Camp observations, the big changes

[AZDoc]

Quick question...when do/did the "true" walk-ons report? Weren't there a few names that we knew of that were going to walk on? Players from the team in the spring? I'm old and don't remember the exact post but was a while ago and thought was interesting that some had mentioned they were going to report in the fall anyway as walk-ons.

 

[dupuyer griz]

How has Colton Curry looked? Saw his dad last night, but didn’t get a chance to ask him how things are going.


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[Yukon]

asked on another thread, but was wondering how Lorenzo Brown is doing?

 

[DuCharme]

asked on another thread, but was wondering how Lorenzo Brown is doing?

Interested as well. He’s the kid that tweeted that he was “coming for somebody(s) playing time”.

 

[HookedonGriz]

asked on another thread, but was wondering how Lorenzo Brown is doing?

May be buried in some depth, but that kid does not look like a freshman. He is put together! I saw him at practice and he stood out to me to look his number up on the roster when I realized it was Brown.

 

[Grisly Fan]

What, no graphs? I really can’t understand what is happening without pictures. You actually expect me to read?


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[Yukon]

What, no graphs? I really can’t understand what is happening without pictures. You actually expect me to read?


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Don't forget "comprehend".

 

[BWahlberg]

What, no graphs? I really can’t understand what is happening without pictures. You actually expect me to read?


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[bgbigdog]

What, no graphs? I really can’t understand what is happening without pictures. You actually expect me to read?


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:clap: :lol:

 

[EverettGriz]

You had me @ surmise. Go Griz.

I have the best words

You ARE a cunning linguist.

I see what you did there.

 

[mtgriz]

You had me @ surmise. Go Griz.

I have the best words

You ARE a cunning linguist.

I see what you did there.

Google “Colonel Angus SNL skit”

 

[BadlandsGrizFan]

Ok gang, we all know the rules. No reports on plays, formations, injuries, depth, etc. Practices are open to attend and the two scrimmages are QB Club only, but not recap posts, live tweets, etc. However we've seen some great articles from GoGriz, Skyline, The Missoulian, and from ABC/Fox. There's been videos and some great articles discussion positions, players, and the coaches.

This is the last week of fall camp, next week is regular prep for the week and we'll be off and running. As most on here know I try to regularly catch quite a few spring and fall camp practices and scrimmages and so I thought it would be fun to share the changes that have come about since Bobby has returned.

Here's my big takeaways;

A returned focus on situational execution - Under the prior staff a vast majority of the day would be spent running the offense and defending it. I would surmise the thought process was that as more plays happen more situations will arise and more players will get chances to make plays in the given situation. The problem though was that this philosophy relied upon each player to be presented those types of situations over and over... which didn't happen. Instead we saw years of teams that would consistently show failures to execute when needed most. I think most of us can think back to almost every loss in the prior years and can point out key moments where a player failed to execute and it wound up being the difference in the game.

This spring it was apparent that this coaching staff was not going to let the same mistakes happen. Suddenly camp was almost all situational drills for every position. The WR's getting drilled on catches all over the field again, and again, and again. 1 on 1 drills, D line vs O line, CBs vs WRs, running drills, passing drills, and everyone rotated. The amount of individual drills run in a day has gone way up. As another practice watcher told me, "I can see the importance of every single drill they do here."

This carried over in the fall and it would seem that regardless if a player is the starter or the 3rd string they'll know what is expected of them at most all given situations. My hope is that this time when presented with a key situation the players will have what to do drilled in them so much they can just do what they've done hundreds of times before and wont panic.

Special Teams is back in a major way The return of heavy focus on coverage when punting and kicking has returned. It's not that it wasn't done before, but it sure seems to me that there's so much more importance placed on all aspects of special teams then there has been before. Like many of us I would nervously watch punt and kick coverage in the prior years, now, I have some newfound confidence that our special teams units will start to once again look like what we had grown to expect.

Leadership & motivation This one is tough to really quantify but I can tell you all this. For the first time in a while I see vocal leaders at every single position. I'm not saying that the last few years teams didn't have leadership, so don't take that from this statement. On any given day one can come out to a a practice and just take in the guys that are pushing, driving, and motivating their position group. And while I saw that occasionally in the last few years, I see it every day, every drill, every moment where it's needed. Last year I specifically recall discussions where there was concern from the coaching staff about the team's ability to self-motivate. That concern is totally gone now. Each position has guys that push their whole unit and they all respond.

Furthermore, mistakes are made these guys are totally human and many are younger and just breaking into an expanded role. The prior staff built a culture of strong positive support, that's still there. But I can recall just recently a certain whole position that was forced to do up-downs across the whole field as a punishment. One of the vocal leaders in the group lead them in the activity, pressed guys that started to fall behind, and lead by example the whole way. That's the kind of thing I've not seen in maybe almost a decade now.

Bobby 2.0 This isn't the Bobby of 10 years ago entirely, and the staff reflects it as well. His crew is made up once again of an array of guys that are "firey", friendly, technical, boisterous, and everything inbetween, however it would seem that many of these guys that have returned have helped bring back things they've picked up while coaching in other places. Bobby's camps look and feel very similar but have evolved to match a lot of what you see or read about in other camps. I recall reading concern that this crew would have trouble connecting with today's kids, but I don't see that at all.

Competition Every position is open, anyone can win the job. Work hard, get reps, make plays, and get noticed. It's been a tough adjustment as I really think some spots were inherently a given for a few guys in the past few years, but that's not the case anymore. And what has happened with this increased competition? It's brought out the best in many, it's revised some of the depth, and it washed a few guys out. Even guys that we all would assume are "locks" at their spot have faced some pressure this spring and fall and it's brought out the best in many of them.


