After conducting its first spring practice in shorts weather, Tulane worked out in sweater weather on Thursday morning for session No. 2 of what will be 15 practices. It was a spirited day, and the defense was sharp in a 7-on-7 drill that was taking place when I arrived.
Safety Chase Kuerschen broke up a pass from Keon Howard to Tyrick James. Linebacker Dorian Williams leaped to deflect a Michael Pratt pass over the middle, and safety Ton'Quez Ball intercepted it. Kuerschen dove to intercept a Howard pass for Amare Jones over the middle.
There were plenty of completions, too. Pratt hit tight end Tyrick James on a sideline route with a pretty throw. James looks a little heavy to me, but the weight did not keep him from getting open. Howard connected with Cam Carroll and. Stephon Huderson in in the flat and Tyjae Spears on a quick out. Pratt threw a bullet down the middle of the field for Jha'Quan Jackson but missed him.
After the 7-on-7, they broke into position work., and five players who will be returners spent that time catching balls from a Juggs machine in one end zone: Amare Jones, Jacskon, Spears. Mykel Jones and Jacob Robertson.
In one interesting change, Macon Clark is getting reps at nickelback, with Kuerschen and Larry Brooks occupying the safety slots. Fritz said it was just a matter of them getting guys reps at different positions, but the move makes sense. Tulane is very shallow at nickel, with reserve K.J. Vault the only returnee, and getting Kuerschen, Brooks and Clark on the field at the same time is a good idea. The backups safeties were Ball and Tyler Judson, and they were aggressive today.
Here is Fritz on Clark:
"What we're doing is rolling a whole bunch of those guys. We want to be able to play multiple positions in the secondary, so we've got Chase Kuerschen and Macon Clark and Larry Brooks and Ton'Quez Ball and Tyler Judson. I'm probably leaving a guy or two out, but a bunch of dudes that can play multiple spots. That really helps your depth."
I was a little distracted Tuesday because there were a lot of TV reporters at practice and people kept coming up to me to talk. That did not happen today, and I confirmed Christian Daniels is playing receiver. Here's Fritz on his role:
"He's a tight end, H back, wide receiver. He may even end up playing a little bit of back for us. We want to get him out there on the field. He's a good athlete, and we want to get him out there where he can play. He'll be involved in the kicking game."
When they went to 11-on-11 work, Fritz got frustrated with a false start. Tulane racked up more penalties that almost any team in the country last year, and he has double down on his emphasis on playing mistake free. He yelled that they want to win all of their close games this fall and will not be able to do it with it mistakes like that.
"Our big goal is go from good to great," he said. "We want to be a more disciplined team. We had way too many penalties last fall. We are emphasizing that right now. We've got to limit that. This is a really good league and a very balanced league. There are going to be a lot of close games. The most disciplined team is going to win those close games."
Howard threw the best pass of the day early in the 11-on-11 work, hitting James on the sideline in tight coverage. He did not have much space to get it in there, but he did it. Howard then threw too high for Amare Jones on the sideline and a little high for Phat Watts on the sideline, forcing Watts to jump to grab it and slowing down his momentum. Clark broke up a pass for Carroll before Howard hit Spears underneath. Howard should have had a touchdown when Jackson broke clear on a deep route, but he underthrew the ball badly. It still would have interference because the defender (I did not catch the number) grabbed Jackson, who looks swift in the first two practices.
Pratt has a lot of confidence, trying to get balls in tight windows. He just has an air about him. One of the visiting coaches observing practices predicted today he would be a star down the road. Pratt began by hitting Deuce Watts over the middle for a nice gain, then hit Jackson over the middle on a quick-developing play. He tried to hit Jones on a slant, but Jones dropped it in traffic. He connected with James for a short gain and then overthrew Daniels on a deep route down the sideline. Ygenio Booker dropped Pratt's next throw. Howard's final pass should have gone for a TD when he threw deep to Sorrell Brown after a nice fake that suckered in the safeties. But Brown, who has not played due to two knew injuries in his young career, slowed down and let the ball go over his head.
