Wednesday's Michigan Football Practice
This is my first diary so lay easy on me...
I went to the practice today and here are some things i noticed...
I went to the practice today and here are some things i noticed...
- Vlad has terrible hands and looked like he didnt know what he was doing out there
- Denard looked better than every other quarterback out there and his throwing was wayyy past my expectations. I was talking to some of the guys who are there every practice and they said this was the first day he looked better than tate. (i think tate had an off day)
- Vincent smith somehow takes huge hits and doesnt go down..he can lay a lickin on people too.
- stonum has the most talent out of the recievers but had a bad attitude last year and kinda under achieves and doesnt give his all...the slot starters will be tay and roundtree..
- Hemingway is much bigger than i thought he would be. I knew he was tall but he is built and is a hell of a blocker..i think he is the biggest and strongest wide reciever on the team.
- Kelvin grady has incredibly good hands and is lookin good. he will def. get some playing time this year.
- warren didnt practice today and was wearing a green jersey
- michael williams DESTROYS people. he is the hardest hitter on the team and the best tackler. he pays no attention to his bodies health. i was told this along with seeing him lay people out again and again...I think he should start . he played incredible today
- woolfolk is super fast and races people down while coming out of no where but isnt the most phisical
- All of out tight ends that i saw (webb, koger, moore) have extremely good hands and i saw during the scrimage a huge play by koger for a touch down
- mouton was looking good
- graham got a "sack"during the game (he just kinda wrapped up and didnt tackle him)
- Martin has gotten huge and should suprise some people this year.
- roundtree runs really good routes and has great hands altough he doesnt have the explosivenes and speed taht the other slots have
- the O line looked very good and i think they will be a big help in the first few games by giving tate a lot of time.
comment if u have any questions...dont be afraid to ask..just say the players name and number if possible to help me remember
August 19th, 2009 at 10:33 PM ^
"stonum has the most talent out of the recievers but had a bad attitude last year and kinda under achieves and doesnt give his all...the slot starters will be tay and roundtree.."
Well, we wanted another Braylon, so I guess we get the same first 2 years.
August 19th, 2009 at 10:52 PM ^
Braylon was a 1,000-yard receiver in his true sophomore season.
August 19th, 2009 at 10:56 PM ^
that he did not give it his all, what did you observe?
Did you see the position coaches hold him accountable, motivate, god forbid.. yell at him???
August 19th, 2009 at 11:13 PM ^
he was took aside more than any other wr and the coaches were yelling common ur better than that cuz he wouldnt finish his route if he stumbled or something.
August 20th, 2009 at 12:17 AM ^
"stonum has the most talent out of the recievers but had a bad attitude last year and kinda under achieves and doesnt give his all...the slot starters will be tay and roundtree.."
and he determined this form watching one practice, come on. i have heard similar things, but i wouldnt know it from watching 15 minutes of drills, i like the update but plz.
August 19th, 2009 at 10:35 PM ^
Can you expound on what this means? Did he drop some potential interceptions, or was he flailing his arms (possible interference problems)?
August 19th, 2009 at 11:18 PM ^
one of the sessions was DB VS WR and he had about 4 easy picks and he dropped all of them. one of them would have been a really good interception becuase he had to re-postion his body at last second but he had his hands there but just couldnt do it. he also was making mistakes and was surely corrected via extremely loud yelling and swearing by gerg, the db coach and rrod
August 19th, 2009 at 11:26 PM ^
For the record your detailed explanations are welcome. As a rule on this board specificity about what you saw trumps broad interpretations.
August 19th, 2009 at 11:35 PM ^
There's a good reason why DBs aren't WRs; DBs can't catch worth a shit. I could care less if Vlad dropped every pass he touches; as long as other team isn't catching it, it's good for us. Vlad's a true freshman, so ease off him a little. Safety depth isn't all that, so that's why Vlad is being pushed into heavy playing time despite being a true freshman. He'll make mistakes, but I expect him to be a good one for us. Patience people, patience.
August 19th, 2009 at 11:46 PM ^
Not all defensive backs have stone hands. Sometimes you find your best hitters and put them on defense. Some of them can catch; some of them can't.
August 20th, 2009 at 1:03 PM ^
thanks, lee corso from ea sports ncaa football 2007
August 19th, 2009 at 10:38 PM ^
If he can perform well at Strong Safety, this defense may be quite a bit better than many expect.
August 19th, 2009 at 11:20 PM ^
yea i think williams should start, from what i saw, cuz he was a very good tackler and we cant give up big plays like last year from broken tackles..also, he was all over the field and was constantly working and gave one hundred and ten percent every down
August 19th, 2009 at 10:49 PM ^
Can you do a compare/contrast this year to last? Just initial impressions obviously.
