Today's Sports Huddle comments (synopsis):
1) A lot (hundreds) of high school football coaches and fans attended yesterday's controlled scrimmage.
2) Mike Max said people are talking about the fast paced tempo of the practices.
3) 1,200 high school coaches attended Friday's football clinic in which coach kill was the keynote speaker. Kill saluted the coaches and the clinic's organizers. He appreciates and wants their support.
4) Yesterday's scrimmage: "It's baby steps" . . . good effort . . . teaching them how to practice and play the game . . . seeing improvement . . . several teaching moments yesterday and then cited Keanon Cooper (did not give up on the play and chased down the runner and stripped the ball away from the runningback.).
5) Lack of numbers: It continues to be a wait and see proposition. Will know more after spring ball as well as academic issues of some players.
6) Marqueis Gray: "He's made a lot of progress." He hasn't played quarterback during the past few years (injured his senior year in high school ant not much at Minnesota). He's learning the position and has handled all the information they've thrown at him.
7) Running Backs: "Test drove them yesterday." There'll be depth at RB. They've got things to learn about blocking. Sid asked about Lamonte Edwards and Kill said he's a good athlete that's played defense as well as running back in high school. "You can't have a guy like Edwards standing next to me on the sidelines. If I do, I'll be the next guy fired."
8) Stoudermire: He's learning the cornerback position . . . great athlete that needs to be settled in (played several positions during his tenure at the U) . . . there may be a situation or two in a game where'll he be on offense. (Sid said, after Kill was finished on today's program, Stoudermire has been practicing with the offense as well as defense. (He alluded to depth conditions.)
9) Beal: Still learning the new schemes . . . thinking too much now . . . it's been awhile since he's played, so the rust needs to be knocked off.
10) Royston has practiced but has not had contact yet, but hope to get him in some contact situations before spring ball ends. Again, needs to knock the rust off . . . hasn't played since 2009.
11) Practices are open to the public and have been averaging 150 -175 people at the first five practices. Practices this week: Tuesday and Thursday at 2:40 p.m. and Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
Next week: Tuesday and Thursday at 2:40 p.m. and Friday at 7:00 p.m. under the lights at TCF Band Stadium.
12) Juco recruiting: We're on the search . . . we'll be out for five weeks after spring ball (in May). Never know where you'll find a late qualifier, but we won't waste a scholarship(s).
13) Talked to the players yesterday (at length) why you shouldn't quit. Young people have a tendency to quit when things get tough. Adulthood: things get tough, tragedies occur and you can't quit . . . give in to someone and they'll exploit you. You need to play through tough times (he then again cited Cooper's play yesterday (not giving up on the play and stripped ball . . . teachable moment)).
Go Gophers!!
1) A lot (hundreds) of high school football coaches and fans attended yesterday's controlled scrimmage.
2) Mike Max said people are talking about the fast paced tempo of the practices.
3) 1,200 high school coaches attended Friday's football clinic in which coach kill was the keynote speaker. Kill saluted the coaches and the clinic's organizers. He appreciates and wants their support.
4) Yesterday's scrimmage: "It's baby steps" . . . good effort . . . teaching them how to practice and play the game . . . seeing improvement . . . several teaching moments yesterday and then cited Keanon Cooper (did not give up on the play and chased down the runner and stripped the ball away from the runningback.).
5) Lack of numbers: It continues to be a wait and see proposition. Will know more after spring ball as well as academic issues of some players.
6) Marqueis Gray: "He's made a lot of progress." He hasn't played quarterback during the past few years (injured his senior year in high school ant not much at Minnesota). He's learning the position and has handled all the information they've thrown at him.
7) Running Backs: "Test drove them yesterday." There'll be depth at RB. They've got things to learn about blocking. Sid asked about Lamonte Edwards and Kill said he's a good athlete that's played defense as well as running back in high school. "You can't have a guy like Edwards standing next to me on the sidelines. If I do, I'll be the next guy fired."
8) Stoudermire: He's learning the cornerback position . . . great athlete that needs to be settled in (played several positions during his tenure at the U) . . . there may be a situation or two in a game where'll he be on offense. (Sid said, after Kill was finished on today's program, Stoudermire has been practicing with the offense as well as defense. (He alluded to depth conditions.)
9) Beal: Still learning the new schemes . . . thinking too much now . . . it's been awhile since he's played, so the rust needs to be knocked off.
10) Royston has practiced but has not had contact yet, but hope to get him in some contact situations before spring ball ends. Again, needs to knock the rust off . . . hasn't played since 2009.
11) Practices are open to the public and have been averaging 150 -175 people at the first five practices. Practices this week: Tuesday and Thursday at 2:40 p.m. and Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
Next week: Tuesday and Thursday at 2:40 p.m. and Friday at 7:00 p.m. under the lights at TCF Band Stadium.
12) Juco recruiting: We're on the search . . . we'll be out for five weeks after spring ball (in May). Never know where you'll find a late qualifier, but we won't waste a scholarship(s).
13) Talked to the players yesterday (at length) why you shouldn't quit. Young people have a tendency to quit when things get tough. Adulthood: things get tough, tragedies occur and you can't quit . . . give in to someone and they'll exploit you. You need to play through tough times (he then again cited Cooper's play yesterday (not giving up on the play and stripped ball . . . teachable moment)).
Go Gophers!!
