Early on in the classic movie Hoosiers, Coach Norman Dale gathers his players together for their opening practice. As they begin the first of many grueling workouts, you can hear Coach Dale mutter under his breath, “Okay…let’s see what kind of hand I’ve been dealt.”
I suspect that thought will cross the mind of new Arkansas Head Coach Bobby Petrino a few times over the next three weeks.
After much anticipation, Petrino’s Razorbacks will kick off spring football practice later today. And after holding 15 sessions over the next 23 days, the spring season will culminate with the EAS RazorFest Spring Game on Saturday, April 26.
During a media briefing on Monday, a couple of Petrino’s comments caught my attention. First, it sounds like the Hogs are going to be a little more physical as they install new offensive and defensive schemes:
“We need to find out a lot about ourselves” Petrino said. “We need to hit. I think that is the one thing that, from my understanding, will be different for our players. They haven’t done a lot of live tackling, live hitting.
“I’ve always had the philosophy that hitting is like tying your shoe. It’s just something you do everyday and you get used to it and you stay healthy because of it. So you have to do some hitting every day.”
That’s certainly a stark contrast from past scrimmages, which were little more than a glorified game of touch football. Oh yeah…the coach would make it sound good by telling his players to ‘thud them up,’ but then complain afterwards when they lacked intensity.
The other surprising change mentioned by Petrino was that sophomore linebacker Chip Gregory is moving to tailback. Gregory (6-3, 225) played a little running back in high school, rushing for 503 yards on 35 carries and 7 TDs as a senior. But wow…who saw this coming?
If you go back and look, though, Petrino has a history of having big backs in his ‘Power Spread’ offensive attack. Former Louisville stars Eric Shelton (6-1, 246) and Michael Bush (6-1, 245) are making a nice living in the NFL now after toting the load for Petrino. Who knows…Gregory might find a home there…we’ll see.
From a fan’s perspective, it’s great to see that all spring practices will remain open to the public. As always, we’re planning to make as many as we can and then bring our ‘observational commentary’ back here to RBN. (Keeping in mind, of course, that Coach Petrino is not a big fan of the ‘Internets.’)
In particular, we’re looking forward to seeing the new offense and how well the players are adapting to it. But for those of you who can’t go, what else do you want us to keep an eye on?
This season is sure to have it's "wow… who saw this coming" moments!
I'm also very interested in how the QBs develop within the new offense.
Guys – Keep an eye on the tone of practice. Are the players buying into Petrino? Does he have their attention? Is he a drill sargeant? How do his practices compare to Nutt's?
As much as people want to see the passing take place……..I think we are going to be extremely balanced. I don't see us chucking the ball around like everyone thinks………..especially this year……………maybe when Mallet is eligible that our offensive will resemble those of Louisville past……..
I also want to know realistically how our secondary is looking………..I'm really worried about giving up big plays this year!!!
Ditto on the secondary…also want to know how the young linebackers are shaping up. Overall attitude of the defense, i.e. how well are they responding to the new staff?
Offensively, want to know how the boys are responding to the new staff, want to know how the QBs are doing (especially Mortensen; I think he might be a pleasant surprise this year and Mallett, of course). Also how are Cleveland and Tuck doing with their injuries? If we are going to toss the ball around much more this year, they need to be on the field as much as possible. Who looks to be ridin' the pine because they can't seem to grok the system?
Let us know how the QBs are doing, how the recievers are doing, how the running backs are doing, and how the defense is doing. Something on the coaching staff would be good. And, of course the QBs.
Man, real football returns to the hills. I can not Frickin' believe it.
You guys really need to stay focused on what's important. You did a good job a couple of years ago breaking down the psyche and philosophies of the coaching staff based on their daily attire. We need to know what kind of headgear BP is wearing . . is it a visor, a ball-cap, a HDN style lawnboy hat, Kangol?
Seriously, QB, QB, QB, CB, OL in that order.
PS: Also note who is returning punts.
I would also be interested in who's returning punts this year. I realize this could change from April to August, but I'm still interested in what type of player Petrino is looking for for that position. Also, for years Nutt made comments about how he was going to get the TE more involved in the offense, leaving us more and more frustrated every year. I'm interested in seeing how Petrino want's to use those guys. In the past, Nutt alway's wanted 280 – 300 lb. bruisers, so he could have an extra blocker. I've noticed Petrino is recruiting a couple of kids that are tall and go around the 220 – 230 range. Everyone want's to know about the QBs. I'm curious what the competition will be like between Casey, Nathan and Alex, and what exactly Petrino want's them to do. Also, does our O-line look like thier going to be good. Defensively, there are a ton of questions, so I'm going to just sit back and listen to your guy's take on all of it.
Guinness — it is going to take a while before our analysis on the coaching attire and related psychological or psychic implications can come. It's a new staff, with different strengths from a physical make-up standpoint. We'll just have to see how they look under practice conditions and go from there. I suspect we'll have a much more wide open and extensive Adidas catalog to work from. It will take some time for everyone to adapt.
To try and get ahead of the game I tried watching Kevin Spacey movies, but with the difference in hair color and the actual resemblance being based more in demeanor than physical attributes, I eventually abandoned that approach.
We actually won't know much until we get through the Spring and Fall practices and see how they look under actual game conditions. The first big indication of things will be when we go on the road to Austin.
Gonzo, you have to think Adams or one of the freshman would return punts, there isn't much speed on this team. I went to see a USC Trojans practice out here Damian Williams looks incredible, Mustain hasn't find his groove yet. It sucks they aren't in a Hog uniforms. Anyway I think this year Petrino will be a little conservative in the overall offense plan and wait to next year and really open things up. The defensive side of the ball needs some major overhaulin.
For those of use who live well outside of the Boston Mountains, we really appreciate the photos and commentary (not to mention the presentation). Keep it up.
. . . . . on the road at Austin sounds scary right now, I hope getting physical in practice will prevent the early season defensive meltdowns.
Let us know when the Dick's transfer.