring.' He's got one foot in, but he knows that football is still the most important thing right now.
Play all three receiver positions?
He has the ability to play all three. I think we would prefer that it's two at this time, but certainly he's more unique than any of the other players that we have in that he could play all three if necessary.
It would probably be more than anything else the X receiver position.
Tight ends
Durham Smythe is someone we feel really confident in as a pass catcher in our offense, so it's been really more about consistency in in-line blocking for him. Tyler Luatua gives us that second tight end that has a little more strength and size and has not established him as the same kind of pass catcher as Durham.
Nic Weishar continues to get bigger and stronger. We know what he can do. He's got real good ball skills, but we've got to continue to work on his blocking. He's up to 240-something pounds, so he's getting there.
We're also working Chase Hounshell, but there's a bit of a transition there. He wants to go out and attack as if he's a defensive lineman and there has to be a little bit more patience there. He might be somebody that can help us. I think Durham Smythe, you start there and he gets the bulk of the work, and then our second tight end, Luatua and then we're trying to find the third.
Jumbo package with someone like Alex Bars?
I think that we have a couple guys we feel like we can put on the field that can certainly help us in unbalanced offensive sets and certainly Bars is a guy that can do that. We think McGovern is athletic enough to do that as well. We think we have two guys in particular that fit that.
Special teams
Our focus has been on a lot of technique work, really working a lot on developing our holder, DeShone Kizer. Working with him quite a bit as it relates to our PAT field goal work. And then a lot of technique work and our punt returns and then setting up our returns and kickoff returns. You're not doing a lot of ball catching right now while we're inside, we'll wait till we get outside. We've been going every day with ST. It's been part of our emphasis. A lot of technique work right now. Fundamentals, footwork, corralling the football.
Punt returns and kick returns
I think last year we felt like there were two or three guys that did a nice job for us. Amir Carlisle did a nice job for us, Greg Bryant was back there. I think we've opened it up to everybody and I don't know if I'd say right now that we have a frontrunner. It's really something that you kind of hone in on when you get outside and then we'll give four or five guys the opportunity in June and July to spend most of their summer on it.
Shumate and Redfield
I like our safeties. I like Redfield and Shumate. Their development is clearly evident and so much different from where we were this time last year or any time during the season. We don't see the missed assignments, we see clearly two guys that have grasped the whole of what we're doing out there. They've settled into two solid football players back there for us.
I think [Shumate's] last couple of games really started to build that confidence level and certainly it started with the way he played when he got back in the lineup. He got that confidence back and certainly certainly the last game he played with him and Max. Then there's for both of those guys just a lot of confidence right now. They feel really confident with the system now with the work they're doing.
Bowl practice beneficial for them
Yeah, the bowl preparation was absolutely crucial for both of those guys defensively for them to really I think see where they needed to grow. They get in this year and know it's time to really deliver. I think they look back on the year and see that there were clearly some tough times for them, but they're going to be better defensively.
Philosophy with position switches
I think there's one particular position that we look at is one that has that flexibility and that's the big skill positions. When you're talking about big skill players, you're talking about tight ends, linebackers, safeties that have that flexibility to move and play other positions. Those guys generally in the high school ranks are still growing and filling out. They haven't reached that potential yet physically, so where they are in high school is not necessarily where they might be in college. There's a lot more room for that position to work itself in college than maybe an offensive lineman. A power position is generally a power position and skill is skill. That big skill position, the positions I've kind of outlined to you, I've always kind of had my eye on that one being where they could move into other positions. If I like a player that maybe another coach couldn't project at a particular position or hadn't shown himself, it's usually that big skill position.
Which guys have stood out in toughness
I think we clearly have tried to use the younger players in those positions, but we also want to see a guy like Steve Elmer. I think we've seen improvement there in his ability to sustain and block. Nick Martin is much stronger and more effective than he was last year coming back from a pretty substantial knee injury and the hand injury. You could see he's a much more explosive player than he was last year.
Then I have to unfortunately move right back to those freshman offensive linemen in Bars and Nelson.
Far and away the story is Jerry Tillery. He's just a unique player. One that I can't remember that I've coached. He's running with the first group and he's impressed. Today during three-on-three drills, they had a tough time blocking him. He just has a unique ability at such a young age to use his hands. He has had incredible teaching from one of the all-time great defensive line coaches, Pete Jenkins. He's one of the great ones. You can see it in his ability to use his hands and where we spend the first year and a half trying to get these kids to not drop their head and be overextended, he immediately can use his hands and size to his advantage. I don't want to put him in the Hall of Fame. I'm still leery to talk about a freshman, but he's a unique talent.
Left guard
It's been really good. I would probably give you the look at it in this respect: Quenton Nelson is extremely explosive, strong and can overwhelm a defender. Alex Bars is extremely efficient, technically so far above the normal redshirt freshman. Technically he's so good. You have two guys here, one that is really physically at times dominant and one who you think he's a junior and that he's been in the program three or four years. It's going to be hard to make the call because you like what they both do at that position.
They'll have to both play. They're going to have to get in the game and it might be that Bars plays some tackle too. If he's a guard, he's a guard. We don't see Q as a tackle right now, but they're guys that are going to have to play.
Right side of the OL
We like what Elmer's done. We thought he was sloppy at times and he's really cleaned up a lot of those what we would consider unforced errors in technique. I think he's really become more technically sound. He's a big, strong kid. Once he's eliminated a lot of those, it's allowed him to work so much more efficiently with Mike.
Mike's long and what Mike has to continue to work on is not getting his head out in front of him and him being overextended and he's getting better there.
Quarterbacks
I like what they're doing. They're very competitive. They're working very well in the classroom. I like what Mike's doing with them. Here's my observation. When Coach [Chuck] Martin was running the offense, there was a real focus on the quarterbacks and protections and really being cognizant of how to protect themselves. That was his thing. That was his wheelhouse. That was a huge point of emphasis. Coach [Matt] LaFleur was concepts, concepts, concepts. It was a heavy emphasis on concepts. Those two things they're really good at. Some of the fundamentals, which we saw were exposed last year, are the areas that Mike Sanford is really strong at. There's that piece that was kind of missing that was being coached and we're seeing that development with some of the fundamentals that maybe weren't emphasized to the point that I like. We're seeing that come together in practice. Where are we with them? I'm seeing them so much more in tune with the fundamentals of the position and doing the little things that I think now can accelerate their growth because they know how to protect themselves. They've got great understanding of the concepts. It's been really good for both of them because they've got 3/4 of it already down.
Can you measure ball security in that?
Oh sure, yeah. You can see mistakes that are made based upon being careless or not taking care of the football properly and we're certainly seeing less of that.
This post was edited on 3/25 12:45 PM by Andrew Owens
