Some first day quotes

August 02, 2007

By Drew Champlin

Will type in a few observations when I get back to Dothan, but here’s what offensive coordinator Tony Franklin and wide receiver Gary Banks had to say about the first day. These didn’t all make the story, which will feature freshman wideout Jerrel Jernigan, but I can always throw in extra stuff here.

TONY FRANKLIN
How did the first day look?
You can tell they’ve had a long offseason. They worked hard, but were rusty.
That’s normal. We moved around good and I thought everybody looked pretty sharp for the first day. There’s some talent in that group. You can see there’s some speed with a couple of young guys. You can tell (freshman running back) DuJuan (Harris) can fly, and that’s nice to see.
Did the offense look sharper than in the first practice of last fall?
I hope so. It’s early, so you don’t know. No pads are on, so we’re hoping these young kids we recruited can come in and make a couple of plays.
Which newcomers stood out to you?
The biggest thing was DuJuan because he’s got great speed and (wide receiver) Jerrel (Jernigan) showed a couple of times his speed and his ability to make plays. Those guys stuck out to me because they’re so fast.
What about the quarterbacks, other than Omar?
I thought Tanner (Jones) looked pretty sharp for the first day and Jamie (Hampton) looked like it was the first time in a college uniform. That’s not bad, because he’s got some talent, but it’s so hard for young quarterbacks to come in and play. That’s very difficult to do.

GARY BANKS

First day thoughts
Today was one of those typical first day practices for the offense. We had a lot of new guys Coach Franklin wanted to get a look at.
We dropped some passes, made some bonehead decisions, but it’s the first day and we’re looking forward to getting better every day.
There were a lot of drops in the one-on-one drills, but things seemed to pick up in the 7-on-7s
Definitely. Once we got to the blitz period, going against the full defense guys starting finding the holes a little bit better.
How did Omar look?
I thought Omar did good today for the first day. Considering all the drops we had, he was hitting the guys he should have been hitting, so he did well today.
What about the younger guys, specifially Jerrel Jernigan?
He’s a quarterback, so he’s never played receiver. Now he’s got to learn to control his body and run routes, but he’s going to be a good athlete for us.
Anyone else?
Austin Silvoy did a real good job today. The coaches are expecting a lot from him so he really stepped it up today.

Quotes are short and to the point, but I didn’t keep them for 5 minutes because they had stuff to do.
The next practice I’ll get to attend is next Monday night—the first practice in full pads.

Special teams talk

By Drew Champlin

I spoke with special teams coach Shayne Wasden Tuesday about the kicking unit.

PUNTER - It’s senior Adrian Vera’s job to lose. His leg is a strength but his timing isn’t.

“He’s got to have more urgency to get the ball off. When he’s backed up in the end zone with not as much room, he’s fine and kicks it good. It’s more of a mental thing for him.“

Other challengers are true freshman Will Goggans and placekicker Greg Whibbs.

KICKER - Greg Whibbs returns for his fourth year as a starter. The senior will be challenged a little bit by true freshman Michael Taylor, who is in the 105. I would expect Whibbs to keep his job, but Wasden said Taylor has a chance to contribute on kickoffs. If that’s the case, the best thing might be for Taylor to redshirt because Whibbs was pretty good on distance for kickoffs last year.

LONG SNAPPER - The three guys being looked at are walk-on linebacker Derrick Thomas, senior defensive end Shawn Todd, and Drew Robinson, a walk-on true freshman from Opelika who is in the 105.

HOLDER - That will be redshirt freshman wide receiver Austin Silvoy.

RETURN MEN - There’s not a better duo in the Sun Belt than Leodis McKelvin and Elbert Mack, but watch out for true freshman Jerrel Jernigan. If he gets a chance back there, he’s very special with the ball in his hands.

I’ll post practice observations later tonight. It’s raining in Dothan right now but hopefully that’s just a passing shower.

Thursday links

By Drew Champlin

First, the read on Troy defensive tackle Maurice Coleman, and his return to football after a legal problem cost him his sophomore year.

