Check it out on und.cstv.com - the main clip is really good. Highly recommended.
They also have clips on the Irish Eyes Drill, Goal Line Drills, and some 11 v 11 stuff.
It's tough to really take much from it in terms of who's playing where or how individuals are playing since it's tough to tell which team is playing which at any given time in that main clip. But the big thing I saw? EMOTION. A lot of emotion. These guys are fired up, on both sides of the ball.
As you get into the individual videos, the production crew lets you know who's facing who, so you can understand what success/failure on Offense and Defense really means. The D is definitely fired up in the goal line drills, while the Offense looks a little sluggish. Watch the video, and you'll get to see Charlie call them out on it - although he really goes after the guys on the sideline for not being fired up too. Charlie WANTS emotion on this team, from the starting QB to the 5th string water boy. I like it.
Again, not all that much you can take from this as Charlie/Haywood aren't going to show much in an open practice (and a big majority of plays are running plays). But the spirited competition and outright fire the team shows (especially on D) in the first full-pads practice is a great thing. These guys are happy to be doing some hitting. I don't think anyone will be claiming that the Irish needed more physicality in camp this year.
By domer.mq August 13, 2008 - 5:24 pm
I regret that the videos are up at all. Yeah, the emotion is great to see. Certainly, from what I’ve heard and read, the emotion and physical nature of the practices is way up from previous years. But this time of year is when all of the really loony people make really loony claims about what “must be” with this team based on such videos.
Here’s a hint: In the “Irish Eyes” drill that we called “Road to Saigon” in HS, I owned the toughest kid on the team to tackle: the human bowling ball. And I sucked. So nobody go reading much about anything in that drill. All that drill does is shows the coaches who wants to hit and who doesn’t. Technique is thrown way out the window, so some look better than they are, and some worse.
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By The Biscuit August 13, 2008 - 7:24 pm
But you do suck, so it was a pretty accurate drill…
I don’t care if people go off and make loony calls about x, y and z. If the practice videos fuel it, so be it. They all entertain each other, so that’s good for them.
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