JSU football: Gamecocks run through first Rich Rod practice, and we do mean run
Mar. 5—JACKSONVILLE — Jacksonville State football practice is a bit different under Rich Rodriguez, and that was apparent from the first minute of the Gamecocks' first spring workout Saturday.
There are game officials at practice, wearing striped shirts. Heck, even the team managers who are responsible for spotting the ball before each play were in stripes as well.
It might be a welcome change for JSU supporters who grew weary of watching the Gamecocks get flagged often last season. JSU was 117th in the FCS last season out of 123 teams with 72.27 penalty yards a game. The Gamecocks' 7.82 penalties a game were 112th nationally.
"We'll have officials at every practice we can," Rodriguez said after a two-hour practice. "Those guys do a good job, and we have some of our managers dressed up as officials because spotting the ball and getting the ball in play quickly is one of our emphases. So we put a striped shirt on our officials and they spot the ball like we would in a game all practice."
This was the first of 15 spring practices for JSU, which includes a spring game April 9 at 1 p.m.
The players worked in jerseys, shorts, football shoes and football helmets. The offensive players wore white jerseys, and the defense was outfitted in red.
"The intensity was really good," Rodriguez said. "I think the guys were eager to learn. I sometimes forget that this is their first practice with all the schemes and all three phases. I tell them if you don't know where you're going, run in place.
"We had a lot of guys running in place, especially the white jerseys. But their attitude has been terrific, and I think we'll get better."
The defense looked better than the offense to Rodriguez.
"I think we're fairly athletic defensively," he said. "Offensively, we've got to get faster. I think it's a group that's eager to learn, but I don't know how much explosiveness we have yet on offense. That's a concern. We've got to get faster."
Practice went fast, although not as fast as it probably will get. That's the way Rodriguez likes it.
"Typically, people say teach it slower then add on to it and go faster later," Rodriguez said. "We do the opposite. We go as fast as we can and then slow down if we need to. Tempo is a big part of what we do. We tell our players we want our practices to be more challenging than our games. That's different. A lot of programs don't do it that way, but we do."
Senior quarterback Zion Webb noticed the pace. He is back after missing last season with a knee injury.
"It's more of an up-tempo team, an up-tempo offense," Webb said. "It puts a lot on us. We have to think more."
That's fine with him, however.
"I like to put the game on me," he said. "No matter what, I want the ball in my hands. If he gives me the opportunity to have the ball in my hands, I'll take it. I dish it out to my guys when I can and let them help out, but I'm ready to take on that role."
Much of Saturday's practice was about evaluating. That even extended to how the new staff coaches each player. Rodriguez said after practice that until the staff learns otherwise and gets to know each player better and how best to reach them, everyone will get coached the same.
"Right now, our priorities are two-fold: with this being our first year, we're evaluating our guys, seeing exactly what we have and what they can do well and what we need to improve upon," he said. "The second part is teaching our system and our schemes: offense, defense and special teams."
Senior Editor Mark Edwards: 256-235-3570. On Twitter: @MarkSportsStar.