August 19th, 2009 at 11:27 PM ^
to be honest i didnt see much stevie brown so from what i heard from a few guys at the practice, he has been doing good at his new position.. . The linebackers seemed pretty solid from what i saw from them (i saw mostly offense and DB...the linemen and Lbs were off in a different area and i only saw a little bit of them plus the scrimmage) Mouton played well during the scrimmage and so did ezeh...the d line did ok as a unit..graham got a sack but whenever they got through and put pressure on the QB's they would run out of the pocket. denard had a huge run and is very good at escaping pressure (along with tate).. the linebackers and safties did a good job most of the time though containing the qbs when they were forced to run.
August 19th, 2009 at 10:56 PM ^
Coach Rod had stated earlier this week that today would be a scrimmage. Did you get to see any of that, and what was your feel for the Defense vs. the Offense?
Also what is your perspective on the DLs ability to put pressure on the QB with the new 3-4 hybrid that they are running?
August 19th, 2009 at 11:41 PM ^
i BELIEVE that the defense won. they won by one point because i dont think the last touchdown counted and i forget who scored it. some random penalty took the touchdown back i think but im not a hundred percent..it was close ...warren didnt play in it though so idk if that woulda disrupted any of the passing......i am not sure why they use a 3 down linemen front. . I just dont think they put enough pressure on the qb and when they did get through they didnt have enough guys rushing through to stop the qb from getting free...i dont think they did much blitzing what so ever...i think they were trying to give the qb a lot of reps so they didnt want to disrupt it too much.
August 19th, 2009 at 11:02 PM ^
Hey, gonna take it easy like you asked. First, thanks for the info, practice reports are always welcome. Second, keep perspective on the practice. As far as I know you've only seen one so limit your judgments accordingly. For instance, instead of saying something like "MIKE WILLIAMS IS AWESOME" and "Vlad's hands suck", acknowledge the limitations of your observations by saying something more like, "Mike Williams was awesome today." and "Vlad dropped a lot of easy picks." This may seem like a small deal, but believe me it will make a world of a difference in how it's received. Also, just so we have some idea, what type of background do you have in evaluating practices? Even if you're just an amateur enthusiast, like most of us, your observations will still be more than welcomed
August 19th, 2009 at 11:48 PM ^
i am just a random person with connections...i dont have any professional analysis background...and besides from me watching these things happen, i had commentary from jamie morris and other college kids who help out the team..so it was from ppl who watch them all the time and have played the game at high levels
August 19th, 2009 at 11:06 PM ^
I just want one little glimmer of hope that the safety position will not equal death this season.
August 19th, 2009 at 11:50 PM ^
i dont think we have any depth but i think the starters should suffice
August 20th, 2009 at 2:33 AM ^
and Emilien. It's a young and inexperienced group. Thanks for the observations and feeding my Michigan football addiction.
August 20th, 2009 at 3:14 AM ^
no problem. glad someone just takes it for what it is rather than pointing out my grammar, abreviations, etc..i was just pointing out what i saw and thought i should share cuz noone else can share that insight until gameday..thought i would be nice and type everything out
August 20th, 2009 at 6:33 PM ^
and don't let the grammar Nazis get you down.
August 19th, 2009 at 11:28 PM ^
Man, we need some streaming video of these practice sessions.
That would be perfect,a little something til Sept 5.
August 19th, 2009 at 11:35 PM ^
pics, dammit.
August 20th, 2009 at 12:04 AM ^
the coaches have restricted the use of photo/video equipment, i'm told.
August 20th, 2009 at 12:15 AM ^
yea u couldnt bring in a camera and u couldnt take pics with ur cell or take a phone call...u had to step out to do so
August 19th, 2009 at 11:35 PM ^
You say Martin has gotten huge and will suprise people this year. I for one have some lofty expectations for him. He saw significant action as a true freshman and performed well. I expect he will be the next great DT for M for the next 3 years. Him getting huge does not increase my expectations for him as I (and I suspect many others) already have high hopes.
August 19th, 2009 at 11:40 PM ^
To OP: That's especially encouraging about Smith, glad to hear it.
I feel like we have so many more weapons on the receiving corps this year with Roundtree, Stonum, Odoms, and with Hemingway back. That unit looks to be a lot better. Who was retuning kicks the other day, I forget?
Finally, I'm interested to see how Coach Rod utilizes the TE's in the spread offense, it was just so unfortunate/true to form last year that Koger didn't get the ball more and/or was thrown nothing catchable.
August 20th, 2009 at 12:01 AM ^
yea smith will be good...hemingway impressed me greatly today..he is very physical. . they had tay, smith, and bobo returning punts that i saw today..i might have missed a few...o yeah, martavious had a great kick return and returned it for a touchdown..it was sick...coach rod was bitching at the kickers today and screaming his head off on how noone could kick it to the ten yard line. he was like "GOD DAMNIT CAN WE GET SOMEONE WHO CAN FUCKING KICK IT TO THE TEN YARD LINE? then he yelled who just kicked and was like GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY AND LET A REAL MAN KICK FOR U AND SHOW U HOW ITS DONE" they kickers did decent on field goals and made a few..i didnt see them miss any...the kickoff length was either in the endzone or not even to the ten. it was iffy...they threw to the TEs a few times during the scrimmage and koger had a very nice play.