I cut my teeth covering Florida football practices in the 1990s (they were closed around the turn of the century), and the biggest difference was the number of deep balls completed. It happened all the time in Gainesville during practice, and through three coaches (Toledo, CJ, Fritz) it happens seldom at Tulane practices. I like the way the passing game has looked in the first two days of spring, but the lack of execution on deep balls continues.
Twice today, Pratt had to go up to a running back, pat them on the shoulder and check to see if they were OK after he threw into coverage. On the first one, Judson and Booker collided, and Booker's helmet flew off. Booker took a couple of seconds to get up but appeared fine. On the second one, Jones got hit on a low throw as he and the defender went for the ball.
Patrick Johnson was on the field today but was wearing a hoodie and did not practice. Dane Ledford did not practice, running agility drills on the sidelien. Juan Monjarres was on the exercise bike again for most of practice.
FRITZ
Did you like the energy at practice today?
"Yeah, when you go every other day they ought to all be energetic. We talk about having 15 great ones. I was a little worried about the weather coming out this morning, but it cleared for us and we were able to go. Every practice should be like this."
It looked like the defense was getting its hands on a lot of balls.
"You know what happened is they run route combos and we've practiced them now from Tuesday and a lot of stuff that had big windows on Tuesday had smaller windows. Guys are starting to understand route concepts, and now coach Hall is going to go ahead and change some alignments and give them some formations and personnel groupings and splits that make it look like it's going to be one play and it's going to be something else. It's a little bit of a game of chess between the offense and defense."
You have five talented running backs with different skill sets but all of them are versatile. How important is that?
"It's great. They can all run routes and they can all run with the ball inside and outside. The big thing we're challenging them all in is pass protection. We have to do a much better job of blocking for each other. We were a little bit better last year and have to get a whole lot better with that and there's no reason why we shouldn't."
Huderson has been a role player for you in the past and is now a veteran guy.
"He can do everything. And the thing that's so tough for coach Hall is to call plays and he had to get a specific guy in there to run a play and it kills you if you're trying to run tempo. You want to have guys that are versatile, and our running backs certainly are."
Does Amare Jones have room for improvement?
"Oh yeah. He needs to keep punt catching and kick catching. He runs great routes. He can run inside and outside. He's tough and will block you. The sky's the limit for the guy. He's really a versatile guy, big-time."
Safety Chase Kuerschen broke up a pass from Keon Howard to Tyrick James. Linebacker Dorian Williams leaped to deflect a Michael Pratt pass over the middle, and safety Ton'Quez Ball intercepted it. Kuerschen dove to intercept a Howard pass for Amare Jones over the middle.
There were plenty of completions, too. Pratt hit tight end Tyrick James on a sideline route with a pretty throw. James looks a little heavy to me, but the weight did not keep him from getting open. Howard connected with Cam Carroll and. Stephon Huderson in in the flat and Tyjae Spears on a quick out. Pratt threw a bullet down the middle of the field for Jha'Quan Jackson but missed him.
After the 7-on-7, they broke into position work., and five players who will be returners spent that time catching balls from a Juggs machine in one end zone: Amare Jones, Jacskon, Spears. Mykel Jones and Jacob Robertson.
In one interesting change, Macon Clark is getting reps at nickelback, with Kuerschen and Larry Brooks occupying the safety slots. Fritz said it was just a matter of them getting guys reps at different positions, but the move makes sense. Tulane is very shallow at nickel, with reserve K.J. Vault the only returnee, and getting Kuerschen, Brooks and Clark on the field at the same time is a good idea. The backups safeties were Ball and Tyler Judson, and they were aggressive today.
Here is Fritz on Clark:
"What we're doing is rolling a whole bunch of those guys. We want to be able to play multiple positions in the secondary, so we've got Chase Kuerschen and Macon Clark and Larry Brooks and Ton'Quez Ball and Tyler Judson. I'm probably leaving a guy or two out, but a bunch of dudes that can play multiple spots. That really helps your depth."
I was a little distracted Tuesday because there were a lot of TV reporters at practice and people kept coming up to me to talk. That did not happen today, and I confirmed Christian Daniels is playing receiver. Here's Fritz on his role:
"He's a tight end, H back, wide receiver. He may even end up playing a little bit of back for us. We want to get him out there on the field. He's a good athlete, and we want to get him out there where he can play. He'll be involved in the kicking game."
