Fall Camp 2015

Discussion in 'On The Field' started by Godz40acres, Jul 23, 2015.

  1. OldHippie

    OldHippie 2,500+ Posts

    Time is getting pretty short not to have heard any news on Devonaire Clarington. One would hope the NCAA Clearinghouse is making haste in deciding his fate once they have the information necessary. Of course, I, as a fan, have no idea when all the information was made available to them and what steps must then be taken to clear the NCAA Clearinghouse.

    I always picture the NCAA Clearinghouse, like an old-timey railroad round-house, where they check athletes' grades and test scores, sell magazine subscriptions and turn train engines around.
     
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  2. Dionysus

    Dionysus Idoit Admin

    I think it’s just a house, you go in there and clear things. Publishers have one too, probably next door.
     
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  3. Godz40acres

    Godz40acres Happy Feller

    Sheroid Evans is definitely out for the season.

    Per HD:
    [A]fter tearing his ACL in October of 2013 at Iowa State, causing him to miss the 2014 season, Evans tore the exact same ACL this spring in a non-contact injury and will miss the 2015 season, sources told HornsDigest.com.

    Considering Evans, who has all the physical tools (6-2, 180 pounds) with track speed (he ran 10.39 in the 100 and has run track for the Longhorns), has only played in 27 games in his five seasons at UT, some might think it's time for Evans to move on from football.

    But a source close to the situation told HD Evans plans to rehab the injury and return in 2016 for a rare sixth year at Texas.

    "He's determined," the source said. "And your heart aches for the kid, because he was looking so good in the spring, and then suffered the injury just cutting in the open field. It was a non-contact injury."
     
  4. Godz40acres

    Godz40acres Happy Feller

    Per HornSports:
    The 2015 season is just over a month away and Texas players report to the 40 at the end of this week. Practice starts at 7:30AM on Friday morning.

    As Burnt Ends has detailed over the last month, there is a sense of confidence coming from the players, and the coaches are ready to get in the trenches with this group. Last season being the first of the Charlie Strong era, there were definitely some disconnects in terms of expectations between players and coaches.

    There’s no hiding the fact that the prime story that Texas fans will be following this month is the quarterback competition. Players and coaches need to focus on the entire team and every position, but fans have the luxury of honing in on one spot…quarterback.

    With that level of focus in mind and with camp only days away, we caught up with a player who’s been catching passes from UT’s signal callers all Summer. We only asked two simple questions and got answers that will fire up the debate that is looming:

    HS: Who throws the best ball - Swoopes, Heard, or Locksley?

    “Heard.”

    HS: Do you think Locksley will shirt?

    “I don’t think so.”
     
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  5. BevoBeef

    BevoBeef 250+ Posts

    I saw both of TS's appearances in the last two spring games. It was clear to me that Heard will surpass in the short passing game. TS has a strong arm and is bigger. JH will make the zone read game a real threat. JH will start eventually, but could easily get hurt and crimp his playing time. If TS has not substantially improved, then Kai's red shirt will come off this year under the condition that TS gets a limiting injury.
     
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  6. Badass

    Badass 2,500+ Posts

    Count me as a bit surprised re: Locksley. I am not sure if that says more about him or less about our current back up to be. Maybe he is looking down the road as to future QB commits and wants to get in now before the depth gets really good! :smile1:
     
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  7. eastexhorn

    eastexhorn 250+ Posts

    I am more worried about who is going to protect these three QBS.
     
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  8. BevoJoe

    BevoJoe 10,000+ Posts

    Right...the key on offense will be the Oline. As they go, the offense goes.
     
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  9. Brad Austin

    Brad Austin 2,500+ Posts

    OL is huge, but even with better protection, there is still valid debate on who will be more effective leading the offense in all avenues available to the position.

    While better OL play makes it easier to execute, it certainly doesn't erase QB deficiencies. Even with adequate protection, the QB factors in heavily. Downplaying that reality is naive.

