Note: Read about the first four days of spring football here, here, here and here.
By Rob Patrick
Rapid-fire reps — it’s a team camp concept and the Bryant Hornets football team closed out the[more] first week of spring practice with a little of that while cutting back on the contact on Friday.
“We had two offenses against one defense, running from the hashes,” Hornets head coach Paul Calley explained. “One offense runs a play, the next offense runs a play then we rotated people after eight plays, just to try to get a lot of reps.
“We had four days of pretty physical practice,” he noted. “Today, we had some kids that had already scheduled vacation and things like that because school’s supposed to be out. So we watched film with the varsity group then we practiced like team camp.”
His assessment?
“We’re still trying to get lined up, make sure people are in the right place and make sure our spacing’s correct on offense and we’ve got people going to the right spot to block,” Calley said. “And, defensively, making sure that we’re lined up correctly and we’ve got the proper leverage and we know what coverage we’re in against different looks.
“It was more of a fun day today. We got a lot of reps but a lot less contact, a lot less physical.”
The coaches worked with the varsity initially.
“We lifted the sophomore group while we practiced with the varsity and then, as soon as the varsity left, we brought the sophomores out and practiced about 40 minutes with them, doing the same thing, rotating personnel and then we watched film with them,” the coach related.
“Our upper classmen, on film — I hadn’t watched much of it until today — but there’s a lot of effort,” he continued. “That’s the one thing I see. If we make a mistake, they’re going full speed. And we can correct those problems. We can correct the mental errors. But when you see the hustle that’s what encourages you, especially after four straight days of contact and there ain’t no game in sight. That’s a positive.”
In assessing the first week overall, Calley said, “I feel good about it but I’m frustrated because it’s very simple compared to what we’ve been doing and we’ve got people still making mental errors, whether they’re just not concentrating or they just don’t care, one of the two. Some of the younger guys have impressed me and some of the younger guys have disappointed me in their lack of focus. So, some of the younger guys I was depending on are as advertised and some of the other ones have a long way to go, to mature.”
The team will take the Monday holiday off before resuming workouts.
“Tuesday, we will go a lot more scrimmage time,” Calley said. “We’ll probably work more empty package and Tampa coverage on Wednesday. Then, on Thursday, we’ll see what kind of physical shape we’re in because, Tuesday and Wednesday, we’re going to be pretty physical. Friday, we’ll probably have a longer scrimmage.”