When they went to 11-on-11 work, Fritz got frustrated with a false start. Tulane racked up more penalties that almost any team in the country last year, and he has double down on his emphasis on playing mistake free. He yelled that they want to win all of their close games this fall and will not be able to do it with it mistakes like that.
"Our big goal is go from good to great," he said. "We want to be a more disciplined team. We had way too many penalties last fall. We are emphasizing that right now. We've got to limit that. This is a really good league and a very balanced league. There are going to be a lot of close games. The most disciplined team is going to win those close games."
Howard threw the best pass of the day early in the 11-on-11 work, hitting James on the sideline in tight coverage. He did not have much space to get it in there, but he did it. Howard then threw too high for Amare Jones on the sideline and a little high for Phat Watts on the sideline, forcing Watts to jump to grab it and slowing down his momentum. Clark broke up a pass for Carroll before Howard hit Spears underneath. Howard should have had a touchdown when Jackson broke clear on a deep route, but he underthrew the ball badly. It still would have interference because the defender (I did not catch the number) grabbed Jackson, who looks swift in the first two practices.
Pratt has a lot of confidence, trying to get balls in tight windows. He just has an air about him. One of the visiting coaches observing practices predicted today he would be a star down the road. Pratt began by hitting Deuce Watts over the middle for a nice gain, then hit Jackson over the middle on a quick-developing play. He tried to hit Jones on a slant, but Jones dropped it in traffic. He connected with James for a short gain and then overthrew Daniels on a deep route down the sideline. Ygenio Booker dropped Pratt's next throw. Howard's final pass should have gone for a TD when he threw deep to Sorrell Brown after a nice fake that suckered in the safeties. But Brown, who has not played due to two knew injuries in his young career, slowed down and let the ball go over his head.
I cut my teeth covering Florida football practices in the 1990s (they were closed around the turn of the century), and the biggest difference was the number of deep balls completed. It happened all the time in Gainesville during practice, and through three coaches (Toledo, CJ, Fritz) it happens seldom at Tulane practices. I like the way the passing game has looked in the first two days of spring, but the lack of execution on deep balls continues.
Twice today, Pratt had to go up to a running back, pat them on the shoulder and check to see if they were OK after he threw into coverage. On the first one, Judson and Booker collided, and Booker's helmet flew off. Booker took a couple of seconds to get up but appeared fine. On the second one, Jones got hit on a low throw as he and the defender went for the ball.
Patrick Johnson was on the field today but was wearing a hoodie and did not practice. Dane Ledford did not practice, running agility drills on the sidelien. Juan Monjarres was on the exercise bike again for most of practice.
FRITZ
Did you like the energy at practice today?
"Yeah, when you go every other day they ought to all be energetic. We talk about having 15 great ones. I was a little worried about the weather coming out this morning, but it cleared for us and we were able to go. Every practice should be like this."
It looked like the defense was getting its hands on a lot of balls.
"You know what happened is they run route combos and we've practiced them now from Tuesday and a lot of stuff that had big windows on Tuesday had smaller windows. Guys are starting to understand route concepts, and now coach Hall is going to go ahead and change some alignments and give them some formations and personnel groupings and splits that make it look like it's going to be one play and it's going to be something else. It's a little bit of a game of chess between the offense and defense."
You have five talented running backs with different skill sets but all of them are versatile. How important is that?
"It's great. They can all run routes and they can all run with the ball inside and outside. The big thing we're challenging them all in is pass protection. We have to do a much better job of blocking for each other. We were a little bit better last year and have to get a whole lot better with that and there's no reason why we shouldn't."
Huderson has been a role player for you in the past and is now a veteran guy.
"He can do everything. And the thing that's so tough for coach Hall is to call plays and he had to get a specific guy in there to run a play and it kills you if you're trying to run tempo. You want to have guys that are versatile, and our running backs certainly are."
Does Amare Jones have room for improvement?
"Oh yeah. He needs to keep punt catching and kick catching. He runs great routes. He can run inside and outside. He's tough and will block you. The sky's the limit for the guy. He's really a versatile guy, big-time."