Eagles Wrap Up First Practice of 2014 Preseason Thursday
7/31/2014 8:06:00 PM | Football
Bus Ride and Bridge Cross Traditions Remain Intact with Move to New Football Operations Building
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ALL-ACCESS (Subscription Required) -- Interview with Head Coach Willie Fritz -- 7-31-2014
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STATESBORO, Ga. – When the very first practice seems like practice number eight or nine, it can be either a good thing or a bad thing. For the Eagles, it was definitely a good thing. As Georgia Southern had its first team practice of the 2014 preseason, Coach Willie Fritz felt like the Eagles were ahead of the curve. New NCAA bylaws in 2014 allowed coaches to meet with student-athletes during the summer for the first time. This critical time helped reinforce what the Eagles learned in the 15 spring practices and helped them prepare for today and the practices that follow.
"We were able to go at a faster pace than we normally are the first practice of the year because we were allowed by the new NCAA rules to have two hours of meetings per week, said first-year Georgia Southern Head Coach Willie Fritz. "So instead of being on practice one, like normal, we were probably on practice eight or nine today. That's good."
Georgia Southern practiced for 28 periods today, opening with a focus and stretch period followed by three periods of work on the field goal and field goal block unit. The Eagles finished up with pass skelly, individual and ball security drills before the final three team play periods.
"We were able to evaluate some of the young guys and we're trying to give equal reps for the first 10 practices and then at that point in time we'll have a pecking order in who is getting the majority of repetitions."
Of the roster of 105, there were 26 newcomers, including wide receiver Derek Keaton and offensive linemen Ryan Northrup, both who joined the Eagles in January, but who had not yet been through a fall camp. Three Eagles on the field today were not new to the team, but were learning new positions with L.A. Ramsby making the move to running back, senior Ezayi Youyoute returning to the quarterback position and sophomore Vegas Harley switching to safety.
"I was very excited about getting out here," Fritz said as he begins his 22nd year as a head football coach and 30th as a full-time football coach. "I guess I'm working a little smarter now than I did 10, 15, 20 years ago. I understand the sense of urgency you have to have, the times when you really need it, using every day as an opportunity to get better. This is the first practice, it is what it is, now we want to build on it. I take a lot of notes during practice, and I'll go over 50 things I noticed we can do better during practice, tomorrow it will be 40, then 30, then 20, then 10, then it's just a handful of things afterwards and, that's just getting everybody on the same page."
NEVER GOING FAST ENOUGH
Coach Fritz referenced a saying from Offensive Coordinator Doug Ruse, "we're never going fast enough" and Fritz wants the Eagles to embrace that approach during preseason camp. "Once they start to get more familiar with the offense and defense, we can go quicker," with the goal of getting in as many as three reps per minute.
Fritz also wants Georgia Southern to do a good job of changing tempos,with the ability to go immediately, within five or six seconds of the play clock starting and "then we want to go slower and milk the clock. As an old defensive coach, it's difficult when you have to be on your toes for the whole play clock rather than getting an indicator from the offense on when the ball is going to be snapped."
PLAN TO WIN
Fritz reviewed the Eagle Football handbook on Wednesday afternoon in the team's first meeting after reporting back to campus. His "Plan to Win," with statistical data to back up his success, has five points with the first being ball security and winning the turnover and takeaway margin. The second is controlling the running game and the clock. The third point is the emphasis on great "special forces" and winning the kicking game. Fourth on the list is not letting the Eagles beat the Eagles and the final point, is to finish and win the fourth quarter.
Taking care of the football was one of the first areas Fritz covered in the spring and Thursday's first practice featured a few periods of ball security drills with every player, no matter what position they play. In one drill, players had to hold onto the ball through a gauntlet and then leap into the air onto a large foam mat without losing the ball or having it stripped.
"We emphasized ball security with the whole team, that's the biggest part of our program, as far as football is concerned, is making sure that everyone does a good job of protecting the football," Fritz said.
EMPHASIS ON THE KICKING GAME
The kickers, punters and long snappers, as usual, were the first Eagles out onto the field Thursday morning.
"The kicking game is really important," Fritz said. "We didn't do as much of it (the kicking game) in the spring as we wanted to," Fritz said. "Putting in a new offense, having new coaches on offense and defense, we really accented the offense and defense more in the spring. We're going to accent the kicking game as much or more than those two phases during preseason camp."
TOSSING AROUND THE PIGSKIN
The Eagle quarterbacks did quite a bit of passing on day one of practice Thursday in drills, skelly and team. Coach Fritz was quick to point out that this, by design, was "not only for the offense.
"It prepares you," Fritz said. "We were leaving the Southern Conference, which was primarily a run conference, for the Sun Belt Conference, where they like to spread out and throw the ball around, a lot more than what these guys were accustoamed to. It not only helps you offensively, helps you tremendously on the defensive side of the ball."
SEASON TICKETS ON SALE
Season tickets for the Eagles' first campaign in the Sun Belt Conference and FBS are on sale online now at GSEagles.com/fbtix and weekdays 8:30 a.m.- 5 p.m. by calling 1-800-GSU-WINS. The five-game home campaign opens September 6th vs. Savannah State with two historic Thursday night games on ESPNU September 25th vs. Appalachian State and October 30th vs. Troy.
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, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA.
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