I got there a few minutes before 9 a.m. and the players were milling around underneath the stadium in a lightning delay. It started raining hard a few minutes later with more lightning, so practice ended. They still have to take Sunday off as per NCAA rules, so the next practice will be Monday morning.
I talked to Fritz afterward.
You haven't been caught in the rain too often since coming here, have you?
"Yeah, we've been pretty lucky. A few times we guessed right. I think there's only been one other time where we had to go in and cancel it. They've got the rule, which is a good rule, that if lightning is within an eight-mile radius, you have to stop for a half-hour, and then if you get another strike, it starts up another half-hour, and it looked like it was going to do that for quite a while."
How much time did you get in before you had to stop?
"We got about 45 minutes in."
How would you assess the first week?
"Good. I feel like we're a lot deeper. I like the development of our guys in the weight room, their knowledge of what we're doing. We've got more Division I football players. We're excited about it. Our depth is better. If our freshmen are able to learn what we're doing and be able to play in games, physically quite a few of them are ready to play this season, but that's going to be based on how quickly they grasp concepts."
Tirise Barge had a good spring but is not working with the first team. Did something happen over the summer?
"He's working with them some. Some of the coaches kind of traded out who's starting and who's not starting, all that kind of stuff, so it's not really that important right now. He's either going to start or play a bunch."
Larry Bryant has worked with the first team in Barge's place. What do you like about him?
"Larry's done some good things, too. He's really versatile. He's done a great job in special teams for us both his freshman and sophomore year. If he can grasp what we're doing on defense, he's an explosive player, a play-maker type of guy. We show a lot of highlights with our guys in the kicking game, and he's been in a lot of them. He's played well in the kicking game."
The way the season ended last year at SMU, how much is that fueling this team and how did you take that heartbreak and frustration and try to turn it into a positive for the future?
"It took a whlle, as I've mentioned before. It was a tough game, it really was. Coaches had to let go of it. Players had to let go of it. Everybody had to let go of it. I've been impressed with the development of our guys. We talk about recruiting and you've got to retain your guys and you've got to develop your guys when you get them in the program. I see some of the guys walking around, and they just kind of look a little different physically. And that's good. We're a very demanding staff. If you like football, you are not going to like playing for me. You are going to dislike it. If you love playing football, you are going to love playing for me. We have to find guys that love football, and if you love it, we are going to try to develop you to your fullest, from the first guy on the roster to the last guy on the roster.
"I think they dropped it and worked extremely hard. I had to kick myself in the butt three or four weeks after that game and move on."
I talked to Fritz afterward.
You haven't been caught in the rain too often since coming here, have you?
"Yeah, we've been pretty lucky. A few times we guessed right. I think there's only been one other time where we had to go in and cancel it. They've got the rule, which is a good rule, that if lightning is within an eight-mile radius, you have to stop for a half-hour, and then if you get another strike, it starts up another half-hour, and it looked like it was going to do that for quite a while."
How much time did you get in before you had to stop?
"We got about 45 minutes in."
How would you assess the first week?
"Good. I feel like we're a lot deeper. I like the development of our guys in the weight room, their knowledge of what we're doing. We've got more Division I football players. We're excited about it. Our depth is better. If our freshmen are able to learn what we're doing and be able to play in games, physically quite a few of them are ready to play this season, but that's going to be based on how quickly they grasp concepts."
Tirise Barge had a good spring but is not working with the first team. Did something happen over the summer?
"He's working with them some. Some of the coaches kind of traded out who's starting and who's not starting, all that kind of stuff, so it's not really that important right now. He's either going to start or play a bunch."
Larry Bryant has worked with the first team in Barge's place. What do you like about him?
"Larry's done some good things, too. He's really versatile. He's done a great job in special teams for us both his freshman and sophomore year. If he can grasp what we're doing on defense, he's an explosive player, a play-maker type of guy. We show a lot of highlights with our guys in the kicking game, and he's been in a lot of them. He's played well in the kicking game."
The way the season ended last year at SMU, how much is that fueling this team and how did you take that heartbreak and frustration and try to turn it into a positive for the future?
"It took a whlle, as I've mentioned before. It was a tough game, it really was. Coaches had to let go of it. Players had to let go of it. Everybody had to let go of it. I've been impressed with the development of our guys. We talk about recruiting and you've got to retain your guys and you've got to develop your guys when you get them in the program. I see some of the guys walking around, and they just kind of look a little different physically. And that's good. We're a very demanding staff. If you like football, you are not going to like playing for me. You are going to dislike it. If you love playing football, you are going to love playing for me. We have to find guys that love football, and if you love it, we are going to try to develop you to your fullest, from the first guy on the roster to the last guy on the roster.
"I think they dropped it and worked extremely hard. I had to kick myself in the butt three or four weeks after that game and move on."