I know it's been a while since I've done a full writeup of practice but with the women's basketball team's run and now the Sean Miller news things have been a bit hectic. Rather than fully recount the last few practices I thought I'd offer up a look at what I have taken away from everything up to this point with a focus on the last few days of practice since that will be the most telling when it comes to progress the team is making. I also thought I'd open it up for any questions you have about aspects of practice I have not yet covered to give you a better feel for how things have gone as of late.
So here are some of the things that I have learned about Arizona through eight spring practices, which is the halfway point for spring ball ahead of the spring game on April 24.
1. The offense might be regressing at this stage
The last few days have not been very good on the offensive side of the ball. The miscues have continued with everything from penalties to interceptions and fumbles. Thursday's practice was the worst for the offense, in my opinion, until the end when that group was able to string some impressive plays together and end on a high note. If not for that it would have been a ROUGH day for that group. Last weekend's practice/scrimmage was not a good one for the offense either and finished in similar fashion with the offense having a big play to end practice. There are moments when it feels like that is done on purpose to give the offense an opportunity to end things positively (see: play caller Jedd Fisch as head coach) but there are some things that have to be worked out to have better success. The turnovers have been the the biggest element of the offense that have been a problem for Fisch, and at the midway point the team isn't playing much cleaner than it was at the start. Fisch and his staff have installed quite a bit already so we'll see what happens once everyone is able to catch up, but the fall is going to be important to get the players on the same page and a little more fine tuned.
"I thought the practice ended better for the offense than practice has ended yet," Fisch said. "I thought early on we weren't where we wanna be in terms of practicing. ... We're excited to see if we can get better on Saturday."
2. Jedd Fisch has a bit more fire than he showed early on
Arizona has to follow NCAA rules and that means having only so many padded practices during the spring. Because the team has consistently been in pad since early on the team had to go without pads on Thursday and it prompted a bit too much of a relaxed vibe around practice. So much so that Fisch decided to completely halt practice in the early going to scold the team a bit for its energy level. There were certainly some choice words used and it was a level of intensity that he had not yet reached before Thursday's practice. There have certainly been flashes of that type of energy throughout the spring but nothing to the level it was at Thursday. Rich Rodriguez was at that level for most of his practices and Kevin Sumlin rarely, if ever, was that vocal during the practices the media was able to observe when he was head coach. Fisch has found a middle ground between the two, but he certainly is not shy to get fired up toward the team. It does feel like the reality of the situation is starting to settle in a bit more with many of the coaches. They have a challenge on their hands right now taking over a group that has gone 0-12 in its previous games, and I left Thursday's practice feeling like the group is not too much ahead of where it has been in recent seasons in terms of the overall talent and production level.
"They came out with a better sense of urgency, a higher intensity level," Fisch said when asked about the response by the players to his mid-practice talk to the team. "It's always tricky when you have five practices in full pads and then all the sudden you take the pads off and you're in helmets and shorts. ... I think there was also a little bit of that, 'maybe this is a walk-through tempo.' This is not a walk-through tempo. We should go faster with no pads on. If we're gonna wanna teach these guys to become great, they gotta learn how to practice with no pads on."
3. Stevie Rocker's success has been one of the big revelations of the spring
There have been some trends develop over the course of the first eight days of work, but one that has become consistent since about the end of the first week is the production from freshman running back Stevie Rocker Jr. who is getting a bigger opportunity because of some injuries. The 17-year-old local standout has earned most of the second-team reps as of late plus he's been mixed in with the first unit at times as well, and he has not disappointed with his production. I'd say he's accounted for about three or four of the top 10 plays over the last few days of practice. Tuesday he caught a screen from Gunner Cruz and took about 50 yards and would have made it to the end zone had the play not been called dead (though it went for a touchdown on the official practice score). He looks more than ready to contribute after taking advantage of his opportunity to earn some more reps. Both Scottie Graham and Jedd Fisch have taken notice.
So here are some of the things that I have learned about Arizona through eight spring practices, which is the halfway point for spring ball ahead of the spring game on April 24.
1. The offense might be regressing at this stage
The last few days have not been very good on the offensive side of the ball. The miscues have continued with everything from penalties to interceptions and fumbles. Thursday's practice was the worst for the offense, in my opinion, until the end when that group was able to string some impressive plays together and end on a high note. If not for that it would have been a ROUGH day for that group. Last weekend's practice/scrimmage was not a good one for the offense either and finished in similar fashion with the offense having a big play to end practice. There are moments when it feels like that is done on purpose to give the offense an opportunity to end things positively (see: play caller Jedd Fisch as head coach) but there are some things that have to be worked out to have better success. The turnovers have been the the biggest element of the offense that have been a problem for Fisch, and at the midway point the team isn't playing much cleaner than it was at the start. Fisch and his staff have installed quite a bit already so we'll see what happens once everyone is able to catch up, but the fall is going to be important to get the players on the same page and a little more fine tuned.
"I thought the practice ended better for the offense than practice has ended yet," Fisch said. "I thought early on we weren't where we wanna be in terms of practicing. ... We're excited to see if we can get better on Saturday."
2. Jedd Fisch has a bit more fire than he showed early on
Arizona has to follow NCAA rules and that means having only so many padded practices during the spring. Because the team has consistently been in pad since early on the team had to go without pads on Thursday and it prompted a bit too much of a relaxed vibe around practice. So much so that Fisch decided to completely halt practice in the early going to scold the team a bit for its energy level. There were certainly some choice words used and it was a level of intensity that he had not yet reached before Thursday's practice. There have certainly been flashes of that type of energy throughout the spring but nothing to the level it was at Thursday. Rich Rodriguez was at that level for most of his practices and Kevin Sumlin rarely, if ever, was that vocal during the practices the media was able to observe when he was head coach. Fisch has found a middle ground between the two, but he certainly is not shy to get fired up toward the team. It does feel like the reality of the situation is starting to settle in a bit more with many of the coaches. They have a challenge on their hands right now taking over a group that has gone 0-12 in its previous games, and I left Thursday's practice feeling like the group is not too much ahead of where it has been in recent seasons in terms of the overall talent and production level.
"They came out with a better sense of urgency, a higher intensity level," Fisch said when asked about the response by the players to his mid-practice talk to the team. "It's always tricky when you have five practices in full pads and then all the sudden you take the pads off and you're in helmets and shorts. ... I think there was also a little bit of that, 'maybe this is a walk-through tempo.' This is not a walk-through tempo. We should go faster with no pads on. If we're gonna wanna teach these guys to become great, they gotta learn how to practice with no pads on."
3. Stevie Rocker's success has been one of the big revelations of the spring
There have been some trends develop over the course of the first eight days of work, but one that has become consistent since about the end of the first week is the production from freshman running back Stevie Rocker Jr. who is getting a bigger opportunity because of some injuries. The 17-year-old local standout has earned most of the second-team reps as of late plus he's been mixed in with the first unit at times as well, and he has not disappointed with his production. I'd say he's accounted for about three or four of the top 10 plays over the last few days of practice. Tuesday he caught a screen from Gunner Cruz and took about 50 yards and would have made it to the end zone had the play not been called dead (though it went for a touchdown on the official practice score). He looks more than ready to contribute after taking advantage of his opportunity to earn some more reps. Both Scottie Graham and Jedd Fisch have taken notice.
