Tulane's simulation of its short week before the Halloween game at Charlotte continued today with a practice at the Saints indoor facility. Jon Sumrall, Bryce Bohanon and Khai Prean (pronounced Pre-Ann we learned today) spoke when the team returned to campus.
SUMRALL
"It was (the equivalent) of a Thursday of a game week. Our model is Thursday walk-through, Friday run-through, Saturday go play the game. It's kind of sports science stuff. Chip Kelly really was one of the first guys in football to do it at Oregon, and it kind of started at Oregon through track. A lot of track athletes run the day before an event. They don't take that day off. Your body doesn't need to be completely sedentary. We did it at Troy when I was an assistant, and we won more than 10 games twice. We did it at Kentucky when I was an assistant and had pretty good success there with it and then did it back at Troy the last two years, so it's proven to be good for how we've done things. It helps you keep your guys healthy for the long haul of the year. Where I've noticed a difference is like November typically as guys' bodies are not as beat down because of the recovery, and you get better work on a Tuesday work day because the guys know it's not Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. It's Tuesday, Wednesday. Thursday is kind of recovery. Friday we go run-through, and then we'll do some things in there like massage and cryochamber stuff that helps the guys' bodies, too."
On regimen today:
"Guys were in jerseys, but if you're an ankle tape guy, you're ankle taped, but it's more of at best a jog-through. We did 10 minutes first period was field goal and field goal block separate, and then some situational things like fire call field goal and maybe having a fake or two, you never know, and then defensively installing punt safe, substituting a returner for the DB etcetera, matching numbers, goofy formations you get, swinging gate from the field goal. That was period one. We had three different periods of offense/defense of 15 minutes that were split, kind of reviewing and cleaning up some correction stuff, and then three other special teams periods after that--a kickoff cover and a punt period, then a punt return and kickoff return period, and then at the end we did a hands and onsides (kick). We've installed it but we did it more full speed from a reaction of formation standpoint."
On what he means by run-throughs:
"Going top speed. Not very long. It will be roughly an hour, and for about 30 minutes of that, 40 minutes of that we want guys to run, and they'll run-run. If we have a 20 miles per hour guy, he may not hit 20, but he'll hit 18. He'll open it up and kind of get some blood flow going and fire on all cylinders for a little bit."
On Bryce Bohanon:
"It's funny you bring up Bryce. I sat down and had a meal yesterday with Bryce and talked to him about hey, how did you end up here, what was your recruiting process? He's from Arkansas, was a COVID recruit, so he didn't get an official visit. There are some guys that are just dependable and reliable and are low maintenance. That's Bryce. He's very steady. He's very consistent. He never has a bad day. Great teammate. Guys like being around him. He was voted leadership council by his position group. Maybe not the flashiest. You might say Mario (Williams) or Yulkeith (Brown) or Dontae (Fleming) with his catches, but Bryce is just kind of a blue collar workman mentality and brings a lot of value to our team and to that room in regards to how he does things day in and day out. I'm glad he's here. He's a great special teamer, too. Really proud of what he's doing and how he's adding value to the team."
On Khai Prean:
"Khai's physical, good stature. Him and Shazz have a similar body type. It's kind of unique. Both guys are from the same high school--thick, big-bodied guy, makes good, contested catches. Kind of hitting his stride in regard to finding his role in the system and learning how to do things, but I've been pleased with him. When he first got here in June, he was extremely out of shape. The first run, I was like all right, this dude's not ready. He's had a good summer. He's trimmed it up the whole time. We'll see. He's the kind of guy I can see his role growing as the season goes depending on how he prepares, but he's got a good chance. He's a good kid. Obviously a productive player in high school, went to LSU and now just trying to find his lane here and where he fits in the fold."
BOHANON
On his comfort level:
"I feel really comfortable. Coach Sumrall has come in and made us feel really good and provided his own little details and his core values on to the team, and I think everybody has picked up on that really well and it just has brought everybody together."
On preseason camp leading to bigger role for him and what he envisions it will be:
"Whatever the team needs me to do. If that's blocking, catching the ball, I'm willing to do it. I feel like we're all ready in the wide receiver room to go and put on a show."
On if he was frustrated with lack of playing time in past:
"I wouldn't say frustration. I was just waiting my turn. We've had some great guys in front of me. Quan, Phat's been a great help for me, so I've just been able to learn from them mainly and just hopefully I can take what the've taught me on to the field and be able to showcase what I can do."
On best strength:
"Probably just blocking and helping my teammates our. I want to win, so whatever that takes to win, I'm willing to do that."
On wide receivers:
"We are going to be electric this year. We've got some guys that can really go, so I'm looking forward to all of us getting out there, making plays and just celebrating with each other."
On Fleming's one-handed catch Monday:
"That was amazing. Dontae has worked so hard this summer just to get his body right and showcase what he can do, and you guys saw it. He can go."
On newcomers meshing with returning players:
"We meshed together real well. Coach Carter (Sheridan) is a great coach. He was here with us last year, too, so it wasn't anything that really was new. It just mainly was getting everybody together and buy in to what they're coaching us to do, and everybody's done that."