If you remember, he, Chris Bradwell and Nikko Doyle were brought into custody on suspicion of second-degree burglary. However, charges by the prosecutor (or plaintiff in that case) were never filed, from what Sgt. Benny Scarbrough of the Troy Police Department told me.

Bradwell is back with the team. Doyle elected not to come back. It’s good to see Coleman get the second chance, because from what people have repeatedly told me, he’s never been in any kind of trouble. He’ll still graduate in four years (which would be next May or summer), but will have another year of football eligibility.

Today is Troy’s first practice, at 6 p.m. I wish I could attend every one, but I have other responsibilities at the Eagle as well. But I’ll make sure you guys have the best news possible.

In some other Sun Belt links:

Arkansas State is ready to work, from the Jonesboro Sun.

An article a couple of days old, FAU coach Howard Schnellenberger can’t contain his optimism.

 

Twas the afternoon before practice

August 01, 2007

By Drew Champlin

As you guys know, Troy practice officially kicks off at 6 p.m. Thursday night. I’ll be there for much, if not all of it, and will try to figure out what’s going on and post a few brief observations.

Here’s a reporting day story, mostly how Troy is looking for quality backups at quarterback and running back.

Tomorrow’s got a feature on Maurice Coleman, one of the three Troy players who was arrested last August. They were suspended from school for a semester and Coleman and Chris Bradwell are back with the team. The focus is on Coleman because he’s a Wiregrass kid - Eufaula is his home town.

Some reporting day notes

July 31, 2007

By Drew Champlin

***Wide receiver Randy Underwood is no longer with the team. He was going to likely redshirt this year with hopes of being a 6-foot-6, 210 (or whatever)pound force at the position. With his heart not being in the game, he will transfer somewhere to play basketball. He was a pretty good basketball player in high school. The only different player I found out that isn’t on the team anymore is linebacker Jonathan Reese. Others previously mentioned as having left are cornerback Henry Chubb, running back Justin Brooks, defensive end Jamare Mathis and defensive tackle Brandon Suggs.

**EDIT TO ADD of those, only Chubb would have been a difference-maker this year, but there’s enough depth at cornerback (Leodis McKelvin and Elbert Mack are starters, Bryant McKissic and Trevor Ford are the backups) to cover it.

***Highly-touted recruit Dion Gales is on campus and in the 105. He and offensive tackle Jamarr Thompson are some big, big boys. A legit 6’6 at least. I’ll try to have more on Gales after Thursday’s practice.

***Here’s a list of guys who signed in February but will grayshirt and report in January 2008.
WR Richie Henderson
OL Jacob Creech
DL Brandon Boudreaux
DB Kejuan Phillips
DB Stacey Williams.

As far as guys who “didn’t qualify” the only ones I can think of now that were listed as signees were running backs Ricky McGee and Fred Hawkins. I’d probably have to tell you more Thursday.

Four linebackers - David McDowell, Donnell Golden, Lennie Richardson and Xavier Lamb - will get good, hard looks this fall camp. A three-hour practice is set for Thursday at 6 p.m.

Also I checked back with the guy from Lincoln Financial Sports. Troy-Arkansas STILL IS NOT one of the finalists for that Sept. 1 telecasts. I had something on that on the old blog, but double-checked with him and here’s what he e-mailed me back. The guy’s name is James Rayburn.

No decision has been made for our opening SEC football telecast on Sept. 1.  There’s no deadline, but I feel a decision will be make within two weeks.  No change in the options you list below.

The games I listed below were the three he sent back to me a month ago or so: Western Kentucky at Florida, Western Carolina at Alabama and Eastern Kentucky at Kentucky.

Why anyone would want to welcome the SEC Saturday football season with the three Daves calling Eastern Kentucky-Kentucky is beyond me. Yeah, they replaced one Dave (Dave Rowe) with another Dave (Dave Archer).

I’ll have a reporting day story in tomorrow’s paper plus a feature on Maurice Coleman Thursday.