Practice report: 4-2-16

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winwave
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Tulane got a gorgeous spring day for it's Junior Day practice. All the advertising boards on field level had #COMMITWAVE on them. This practice was much different from the past and so the report will be too. There was a lot more work in position groups than units running plays and scrimmaging. In fact the scrimmaging was done in the last 20 minutes. The practice was done in shells and there were refs. The tempo of everything was much faster.

Early on there was FG drill. Leglue was the snapper. The snaps seemed to be good though they could use more zip. Randy Harvey kicked first from 30 yards. The first kick was from the left hash and he drilled it. The unit then rushed to the right hash and he converted again. DiRocco then came on and kicked from 29 yards on the left hash and he missed it. They went to the right hash and his kick was blocked. Steven Logan then came on and hit from 28 with the ball on the left hash. He missed wide left from the right hash.

They then did a punt drill. Leglue did the snapping and he was not all that sharp. The punter generally had to move to one side or the other to catch the snap. However the punter didn't kick. After he caught the ball a coach would shoot a ball out of the jugs machine. Hilliard made a nice return on the first kick. Nothing much was done by any of the other returners after that.

They went into individual unit drills. The WR's practiced blocking for a good while here. At first there was a red bar used for the blocker to come thru and then block. That went on for a good 10 minutes.

There was then 7 on 7. Bradwell overthrew Encalade in the end zone form the 37 going south. Encalade was wearing a red no contact jersey. He then hit Dace for 15 on the left sideline.

Powell came on and hit Scott for 10 on the left sideline. He then hit Hicks for 5 on the left side.

Bradwell then hit Rounds for 10 on a swing route. Cuillette came in and way overthrew Dace on the left sideline at the 10.

More individual work. The linemen went to the end zone and would line up as a unit but at the snap only two would go at it. The defense seemed to win more than there share whenever I looked over there. The WR's again did blocking drills. This time a coach would hold up a a dummy and they would have to shed it and run to a cone set up 10 yards downfield. The QB's were working on pitching the ball to the RB's.

They then went offense versus defense for a few minutes from the 10 on the north end headed south. Every play was run up the middle. Hard to tell how much was gained as everything was thud and the refs seemed to blow the whistles at the slightest touch. No way to tell if the backs would have really gone down.

They did 7 on 7's again from the 33 on the left hash going south. Bradwell started by throwing incomplete down the middle of the field. He then threw incomplete to Badie on the right sideline with good coverage by Lewis. He finished with another incomplete to Hicks on the right.

Cuillette Came on and hit Encalade for 5. He hit Scott for 10 on the left. He finished w/ a bad swing pass to Bertrand.

Powell came in as they switched to the right hash.He hit Badie for 10 on the left. He then found Glenn for 12 on the left.

Bradwell came on and missed Encalade over the middle.

More blocking drills . The LB's were lining up in two's and going against a couple of walk-ons who acted as lineman. A coach would serve as the QB and had a couple of RB's w/him. They were learning to decipher the zone read. The LB's were Marley and Thomas. Then Bowie and Marbley who were followed by Harris and Townsend.

The LB's the did a foot drill going to their side. All three units went at the same time.

Tackling drills were next. A coach would roll a big donut shaped object and the LB's and safeties would tackle it. They were to wrap one arm inside of it and come around with other arm to wrap up and take it down. They all seemed to do well with this. Meanwhile the DB's were also practicing tackling in the middle of the field. A player would run with a large pad down the middle of the field. The DB would then run over and wrap both arms around the pad and take it to the ground. This group also looked like they had this down pat.

They then scrimmaged. The first unit offense had Jacquet at LT,Taylor at LG, Diaz at center, KSM at RG and Leglue at RT. The D had Kennedy at RE, Smart, Wilson and then Carroll at the other end. Marley and Thomas were the LB's and the DB's were Allen,Lewis, Franklin, Davis and Francis.

They started with ball on the 13 going north from the right hash. Hilliard ran for 2 on the right side followed by Cuiellette for 2 also on the right. Cuiellette then went for no gain.

The 2's came on and on offense that was Devon Johnson at LT,Brown at LG, Mcleod at center, Stewart at RG and Leglue at RT. On D it was Jackson at one end , Edwards and Eldrick Washington at tackle and Woullard. Bowie and Marbley wee the LB's. Bradwell was at QB. Thompson went right for 7. He then overthrew an open Scott 30 yards down the field. Rounds went for 1 up the middle.

Cuiellette came in and Hilliard went left for 6 yards. Badie went left for no gain. Cuiellette went up the middle for one.

The ball was then placed on the 49. Cuillette was sacked. Powell came in and missed Scott at the 20. Scott was open but he had to twist to find the ball and almost made a good one handed catch but it fell incomplete. Powell then ran for 2 to the left.

