--West Virginia went Monday in shells and today went pull pads and they tackled today. A lot of situational work and 11-on-11 work. Friday they will do some team stuff but it won't be as physical but Saturday night they will do their first live scrimmage and do 45-50 plays. Then they'll take Sunday off and do it all over again. They are intentional about being physical and they will tackle as much as they are allowed to. Their ability to be mentally and physically tough will be essential.
--They did a good on good tackling drill yesterday and today and there was growth. Tackling is two things one is want to and then run your feet and shoot your arms. To break a tackle is being efficient with your moves and getting vertical and running behind your pads. Defensively Tyrin Bradley on the edge has a physical demeanor about him and he showed up. Jared Bartlett has gotten stronger and is playing run blocks better than before. Lee Kpogba is going to make a big jump this year.
--Anthony Wilson is making a big jump to be ready to play. At cornerback, Jacolby Spells has really looked good through seven practices and he has made plays. Beanie Bishop is pushing at cornerback and Mike Lockhart has started to separate himself as well as Eddie Vesterinen. At WILL linebacker, they want to wait until Saturday. Devin Carter has separated at wide receiver. EJ Horton made a couple plays down field today at wide receiver and he's giving himself a chance to play. Jaheim White is giving himself opportunities to play. Kole Taylor and Treylan Davis have separated at tight end.
--Yesterday halfway through practice Nicco Marchiol had as poor decision making as he's had but he was able to correct it and 4 of his next 6 plays were explosive plays. He took an ass chewing and bounced back. In red zone today, it was ebb and flow with him but he made two big time plays. They have to clean up decision making but impressed with how he handled adversity. Garrett Greene had a couple big runs in team period and made a tight throw down in the red zone. They are continuing to rep them and he doesn't have an answer for when they make a call on a starter.
--Some of them start to hide when the pads come on but it's a different game when the contact starts. Brown had a conversation with Kpogba at media days and he said they're going to do a lot more 11-on-11 work and be physical. He said the reason they won't be significantly better is that they didn't tackle enough in fall camp. Kpogba helped to sell that message to the rest of the team and they needed to be more physical across the board. There is a fine line between what's enough and what's too much? Brown really wishes that in fall camp they have to look at with television and the money to combine practices against another team. The product would be better early in the year if you could do that.
--Brown has been talking that they need to be a disciplined team, a team that strains and a team that is mentally and physically tough. They have to be put in situations that stress that. It's an evaluation process through a week through Saturday. And while some of the battles will extend, the coaches are looking at all of those factors.
--Michael Hayes had a 50-yarder at the end of practice Saturday and hit one today that was 45-50 yards. Pleased with him and Danny King is putting pressure on him, too.
--Versatility at the punting spot as Oliver Straw can kick it so many different ways. He has all the tools from a kicking perspective to give them a lot of flexibility from a protection standpoint. He's not affected if he misses a punt or if somebody gets on him it rolls off of him. He's handled success so his demeanor is good. He understands the game and where the protection is weak and he can help them out as far as how he positions himself. Whatever directional punt you're calling he needs to hit that in the right direction, hang time is important but the difference is the launch points.
--Rodney Gallagher had to step to the free throw line to win the WPIAL championship so he had to handle pressure so the situation won't be too big for him. So anytime you can witness people perform under pressure, those are competition reps.
--Practicing in the mornings that's a change. They've always practiced in the morning in the spring due to classes, but since COVID a lot of classes are online and the players liked it better in the mornings. Brown asked the players about practice in the morning and it was overwhelmingly positive. They don't start anything until 8 so the exact same schedule they have is what they'll do when school starts next week. Science stuff says it helps them to practice in the morning with recovery.
--From a physicality standpoint the hardest thing gets done first practicing early and it just flows better.
--Today is the day that's hard. You have three of four days that are hard and yesterday and today were hard physical practices and he was happy with how they answered.
--Danny King and Michael Hughes are kicking off more consistently and with more distance than anytime the last four years.
--I like being a punt team that can focus on coverage. Those free release people. Punt team is built on speed and you can move the launch point around. Preferably would like to continue with that.
--Traylon Ray is smooth. I like him, he's a player. He's long, he has really good ball skills and is highly intelligent. His high school coach was the coach for the Op Rattlesnakes and they run a lot of the same concepts they run and he's going to be a good player. It's not out of the question he'll play right away.
--Brown said as coaches they've been able to get ahead on Penn State in the off-season, but what they do is a lead in with walk throughs in the evening they go through opponent looks and a mock game week after that second scrimmage. That will be half cleaning up what they want to put into the season and that Tuesday will have to start turning the music up. They have to start turning the music up to get ready for Penn State.
--Those regional rivalries are important. The Pitt game should be played every year. The Pitt game is one of the best rivalries in all of college football and it makes it hard to play those other regional games. What's best for the program is you play that Pitt game, a G5 at home and an FCS at home and nine league games which gives you 7 home games. That's the best opportunity for success and best for the fans and allows you to build early in the year. Brown is all in on the Backyard Brawl. The Virginia Tech game was awesome and the Penn State game is great, but it's not in the best interest to play both those games in the same calendar year.
