UT football practice report. As promised practice report number 1 from our source. The first thing to come to mind is that the tempo and overall format of the practice is completely different from the old regimes. From the way its scheduled to the high intensity, Strong has brought a new face to Texas Longhorn football practices it would seem, at least if todays sessions were any indication. Players are flying around in and out of drills and on the field as well--if they arent flying around to the coaches liking, they are getting brought back to do it again until it meets the coaches standards. Players didnt seem like theyre used to this style, so it will be interesting to see how quickly they adapt. There were LOTS of do-overs and reruns according to our source. Some kids looked a bit shell-shocked. Offense- As a whole, our source thought the offense looked pretty good for day 1. The player who was most impressive was was David Ash. Although he wasnt in mid-season from by any means, he looked very impressive for not having have participated in football drills since his injury. Good zip on the ball and was accurate. For the rest of the QBs, they didnt look the least bit serviceable at this point in time. Swoopes was inaccurate and just didnt look comfortable out there, while Miles Onyegbule is far from ready and still carrying a couple of years worth of rust. Ash absolutely has to stay healthy at least until Heard or Wittek gets to campus if today was any kind of an accurate barometer of QB bench play. Wide Receivers had pretty damn good days all the way around. Kendall Sanders had some special grabs in drills and team work and it seemed he and Ash had the best chemistry today. Marcus Johnson didnt have one of his better days but he looked awful good physically. The kid added a lot of size and looks really quick. For a no-pads practice, the offense looked pretty good especially for day 1. Defense- The defense seemed to be feeling their away around out there and didnt have a very crisp practice overall. Players are learning new a defense, a new format, and new terminology so its going time for them to learn. Ced Reed, Malcom Brown, Shiro Davis and Hassan Ridgeway look like pro athletes. Big guys that move really well. At a glance, even in shorts and t-shirts you could tell this is the strength of the defense. Not much on linebackers. As for DBs two stood out according to our source. In one-on-one, Duke Thomas and Chevoski Collins played very well, especially Collins. Both made good reads and broke on some balls and made some impressive athletic plays breaking up multiple passes. Keep in mind the pads have not come on but Collins looks the part in the secondary. Hes an impressive looking athlete according to our source. Also Collins was playing the safety spot opposite Colbert with the twos. Aside from those plays in the secondary, not a lot really stood out because there isnt any hitting. Defense was flying around but again, theyre experiencing the learning curve. Overall our source says this side of the ball looks much quicker than it did a season ago which no doubt comes from work in the winter off-season program. Impressions on the coaching staff? The new coaching staff was refreshing. Strong was going from position to position getting in the players ears and maintaining a high energy. As our source put it, hell hug you on one play and chew on you the next. In other words hes engaged and hands on unlike Mack Brown and were told the players appreciate it. Our source also had this to say about the staff, My favorite coach by far is Chris Vaughn. Hes a young guy whos full of energy and he spent most of the day flying around and getting the players energized. It was cool to watch. Again, practice was full of constant moving and we were much more high tempo than normal--at least in terms of last season. Overall, Strong and his staff are off to a great start with the team it seems. Offense MVP:Ash Defense MVP: Chevoski Collins (but tough to read much into that) Special Teams MVP: Will Russ(was punting the ball really well all day)
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 16:03:40 +0000
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