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Olympia Practice Reports By: Richard Linde, Updated 15 August 2003 All of the practice reports for the Washington Husky football camp held at Evergreen State College (Olympia, Washington) are contained herein. Friday's AM/PM practice reports: The team looked sharp this morning, and its morale is high. Morale should be high after a promising practice. The running game is beginning to come to the fore, as Coach Keith Gilbertson, at Picture Day, promised. Free safety Chris Hemphill reported in.
Kicker Michael Braunstein is beginning to show some of his renowned leg
strength. When the intimidation factor wears off, he should be good to go.
Running backs
Rich Alexis, Kenny James, Chris Singleton and Shelton Sampson had a real good morning
session, working during the seven-on-sevens. Some of Gilby’s PM comments: “We thought about outside backer (position for Hemphill). I think we’ll give Chris Hemphill a try at free safety. We’ll give him his first look at free safety. Obviously he’s a big, rangy athlete. We’ll see if that’s a place where he might feel at home. Joe Toledo, Chris Massey, and Charles Smith (stitches) won’t play tomorrow. Ben Bandel will get some snaps. If you give Ben time to rest, he usually comes back pretty good. And Walker should go. Obviously, Bradley and Thompson won’t go, and obviously Chris Hemphill can’t play. Probably Shelton Sampson will be the starting running back tomorrow. I’m guessing that Quinton Daniels would be the third receiver tomorrow. I may be wrong. There are so many freshman receivers--maybe Quinton, Russo, Winthorne, one of those guys. But I’m thinking Quinton. They are young and they are brand new to the system. Let them (freshmen receivers) go in one spot and not interchange. We’ve got the ability to move receivers around by formation calls, so they are all over the place, but I think you’ve got to go with one spot. Right now, a freshman will be in the slot. I think that Garth Erickson and Douglas have punted the ball pretty well this week. I think Garth Erickson is the most consistent of the punters. I think Evan Knudson is probably a little ahead of Michael. Evan’s got a little bit of a hip flexor and won’t be used for kickoffs.” Practice report quotes, Friday, 15 August, AM. Chris Hemphill (DE, 6-6, 210, FR) reported into camp this AM. He looks lean and mean, and says he’s in good shape. “I was definitely frustrated by the delay. Now that the butterflies are gone, I going to make my home here. It was a minor setback. I can catch on real quick. I can contribute right away. They called me yesterday.” Gilby: "We’re going to work one solid hour on special teams this afternoon. We’re going to put a lot of time in on special teams." Scrimmage tomorrow: "I’m still looking for guys who can create collisions. We’re looking for guys who can hit people, drive hit, hustle, and play hard. We may give Isaiah and Casey a series with the ones; they will work with the first line a little bit. We’d like to see a running game; it looks like the running game is beginning to develop. I’m still looking for a third receiver. I have my ideas. I want somebody to jump out there. I have an idea who the best tailback is, but I want to see some things happen. I want to see things happen at safety. I think safety’s real crucial. Whoever the two best are, are the one’s going to be out there. The punters have gotten better. Carothers and Krambrink will be in a battle all the time. Good competition. I think Tusi Sa’au is going to push somebody for a guard spot. He’s done a nice job at camp. Adam Seery has really improved at fullback. He’s going to contend. We expected Chris Massey would be back this morning. I got here, and he wasn’t. We’re still looking for snappers and holders. Mike Mapu has really a got nice fastball, and with fundamentals he could be a factor…and he’s a big man. Galloway and Biddle on punts (long snaps)." Practice Report, Thursday, 14 August The following summarizes an interview the beat writers (and I) had with Coach Keith Gilbertson at the conclusion of the two practice sessions. My shock of white hair buys me into a lot of unfamiliar situations. You have to look the part, I mean, look beaten apart. So, I thrust my voice recorder out like I knew what I was doing and recorded the interview just like Ted Miller and Bob Condotta. I'm back at the hotel now. Lord, it was a hot day. No wonder they call them beat writers. I'm beat. You ever try typing off a tape recorder while your wife is watching TV? I told her to turn the closed captioning on, and then the phone rang and she was on it, sans captioning. It was a very long conversation. Now that I'm part of the media, will I stop criticizing them? Hell, no, I need criticizing, so says my wife. Gilbertson's interview (lingo not exact; wife on telephone): I was pleased with the way we ran it at times today. I thought there was some real good runs. I thought the backs did it. I thought Rich Alexis had a very good day, as did Kenny James and Scott Ballew. The defense made some really good stops. As for the kickers, somebody's going to have to make one (field goal). We were 0 for 3 today. Sampson felt better today. Whatever it was they (doctors) did, worked for him. He felt a lot better; he was able to practice. But anytime the guys are competing and your are not, it sets you back. I think they're (punters) all kicking the ball better. Their legs are getting in better shape. Their fundamentals are probably getting better. They're getting some good drops. They've been kicking the ball well, the last two or three days, I thought. On Joe Toledo's groin injury: There is a high chance to re-injure that thing if you don't give it enough time to heal. Big men take a longer time to heal. (Did Ted Miller say it was a grow-in injury?) I was about to say that Gilby replied. The quarterbacks probably won't be live during Saturday's scrimmage. We'll do a lot of different things during the scrimmage. It'll probably be a good go. Some of the times it will be ones on ones and ones on twos. End of interview and end of phone call. I got to shake hands with Jim Lambright today. As I said, you have to look the part. If I can do it, you can do it, fans--shake hands with one of our great coaches--one of the greats in all of dawgdom coaching.
