The Coach's Huddle - June 1, 2012
Dear Phoenix Football Fans,
Now that summer is here I thought I would take the time to pass along some thoughts from spring ball, the summer and recruiting.
Our focus this spring was to try and get guys in the right position. With that, we made a few position changes – Blake Thompson to linebacker, Tevin James to offensive line, Chris Harris to tight end and Matt Eastman to running back. These changes should make a considerable impact on our team.
We didn’t get to do as much hitting this spring as we would have liked to do because of the number of players we had available. Our goal was to keep guys healthy, and for the most part we did that.
Everything ran smoothly in our second spring. Practicing in the morning was a big success. Not only were we able to get good practices in, but it allowed the kids to be able to do more things in the classroom and in the evenings. Coming out of spring, I really believe that this team feels a togetherness. The kids count on each other and are really taking ownership in the program. They believe they can compete for a championship.
Our new strength and conditioning coach, Eric Cash, brought some new ideas and a new routine to our program. I think the players like the new ideas. They are really getting some one-on-one teaching, technique-wise. The kids have bought in to what he’s doing. We see a difference. When the kids leave the weight room their shirts are soaked. One thing we need to continue to work on is flexibility and top-end speed.
Cayce Crenshaw, our academic advisor, really heads up our summer program. She determines who needs to be here for summer school and is also very involved in helping the players find internships and jobs. We’ll have close to 2/3 of our team here on campus this summer. Some will be taking classes and others will be doing internships and working.
Our lifting program will be taken up a notch this summer. The kids aren’t running and hiding in the summer. They really want to get an edge this summer.
All of our scholarship freshmen will be on campus this summer as will the majority of our preferred walk-ons.
We’re allowed to bring 95 guys into preseason camp and I think we’re going to have to say no to a couple of guys. On the first day of school we can have 105. It will be a tremendous accomplishment for this staff if we can do that. We ended last year with about 60 guys. I’m proud of how the staff recruited and generated interest in the program.
We have been looking at juniors for recruiting purposes here this spring. We got all the way from New York to Miami. We will attack the summer camps. Members of our staff will be working all the BCS schools’ camps in the state and we will get up to a couple camps in New England.
Our camp is expanding and has pretty much doubled from a year ago. We will have close to 500 kids on campus throughout the summer. That gives us a chance to showcase our facilities and the university to some of the best talent in the state and on the East Coast. We’re generating a lot of interest and the coaches are doing a great job of selling the camp. These camps are critical to our success as a program. If we do it right, we should be getting half of our scholarship and preferred walk-on players from these camps.
Mark this date down on your calendars – August 5. That is the day that our players report in for preseason camp. It’s only about 65 days away.
I hope that you all have a wonderful summer and I look forward to seeing you around town and in Rhodes Stadium this fall.
GO PHOENIX!
“Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you're willing to pay the price.” – Vince Lombardi
