XingTheRubicon
3/20/2007, 08:02 PM
From Macky Mack's homepage
We’re glad to be back after spring break. We had a good practice and the guys were excited to be back. On Wednesday, we’ll combine Pro Day, which starts at 10:30 in the morning, with practice in the afternoon. I think ESPN is going to come in and shoot some of that. Then we’ll practice again on Thursday and have a scrimmage on Saturday. We’ll do the same during the last week. We’ll practice on Monday and move to Wednesday because of class conflicts. We’ll practice Thursday in shorts and have our spring scrimmage on Saturday at noon.
We’re doing a special thing with the lettermen at the spring scrimmage. We’re going to have some guys from each of the decades come out and line up in the formation that was most popular at that time and run a play. I think it will be really good. After they get done, all of the lettermen will be down on the field and throw t-shirts with their names on them up in the crowd. Then they’ll go over and form a rally line for the guys to come out on to the field. That should be between the time where our guys are loosening up and come out on the field.
We also had some of the cast of The Lion King come out and spend the day with us at practice today. They enjoyed practice and all had jerseys with their names on them. It was an opportunity for them to sing a song for the guys after it was over, and the guys really enjoyed it. They broke the team down at the end of it.
Also, Tim Crowder, Justin Blalock, Brian Robison and Kasey Studdard were out at practice today, and they look great. They’re in preparation for their Pro Day on Wednesday, so that’s a very important day for these guys, and they can’t wait to get started.
On the areas that need improvement after watching tape of the first half of spring practice: The things that we’ve got to get accomplished are that we’ve got to separate our two quarterbacks behind Colt (McCoy). We’ve got to try to get one of them to be in position to be in a leadership role for that second-team spot when they come back. Same thing at tailback, we’ve got to find that second guy, and we’ve got to shore up the offensive line. We’ll continue to work on the running game, because we’ve got some ideas we need to look at. We’re still trying to build on that. Defensively, more than anything else, we need to work on our depth and shore together our secondary. With Larry Mac Duff coming in, we’ll also try to tie together the changes we’ll have in our philosophy.
On who is taking the lead for the second-team running back position: Right now, you’ve got Chris Ogbonnaya, Vondrell McGee and James Henry. You’ve got three guys that are all working. One make a good play here and a good play there, but right now, no one has secured the spot.
On any position changes: No, we felt like what we would do is, after the first seven, take the next eight and leave everybody where they are. It will give them a better chance to try to get a spot to play in the fall.
On Henry Melton playing defensive end: Henry has really done well. Henry, Eddie Jones and Lamarr Houston, all really showed up in the first seven days. We’ll have to watch the film today, but we think it’s a good move for Henry. It looks like, if he can continue to learn, that he’s got a chance to be a really good player there. We’ve moved Brian Ellis inside to defensive tackle, and Brian has made some really good progress. Dre Jones looked really good as a young defensive tackle inside.
On if Brian Ellis played inside for the first seven practices: Yes, we did not change anyone today. Brian moved in, and he showed quickness, he really chased the ball. It’s a different position for him, so he’s learning, but we’re really impressed. We’ve been impressed with some things we’ve seen out of Antwan Cobb at fullback.
On if the secondary is still clustering players: We’re doing that across the board with our team. We’re trying to get everybody as much experience as we can. We’re using spring to try to evaluate and create depth. We’d like to see the more experienced ones against the less. We’ve got a really young football team. We’ve got a lot of guys that need to get pressed this spring instead of next fall.
On who is deep snapping: Will Harvey, and we’re still working there. Short snap would be Derek Lokey, but we’ve got to continue to work on the deep snapping.
On John Chiles: John can play quarterback, we think. He wants to. He hasn’t discussed playing anywhere else at this point. He’s a strong runner, which we all knew. He’s protected the ball well, and I thought he had his best day throwing the ball today. He and Sherrod are both ahead in the running game and still have some work to do in the passing game.
On Pro Timing Day and why Texas players are successful on it: They’re good players that really work hard to do what they need to do, and hopefully we’ve prepared them. We asked the guys today, ‘If you had it to do over today at the combine, is there anything we could have helped you with that we could help future guys with?’ They said, ‘No, we were really prepared, and it went well.’ The other thing is that it’s such an advantage for some guys that weren’t invited to the combine to have so many guys that go to the NFL, because we’ll have 100 pro scouts, coaches and general managers in here on Wednesday. It gives everybody a great chance to have a good look. We do think it’s a real advantage for our guys.
On what the day means: It’s a tremendous amount of pressure on those guys on that day, so you’d rather see them have fun. I talked to a couple of them today and said, ‘You’re going to run as fast as you can and you’re going to work as hard as you can, so it is what it. Just go enjoy it and have fun. You’re going to have to make a team even if you get drafted, so don’t let the draft get bigger than being able to make a team.’ You look at some of our guys that haven’t been drafted as high as we thought they would be, but they’re still playing and in some cases starting. The draft is important, but it’s not as important as playing, making and continuing to play for a team after you get there.