Woldeit is usually ahead of the others as they run gassers--which, I think, qualifies him for a “Rudy” award at Evergreen. We fans identify with the Rudy’s of the world, especially those of us woefully engineered in athletic performance, not to say that any of the walk-ons are. Competing for the kicker's starting role, walk-on Evan Knudson (6-0, 180, Jr.) is battling scholarship kicker Michael Braunstein (5-8, 170, Fr.). Knudson easily could do an imitation of a sandbagger you occasionally meet on a golf course. After giving him four strokes, he’s the guy you out-drive on most holes, but his deadly accuracy wins the Nassau. A number of interesting battles for starting roles will be waged during Saturday's scrimmage. -- In a tag team match, featuring scholarship players versus walk-ons, Braunstein (K) and Douglas (P) will battle Knudson (K) and Woldeit (P), respectively. This should be one of the more interesting contests. In a one-match-for-each brawl, look for Douglas to pin Woldeit, while Knudson pins Braunstein. -- Prediction: Rich Alexis should shred his competition and become a frontrunner for the staring tailback job at Columbus on August 30. Chris Singleton will come in a close second, while Shelton Sampson needs to make up ground because of a few practices he's missed. Kenny James is coming along nicely; however, he hasn't mastered the quick moves, a la Willie Hurst, to the line of scrimmage just yet. James got in a lot of work yesterday because of Sampson's absence. -- Prediction: Casey Paus is my favorite to win the backup job at quarterback because of his consistency and experience. His closest competitor, Isaiah Stanback, could win the job if he's stingy with the picks and generous with some TD throws on Saturday. Stanback can race to the outside quickly and throws well on the run. If he should ever run the option for the Huskies, he should lead all the rushers in total yards gained. The image of a galloping Stanback pitching out to a trailing stud (like Alexis in 2000) could lure a five-star tailback to Washington this recruiting season. How did the Trojans ever land Reggie Bush? Practice Report, Wednesday, 13 August The morning practice session didn't go as well as Coach Gilberton would have hoped. The players weren't "as sharp and crisp" as they should have been. However, such a letdown comes with the territory and is expected after 10 practices, we were reassured. During the afternoon session, the practice seemed to intensify. The players were put through their various drills, depending on specialty: the wide-receivers worked on footwork and quickly changing direction; the offensive linemen met one-on-one. There were punting and kickoff drills, along with a variety of other tuning drills that seem rudimentary. Perfunctory performance was usually met with sharp retort or two by an assistant coach, who as group are ever watchful. During a drill where a defensive lineman took on an offensive lineman, one of the coaches shouted, "stop feeling sorry for your a**es." And then later in the session, the coaches conducted an impromptu eleven-on-eleven scrimmage, with tackling to the ground. In that scrimmage, after tailback Rich Alexis got off a long run, one of the coaches shouted, "where the hell is the safety at?" That has to be the quote of the day. Phil Snow, Bobby Kennedy and Dan Cozzetto all seem to be the most vocal of the assistants. Snow has a slight edge over the other two, in my mind. "Practices under Snow are like Spinal Tap's amplifiers -- they have been turned up to 11," Ted Miller (Seattle Post Intelligencer) wrote in one of his columns. Coach Keith Gilbertson responded to a few questions after practice. Question: Some of the players after the first practice said they didn't feel real good about how they practiced. You seemed to be fairly steamed about the practice in the morning. Was this a little bit of an off day? Gilbertson: "Yeah, I’d say so. It’s not like we didn’t expect it. We’re ten practices into it. We’ve had some warm days. We’ve been going at a good pace. Your going to have some times when you aren’t as sharp and crisp as you want. That's what you are supposed to fight through. Your supposed to to fight through it, find a way to be crisp and sharp. I am not discouraged. We got a lot of guys in red. We have 11 or 12 of the top 44 in red. We got a lot of backup guys in red. But they'll be back. This is what training camps are all about." Question: With Reggie is it the same kind of deal before? Gilbertson: His lower back is kind of bothering him. He could go. But today let's hold him out. We'll monitor him and