Ball placed on the 39. Cuiellette hit Dace for 5 and then threw incomplete to Rounds . Rounds then went for 15 up the middle.

Ball was put on the 27. Hilliard got 2 up the middle. Bradwell ran for 3 to the left. Shortly after I saw Bradwell doing up and downs on the sideline.

Ball was the put on the 30. Powell made a bad pitch to the right. He then threw one into the ground up the middle. Rounds ran for 2.

The ball was then put on the 38. Bradwell was in and Hilliard ran for 5 up the middle. Edwards ended it by stopping Bradwell for a loss of 2.

Everything was no huddle. A lot of pistol formation. Very fast tempo throughout. Bradwell and Cuillette can run. Hilliard looked really fast.

Didn't see Nickerson or Preston.

This staff is into coaching their players. The drills I described would usually go on for 10 or 15 minutes. A lot of attention to detail rather than just having units gong against one another. It was a pleasure to watch. It was hard to keep up with all that was going on but I did the best I could.


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Houma de Wave
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Thanks, winwave.
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winwave
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You're welcome. Hope you enjoyed it.
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Hornetswave
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Winwave , are you firmliar with periscope ? It's live streaming . I was wondering if someone could live stream practice?????
Jaxwave
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Offense sounds atrocious, especially QBs.
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chain gang x man
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Looks like you did an excellent job of keeping up.

Thanks for the report.

From the sounds of the pace I may have to get in shape for this season. Plenty up and down the field.
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RobertM320
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Hornetswave wrote:Winwave , are you firmliar with periscope ? It's live streaming . I was wondering if someone could live stream practice?????
Not sure CWF would appreciate that.
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Offense sounds disastrous especially at QB, but maybe that is partially due to learning a whole new system.
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tpstulane
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Thanks Win! As Robert said QB looks to be a weakness at this stage. Hopefully someone steps up to be the front runner soon.
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Appreciate the report. Thanks! Sounds like we have a lot of work to do which is expected.
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nawlinspete
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Jaxwave wrote:Offense sounds atrocious, especially QBs.
Sounds as if we are going to need quite a bit more than a little patience.

Thankfully our coaches realize the problems at hand and are addressing them instead of telling thr world that all our players will be great and that we, the coaches, cannot decide between all the NFL ready bodies on campus.
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Thanks Winwave! Now we seem to have competent coaching for a change!
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Great report! Thankfully, we don't have a game to get ready for. Sound like a lot of teaching and work on fundamentals taking place.
winwave
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RobertM320 wrote:
Hornetswave wrote:Winwave , are you firmliar with periscope ? It's live streaming . I was wondering if someone could live stream practice?????
Not sure CWF would appreciate that.
This. I would do it for everyone here if I could but that's would be definite no-no for sure. I do this b/c I realize we have a lot of out of towners who can't get to practices and a lot of locals don't get that chance too. In fact the thought even crossed my mind that the new rule allowing media but no fans at practice was aimed at me. I'm sure it wasn't but they know the media writes more in generalities and doesn't give much as to specifics. I took a chance yesterday b/c CWF made a remark about having more fans there w/it being Junior Day.
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winwave
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No doubt we have work to do but fortunately we have a staff that knows the process of developing a team. There is a lot of work on fundamentals and technique. If you don't have those you get what we have been getting for so long. The QB's are not throwing the ball well. Brantley will be here in the summer and his HS days indicate he could be a good passer. There is an opening for him to seize. This battle will be going on for quite sometime. I will note too that when the linemen were going against one another it seemed like the D was getting the better of it. On some of the pass plays I think there would have been sacks but the refs, in contrast as to how they were quick w/the whistle on running plays, were very lenient in allowing the play to continue.
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Great report Winwave. I mean great job man.


I can't tell you how much I love that fact that this staff is working on blocking. You can tell that the man watched plenty of film on us. Our WR's never blocked after a RB got a decent gain or after another receiver made a catch. On defense, our DB's and DL's hardly ever blocked after a we recovered fumbles or picks.

I can assure everyone that there is a difference when a new coach comes with plenty of experience vs a previous HC with limited experience. Those little drills and short sessions on basics are so useful. Those drills turn gains of 2 into gains of 4. They turn a catch for 20 yards into a catch for 30. They turn a deflected pass into a pick. I am very happy about what I have been seeing.


Now, we need a QB to take the lead.
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DfromCT
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Winwave, I really appreciate all you do to keep us out-of-town fans informed. Well done and THANK YOU!

It really seems like this staff is so much more detail oriented.

