Gopher Football
Coach Kill saw some good things in practice Tuesday afternoon, but he saw some things he didn’t like as well. The Gophers were held accountable for some of those miscues at the end of the workout, with some extra conditioning. The team ran from one side of the field to the other, while hitting the deck “up-down” style every time the head coach blew his whistle.
Kill said it wasn’t a punishment. Rather it was a reminder that it takes every man on the field to be on the same page.
“That’s the only way I know how to fix things,” Kill said of the extra work after practice. “I’ve been doing that for 28 years. People always comment that ‘Coach, your teams play disciplined, hard-nosed football and your teams don’t make mistakes.’ Well, it’s better to make them in practice than on game day.
“If you mentally let them know it’s not OK, I don’t know any other way to do it,” Kill continued. “It’s not OK to jump offsides on the one-foot line. It’s not OK. It’s not acceptable. We’re a long way away from playing. If you initiate that mentality now, that it’s important to concentrate and focus, then next time they’re in that situation, hopefully they get it corrected. That gets you beat.”
Kill went on to say that those miscues are more a function of spring ball than they are of a new staff working with a new team.
“We had that happen at Northern Illinois all spring long last year, but they paid the price for it,” Kill said. “Then when we got to games, we limited those things in the games we won. In the games we lost, they did stupid things like that. If you want to win, you can’t do dumb things. You’ve got to play smart.”
As for what happened on the field Tuesday, the defense seemed to have the upper hand for much of the day. Coach Kill said that could have been a function of a few days off for the offense to lose its rhythm. Or it could be that the defense is improving, which would be welcome news for Kill and his staff.
“I think what hurt the rhythm of the offense was three days – Saturday, Sunday, Monday – off,” Kill said. “You don’t normally do that in the game of football. That’s why you practice every day during the season, to create some rhythm.
“Part of that … (is) the defense executed better (today),” Kill continued. “I told you when I came in here we’ve got to get better on defense, so today I feel good about that. We’ll go up and watch film and it’ll be a lack of execution on the offense or the defense played well. But we’ll have to go up … and judge that on film.”
Tuesday’s defensive highlights included: cornerback Troy Stoudermire leveling a receiver to break up a pass and making a couple plays in the backfield; linebacker Gary Tinsley jumping a route and coming up with a nice interception; and defensive lineman RaShede Hageman using his large frame to go up and bat down numerous passes.
“We’ve had less and less critical mistakes and guys doing what they’re supposed to do,” defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys said. The new defensive boss praised Hageman and his defensive linemates for their improvement, which has helped lead to an overall jump in production from the defense as a whole through the spring.
“That’s probably the group that’s improved the most, is the d-linemen,” Claey continued. “It’s been a big change for them. We’ve let them get up the field. I think the last four or five practices they’ve done a good job of getting up the field. It’s harder to throw that ball when people closing the gap on you, as opposed to the quarterback having five or six yards to throw the ball. The improved play of the defense … it always starts up front. The guys up front are being more aggressive.”
Claeys said it seems like his unit is starting to have more fun. That’s usually a sure sign that they’re starting to get a little more comfortable with their schemes and what their coaches are asking them to do.
“I’m pretty pleased going into where we’re at now,” Claeys said. “We’re not giving up a lot of big plays and we’re playing with a lot more energy.”
Thursday’s practice is slated to take place at TCF Bank Stadium with a 2:30 p.m. start time.
-By Andy Seeley, Associate Director of Athletic Communications