get him back up." Questions: Are Shelton Sampson's migraines a long-term concern? Gilbertson: "It's obviously a concern. We don't like to see kids have those. It seems to have gotten worse the last couple of days. So we're going to take him into town and have him looked at. He's missed some really valuable practices. The last few days have been real important work. We need to get him back on the field." In the morning, the legendary Softy Mahler brought his KJR radio show to the camp, and he conducted live interviews with Coach Gilbertson, FB Ty Eriks, DL Terry Johnson, and QB Cody Pickett. Former Husky coach Dick Baird, along with former Husky QB Hugh Millen--Husky honkers--helped with the interviews. Rain or shine, Coach Gilbertson is ready with the punch lines, given a proper set up. During a break, Millen walked into an innocent looking trap, one concerning Shelton Sampson's migraine headaches, and Gilby sprung it--good naturedly, of course. Millen makes a good straight man. I told Millen I thought Gilbertson was a good interview, and he said that "Gilby's no wall flower." I hope Softy has a sense of humor. On the subject of wearing braces, Softy said he needed some, and I told him he was abrasive enough. He smiled weakly; well, he hardly knows me, so I won't hold him responsible for his lukewarm response. Terry Johnson told me that he liked my sports shoes, which I told him were made to the specifications of Ken Griffey Jr. Johnson has a Larry Tripplett persona written all over him. Cody wanted to be interviewed ahead of Johnson, and Johnson pushed him away, taking the hot seat in front of Softy. Chris Massey's father attended both practices. Kicker John Anderson was also at Evergreen.
Tuesday, August 12 Clear blue skies and warm temperature greeted the Washington Husky football team today. The Dawgs' one practice was as enthusiastic as the two held on Monday; however, taken as a whole, it was more efficient, particularly near its conclusion. A quasi-scrimmage (called “Thud Tempo”) that lasted one hour concluded the practice. The drill featured some high-speed collisions and a few long plays; however, there was no attempt to finish “people off,” as Coach Gilbertson remarked, there was no attempt to take a player to the ground. Gilby was pleased with scrimmage, saying that it should have been good since the team had the morning off. During the thud-tempo-scrimmage, Cody Pickett, Casey Paus, Isaiah Stanback and Carl Bonnell each rotated at quarterback, guiding an offense that had its share of some big plays: Pickett connected with Reggie Williams on a 60-70 yard touchdown pass; Stanback galloped for twenty yards on a busted pass play; Ev Knudson hit a 35-yard field goal; Carl Bonnell showed a lively arm along with some nifty moves; and Jordan Slye made a fantastic catch over CB Derrick Johnson, who had him tightly covered. All in all, however, the defense had a slight edge over the offense, stuffing some runs, tipping some passes and making a couple of interceptions. When asked about the progress of the freshman, Gilby said that they are going to make freshman mistakes, run the wrong routes, but turn around and make some plays, since they are an “awfully talented group of kids,” a group that has big-play ability—to make runs after catches. “They all seem to do something about once a day.” Of the players making progress, Gilby noted that Jerome Stevens would have to start inside; that Ben Bandel has made a good push, along with Jon Lyons, Tusi Sa’au, and Matt Fountaine. He noted that Scott White is making a big play every time he looks around. “He’s hitting a tailback or he’s around the ball. There are a lot of guys who are having great camps.” On the injury front, Chriss Massey was held out of practice with a hamstring, which was tightening up. Shelton Sampson had to be held out of the 9-on-7 run drill because of a migraine headache he developed at the end of the dive drill. Joe Toledo was held out with a groin injury, but should be back tomorrow. If not, that’s okay with Gilby, because as he said, “he (Toledo) won’t forget how to play in a couple of days.” After practice, former-coach Dick Baird took Rich Alexis aside and gave him some encouraging words. Alexis looks to be in great shape and is expecting a good season. There's a lot of coach left in Baird, who obviously was a player's coach under Don James and Jim Lambright. The beat writers who cover the Huskies seem happy with Coach Gilbertson, according to the post-practice conversations I share with them. As I remarked, Gilby's a WYSIWYG coach. What you see is what you get. He's a nice