    I just watched the Texas-KU replay on LHN today. With decent protection, Swoopes was less than impressive against a mediocre Jayhawks defense. I sure hope he's a lot further along starting this season.
     
  10. BevoJoe

    BevoJoe 10,000+ Posts

    The QB play has to improve this season. Take that to the bank. But without a significant improvement in the Oline play, we dead coming out of the starting gate, no matter how much the QBs improve or hard the RBs run.
     
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  11. A swift, smooth QB with great accuracy and instinct can help his O-line immensely_Colt McCoy 2009.
     
  12. WorsterMan

    WorsterMan SEC here we come!!

    I think we need to tap the breaks a little on our youthful optimism about Kai.
     
  13. Sangre Naranjada

    Sangre Naranjada 10,000+ Posts

    Me too. It was hard to watch that offense. "Stink" isn't quite strong enough to describe the O's performance for most of the game.
     
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  14. Never had I switch off a Longhorn game in my life till last year. I watched all the ou beatdowns(one in person), searing them into my memory, but some of last years crap was unwatchable. Bowl game ring a bell.
     
  15. caryhorn

    caryhorn 5,000+ Posts

    Yep, bowl game rings a bell. :whiteflag:
     
  16. Godz40acres

    Godz40acres Happy Feller

    Practices begin 2-mor-0!
     
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  17. Godz40acres

    Godz40acres Happy Feller

     
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  18. Godz40acres

    Godz40acres Happy Feller

    The second season of the Charlie Strong era starts starts in earnest [on Friday], and with fall camp upon us, here are five things the Longhorns need to have occur leading up to the Sept. 5 season opener.

    1. Heard needs to make progress
    Shawn Watson called the development of Jerrod Heard the single most important thing to happen to the Texas football program during spring practice. He's absolutely correct about that for a number of reasons, but it won't mean much if similar things aren't said about the redshirt freshman quarterback by the time preseason practice wraps up.

    Should Heard continue to develop and make the kind of progress the coaches want to see, it's hard to imagine him not starting and taking the overwhelming majority of the snaps at some point, especially considering what's been said publicly and behind the scenes. While Strong has referenced conversations he's had since the end of last season with Swoopes about the junior quarterback needing to pick it up, being more confident in himself and doing what he can to show he's a better quarterback, the head coach has described Heard as being unflappable and having the kind of confidence and playmaking ability he likes in a quarterback.

    2. Figure out a plan offensively and roll with it
    Watson, Joe Wickline and the rest of the offensive staff have to be on the same page with how the Longhorns are going to attack opponents in the revamped spread tempo offense. If the coaches were functioning as a well-oiled machine last season it certainly didn't appear to be that way, something that needs to change considering the Longhorns' small margin for error.

    But the offense can't get high marks in the category of unorganized chaos for the second consecutive season. It's unlikely the offense has a turnaround to being a great unit, but what Watson has to do is figure out quickly in camp what the offense can hang its hat on, how to maximize the available personnel and prepare a plan the Longhorns can take into the Notre Dame game and beyond that gives them a chance to be successful.

    3. Get the youngsters ready to play
    Strong has gone on the record already saying he's not afraid to play young players, and his track record at Louisville shows he's willing to go with youth if the inexperienced players on his roster are talented, high-upside type of players. [T]he focus from the early portion of camp onward should be devoted to getting the young talent ready to contribute.

    This Texas team, in all likelihood, isn't going to contend for the Big 12 title even if everything goes right. That's all the more reason Strong and his staff need to treat this like a transitional year and play younger guys. The upside to this strategy is just too great for 2016 and beyond.

    4. Spend plenty of time on special teams
    Jeff Traylor is the special teams coordinator, and he's been given the assignment due to the tight ends coach having the fewest amount of players of any other position coach, thus giving him more time to focus on turning around what was a disastrous kicking game last season.

