***Practice notes*** (long)

[Black Oaks]

This i what I saw yesterday.

1. Practice was held in the practice facility. Simultaneously a big piece of equipment was tearing up the third base bleachers, which is normally where I sit. I had to move to the old first base line. Since most of the team oriented action was on the far east field, it was hard to see things up close.

2. Anu is running the first team offense. I was a bit concerned when I did not see Dawkins on the field early on in the practice. Fortunately he showed up about 15 minutes in, looking to be in fine shape. Tate was running the second team, but Dawkins took over when he got out there. Anu is the smoothest of the three. He is not yet perfect, but he is closer to perfect than the other tow(actually there are about 6 other guys out there taking snaps). We have 2 red jerseys, Anu and Dawkins. That means do not hit them. Then we have 4 white jerseys including Tate and Werlinger. Anu is the smoothest, Dawkins is close plus he appears to be a bit stronger runner. Tate is intriguing. He is solid, obviously more muscle that either Anu or Dawkins. He does in fact have a strong arm and he appears to bee able to throw short, medium or long. He is a bit rough in his movements. Anu and Dawkins have done some of the drills 1000 times so they move their feet and make their reads in a smooth fashion. Tate is learning. He has the physical tools, he does not have the quarterback dance down yet. One thing I really liked to see: Anu leaning over Tate's shoulder giving him some instruction on how a particular drill is supposed to be run.

2. Offensive line is what you would expect. Tagaloa is no where to be seen with his knee. Hemilia is the center, Layth, deBeer, Alsadek all there. Alsadek is our best lineman right now. He is where you go when you need to get the tough yards. I looked for walker but could not sport him. Where I used to sit players are coming to you or going away, so the numbers are easy to read. When you watch from the side of the line of scrimmage, the numbers are harder to determine. I saw Christian Lopez another favorite walkon from Marana looking good. Trevor Wood and Green are the tight ends. Wood is wearing a green jersey, but he really looks good. He is one of those Stanford prototype tight ends and has good hands.

3. The defense is out there, what it is I am not real sure. I saw 11 guys out there at times but could not see the alignments or reads very well from where I was sitting. I did see some things I did like. Rich Rod structures his practices so you participate in 5 - 10 minutes in one drill then you move on to some other drill. The drills progress from individual skills to group skills to team skills as practice progresses. What I personally found encouraging was the defensive backs ae being much more aggressive on their coverage. The ball snaps and they are reading on the move, they are converging on the ball and they are attacking. I like this. The obvious down side is if you miss, the offensive player is gone and nobody is there to get him. So don't miss the tackle. Cobb is wearing 30, he had a nice interception in one of the drills. Ware had a nice breakup. Parker Zellers is not 247 any more than I am. The defense is showing aggression, excitement, Neal, Magloire, Morrison had good plays. My main walkon Matt Stagg was flying about, good to see him out there. I need to find a better seat so I can read the numbers, easier to tell who is where.

4. Kicking looks to be good. Pollack is the field goal guy and has a nice leg. There are about 3 other guys who can punt the ball. I did not see any rugby like kicks, they just punted it high and higher.

Will report more as time goes on. It looks like most any position is open if someone wants it. Just show the coaches you are the best one to put there. I guess that there are some on campus pro camps going later this week. I expect that some of our graduates will be there.

Bearing Down on free ***premium content***

[Wildcat Jones]

Excellent premium

I love reading punters not punting Rugby style punts. I've never been a big fan of that style for American football. That said, it did work pretty darn well for Riggleman!

[FlagCat]

It takes some great insight to even be able to make these observations. Bear down, Better than premium.

[b_dog]

Thank you, sir. One thing I'd be curious about is whether we're running 3 LBs, or 2 with a fourth lineman, or 2 with a hybrid safety type. Just based on uniform numbers. (If you think that might be considered excessively premium content, just disregard.)

[Black Oaks]

Thank you, sir. One thing I'd be curious about is whether we're running 3 LBs, or 2 with a fourth lineman, or 2 with a hybrid safety type. Just based on uniform numbers. (If you think that might be considered excessively premium content, just disregard.)

The answer is yes to all as much as I could determine. I will try to be more explicit in future posts and of course the spring non-game will give you a chance to figure it out. I honestly could not see the alignments from where I was sitting. Some times you would see three down linemen with a guy standing on the line, other times it appeared we had 4 guys down. The subtly comes from all the guys behind the defensive line and how they line up and where they go. And that takes some doing. They would also run 2 complete defenses in and out and they would substitute individuals.

About midway through practice, there were some serious rush the passer drills, defensive front line and linebackers vs offensive line. They were essentially 1 on 1 drills and they went hard. The defense was to get to the passer and the offensive player was to stop it. There is nowhere to hide in these drills. You are there in front of everyone trying to do your job. It helps decide who wants to play and who wants to watch from the bench.

Bearing Down on I will try to do better in the future

[b_dog]

Bearing Down on I will try to do better in the future

That's funny; you're already scooping the Tucson media. Just don't give away any of RichRod's secrets. We don't want to see you on the news like the guy who got hauled out of that underground crawl-space.

[Black Oaks]

Bearing Down on I will try to do better in the future

That's funny; you're already scooping the Tucson media. Just don't give away any of RichRod's secrets. We don't want to see you on the news like the guy who got hauled out of that underground crawl-space.

No secrets from this big boy. And they are still looking for Big Pats clothes in that sewer tunnel.

Bearing Down on the above ground news

[Maui]

Thanks for sharing your observations, especially about Matt. I saw him recently in Tucson and he looked much bigger. He's worked really hard in the weight room to get ready for spring ball and it showed. I hope he stays healthy and shows he can contribute.

[Black Oaks]

Thanks for sharing your observations, especially about Matt. I saw him recently in Tucson and he looked much bigger. He's worked really hard in the weight room to get ready for spring ball and it showed. I hope he stays healthy and shows he can contribute.

A short practice story you might appreciate.

Rich Rod had a live pass rush drill going. Defensive players on one side, offensive players on the other side. One on one and very intense with everybody else watching the individuals rushing/blocking. After a while, Rich decided that they were not being intense enough so he had everybody do up and downs for a few minutes. He kept them going until everyone was breathing hard. He then resumed the pass rush/ pass protection drill. The first guy up was Matt and he had a good rush.

That is the way to get the coaches attention. Be the first in line and do it right. If you are first up and do it wrong, well that is another story. Any time you get the chance to be first, do it.

Bearing Down on Bearing Down at all times

[Maui]

You are correct. It was a story I appreciated. I'll share it with Matt's dad. Would be awesome to see him on the field. He's worked very hard for the opportunity.