April 17, 2007
Last week was a nice break at home. I arrived back at school on Monday afternoon and we had a team meeting Monday night. We got right into it Tuesday morning with a practice at 7 a.m. The tempo was a little bit disappointing at practice. I would have thought that after a week at home everyone would have been ready to go but it took the team half the practice to really get focused. We got back at it on Thursday morning and the tempo was much better. It was absolutely pouring rain and at 7 in the morning, it was pretty cold. We did a good amount of live work and players made some big plays. Friday afternoon's practice got a little chippy. The offense and defense got into it during the "inside run" periods and that carried over to the rest of practice. That sort of atmosphere is the best to practice in.
Since then, the weather hasn't given us a break. The storm that rolled through the Northeast passed right through Villanova. We were supposed to have our second scrimmage of the spring Sunday but the rain didn't let up all day and even turned into snow late Sunday night and the coaches decided to postpone it. It is still raining here today and is supposed to continue through most of this week. I hope we catch a break. This is supposed to be our last week of practice. Due to the weather, we have had to postpone a couple practices and now we are supposed to practice tomorrow (Tuesday), Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday. I hope that we don't have to cancel anything else from here on out.
A lot of players have made great improvement so far this spring. It amazes me how one year can make such a difference for younger players. Some of the freshmen who arrived last August are entirely different players this spring than they were during camp. They get bigger and stronger and have a better understanding of their assignments. Most importantly, they are just more comfortable in their environment. This is essential because we are going to look to a number of these younger guys to play big roles next season.
Our D-Line as a whole has made great progress this spring. They have played extremely well. Two starters are out for the spring due to injuries from last season and I have been surprised how that hasn't slowed the down at all. Younger players have stepped up and gotten better and the return of Brian Hentosz, who missed last season with a knee injury, has definitely helped.
It was disappointing to have the scrimmage cancelled yesterday. I think everyone was excited for it. However, I think it was the right decision. The weather was absolutely miserable and there were puddles that accumulated on the turf. It is a fair assumption to say that play would have been sloppy. Instead, we lifted and had meetings. Coach Talley showed us a DVD called "The Secret." He loves to share that sort of stuff with us. When I first found out that was what we were doing instead of practice I was a bit frustrated. However, I really liked it and would highly recommend it to anyone. The message was great.
This is an exciting time of the year for a lot of my classmates/old teammates. The draft is coming up this weekend and we have a handful of players who have been working really hard to try and get into an NFL camp. I wish my best to Marvin, Allyn, Christian, Terrance, Dequese, and Mike. I hope they all get a shot. I've seen how hard they've been working and they all deserve it.
Hopefully this weather lets up eventually and we can capitalize on the opportunities we have left without having to extend spring ball any longer.
