We split up and watched different parts of the field, so here are some of Ira's quick observations. Corey and Aslan will add some later.
From Ira:
* There's definitely a lot more going on during practices with this staff, and it's at a much faster pace. They literally will run a drill, then sprint to another part of the field to do the next drill. So it's a challenge, not just for the players but also the managers and equipment staff. You could tell there were a few things that weren't quite as efficient as the coaches wanted, but I'm sure that will be resolved quickly. You could tell the managers, etc., know that everything has to be done the right way ... or else.
* Norvell is really just a ball of energy and passion. He is kind of all over the place, and you know where he is at all times. Very involved in supporting the assistant coaches.
* Since Odell Haggins is still recovering from knee replacement surgery, analyst Clinton McMillan was given clearance to coach FSU's DTs for the first few practices. And he really is impressive. Looks like he will be an outstanding coach. Odell had to watch from the side.
* There was a huge emphasis on fundamentals and attention to detail. Really across the board at every position. And if things aren't done correctly, they are corrected right there quickly.
* One interesting thing is that the QBs sprint and "finish" after many of their reps. It's not like they just stand in one place and throw passes. They are sprinting after plays like everyone else. Norvell talked about that in his post-practice interview.
* I watched Coach Marve a good bit, and he is very impressive. He coaches guys very hard and is intense, but also does a good bit of praising. All the coaches seem good about that.
* Good to see Anthony Grant and Warren Thompson back practicing with the team. Grant needs to get back in shape it looks like, but Thompson looks great. Travis Jay also looks outstanding.
* Watching some of the 1-on-1 drills, a lot of guys had nice moments, but Asante Samuel seems to be at a different level.
* Of the scholarship QBs, I thought they all had moments. Jordan Travis looked much better throwing than I expected. Missed some throws, but so did the others. I also thought Tate showed a ton of potential. He's got a chance to be good. Blackman seemed the most consistent with footwork from what I saw.
* When they did 7-on-7, they had crowd noise piped in, and they went without a huddle. Which was a challenge to communicate for both sides. Kinda interesting. Usually you only see that before a road game in the fall.
We'll have more coming.
--------------------------
From Gene:
I only saw a few periods so won’t have as much as Ira or Corey. But here’s a few things that stood out.
- The FSU fight song was playing on a loop during the early warm-up periods. That’s the only music I heard all day. No dancing in case you are wondering
- There was a lot of running. Most players ran onto the practice field instead of the usual walk or jog. There was running between drills, between fields and going from one place to the other. This constant movement also included the coaches.
- I’ve never seen a practice with so much focus on creating and preventing turnovers. During the early warm-up periods every offensive skill player held a football throughout and if they weren’t holding it correctly a coach would correct it. One of the first OL drills was teaching them to properly fall on a loose ball. Saw returners, WRs and RBs frequently holding the ball with two hands every time someone got near or anywhere near contact. Normal defensive drills were often finished with the player recovering a fumble or making an interception (see below). If a fumble wasn’t picked up correctly or an interception dropped the player had to do 10 push-ups. Some players wearing boxing gloves on returns is (I’m guessing) another effort to make sure the players cradle the ball correctly.
- At a glance, looks like there’s been a substantial increase in support staff. A lot of bodies were out there helping with various tasks. It also may be a result of Junior Day going on with probably 50+ recruits watching practice. So every recruiting staffer was on hand as well today.
Florida State provided us with an updated roster on Saturday. Below are the significant gains losses per the roster. Keep in mind the prior roster was inconstantly updated so some of these may not be that new, and others like Tamorrion Terry and Emmett Rice, who had significant gains, are were apparently updated recently so they are not included. I also wouldn’t be surprised if some of the prior listed weights were simply inaccurate. Really, this is probably more about changes to roster weights than accurately reflecting recent gains or losses.
Weight gains/losses per updated roster
Gains
OL Mike Arnold +23 to 363
DE Janarius Robinson +19 to 280
LB Stephen Dix, Jr.+16 to 226
WR Jordan Young + 16 at 208
DE Jarrett Jackson + 15 to 296
WR Bryan Robinson + 14 to 199
OL Andrew Boselli +13 to 321
OL Zane Herring +12 to 312
DB Renardo Green + 11 to 185
DE Josh Griffis + 9 to 245
TE Wyatt Rector +9 to 236
DT Cory Durden + 7 to 312
QB Tate Rodemaker +7 to 197
TE Camm McDonald +7 to 238
DB Jarvis Brownlee +7 to 172
Losses
OL Maurice Smith -15 to 286
DT Robert Cooper – 14 to 332
OL Ira Henry III -12 to 305
DT Tru Thompson – 11 to 304
OL Chaz Neal – 9 to 296
OL Jay Williams -9 to 304
QB Jordan Travis – 8 to 200
DE Derrick McLendon -8 to 244
OL Jalen Goss – 8 to 267
OL Darius Washington -7 to 301
WR Ja’Khi Douglas -7 to 190
LB Kevon Glenn - 7 to 229
LB Leonard Warner III – 7 to 234
LB DeCalon Brooks – 5 to 204
----------------
We just spoke with Coach Norvell.
Seemed like he felt decent about the first day. Everything wasn’t smooth yet, but he thought they did a good job of preparing for it.
Here’s his video:
We have a separate thread with all the post-practice interviews.
observations coming shortly as well.
——-
Practice is scheduled to get underway at 9 a.m. ET. We speak to Mike Norvell, players and coaches after practice. So our content should starting going up about noon or so. Look for a photo gallery, raw video highlights, interviews with Mike Norvell, players and coaches, practice observations, stories about practice, including a 3-2-1 by Ira Schoffel.
Before the content rolls out we'll post updates here. However, keep in mind we aren't supposed to discuss injuries, rehabbing players, and depth chart info. until after we speak with Norvell. We plan to follow the rules so please be patient for that information.
We will post what information we can about practice as it happens here. Plus you will probably find a few extra few photos and video clips on the Warchant Twitter account.
From Ira:
* There's definitely a lot more going on during practices with this staff, and it's at a much faster pace. They literally will run a drill, then sprint to another part of the field to do the next drill. So it's a challenge, not just for the players but also the managers and equipment staff. You could tell there were a few things that weren't quite as efficient as the coaches wanted, but I'm sure that will be resolved quickly. You could tell the managers, etc., know that everything has to be done the right way ... or else.
* Norvell is really just a ball of energy and passion. He is kind of all over the place, and you know where he is at all times. Very involved in supporting the assistant coaches.
* Since Odell Haggins is still recovering from knee replacement surgery, analyst Clinton McMillan was given clearance to coach FSU's DTs for the first few practices. And he really is impressive. Looks like he will be an outstanding coach. Odell had to watch from the side.
* There was a huge emphasis on fundamentals and attention to detail. Really across the board at every position. And if things aren't done correctly, they are corrected right there quickly.
* One interesting thing is that the QBs sprint and "finish" after many of their reps. It's not like they just stand in one place and throw passes. They are sprinting after plays like everyone else. Norvell talked about that in his post-practice interview.
* I watched Coach Marve a good bit, and he is very impressive. He coaches guys very hard and is intense, but also does a good bit of praising. All the coaches seem good about that.
* Good to see Anthony Grant and Warren Thompson back practicing with the team. Grant needs to get back in shape it looks like, but Thompson looks great. Travis Jay also looks outstanding.
* Watching some of the 1-on-1 drills, a lot of guys had nice moments, but Asante Samuel seems to be at a different level.
* Of the scholarship QBs, I thought they all had moments. Jordan Travis looked much better throwing than I expected. Missed some throws, but so did the others. I also thought Tate showed a ton of potential. He's got a chance to be good. Blackman seemed the most consistent with footwork from what I saw.
* When they did 7-on-7, they had crowd noise piped in, and they went without a huddle. Which was a challenge to communicate for both sides. Kinda interesting. Usually you only see that before a road game in the fall.
We'll have more coming.
--------------------------
From Gene:
I only saw a few periods so won’t have as much as Ira or Corey. But here’s a few things that stood out.
- The FSU fight song was playing on a loop during the early warm-up periods. That’s the only music I heard all day. No dancing in case you are wondering
- There was a lot of running. Most players ran onto the practice field instead of the usual walk or jog. There was running between drills, between fields and going from one place to the other. This constant movement also included the coaches.
- I’ve never seen a practice with so much focus on creating and preventing turnovers. During the early warm-up periods every offensive skill player held a football throughout and if they weren’t holding it correctly a coach would correct it. One of the first OL drills was teaching them to properly fall on a loose ball. Saw returners, WRs and RBs frequently holding the ball with two hands every time someone got near or anywhere near contact. Normal defensive drills were often finished with the player recovering a fumble or making an interception (see below). If a fumble wasn’t picked up correctly or an interception dropped the player had to do 10 push-ups. Some players wearing boxing gloves on returns is (I’m guessing) another effort to make sure the players cradle the ball correctly.
- At a glance, looks like there’s been a substantial increase in support staff. A lot of bodies were out there helping with various tasks. It also may be a result of Junior Day going on with probably 50+ recruits watching practice. So every recruiting staffer was on hand as well today.
Florida State provided us with an updated roster on Saturday. Below are the significant gains losses per the roster. Keep in mind the prior roster was inconstantly updated so some of these may not be that new, and others like Tamorrion Terry and Emmett Rice, who had significant gains, are were apparently updated recently so they are not included. I also wouldn’t be surprised if some of the prior listed weights were simply inaccurate. Really, this is probably more about changes to roster weights than accurately reflecting recent gains or losses.
Weight gains/losses per updated roster
Gains
OL Mike Arnold +23 to 363
DE Janarius Robinson +19 to 280
LB Stephen Dix, Jr.+16 to 226
WR Jordan Young + 16 at 208
DE Jarrett Jackson + 15 to 296
WR Bryan Robinson + 14 to 199
OL Andrew Boselli +13 to 321
OL Zane Herring +12 to 312
DB Renardo Green + 11 to 185
DE Josh Griffis + 9 to 245
TE Wyatt Rector +9 to 236
DT Cory Durden + 7 to 312
QB Tate Rodemaker +7 to 197
TE Camm McDonald +7 to 238
DB Jarvis Brownlee +7 to 172
Losses
OL Maurice Smith -15 to 286
DT Robert Cooper – 14 to 332
OL Ira Henry III -12 to 305
DT Tru Thompson – 11 to 304
OL Chaz Neal – 9 to 296
OL Jay Williams -9 to 304
QB Jordan Travis – 8 to 200
DE Derrick McLendon -8 to 244
OL Jalen Goss – 8 to 267
OL Darius Washington -7 to 301
WR Ja’Khi Douglas -7 to 190
LB Kevon Glenn - 7 to 229
LB Leonard Warner III – 7 to 234
LB DeCalon Brooks – 5 to 204
----------------
We just spoke with Coach Norvell.
Seemed like he felt decent about the first day. Everything wasn’t smooth yet, but he thought they did a good job of preparing for it.
Here’s his video:
We have a separate thread with all the post-practice interviews.
observations coming shortly as well.
——-
Practice is scheduled to get underway at 9 a.m. ET. We speak to Mike Norvell, players and coaches after practice. So our content should starting going up about noon or so. Look for a photo gallery, raw video highlights, interviews with Mike Norvell, players and coaches, practice observations, stories about practice, including a 3-2-1 by Ira Schoffel.
Before the content rolls out we'll post updates here. However, keep in mind we aren't supposed to discuss injuries, rehabbing players, and depth chart info. until after we speak with Norvell. We plan to follow the rules so please be patient for that information.
We will post what information we can about practice as it happens here. Plus you will probably find a few extra few photos and video clips on the Warchant Twitter account.
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