Texas football coach Tom Herman’s team wrapped up the first day in pads on Friday. Herman had a lot of positive things to say about his squad. Here are the highlights.
- Here was Herman’s opening statement: “Really, really good day today. I was anticipating how we would respond to putting full pads on. Four really tough days, and long days leading up to it. The guys came out with a lot of juice. It was hot. The last couple of days we hadn’t seen the sun very much, but the sun was beating down pretty good on us today. Credit to coach [Yancy] McKnight and his staff. The defensive players in our tackle drills, goal line and inside drill, much better pad level than in the spring. Much better knee bend, hip explosion. We’re not a finished product by any stretch of the imagination. We got a lot to clean up, but just our body position and our pad level was encouraging.”
- Herman said receiver Reggie Hemphill-Mapps was held out of Friday’s practice as a precaution. They are still treating it as a migraine headache, but he was cleared to attend meetings on Thursday night. Herman is waiting to hear if Hemphill-Mapps will be cleared to participate in Saturday’s scrimmage. Meanwhile, Herman is optimistic running back Kirk Johnson will be back at practice on Monday.
- The Longhorns installed their goal line and red-zone packages on Friday. Herman said on the first day of pads every year, he wants players in a physical situation. He described short yardage situations as football in a phone booth.
- Running back Kyle Porter has been taking first-team snaps during preseason practice, while Chris Warren III is running with the second team. I asked Herman if he was slowly working Warren back into the rotation because he missed portions of spring practice due to a hamstring injury. Herman said, “Definitely. Kyle did everything we asked him to do in the spring. He stayed relatively healthy until [Herman paused] … I think the only practice he missed was the spring game because he rolled his ankle. Chris has had a great summer. It’s kind of like the question I got asked about defensive ends yesterday. Whether you take the first snap or the fourth snap at running back, we’re going to need to roll guys at that position. Chris has done what we’ve asked him to do thus far, and so has Kyle. I think it’s only fair that a guy that makes it through pretty much the entire spring practice, and he does it well, he gets a chance to jog out there with the ones.”
- Overall, Herman his running backs have good hands, but not great. He thinks Toneil Carter is the most fluid ball-catcher.
- Herman said he likes the physicality of Reese Leitao and Cade Brewer in practice. Both players need to get stronger, but Herman said they were not scared.
- Saturday’s scrimmage will feature ones vs ones, and twos vs. twos.
- Herman said the red stripes on helmets are for newcomers. Basically, it is a rite of passage. In addition, Herman said, “The black stripe for our quarterbacks and running backs, we want to be able to see on video where is the center of their helmet. Where exactly are they looking.”
- When asked why Elijah Rodriguez was getting reps at right tackle, Herman responded by saying, “Because he’s good enough, one. We’re going to put the best five offensive lineman out there. Shack (Zach Shackelford) has come back really well. Right now, if we had to play a game right now, those five would be the best five, with Shackelford at center, [Jake] McMillon at right guard, Rodriguez at right tackle. What it does allow is Denzel [Okafor] and Tristan [Nickelson] to get some reps at left tackle as well because if we’re going to need a swing tackle. As I’ve said before, most teams that I’ve been on, you got about seven or eight offensive lineman that you feel good about putting in a game. It’s usually your five starters, one tackle that can probably play left or right, and one inside guy that can play either guard or center. It allows those guys to get some reps at left tackle, too. They’re still improving, and we don’t play a game tomorrow. They’ll have every opportunity to earn that spot, too. It’ll be a good battle because right now those five guys, plus Denzel, Tristan and probably Pat Hudson at this point are all eight guys we just have to figure out the best combination of five to jog out there.”
- Here was Herman’s opening statement: “Really, really good day today. I was anticipating how we would respond to putting full pads on. Four really tough days, and long days leading up to it. The guys came out with a lot of juice. It was hot. The last couple of days we hadn’t seen the sun very much, but the sun was beating down pretty good on us today. Credit to coach [Yancy] McKnight and his staff. The defensive players in our tackle drills, goal line and inside drill, much better pad level than in the spring. Much better knee bend, hip explosion. We’re not a finished product by any stretch of the imagination. We got a lot to clean up, but just our body position and our pad level was encouraging.”
- Herman said receiver Reggie Hemphill-Mapps was held out of Friday’s practice as a precaution. They are still treating it as a migraine headache, but he was cleared to attend meetings on Thursday night. Herman is waiting to hear if Hemphill-Mapps will be cleared to participate in Saturday’s scrimmage. Meanwhile, Herman is optimistic running back Kirk Johnson will be back at practice on Monday.
- The Longhorns installed their goal line and red-zone packages on Friday. Herman said on the first day of pads every year, he wants players in a physical situation. He described short yardage situations as football in a phone booth.
- Running back Kyle Porter has been taking first-team snaps during preseason practice, while Chris Warren III is running with the second team. I asked Herman if he was slowly working Warren back into the rotation because he missed portions of spring practice due to a hamstring injury. Herman said, “Definitely. Kyle did everything we asked him to do in the spring. He stayed relatively healthy until [Herman paused] … I think the only practice he missed was the spring game because he rolled his ankle. Chris has had a great summer. It’s kind of like the question I got asked about defensive ends yesterday. Whether you take the first snap or the fourth snap at running back, we’re going to need to roll guys at that position. Chris has done what we’ve asked him to do thus far, and so has Kyle. I think it’s only fair that a guy that makes it through pretty much the entire spring practice, and he does it well, he gets a chance to jog out there with the ones.”
- Overall, Herman his running backs have good hands, but not great. He thinks Toneil Carter is the most fluid ball-catcher.
- Herman said he likes the physicality of Reese Leitao and Cade Brewer in practice. Both players need to get stronger, but Herman said they were not scared.
- Saturday’s scrimmage will feature ones vs ones, and twos vs. twos.
- Herman said the red stripes on helmets are for newcomers. Basically, it is a rite of passage. In addition, Herman said, “The black stripe for our quarterbacks and running backs, we want to be able to see on video where is the center of their helmet. Where exactly are they looking.”
- When asked why Elijah Rodriguez was getting reps at right tackle, Herman responded by saying, “Because he’s good enough, one. We’re going to put the best five offensive lineman out there. Shack (Zach Shackelford) has come back really well. Right now, if we had to play a game right now, those five would be the best five, with Shackelford at center, [Jake] McMillon at right guard, Rodriguez at right tackle. What it does allow is Denzel [Okafor] and Tristan [Nickelson] to get some reps at left tackle as well because if we’re going to need a swing tackle. As I’ve said before, most teams that I’ve been on, you got about seven or eight offensive lineman that you feel good about putting in a game. It’s usually your five starters, one tackle that can probably play left or right, and one inside guy that can play either guard or center. It allows those guys to get some reps at left tackle, too. They’re still improving, and we don’t play a game tomorrow. They’ll have every opportunity to earn that spot, too. It’ll be a good battle because right now those five guys, plus Denzel, Tristan and probably Pat Hudson at this point are all eight guys we just have to figure out the best combination of five to jog out there.”
