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Talked to some people that know stuff. Some of the people with really good access may have more limited football knowledge, so I have to run info through the translator and my questioning can turn into a game of "is it larger than a bread box?" I do these fairly infrequently, but thought you might appreciate it.
- Currently have two short yardage sets. One is a direct snap to Joe Bergeron (a la pile glacier Cody Johnson LY), the other our standard JUMBO set featuring Brown or Bergeron
- Wildcat is Johnathan Gray/Jeremy Hills, with DJ Monroe/Daje Johnson as the motion speed sweep
- This explains conflicting reports about who has been running Wildcat - Bergeron's short yardage direct snap is being confused with classic WildCat
- David Ash "very sharp" in his last few practices. Beyond the basic platitudes about accuracy or command, the comment that interested me was "very good ball handling." I took it to mean not just in play action passing, but in the misdirection running game. My wild ass speculation: Maybe part of all of the Case preparation is because we intend to run Ash a bit more than expected, particularly in big games?
- Coaches like Bergeron as 3rd down back for his soft hands and ability to clean up LBs. Hills also seeing work there and we dig him in the screen/draw game. My sense is that if Bergeron gets heavy use at RB, we see more of Hills as 3rd down back to distribute workload
- Daje Johnson > DJ Monroe. Stronger, better cuts, better hands, comparable speed in pads. Coaches wanted to play him against Wyoming, but got tired of his approach to preparation and receiving feedback. The word used was "petulant." The suspension got his attention
- Jaxon Shipley is healthy. Coaches feel that he's gained a step to go with his quickness. If our DBs don't disrupt him early, he kills them at the top of his route with his first step out of his break
- MJ McFarland's depth chart listing is indicative of both poor blocking and a tendency to drop easy balls in drill work and scrimmage situations. He makes the hard catches routinely though. We'll see him this year if he can prove consistency
- Searels is comfortable playing 7 OL right now. Wants that number @ 9 by OU
- Donald Hawkins is "adequate" but cares about getting better. Both he and Moore changed Mack's mind on JUCOs and are responsible for Swaim. We'll still only use JUCO to 1) grab an exceptional player or 2) plug a known gap, not as a recruiting constant
- Hopkins is probably our true backup center
- Kennedy Estelle has grown an inch or two since high school. Now 6-8. Major tools, but very young. Will carry a solid 320 in short order
- Chris Whaley's rapid ascendance attributed to good coaching from Davis, mentoring from older players, and Whaley's ability to process teaching quickly
- 2011/2012 recruiting classes best back-to-back we've had under Brown. 2010 solid. 2009 "disastrous." Our 2012 depth issues explained in a nutshell
- Coaching staff disagreed at times on amount of hitting that was prudent in training camp. Basic tension between creating physicality vs. preventing injuries in camp. Preventing injuries won out