On Sheridan coaching wideouts this year:
"It's great. Coach Carter knows so much. He's a tactician. He's really gotten me to where I've gotten to so far because of what he's taught me and his techniques he's teaching all of us really."
SUMRALL
"It was (the equivalent) of a Thursday of a game week. Our model is Thursday walk-through, Friday run-through, Saturday go play the game. It's kind of sports science stuff. Chip Kelly really was one of the first guys in football to do it at Oregon, and it kind of started at Oregon through track. A lot of track athletes run the day before an event. They don't take that day off. Your body doesn't need to be completely sedentary. We did it at Troy when I was an assistant, and we won more than 10 games twice. We did it at Kentucky when I was an assistant and had pretty good success there with it and then did it back at Troy the last two years, so it's proven to be good for how we've done things. It helps you keep your guys healthy for the long haul of the year. Where I've noticed a difference is like November typically as guys' bodies are not as beat down because of the recovery, and you get better work on a Tuesday work day because the guys know it's not Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. It's Tuesday, Wednesday. Thursday is kind of recovery. Friday we go run-through, and then we'll do some things in there like massage and cryochamber stuff that helps the guys' bodies, too."
On regimen today:
"Guys were in jerseys, but if you're an ankle tape guy, you're ankle taped, but it's more of at best a jog-through. We did 10 minutes first period was field goal and field goal block separate, and then some situational things like fire call field goal and maybe having a fake or two, you never know, and then defensively installing punt safe, substituting a returner for the DB etcetera, matching numbers, goofy formations you get, swinging gate from the field goal. That was period one. We had three different periods of offense/defense of 15 minutes that were split, kind of reviewing and cleaning up some correction stuff, and then three other special teams periods after that--a kickoff cover and a punt period, then a punt return and kickoff return period, and then at the end we did a hands and onsides (kick). We've installed it but we did it more full speed from a reaction of formation standpoint."
On what he means by run-throughs:
"Going top speed. Not very long. It will be roughly an hour, and for about 30 minutes of that, 40 minutes of that we want guys to run, and they'll run-run. If we have a 20 miles per hour guy, he may not hit 20, but he'll hit 18. He'll open it up and kind of get some blood flow going and fire on all cylinders for a little bit."
On Bryce Bohanon:
"It's funny you bring up Bryce. I sat down and had a meal yesterday with Bryce and talked to him about hey, how did you end up here, what was your recruiting process? He's from Arkansas, was a COVID recruit, so he didn't get an official visit. There are some guys that are just dependable and reliable and are low maintenance. That's Bryce. He's very steady. He's very consistent. He never has a bad day. Great teammate. Guys like being around him. He was voted leadership council by his position group. Maybe not the flashiest. You might say Mario (Williams) or Yulkeith (Brown) or Dontae (Fleming) with his catches, but Bryce is just kind of a blue collar workman mentality and brings a lot of value to our team and to that room in regards to how he does things day in and day out. I'm glad he's here. He's a great special teamer, too. Really proud of what he's doing and how he's adding value to the team."
On Khai Prean:
"Khai's physical, good stature. Him and Shazz have a similar body type. It's kind of unique. Both guys are from the same high school--thick, big-bodied guy, makes good, contested catches. Kind of hitting his stride in regard to finding his role in the system and learning how to do things, but I've been pleased with him. When he first got here in June, he was extremely out of shape. The first run, I was like all right, this dude's not ready. He's had a good summer. He's trimmed it up the whole time. We'll see. He's the kind of guy I can see his role growing as the season goes depending on how he prepares, but he's got a good chance. He's a good kid. Obviously a productive player in high school, went to LSU and now just trying to find his lane here and where he fits in the fold."
BOHANON
On his comfort level:
"I feel really comfortable. Coach Sumrall has come in and made us feel really good and provided his own little details and his core values on to the team, and I think everybody has picked up on that really well and it just has brought everybody together."
On preseason camp leading to bigger role for him and what he envisions it will be:
"Whatever the team needs me to do. If that's blocking, catching the ball, I'm willing to do it. I feel like we're all ready in the wide receiver room to go and put on a show."
On if he was frustrated with lack of playing time in past:
"I wouldn't say frustration. I was just waiting my turn. We've had some great guys in front of me. Quan, Phat's been a great help for me, so I've just been able to learn from them mainly and just hopefully I can take what the've taught me on to the field and be able to showcase what I can do."
On best strength:
"Probably just blocking and helping my teammates our. I want to win, so whatever that takes to win, I'm willing to do that."
On wide receivers:
"We are going to be electric this year. We've got some guys that can really go, so I'm looking forward to all of us getting out there, making plays and just celebrating with each other."
On Fleming's one-handed catch Monday:
"That was amazing. Dontae has worked so hard this summer just to get his body right and showcase what he can do, and you guys saw it. He can go."
On newcomers meshing with returning players:
"We meshed together real well. Coach Carter (Sheridan) is a great coach. He was here with us last year, too, so it wasn't anything that really was new. It just mainly was getting everybody together and buy in to what they're coaching us to do, and everybody's done that."
On Sheridan coaching wideouts this year:
"It's great. Coach Carter knows so much. He's a tactician. He's really gotten me to where I've gotten to so far because of what he's taught me and his techniques he's teaching all of us really."