    The combination of having a coach who can truly serve as a special teams coordinator and having a slew of young [players] who can contribute will make the unit better. What Strong needs to do is make sure the Longhorns are devoting enough time to the kicking game so the phase doesn't cost Texas this year.

    5. Do whatever it takes to promote competition every day
    This goes back to the third point about getting the young players ready to play. But by all accounts, the culture within the program changed over the summer to where players had to compete every single day. That's due to the hunger the newcomers came to campus with...

    The sense of urgency due to the fear of losing a job is something the program has lacked recently. If the players show up every day knowing they'll need to work to impress the coaches, it'll reestablish a standard that hasn't been present on the Forty Acres for some time.
    [Full article]
     
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  19. Godz40acres

    Godz40acres Happy Feller

    Not good...



    RS Fr OL Terrell Cuney arrested for shoplifting yesterday. At least he wasn't a projected starter.

    ***UPDATE: Not arrested, issued a citation for a class B misdemeaner.
     
    Last edited: Aug 6, 2015
  20. Godz40acres

    Godz40acres Happy Feller

    And then there were four...



    ***UPDATE:

     
    Last edited: Aug 6, 2015
  21. Godz40acres

    Godz40acres Happy Feller

    In Charlie Strong's Pre-Fall Camp presser today, he stated that he expects one of the two QBs to become the leader by the end of camp; but that both will play in the domer game.

    Per BC:
    [Strong would] like to see what each can do under the lights and not just base his decision on an artificial practice environment.

    I think that's really smart.

    The truth is that most players can only do a fraction of what they show in practice in actual games, even though everyone imagines themselves to be a gamer. Some players can play exactly like they practice. Even a smaller number of athletes will consistently practice poorly but shine when the lights go on. I'm friends with some players from the James Brown era and he was pretty famous for practicing badly - at times, almost comically so - but playing pretty well when the lights came on.

    Strong and his staff need to see if Jerrod Heard has a similar make-up. Similarly, given the meltdown at the QB position last year, they're not content to put all of their eggs in one basket, even if that basket appears improved.
     
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  22. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    Regarding Cuney - akin to a traffic ticket. Nothing serious, but he will pay internally.

    So, we will have 5 QB's in camp this spring (2016) and 5 QB's in spring camp in 2017 (Swoopes leaves and the Westlake qb is added). Whoa, that is a lot of QB's.
     
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  23. Godz40acres

    Godz40acres Happy Feller

    The coaching staff will again be bunking with the team for Fall Camp.

    The coaching staff's wives will again be throwing a huge party for themselves tonight.
     
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  24. Godz40acres

    Godz40acres Happy Feller






     
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  25. Godz40acres

    Godz40acres Happy Feller



    He also said that Cuney "has some things he needs to take care of."
     
    Last edited: Aug 6, 2015
  26. BevoJoe

    BevoJoe 10,000+ Posts

    I would still not want to be in Cuney's shoes for the meeting with Strong...
     
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  27. eastexhorn

    eastexhorn 250+ Posts

    And an OL can get a QB knocked out of the game. Ask Colt.
     
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  28. Godz40acres

    Godz40acres Happy Feller



    Wolken writes for USATodaySports. This was tweeted after speaking with Heard and Swoops following Strong's presser. Several other players were also available to the media.
     
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  29. Dionysus

    Dionysus Idoit Admin

    Prediction: DeShon Elliott is going to wreck stuff.

    As for Dan Wolken’s tweet:

    After talking to both Texas quarterbacks it's not hard to pick out which one is an alpha dog. Hint: Not the one who played last year.

    I wouldn’t read too much into that. It could just be that Swoopes and Heard have a different temperament and personality, with one appearing more confident than the other. Confidence is critical but does not necessarily imply greater talent or preparation.
     
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  30. Horns11

    Horns11 10,000+ Posts

    Love that Elliott got #4. We've had some good players wear that one!
     

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