Redo and Review for Flames during Practice
4/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
For the first time during his career at Liberty, the Flames rewound their spring practice plan under head coach Danny Rocco's request. The three-time Big South Coach of the Year used the same practice plan Friday afternoon as he did during a rain-soaked Thursday night.
The Thursday evening practice served as the program's first scrimmage of the practice season, as the Flames ran 96 scripted plays under the watchful eye of officials and the Liberty coaching staff. The evening was severely hampered by fog and continuous rain showers, lessening the effectiveness of the predetermined practice plan.
Despite the sloppy play at times, Rocco was still encouraged by the effort of his young football program. But rather than move into his second installment of the Flames game play, Rocco choose to return to the previous day's practice schedule and rerun the game simulations.
"I did something kind of rare today, as I've yet to do this, but we basically repeated last night's practice," commented Rocco. "Last night, we came out here and we ran 96 plays, and today we had some corrections we had to make."
"I decided instead of installing the things we had scheduled to install, I wanted to go back and make sure we had everything corrected from last night," stated Rocco. "For the most part, we took the 96 plays and we ran them all over again, using the same offenses and defenses. And just like you should, we performed better. I liked what I saw today and tomorrow we will move forward with our third-down installation on offense and defense."
The Flames are slated to hit the turf at Williams Stadium tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m., where they will begin to review and implement their third-down plays. The two-hour morning workout will also see the return of officials to the sidelines and playing field, as Liberty will also scrimmage under their supervision for the second time in three practices.
Inside the Locker Room with Trey Jacobs
Throughout the Flames spring practice schedule, LibertyFlames.com will attempt to bring you the most in-depth coverage of the Flames football program, as they prepare for the upcoming 2009 season and their attempted run at three-straight Big South titles.
Today, we begin a new segment, as we sit down with defensive end Trey Jacobs in our "Inside the Locker Room" segment. Jacobs is one of several rising seniors on this year's squad, after he finished the 2008 campaign with 40 tackles, including 6.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks.
When asked to comment on what he, as a rising senior, is focusing on during spring practice:
"I'm trying to become more of a leader and bring more family unity to our program. Secondly, I'm trying to master my own position, while being able to coach other players in near-by positions."
When speaking about what he is seeing from some of the new faces on the program in different positions after last year's senior class left:
"There are a lot of guys who are impressing our coaches, because they know it is time for them to step up. We've got a lot of new players in new roles this spring, like Patrick Bannon, who went from outside linebacker to defensive end. As someone with some experience at the position, I'm trying to help him out, as best I can. We as a team know that it is time for this group to step up and take on our new roles."
Remarks about the new coaches that Coach Rocco has added to his staff and if they bring any new perspectives to the program:
"For some of us, it is a whole new perspective. For us on the defensive line, we are now under Coach (Levern) Belin. He likes to break everything down for us, from formations to shifts to how we are supposed to execute our techniques. Coach (Tom) Clark is now working with the linebackers and he is doing an excellent job with that group. Coach (Marshall) Roberts is doing a great job with our defensive backs, especially in our pass coverages."
When asked what it is going to take for this year's team to continue the winning trend at Liberty, as Coach Rocco continues to build a championship program:
"We all need to understand that we have a new role this year. Some guys who were on the sidelines last year and didn't see very much playing time are being thrust into roles. We can't say ‘Coach, I don't know the plays or I'm tired.' It is time for each of us to step up and take a hold of this year's team, as it is our team now. Last year's seniors have left and now it is time for us to step up into the open positions."
The Thursday evening practice served as the program's first scrimmage of the practice season, as the Flames ran 96 scripted plays under the watchful eye of officials and the Liberty coaching staff. The evening was severely hampered by fog and continuous rain showers, lessening the effectiveness of the predetermined practice plan.
Despite the sloppy play at times, Rocco was still encouraged by the effort of his young football program. But rather than move into his second installment of the Flames game play, Rocco choose to return to the previous day's practice schedule and rerun the game simulations.
"I did something kind of rare today, as I've yet to do this, but we basically repeated last night's practice," commented Rocco. "Last night, we came out here and we ran 96 plays, and today we had some corrections we had to make."
"I decided instead of installing the things we had scheduled to install, I wanted to go back and make sure we had everything corrected from last night," stated Rocco. "For the most part, we took the 96 plays and we ran them all over again, using the same offenses and defenses. And just like you should, we performed better. I liked what I saw today and tomorrow we will move forward with our third-down installation on offense and defense."
The Flames are slated to hit the turf at Williams Stadium tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m., where they will begin to review and implement their third-down plays. The two-hour morning workout will also see the return of officials to the sidelines and playing field, as Liberty will also scrimmage under their supervision for the second time in three practices.
Inside the Locker Room with Trey Jacobs
Throughout the Flames spring practice schedule, LibertyFlames.com will attempt to bring you the most in-depth coverage of the Flames football program, as they prepare for the upcoming 2009 season and their attempted run at three-straight Big South titles.
Today, we begin a new segment, as we sit down with defensive end Trey Jacobs in our "Inside the Locker Room" segment. Jacobs is one of several rising seniors on this year's squad, after he finished the 2008 campaign with 40 tackles, including 6.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks.
When asked to comment on what he, as a rising senior, is focusing on during spring practice:
"I'm trying to become more of a leader and bring more family unity to our program. Secondly, I'm trying to master my own position, while being able to coach other players in near-by positions."
When speaking about what he is seeing from some of the new faces on the program in different positions after last year's senior class left:
"There are a lot of guys who are impressing our coaches, because they know it is time for them to step up. We've got a lot of new players in new roles this spring, like Patrick Bannon, who went from outside linebacker to defensive end. As someone with some experience at the position, I'm trying to help him out, as best I can. We as a team know that it is time for this group to step up and take on our new roles."
Remarks about the new coaches that Coach Rocco has added to his staff and if they bring any new perspectives to the program:
"For some of us, it is a whole new perspective. For us on the defensive line, we are now under Coach (Levern) Belin. He likes to break everything down for us, from formations to shifts to how we are supposed to execute our techniques. Coach (Tom) Clark is now working with the linebackers and he is doing an excellent job with that group. Coach (Marshall) Roberts is doing a great job with our defensive backs, especially in our pass coverages."
When asked what it is going to take for this year's team to continue the winning trend at Liberty, as Coach Rocco continues to build a championship program:
"We all need to understand that we have a new role this year. Some guys who were on the sidelines last year and didn't see very much playing time are being thrust into roles. We can't say ‘Coach, I don't know the plays or I'm tired.' It is time for each of us to step up and take a hold of this year's team, as it is our team now. Last year's seniors have left and now it is time for us to step up into the open positions."
Wednesday, May 13
Thursday, May 07
Thursday, April 30
Friday, April 24