Football: Coach Bill Stewart Practice Quotes
March 28, 2009 03:10 PM | General
On Today’s Practice
It is a fun time for our players, and I thought to bring some members of our student body out and to have all of these recruits here was pretty neat.
At the end of practice things got a little intense, when I told them they were going to have to do up-downs. I think they got a little shaken, but offense won that goal line drill.
There was a lot of good today, but we have a long row to hoe. It’s going to be a tough spring. I was pleased to see some physical play from both sides today, only yesterday, I saw total defensive domination and the offense came back and fought a little bit today.
It was good having you all here and all of those top-notch recruits here. That was a very special day for us. Recruiting is going very well for us and with the Will Clarke addition yesterday, that was a big lick for us. So like I said, recruiting is going really well for us.
I liked the way that the offensive line fought back today, but we have a long way to go. I am not at all pleased with where we are, although we are doing some good things.
On Stand-Out Players Today
In all sincerity, it was an okay day. It wasn’t great but there were some highlights. Wes Lyons, you all saw him; I thought that he made big catches today. I thought Carmen Connolly just made two really tremendous plays and kept the drive alive, and the guy throwing the ball, Jarrett Brown pitched it around really well.
Najee Goode’s interception would have been a touchdown. He broke on the ball and was reading the quarterback’s eyes. When I saw Coley (White) let the ball go, I didn’t know if he could get to it, but boy he got to it. That was good to see from Najae. Najae Goode is a fine young man and a tough guy.
I saw Scooter Berry banging around in there pretty good, he brings a lot to the table. Scooter is back in practice and has fulfilled his team obligations with 6 a.m. workouts. He was never on a short leash, but he was close to the pound. But he is ok now, and he has earned the right to wear the old gold and blue.
Jarrett Brown continued to excel today. I heard the coaches telling him in the meeting this morning to just take care of the ball, and he did a nice job. Today, I was pleased with the way that he took care of the ball; I was pleased with the way that Wes Lyons caught the ball and very pleased with the way that Carmon Connolly caught the ball. Carmon did a nice job, and he is a great young man. He has been here in this program persevering. Carmen has stepped up to the plate and done a really nice job.
The spring is big for Coley. He is going to need to step up and get better everyday. You can’t master the entire game in a day or a week in the spring. What you need to do, is to become a jack-of-all-trades and you need to learn the running game, the protections and everything else, then you need to get better everyday.
There is one warden that everyone needs to know about, and he is an ogre by the name of Stewart, but I got a bunch of great lieutenants. Players will never run this outfit, but we do have a committee of players that helps us out.
PLAYERS
Scooter Berry
We have a lot of returning guys and at the same time we have a lot of guys that are willing to step up. When those two things add up, there is going to be a lot of intensity and a lot of focus, so we just need to go out there and get better, and I think by time the season starts we are going to be ready.
We pretty much have a set defense and the offensive line is just now regrouping and rebuilding. The defense is always going to be a step faster at first, so I think when those guys get going, we are going to have a tough time.
It’s hard when bunch of new guys in who have never player together have to try to build chemistry. That is going to take time, but in due time they’ll be ready.
Najae Goode
The defense is going to be good. We are trying to build some depth right now. We have a lot of guys back and getting some reps in on the second and third teams is the main focus right now in spring ball.
Everyone is stepping up and the defense has had a couple of good days. We are going to continue doing that.
We still get to watch Morty (Ivy) on film and pick up from his techniques. Playing with Reed (Williams) is like playing with another coach on the field, and it is a good addition to the defense.