guy, who can be tough when he needs to be. The same goes for co-defensive coordinator Phil Snow, who continues to impress. Snow noted, that “We've got some guys in close competition; there are four or five corners and four or five safeties. He noted that freshman C. J. Wallace (cornerback) and redshirt freshman Matt Fountaine (cornerback) have a chance at playing, both being athletic; he opined that DE Terry Johnson can be as good as he wants to be. "Whatever he does in practice, will show up in a game. It’s hard to find a guy at 285 pounds that looks like him, who is as quick and as tall as him." August 11, practice sessions. During the afternoon session, it rained and rained, then rained some more; however, the waterlogged conditions seemed to saturate the Huskies with enthusiasm. It was a spirited practice filled with gully-washers of emotion, along with a couple of hard hits that caught our attention. For one, C. J. Wallace laid his helmet into RB Lewis Rankin’s sternum, which sent Rankin to the ground, midst the loud cheers from the defense. For two, Rankin retaliated for his pratfall by blasting through a defender for a long run. And the offense added some retaliatory shouts of appreciativeness, mimicking the defense’s aforementioned enthusiasm. He who shouts last could shout best if these weren't football practices with so much opportunity for planning a vendetta. Although the tailback position is up for grabs and hotly contested, it appears that Rich Alexis, Chris Singleton and Shelton Sampson are in a three-way battle. Alexis put some moves on his defenders with a certain quickness that he hasn’t shown before. An aerodynamic Singleton hit several holes with the horsepower of a 747, and finished off his runs with the grace of a hand glider. Sampson got off several impressive runs. QB Isaiah Stanback continues to impress with his agility, strong arm and speed. He needs to work on his intermediate pass routes, however. From a fan's viewpoint, he's frustratingly close to viability, displaying uncommon skills not found in a Pac-10 quarterback. Two of the punters, Sean Douglas and walk-on Isaak Woldeit, got off a number impressive punts in the afternoon session. Coach Gilbertson says that the punters all have strong legs; consistency is what they need. Douglas, in particular, was more consistent in the afternoon session than he was in the morning, getting good hang time and distance on his punts. Walk-on kicker Ev Knudson may have tweaked his left ankle in the afternoon session, but it doesn’t appear serious, as he went back to the practice field after icing his ankle. Cory Jones, a transfer from Notre Dame, has left the team, walking off the team during the morning session. Gilbertson said it was Jones’ decision to leave the team and that he encourages all of his players to stay on. Jones' departure leaves just Ty Eriks and senior Adam Seery at fullback. Although fullback Zach Tuiasosopo is practicing with the team, he can't play until his pending court case is resolved on September 25. Freshman Erik Berglund experienced shortness of breath after the morning session; fortunately, an afternoon scan came back negative. He is expected to return to practice. As with every football team this time of year, the ever present groin and hamstring problems nag at the Huskies. Mike Mizuha (freshman walk-on linebacker) broke his hand, will have it set in a cast and is expected to practice tomorrow. Gilbertson chided the beat writers, particularly Ted Miller, for their dry clothing at the question and answer session following practice. He reminded them of past Husky beat writers like Dick Rockne, who, in wet weather, covered the Huskies soaked to the skin. Miller guards his umbrella as jealously as he guards his verbiage, although he said I could borrow his metaphor, “death by a thousand paper cuts.” Covering the Huskies today was “death” by water torture, death by a thousand drops of rain - all coming in a few minutes’ time. Fortunately, I remembered to bring my umbrella. Richard Linde (a.k.a., Malamute) can be reached at malamute@4malamute.com |
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The walk-ons
continue to impress me, with an abundance of hustle and desire. Punter Isaak
Woldeit (5-11, 185, Jr.) may be the Rudy of the bunch. Occasionally, I’ll notice
a booming punt that soars with four-second hang-time. Either Sean Douglas (under
scholarship) or the walk-on Woldeit is the man behind the liftoff. Both of them
are working on consistency, the warm weather being an aid to that endeavor. (Woldeit
and punter Garth Erickson are pictured above).