-------------

Here's what I was telling another Griz fan today about what I see in the 2018 Griz. I think this team is going to lose some games for sure, but what I don't think is that we'll come away from those losses with a key moment (or moments) where we can remember a failure in execution could've made the difference. We'll come away from these losses knowing that the Griz put in maximum effort, everyone did as best they could, and they just unfortunately were outplayed by a better team (that day).

I'm excited for this season and while I'm anticipating some heavy growing pains I think the fruits of the labor from this spring and fall camp will be seen rapidly by most all of us. Hopefully, the wins will follow.

Go Griz!!

This may be what I'm looking forward to the most honestly. Besides the wins. When we lose we will know that a good, better team beat us. Noth that we lost because we couldnt defend a 3rd and 20 or went 3 and out 3 drives in a row in the 4th quarter.

Im sooooo looking forward to the return of Bobby Ball 2.0 and the just overall effort and urgency his teams play with.

 

[AZGrizFan]

This may be what I'm looking forward to the most honestly. Besides the wins. When we lose we will know that a good, better team beat us. Noth that we lost because we couldnt defend a 3rd and 20 or went 3 and out 3 drives in a row in the 4th quarter.

I'm not going to defend 3rd & 20 (much like the Griz didn't, lol), and I realize your post may be a bit of hyperbole, but just to set the record straight, not once in ANY of the FCS Griz losses in 2017 did they go 3 & out 3 times in a row, let alone in the 4th quarter. I'll never understand why people have to take a poor coaching job and make it seem even worse by stating things that are just patently untrue. Stitt & Co. did enough mediocre shit...there's plenty of ACTUAL examples to choose from....how about we stick with the facts.

 

[wbtfg]

You had me @ surmise. Go Griz.

I have the best words

You ARE a cunning linguist.

Try debating him.

 

[MissoulaMarinerFan]

Quick question...when do/did the "true" walk-ons report? Weren't there a few names that we knew of that were going to walk on? ...

I'm pretty sure true walk-ons can report, but they can't be officially listed until school begins. I could be wrong in that maybe they aren't officially allowed to be involved in team activities until school begins. I'm probably mixed up, but I believe it is something along those lines. Boy, I really cleared that up! :roll: :lol:

 

[grizfan1984]

Quick question...when do/did the "true" walk-ons report? Weren't there a few names that we knew of that were going to walk on? ...

I'm pretty sure true walk-ons can report, but they can't be officially listed until school begins. I could be wrong in that maybe they aren't officially allowed to be involved in team activities until school begins. I'm probably mixed up, but I believe it is something along those lines. Boy, I really cleared that up! :roll: :lol:

I believe that preferred walk-ons can report for fall camp but the others have to wait until school starts, some of the walk-ons not on the roster are: William Powell, Aidan Diggs, Dawson Marchant, Marchant was on the roster until Kadeem Hemphill took his spot, I believe that all these guys will end up on the roster once the season starts, also looking for Jalen Hemphill to be on the roster too Ive heard they are just waiting for his transcripts.

 

[AZDoc]

Quick question...when do/did the "true" walk-ons report? Weren't there a few names that we knew of that were going to walk on? ...

I'm pretty sure true walk-ons can report, but they can't be officially listed until school begins. I could be wrong in that maybe they aren't officially allowed to be involved in team activities until school begins. I'm probably mixed up, but I believe it is something along those lines. Boy, I really cleared that up! :roll: :lol:

I believe that preferred walk-ons can report for fall camp but the others have to wait until school starts, some of the walk-ons not on the roster are: William Powell, Aidan Diggs, Dawson Marchant, Marchant was on the roster until Kadeem Hemphill took his spot, I believe that all these guys will end up on the roster once the season starts, also looking for Jalen Hemphill to be on the roster too Ive heard they are just waiting for his transcripts.

That doesn't suck! When are classes starting?

 

[grizfan1984]

Quick question...when do/did the "true" walk-ons report? Weren't there a few names that we knew of that were going to walk on? ...

I'm pretty sure true walk-ons can report, but they can't be officially listed until school begins. I could be wrong in that maybe they aren't officially allowed to be involved in team activities until school begins. I'm probably mixed up, but I believe it is something along those lines. Boy, I really cleared that up! :roll: :lol:

I believe that preferred walk-ons can report for fall camp but the others have to wait until school starts, some of the walk-ons not on the roster are: William Powell, Aidan Diggs, Dawson Marchant, Marchant was on the roster until Kadeem Hemphill took his spot, I believe that all these guys will end up on the roster once the season starts, also looking for Jalen Hemphill to be on the roster too Ive heard they are just waiting for his transcripts.

That doesn't suck! When are classes starting?

Not sure but I believe today is move in day

 

[dayday]

Quick question...when do/did the "true" walk-ons report? Weren't there a few names that we knew of that were going to walk on? ...

I'm pretty sure true walk-ons can report, but they can't be officially listed until school begins. I could be wrong in that maybe they aren't officially allowed to be involved in team activities until school begins. I'm probably mixed up, but I believe it is something along those lines. Boy, I really cleared that up! :roll: :lol:

I believe that preferred walk-ons can report for fall camp but the others have to wait until school starts, some of the walk-ons not on the roster are: William Powell, Aidan Diggs, Dawson Marchant, Marchant was on the roster until Kadeem Hemphill took his spot, I believe that all these guys will end up on the roster once the season starts, also looking for Jalen Hemphill to be on the roster too Ive heard they are just waiting for his transcripts.

That doesn't suck! When are classes starting?

Classes start next week.


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[Sooo Bad]

thanks b/w for taking time to consider an interesting topic about griz football and writing about it....this fan appreciates it and e-griz is a better board because of folks like you....thanks again.....and go griz !

+1 :thumb:

+2 :clap: :thumb: :clap: