Spring Game Opinions

When game time changed, my plans went out the window but this is all I needed to read. From LU17,Then at the end of the scrimmage somebody told #23 to go into Earl Campbell mode because he turned into a wrecking ball. Bowden, who had a great scrimmage, tried to put one of this bone jarring hits on White. White delivered and kept on going. The last series White really loooked like a really good running back. Scrimmage lasted about an hour. Particularly this part. They hustled and played with intensity. It was warm, but they kept their helmets on all scrimmage. I feel more discipline with this staff.

I don't want to criticize the old staff because they did the best that they could and, for whatever reason, it just didn't work out. This ain't, by any measure, the old coaching staff especially the Head Coach. Going back and reading the bio's of the current staff shows not just years but of decades of the ability to develop players and record setting offensive teams with post season participation. On the defensive side, decades of coaching experience. This ain't the old staff.

Now the Card's have got themselves a 220lb RB, with something to prove, and a two time state champion QB coming in. It's going to be some kind of a wild ride in 2017.

Oh yeah, get those playoff tickets ready.

only issue I see is we need some beef on the dline.other than that I thought we looked good.also, morse has the best arm of all he qb's.I would make him the starter but im not the coach so time will tell.

I agree. Morse has, in my opinion, outplayed the other QBs all spring but Allen continues to stay with the 1s. He will be a senior and is athletic but tends to lock onto one receiver consistently. If he's covered, he either throws into coverage or tucks and runs. Morse is the better all around QB to me with the better arm of the 3. The O-line looks to be improved so maybe we won't need 5 or 6 QBs this year. D-line is a weakness for sure, just not enough big bodies to rotate.

Speaking of D-line, I don't believe I've seen the 2 big Juco transfer D-lineman this spring. Maybe they haven't enrolled yet. Anyone have any info on them? They are both 300 pounders and would definitely come in handy.

They didn't commit until after signing day so that points to being summer transfers.

They didn't commit until after signing day so that points to being summer transfers.

That makes sense. They will be welcome additions. I don't see the high school D-line commits making contributions their first year but those 2 should hit the ground running.

I heard several personal records were broken last night, plus some school records in the "night of champions" event. Morse set the school record for QBs with either 455 or 460 in the squat, depending on which site you check. Pretty awesome for a kid not even 2 years out of high school.

http://www.lamarcardinals.com/news/2017/4/25/football-records-fall-at-night-of-champions.aspx?path=football

Wasn't it just a couple of months ago that several were complaining about the lack of strength on the Lamar football team under Woodard? The players looked weak, they were being pushed all over the field, they were physically inferior to our opponents, etc. Well, just several months into the Schultz era and we are already seeing school records fall in the weight room. That is mind blowing to me. It has taken Schultz months to do what Woodard could not/would not do in his entire stay here at Lamar. We haven't seen a game yet in the Schultz era, but I'm really liking the new culture that he is building. Either you work your ass off, or you sit in the bench.

While you have to credit Schultz for the program wide culture change, the strength program is under the direction of Daniel Darcy. He was just hired last April so my guess is that's probably a bigger reason for the increased weight room performance than the Schultz hire. From the end of spring ball to the beginning of fall camp, every program is under the direction of the strength coach. They run the summer weight and conditioning programs which can be a max of 8 hours per week for 8 weeks. Coaches can attend these workouts but they are only permitted a max of 2 hours per week of film study with the players so that is the extent of their summer coaching. Programs are starting to value to importance of a quality strength program and pay good money for it. Alabama's strength coach makes $525,000 a year. Per a 2016 USA Today poll, that salary would be 83rd among the 963 FBS assistants and 101st of 121 FBS head coaches (private schools do not have to report employee salaries).

Since this thread has shifted to the strength training and weightlifting contest, I thought I would post some photos and videos of the Night of Champions. Some of you may have seen them, but maybe not........

https://www.facebook.com/pg/bigredinsider/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1670868362941544

While you have to credit Schultz for the program wide culture change, the strength program is under the direction of Daniel Darcy. He was just hired last April so my guess is that's probably a bigger reason for the increased weight room performance than the Schultz hire. From the end of spring ball to the beginning of fall camp, every program is under the direction of the strength coach. They run the summer weight and conditioning programs which can be a max of 8 hours per week for 8 weeks. Coaches can attend these workouts but they are only permitted a max of 2 hours per week of film study with the players so that is the extent of their summer coaching. Programs are starting to value to importance of a quality strength program and pay good money for it. Alabama's strength coach makes $525,000 a year. Per a 2016 USA Today poll, that salary would be 83rd among the 963 FBS assistants and 101st of 121 FBS head coaches (private schools do not have to report employee salaries).

I have to agree with Big T here. It reminds me of when Mack Brown took over at Texas. The first thing people noticed was the offseason conditioning and weight room work was much tougher under Mack Brown. The Longhorns became much tougher and stronger in that first offseason under Brown. I would point out that while Darcy is in charge of the strength and conditioning program the major difference is who the head coach is. I have to credit Coach Schulz with the direction and directive to Coach Darcy that has resulted in such a big change in a short amount of time. Maybe the coaches can't spend much time right now with players but it doesn't mean the head coach can demand more from the S&C coach in the spring. I really don't care how much the S&C man is paid, his direction comes from the head coach. We saw it with Mack Brown and we saw it from Nick Saban when he took over the Alabama program, not to mention the LSU program.

I have to agree with Big T here. It reminds me of when Mack Brown took over at Texas. The first thing people noticed was the offseason conditioning and weight room work was much tougher under Mack Brown. The Longhorns became much tougher and stronger in that first offseason under Brown. I would point out that while Darcy is in charge of the strength and conditioning program the major difference is who the head coach is. I have to credit Coach Schulz with the direction and directive to Coach Darcy that has resulted in such a big change in a short amount of time. Maybe the coaches can't spend much time right now with players but it doesn't mean the head coach can demand more from the S&C coach in the spring. I really don't care how much the S&C man is paid, his direction comes from the head coach. We saw it with Mack Brown and we saw it from Nick Saban when he took over the Alabama program, not to mention the LSU program.

The reason I said that is because it the S&C coaches job to formulate the plan that will get the results the HC is looking for. Football coaches are the experts at the X's & O's of the game. They may say that we need to be in better shape when the 4th quarter rolls around, but it's on the S&C coach to get the coach that result.