I really don't know where to start
We’re glad to be back after spring break. We had a good practice and the guys were excited to be back. On Wednesday, we’ll combine Pro Day, which starts at 10:30 in the morning, with practice in the afternoon. I think ESPN is going to come in and shoot some of that. Then we’ll practice again on Thursday and have a scrimmage on Saturday. We’ll do the same during the last week. We’ll practice on Monday and move to Wednesday because of class conflicts. We’ll practice Thursday in shorts and have our spring scrimmage on Saturday at noon.
We’re doing a special thing with the lettermen at the spring scrimmage. We’re going to have some guys from each of the decades come out and line up in the formation that was most popular at that time and run a play. I think it will be really good. After they get done, all of the lettermen will be down on the field and throw t-shirts with their names on them up in the crowd. Then they’ll go over and form a rally line for the guys to come out on to the field. That should be between the time where our guys are loosening up and come out on the field.
We also had some of the cast of The Lion King come out and spend the day with us at practice today. They enjoyed practice and all had jerseys with their names on them. It was an opportunity for them to sing a song for the guys after it was over, and the guys really enjoyed it. They broke the team down at the end of it.
Also, Tim Crowder, Justin Blalock, Brian Robison and Kasey Studdard were out at practice today, and they look great. They’re in preparation for their Pro Day on Wednesday, so that’s a very important day for these guys, and they can’t wait to get started.
On the areas that need improvement after watching tape of the first half of spring practice: The things that we’ve got to get accomplished are that we’ve got to separate our two quarterbacks behind Colt (McCoy). We’ve got to try to get one of them to be in position to be in a leadership role for that second-team spot when they come back. Same thing at tailback, we’ve got to find that second guy, and we’ve got to shore up the offensive line. We’ll continue to work on the running game, because we’ve got some ideas we need to look at. We’re still trying to build on that. Defensively, more than anything else, we need to work on our depth and shore together our secondary. With Larry Mac Duff coming in, we’ll also try to tie together the changes we’ll have in our philosophy.
On who is taking the lead for the second-team running back position: Right now, you’ve got Chris Ogbonnaya, Vondrell McGee and James Henry. You’ve got three guys that are all working. One make a good play here and a good play there, but right now, no one has secured the spot.
On any position changes: No, we felt like what we would do is, after the first seven, take the next eight and leave everybody where they are. It will give them a better chance to try to get a spot to play in the fall.
On Henry Melton playing defensive end: Henry has really done well. Henry, Eddie Jones and Lamarr Houston, all really showed up in the first seven days. We’ll have to watch the film today, but we think it’s a good move for Henry. It looks like, if he can continue to learn, that he’s got a chance to be a really good player there. We’ve moved Brian Ellis inside to defensive tackle, and Brian has made some really good progress. Dre Jones looked really good as a young defensive tackle inside.
On if Brian Ellis played inside for the first seven practices: Yes, we did not change anyone today. Brian moved in, and he showed quickness, he really chased the ball. It’s a different position for him, so he’s learning, but we’re really impressed. We’ve been impressed with some things we’ve seen out of Antwan Cobb at fullback.
On if the secondary is still clustering players: We’re doing that across the board with our team. We’re trying to get everybody as much experience as we can. We’re using spring to try to evaluate and create depth. We’d like to see the more experienced ones against the less. We’ve got a really young football team. We’ve got a lot of guys that need to get pressed this spring instead of next fall.
On who is deep snapping: Will Harvey, and we’re still working there. Short snap would be Derek Lokey, but we’ve got to continue to work on the deep snapping.
On John Chiles: John can play quarterback, we think. He wants to. He hasn’t discussed playing anywhere else at this point. He’s a strong runner, which we all knew. He’s protected the ball well, and I thought he had his best day throwing the ball today. He and Sherrod are both ahead in the running game and still have some work to do in the passing game.
On Pro Timing Day and why Texas players are successful on it: They’re good players that really work hard to do what they need to do, and hopefully we’ve prepared them. We asked the guys today, ‘If you had it to do over today at the combine, is there anything we could have helped you with that we could help future guys with?’ They said, ‘No, we were really prepared, and it went well.’ The other thing is that it’s such an advantage for some guys that weren’t invited to the combine to have so many guys that go to the NFL, because we’ll have 100 pro scouts, coaches and general managers in here on Wednesday. It gives everybody a great chance to have a good look. We do think it’s a real advantage for our guys.
On what the day means: It’s a tremendous amount of pressure on those guys on that day, so you’d rather see them have fun. I talked to a couple of them today and said, ‘You’re going to run as fast as you can and you’re going to work as hard as you can, so it is what it. Just go enjoy it and have fun. You’re going to have to make a team even if you get drafted, so don’t let the draft get bigger than being able to make a team.’ You look at some of our guys that haven’t been drafted as high as we thought they would be, but they’re still playing and in some cases starting. The draft is important, but it’s not as important as playing, making and continuing to play for a team after you get there.
I really don't know where to start