ROLL WAVE!
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Can't wait for the scrimmage game

It will probably be better attended then some home games last year
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Sounds like Lindsay Scott would've started from Day 1. As for streaming practice and practice reports, when I coached we would look on other schools websites for rosters, pictures, game reports, etc for teams we had not been able to get film of or see play. I'm not saying you shouldn't do the practice reports bc I enjoy reading them and don't think it's a detriment to the team, but I would bet a lot of money opposing coaches read these forums and anything else they can find come fall. Streaming the practices would certainly upset the coaches.
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Thanks for the great report. Like everyone else, most curious about the QB situation. Any color you can add there?

It's early enough in a new scheme that I'm not necessarily worried yet. A few more reps alone might make things look much better.

But I do want to see Bradwell step up and I would like to know that Cuilette is clearly ahead of Powell. If Cuilette can't beat Powell on the depth chart than I bet it's Bradwell or Brantley or bust.
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chain gang x man wrote:Can't wait for the scrimmage game

It will probably be better attended then some home games last year
I wish they were holding it at 7. That would have really helped fill the place. There will be a decent turnout but why not go for it all. Promote it and get fans there. Move baseball up to 3 and fans can do both. It appeared on film after CWF was hired that he had held past spring games at night. Tulane could really make money off of this by not only what they make that night but in selling more tickets for next season by getting fans pumped up. I admit I have a conflict that will probably keep me from being there at all but as I noted above based on his past I thought we would go that route and play at night. Imagine what an event like that would do for recruiting.
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winwave
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jonathanjoseph wrote:Thanks for the great report. Like everyone else, most curious about the QB situation. Any color you can add there?

It's early enough in a new scheme that I'm not necessarily worried yet. A few more reps alone might make things look much better.

But I do want to see Bradwell step up and I would like to know that Cuilette is clearly ahead of Powell. If Cuilette can't beat Powell on the depth chart than I bet it's Bradwell or Brantley or bust.
I think you already noted the good news on the QB situation. We still have half of spring practice left. Then all the players will be here this summer. Then there is still fall practice. So there is plenty of time and we have a staff that is dedicated to developing players. On top of that Brantley is coming in to increase the competition. So there is hope here. I can tell you that Bradwell and Cuielette can execute the running part of this offense really well.
BAYWAVE&Sophandros are SPINELESS COWARDS
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6-4-23:Now all of the mistakes Tulane has made finally catches up with them as they descend to CUSAAC.
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RobertM320
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sader24 wrote:Sounds like Lindsay Scott would've started from Day 1. As for streaming practice and practice reports, when I coached we would look on other schools websites for rosters, pictures, game reports, etc for teams we had not been able to get film of or see play. I'm not saying you shouldn't do the practice reports bc I enjoy reading them and don't think it's a detriment to the team, but I would bet a lot of money opposing coaches read these forums and anything else they can find come fall. Streaming the practices would certainly upset the coaches.

Sort of as we were saying all along.
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DfromCT
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winwave wrote:
I think you already noted the good news on the QB situation. We still have half of spring practice left. Then all the players will be here this summer. Then there is still fall practice. So there is plenty of time and we have a staff that is dedicated to developing players. On top of that Brantley is coming in to increase the competition. So there is hope here. I can tell you that Bradwell and Cuielette can execute the running part of this offense really well.
It seems like we might end up with a run-heavy attack. I was much more fearful of this happening when we were getting ready to hire Coach Fritz. (I hate the "CWF" and "CMD" crap). Now that I've had time to think it through and compare the pluses and minuses, I wouldn't object to running 75% of the time or more. It keeps the D off the field, and wears down the opponent.

I don't care how we do it, I just want to win. I want Tulane to take steps forward, show growth. I'm much more concerned with the outcome of games in late October and November than I am with the first few. Keep in mind we're going a complete 180 degrees from CJ's offense. If we can somehow get bowl eligible, our recruiting should go up a step or two. To quote Al Davis, "JUST WIN BABY!"

Even if we don't go bowling in Fritz's first year, clearly we have a professional Head Coach that's much more detail oriented and ready to bring out the best in our young men.
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I think in this offense, you're truly not going to be able to tell what the qbs can do until live action. I watch the qb be very inconsistent Saturday but I also know that the offense is more predicated on the qb decisions in the run game not throwing it around. Also the receiving core is a mess right now only counted 6 to 7 recievers in practice. I immediately was thinking that the recievers is more in survival mode which is understandable. ( you can almost see them grimace when they had to run deep routes). The offensive line is make shift also. Its a major rebuilding job going on . However you can tell this team is going to have sucess and sucess is just winning games it maybe be ugly but Ithink they are going to win. Several thing syou can hang your hat on is the offense has some really good runningbacks ,the qbs can run, the offensive line is big. There is speed and talent on offense and this staff will find ways to score.
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