--They did a good on good tackling drill yesterday and today and there was growth. Tackling is two things one is want to and then run your feet and shoot your arms. To break a tackle is being efficient with your moves and getting vertical and running behind your pads. Defensively Tyrin Bradley on the edge has a physical demeanor about him and he showed up. Jared Bartlett has gotten stronger and is playing run blocks better than before. Lee Kpogba is going to make a big jump this year.
--Anthony Wilson is making a big jump to be ready to play. At cornerback, Jacolby Spells has really looked good through seven practices and he has made plays. Beanie Bishop is pushing at cornerback and Mike Lockhart has started to separate himself as well as Eddie Vesterinen. At WILL linebacker, they want to wait until Saturday. Devin Carter has separated at wide receiver. EJ Horton made a couple plays down field today at wide receiver and he's giving himself a chance to play. Jaheim White is giving himself opportunities to play. Kole Taylor and Treylan Davis have separated at tight end.
--Yesterday halfway through practice Nicco Marchiol had as poor decision making as he's had but he was able to correct it and 4 of his next 6 plays were explosive plays. He took an ass chewing and bounced back. In red zone today, it was ebb and flow with him but he made two big time plays. They have to clean up decision making but impressed with how he handled adversity. Garrett Greene had a couple big runs in team period and made a tight throw down in the red zone. They are continuing to rep them and he doesn't have an answer for when they make a call on a starter.
--Some of them start to hide when the pads come on but it's a different game when the contact starts. Brown had a conversation with Kpogba at media days and he said they're going to do a lot more 11-on-11 work and be physical. He said the reason they won't be significantly better is that they didn't tackle enough in fall camp. Kpogba helped to sell that message to the rest of the team and they needed to be more physical across the board. There is a fine line between what's enough and what's too much? Brown really wishes that in fall camp they have to look at with television and the money to combine practices against another team. The product would be better early in the year if you could do that.
--Brown has been talking that they need to be a disciplined team, a team that strains and a team that is mentally and physically tough. They have to be put in situations that stress that. It's an evaluation process through a week through Saturday. And while some of the battles will extend, the coaches are looking at all of those factors.
--Michael Hayes had a 50-yarder at the end of practice Saturday and hit one today that was 45-50 yards. Pleased with him and Danny King is putting pressure on him, too.
--Versatility at the punting spot as Oliver Straw can kick it so many different ways. He has all the tools from a kicking perspective to give them a lot of flexibility from a protection standpoint. He's not affected if he misses a punt or if somebody gets on him it rolls off of him. He's handled success so his demeanor is good. He understands the game and where the protection is weak and he can help them out as far as how he positions himself. Whatever directional punt you're calling he needs to hit that in the right direction, hang time is important but the difference is the launch points.
--Rodney Gallagher had to step to the free throw line to win the WPIAL championship so he had to handle pressure so the situation won't be too big for him. So anytime you can witness people perform under pressure, those are competition reps.
--Practicing in the mornings that's a change. They've always practiced in the morning in the spring due to classes, but since COVID a lot of classes are online and the players liked it better in the mornings. Brown asked the players about practice in the morning and it was overwhelmingly positive. They don't start anything until 8 so the exact same schedule they have is what they'll do when school starts next week. Science stuff says it helps them to practice in the morning with recovery.
--From a physicality standpoint the hardest thing gets done first practicing early and it just flows better.
--Today is the day that's hard. You have three of four days that are hard and yesterday and today were hard physical practices and he was happy with how they answered.
--Danny King and Michael Hughes are kicking off more consistently and with more distance than anytime the last four years.
--I like being a punt team that can focus on coverage. Those free release people. Punt team is built on speed and you can move the launch point around. Preferably would like to continue with that.
--Traylon Ray is smooth. I like him, he's a player. He's long, he has really good ball skills and is highly intelligent. His high school coach was the coach for the Op Rattlesnakes and they run a lot of the same concepts they run and he's going to be a good player. It's not out of the question he'll play right away.
--Brown said as coaches they've been able to get ahead on Penn State in the off-season, but what they do is a lead in with walk throughs in the evening they go through opponent looks and a mock game week after that second scrimmage. That will be half cleaning up what they want to put into the season and that Tuesday will have to start turning the music up. They have to start turning the music up to get ready for Penn State.
--Those regional rivalries are important. The Pitt game should be played every year. The Pitt game is one of the best rivalries in all of college football and it makes it hard to play those other regional games. What's best for the program is you play that Pitt game, a G5 at home and an FCS at home and nine league games which gives you 7 home games. That's the best opportunity for success and best for the fans and allows you to build early in the year. Brown is all in on the Backyard Brawl. The Virginia Tech game was awesome and the Penn State game is great, but it's not in the best interest to play both those games in the same calendar year.
