By: Mike Brohard
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – A week ago, Colorado State moved practices around in anticipation of two feet of snow, which did actually drill the campus.On Saturday, Steve Addazio stood on Sonny Lubick Field at Canvas Stadium, amazed at the wonderment of the day. It wasn't just the sunshine which made for a tremendous day to scrimmage with his football team – though he preferred it to the prior weekend -- but what they were doing as a program.
"Honestly, I was standing out there today and I was thinking, 'wow, we've come a long way now,'" Addazio said after Saturday's workout. "You can't predict anything; it's hard to do that. We're going to have a very competitive, good football team, which should put you in position to win your share of games. That doesn't mean you will, but I tell you, you like your chances if we can stay healthy, stick together and keep developing at this pace."
The pace is nice, because it's been virtually non-existent since he took over the program. As he noted, last spring was makeshift. So were offseason and summer workouts. Even fall camp and most definitely the quarter season the Rams played.
This spring – which the team is now 10 practices into – has been anything but haphazard for Addazio. It's been smooth sailing, and he's seeing the by-product of being able to run a camp his way with ability to stack bricks on top of each other.
"There was some great stuff going on on both sides of the ball, which is good because it's good vs. good," Addazio said. "There's a lot of productivity. There's a lot teams don't practice that way in the spring. We are having a 1s vs. 1s spring, tremendous physicality, a lot of tackling and a lot of tough situations like goal line, coming out, short yardage. We are grinding our program right now, and our kids just keep responding and responding, so I think we're building something pretty darn good."
Saturday's workout was a blend of individual and special teams work, with situational scrimmaging, focusing on red zone, short yardage and the two-minute drill. Some of those things just happen organically when the team moves the ball in scrimmages, but Addazio wanted those sections specifically pulled out and targeted.
As for improvements, he's seeing those across the board. He didn't pick out any players in specific, saying he's seeing gains made by veterans and youngsters alike. The injury bug hasn't been a problem, and the pandemic is still in play, so he's not making assurances about how the rest of the spring will play out.
But so far, so good. It's even allowed him to venture outside the bubble and stay in touch with what else is happening on campus, opening his session with the media with a shout-out to the men's basketball team for its victory over Buffalo to open the NIT.
The Rams have five more practices remaining, culminating with the spring game on April 1. That date alone reminds him of what might be the only thing missing from this being a truly normal spring camp.
There have been no recruits on campus for visits, as the NCAA has extended the dead period into May. There have been no local high school coaches at practices, either.
And Canvas Stadium will still be empty come April 1.
"We're going to have our spring game, and I was kinda hoping we'd have some people in the stands," he said. "I don't really understand why we can't, it doesn't make any sense to me. We have an awfully big stadium. It would probably be like 100 feet apart. That would be nice, but you know what? We'll be fine."
Like a sunny Saturday in March. The kind of day where one can't help but appreciate the good things in life. The days which allow Addazio to see a developing team which he hopes will be playing to a packed house in the fall, with the pageantry of college football in full bloom.
"light" - Google News
March 21, 2021 at 02:01AM
https://ift.tt/3vFoUcp
Perfect Day for Spring Camp Brings Improvements to Light - CSURams.com
"light" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2Wm8QLw
https://ift.tt/2Stbv5k
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Perfect Day for Spring Camp Brings Improvements to Light - CSURams.com"
Post a Comment