Restart to Refocus During Second Session of Thursday’s Two-a-Day
8/8/2013 5:19:00 PM | Football
PHOTO GALLERY: August 8, 2013
STATESBORO, Ga. – When Coach Jeff Monken restarts the clock on a practice period, it's a very deliberate way of getting the Eagles' attention. In the second session of Thursday's two-a-day practice of the 2013 preseason, Monken restarted the clock on period seven. The second trip through that five-minute period was better after some teaching moments and a few up-downs.
"I restarted the period, because, frankly, we weren't practicing very well," said Georgia Southern Head Coach Jeff Monken. "I thought our guys were going through the motions and I thought it stunk, so that's why I started the period. It's my job to make sure we get the most out of these guys every time we are out here. If we aren't getting the effort we need, the intensity we are looking for, if the performance isn't there because of a lack of concentration, focus or effort, I'm not going to let them get away with it, I'm going to start over."
Georgia Southern started Thursday with a 16-period practice in full pads, following a routine that included individual and position drills, skelly and multiple periods of interaction. The Eagles hit the practice fields after team and position meetings at the Parrish Football Center earlier in the morning. After treatments in the athletic training room and lunch, it was time to get taped and dressed for team and position meetings to prepare for the second session at 4:45 p.m.
"Every day isn't going to be perfect and there are going to be times we don't practice as well as we hoped," Monken said. "There's going to be some frustration, and that's part of it. These guys will learn and we'll learn, and each time I learn more about this team. We have a good bunch of guys, they will work hard, they'll be tough and play hard, it was just one of those little lapses in concentration and effort."
Thursday's practices are now history, but both the student-athletes and coaching staff can benefit from watching the film, making corrections and emphasizing the effort needed by the Eagles to practice well and push to get better. Monken reiterated to the Eagles in his post-practice talk that he believes it is about who has the better TEAM, not about who has the better individual players.
The Eagles have single practices on Friday (10 a.m.) and Sunday (3:30 p.m.) with two-a-days on Saturday and Monday. Georgia Southern will scrimmage in the early session Saturday morning at Paulson Stadium and then back at the Eagle Creek complex for a 4:45 p.m. practice in shells.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics, and its new "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS. Fans can follow Coach Jeff Monken on his official twitter account, @CoachJeffMonken.
