Good morning, HOB. I’m over at the JCFTC today for Mark Stoops’ Q&A after the first day of spring football practice. We should be speaking to the UK boss at approx 11 a.m. Stay tuned for the latest news and notes…
* Fun to get back out there. Good, productive day. Great to be back at it after a nice off-season where we pushed them harder mentally and physically. Had some stuff called "fourth-quarter drills" in lead-up to spring practice… Not gonna talk about individual guys a whole lot yet. Want to see them a little more before he does that, but 31 new guys, nice to see what they’re doing, working on that personal bond with them. But really liked the juice and energy today. We're excited.
* Can't have any days wasted. Stressing that, building habits, focus, discipline.
* On learning how to practice with 31 new guys... There's great turnover in all sports now, but they allow us to do more in the off-season where it's not all completely new when we go out there. It's year-to-year for everyone in every sport across the country now. It was not a complete "cluster" like it is some years on Day 1.
* Nice to have staff continuity, especially with Bush being back as OC. He has a year of calling plays in this particular league under his belt. Think we can do some things to be better prepared and how to handle certain situations this season.
* Good mixture of veterans and young guys showing up today. Good balance there. Maturity with the vets and young guys are “taking the medicine well,” so to speak, as they’re being coached hard. They're embracing the hard coaching.
* Again, we can’t afford any snaps off, any days off this spring. Intensity has to go up. Tomorrow has to be better than today. And then the next day has to be better than that.
* On the Class of 24 guys... You could tell they practiced well, carried themselves well today. Like that group. They are better.
* On team-building with so many new guys... Hugely important. It's been a point of emphasis since they got here. We've had guys break into groups and get to know each other, have dinner together. Very intentional plan.
* On getting back to “who we are” … Not any one specific thing. Manifests itself in a lot of ways. It’s a mindset that we have to get straight because we fell short in it last year. Relationships, physicality, and discipline all part of it.
* A lot of versatility in the safety group, guys that can move around and do a lot of things. Maybe some of those guys move into nickel spot where Zion played. Martels Carter looks to be one of those guys.
* Fun to get back out there. Good, productive day. Great to be back at it after a nice off-season where we pushed them harder mentally and physically. Had some stuff called "fourth-quarter drills" in lead-up to spring practice… Not gonna talk about individual guys a whole lot yet. Want to see them a little more before he does that, but 31 new guys, nice to see what they’re doing, working on that personal bond with them. But really liked the juice and energy today. We're excited.
* Can't have any days wasted. Stressing that, building habits, focus, discipline.
* On learning how to practice with 31 new guys... There's great turnover in all sports now, but they allow us to do more in the off-season where it's not all completely new when we go out there. It's year-to-year for everyone in every sport across the country now. It was not a complete "cluster" like it is some years on Day 1.
* Nice to have staff continuity, especially with Bush being back as OC. He has a year of calling plays in this particular league under his belt. Think we can do some things to be better prepared and how to handle certain situations this season.
* Good mixture of veterans and young guys showing up today. Good balance there. Maturity with the vets and young guys are “taking the medicine well,” so to speak, as they’re being coached hard. They're embracing the hard coaching.
* Again, we can’t afford any snaps off, any days off this spring. Intensity has to go up. Tomorrow has to be better than today. And then the next day has to be better than that.
* On the Class of 24 guys... You could tell they practiced well, carried themselves well today. Like that group. They are better.
* On team-building with so many new guys... Hugely important. It's been a point of emphasis since they got here. We've had guys break into groups and get to know each other, have dinner together. Very intentional plan.
* On getting back to “who we are” … Not any one specific thing. Manifests itself in a lot of ways. It’s a mindset that we have to get straight because we fell short in it last year. Relationships, physicality, and discipline all part of it.
* A lot of versatility in the safety group, guys that can move around and do a lot of things. Maybe some of those guys move into nickel spot where Zion played. Martels Carter looks to be one of those guys.