August 20th, 2009 at 12:23 AM ^
...and this would be an example of the things I wish he wouldn't say.
August 20th, 2009 at 3:10 AM ^
you should have heard all of the coaches. I think i heard more f-bombs and other swear words from them than listening to a whole album of lil wayne or gucci
August 20th, 2009 at 9:18 AM ^
With you Magnus. Not necessary. I played DIII for a coach who swore once or twice in practice in my four years.(and def, not to that extent) We won two conference champs in 4 years and made the playoffs one year. We were successful without a coach talking or acting like that.
I love where RR is going to take us, but acting like that really is not necessary.*
*If this is even true. This post seems to be playing on our fears of how RR is with Family values.
August 20th, 2009 at 10:11 AM ^
Swearing all the time makes the swear words more and more useless. If you only drop the F-bomb a couple times a season, it means you're serious when you do. If you drop the F-bomb 20 times a day, it loses its meaning.
Also, questioning a player's manhood in front of the team generally isn't viewed as a good coaching practice. That's not a good way to show leadership. It hurts your players' confidence levels and it shows that you care more about victory and performance than improvement and camaraderie.
Obviously, my approach to coaching is more Tony Dungy-like than Bear Bryant-like, and I guess there's more than one way to skin a cat.
August 20th, 2009 at 11:35 AM ^
many different ways to coach, approach. At this level, there isn't anything wrong with taking that tact. As you no doubt know, different players react differently to different types of feedback. If the kickers need their asses chewed to respond, so be it. . .
Again, I think there's a big difference when you get to this level, with the best of the best, as opposed to high school or DIII or whatever.
And that's not to imply that HS coaches don't curse. They do. And it can certainly be effective.
The bigger deal is how they coaches deal with advesity and lead by example, not what curse words come out of their mouths.
August 20th, 2009 at 2:18 PM ^
I have no issues if a coach wants to say things like RR allegedly said. It would just be hard for me to get motivated by someone I can't respect. Questioning the manhood might have been "in" 20 years ago.....in a movie, but it just seems childish to me.
And yes, some players respond to that. I would have to think though that if a coach truly wants to mold them into good men, he would take a different approach. But then again, I guess people have different perceptions of what a good man is.
August 20th, 2009 at 11:41 AM ^
Each player responds differently to various stimuli. Some players develop better with positive reinforcement (this is me, and probably you Magnus), while others need to have their asses kicked (Gabe Watson).
I think it is important to identify the appropriate modes of instruction for each player, and to tailor your coaching style to them. The more tools you have as a coach, the more kids will develop into confident, skilled players.
August 20th, 2009 at 11:07 AM ^
Not sure if Bo threw F bombs, but he was just as much a hard-ass, chewing out players and coaches in front of everyone. Players hated him before they loved him. And we found that endearing. There's a reason RichRod was one of Bo's favorite coaches.
August 20th, 2009 at 11:34 AM ^
threw F-bombs, among other things
August 20th, 2009 at 1:01 AM ^
Most importantly, were the punt returners catching every punt/kick?
August 20th, 2009 at 11:29 AM ^
I knew the program had lost all of its family values. Can't believe coaches curse . . .
August 19th, 2009 at 11:42 PM ^
Every other report I've read/heard is that Woolfolk is a pretty good hitter, so maybe he had an off day.
Anyway, I think our starting safeties will be Woolfolk (FS) and Williams (SS). I know Emilien impressed people in the spring...but he's still a freshman.
August 19th, 2009 at 11:55 PM ^
yea he mighta just had a few unlucky things happen...he has great speed though... i agree with the starting lineup for safties...vlad looked lost today but i saw some potential. he was dropping balls though and that kinda set my opinion back on him..but he is still a freshmen so who knows.
August 20th, 2009 at 12:11 AM ^
I'm much more concerned about a safety's ability to pursue angles and make tackles then to pick off a pass. After last year especially. Whichever of the safeties do this best should be the starter imo.
August 20th, 2009 at 12:03 AM ^
brian's predicted vlad will start over williams. i guess we'll see both. do you have any inside info re: what the coaches arw thinking at safety?
August 20th, 2009 at 12:08 AM ^
no i dont...i didnt get a chance to talk to any of the coaches cuz i had to run out right when it ended to get home..from the non coaches there and my personal oppinion though, i think williams will start (he has been impressing coaches lately) at least for a few games so vad can get his kinks worked out
August 20th, 2009 at 12:27 AM ^
Yeah...I think Brian's incorrect on that one.
On the one hand, you have a redshirt sophomore who had 18 tackles, 2 TFLs, and 1 sack in college last year.
On the other hand, you have a true freshman who didn't play football - and didn't even practice - last year due to a knee injury.
In a secondary that lacks depth and experience, I highly doubt the true freshman will get the nod (and that has nothing to do with the OP's report).
August 20th, 2009 at 11:26 AM ^
Williams will start.
August 19th, 2009 at 11:57 PM ^
on Turner?
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