First Day of Spring Practice Defined by Effort and Enthusiasm
3/23/2010 4:28:00 AM | Football
STATESBORO, Ga. - Members of the Georgia Southern football team jogged across the bridge spanning "Beautiful Eagle Creek" and made their way to the practice fields for day one of spring practice. Following 23 five-minute sessions and 15 minutes of special teams practice which included plenty of reps of the familiar option handoff, Eagles Head Coach Jeff Monken assessed his team after their first day.
"It was probably what I thought it might be, we have a long way to go, a lot of learning, when you change systems completely, it is going to take some time," said first-year Eagles Coach Jeff Monken. "There is a learning curve and I hope our guys will keep working, I hope they will work hard in the classroom part of it, to learn, so they can at least go to the right spot, block the right guy, get in the right gap, play in the correct coverage, and when we get that accomplished, we'll get a better idea of who can really play and help us."
Today's practice didn't feature any "first team" or "second team" assignments, but Monken deliberately approached practice keeping open all options at all positions.
"We had hoped to move the quarterbacks from huddle to huddle so no one had the same center and move the slots around," Monken said. "There is no number one at any position here right now -- not one position has a number one. There are 25 spots up for grabs and I hope they'll compete for those 25 spots."
With the new offense, Monken told the Eagles after practice that what they did on the field was only part of process, that watching film and asking questions would be a big help in understanding and learning the offense. Monken also impressed upon his squad that the standards need to be set and kept high.
"I am not lenient on anything, mistakes, effort, I am not lenient at all," Monken said. "I don't want our coaches to be lenient and I hope our players don't feel like they can loaf or go half-speed because it is shorts. I want them to be mentally in tune to everything that is going on. I want them to listen and learn every coaching point. To me that's part of effort, it"s the mental effort. There's not going to be any leniency. We're going to keep the standards high and try and be demanding. I understand there are going to be mistakes, and there will be. There will be a lot more tomorrow, and there will be a lot more through spring practice."
For the first time in his collegiate coaching career, Monken does not have a specific area to coach. He split time between the offensive and defensive fields and with each position group.
"I am thrilled to be here and humbled to think that when they blew the whistle out here and everybody went in all the different directions and I was standing here with no position to run to, it was humbling. To walk the same steps as guys like Erk Russell and Paul Johnson, who I hold in such high regard, and just think the world of as people and coaches, it's a tremendous feeling and I'm really proud."
With the return of the option and Monken's focus on effort and toughness, he reiterated that the 15 days of spring practice were just the beginning.
"You have to work, and the bottom line is we have to find a way to get these guys to learn where they are going, and find a way to win some football games," Monken said.
ROSTER UPDATES:
Three scholarship players will not participate in 2010 spring practice. Quarterback Lee Chapple has received a release from Georgia Southern to transfer to another institution. Running back Adam Urbano decided this morning to not play football for Georgia Southern. Linebacker J.B. Shippy is no longer a member of the football program following a violation of team rules.
EAGLE CLUB SCHEDULE:
Immediately following practice on Tuesday, March 23, Coach Monken will head to Claxton to speak at the Evans County Eagle Club event at Massey Pond House. Tickets are $10 and may be purchased by contacting Marshall Smith at 739-2230 or 739-7460. The program begins at 6:30 p.m. On Thursday, March 25, Coach Monken will be the featured speaker at the Emanuel County Eagle Club at Cadle's Barn in Swainsboro beginning at 6:30 p.m. Tickets for the Emanuel County event are also $10 and may be purchased by contacting Jerry Fletcher 478-455-0880 or Athen Walden 478-237-6619.
Closing out the week, Coach Monken will speak at the Liberty County Eagle Club in Midway Friday, March 26. The Liberty County event is free and those who wish to attend should call Derek Sills at 912-884-4271. Due to NCAA regulations, students in grades 9-12 are not encouraged to attend these events.
PRACTICE SCHEDULE:
The Eagles will be back on the banks of "Beautiful Eagle Creek" Tuesday at 3:45 p.m. and Thursday at 3:45 p.m. Saturday's practice time will be announced later this week.
