2013 WKU FOOTBALL SPRING PRACTICE 14
THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2013
HOUCHENS INDUSTRIES-L.T. SMITH STADIUM
BOBBY PETRINO, JONATHAN DOWLING, CAM THOMAS
WKU head coach Bobby Petrino
(on the 2013 Spring Game)
“We are excited about the game Saturday. What we ended up doing is splitting the teams up. The Red Team will be our one offense and our one defense together against the two’s and the three’s. I feel like we really need to work at offensive line with five guys working together. On defense, making sure we are making the calls and communications. It will be game-type with the coaches off the field for the first time, which is what I really want to see. All of the scrimmages that we have had we had the coaches out there coaching on every play and working hard on every play. Now it is time to get everyone off the field – except for me, as I will be out there with the quarterbacks – and see how they play and how they line up, how they communicate without coaches telling them where to go and what to do and make it as game-like as we can. The first half it will be regular clock, just like a game. The second half we will see how many plays we have. I don’t want to do too many plays, so if we have enough then we will run the clock in the second half. It won’t be live kicking game, but we will punt the ball and kick field goals and do PAT’s.”
(on the spring as a whole)
“You still have to go back and re-evaluate everything. We make cut-ups and we watch it all. What I really like is that I think we have a group of players that have good attitudes that are willing to work hard. At some points we need to be more coachable, but for the most part they have really listened and I am excited. I am excited to go through the summer and get bigger, get faster and then come back here in the fall and refine everything that we have put in. We expect to see great progress throughout the summer and then in our camp.”
(on a specific group he will be watching closely on Saturday)
“I am going to look at them all. I kind of do that all of the time – one as an individual and then as a group and a unit. It is going to be fun to watch our guys. All throughout spring our defensive secondary has had the one-up on the wide receivers. We have more experience there. We have a group of guys that are very talented and have played in a lot of games. Hopefully they will do a good job against the White Team receivers, but I would like to see the Red offense really execute the passing game and be more precise and be right on time. Sometimes we get completions, but it is not really what you want. The ball is late, or the receiver is too deep. What we are looking for is the precision of the passing game.”
(on the job of the coaching staff this spring)
“I think we have a great staff. I am really fired up about our staff. They are really good teachers and they demand and confront our players. That is a big part of coaching is to confront them when they are not doing things right technically and scheme-wise and effort-wise and then demand that they do that. It is a good mix between experienced coaches and some young coaches that actually played the position, perfected the position and played at the highest level. I really like this staff. They work hard and they work good together.”
WKU safety Jonathan Dowling
(on the spring as a whole)
“From an individual standpoint I thought I had a great spring. I worked hard trying to learn the new plays and the defense and how they want it to be run. I think as a whole our team, I really like how everyone took to the coaching and I like the role that everyone has taken and not talking back and coming together and having a great season together.”
(on the secondary performing well throughout the spring)
“We have a lot more experience together. A lot of us we have played together for two years. I didn’t play with them the season before last, but I was practicing with them the whole time. We have gelled together and we know what we want from each other.”
(on if he gets the same feeling before a spring game that he does before an actual game)
“I kind of get the same feeling when I go out to practice every day. To me, the only hard part about practicing is individually, and that is just learning your craft. Every time I go full speed and try to make a play I just get the same [feeling] every time. It is going to be good to see my mom and my dad tomorrow. I’m just ready for that.”
WKU cornerback Cam Thomas
(on the spring as a whole)
“The spring went very well. It’s tough because it is a whole new coaching staff, but we all came in and were ready to work and everybody came out with the right attitude and the right spirits and the coaches did the same. I just feel like this staff just took our play to another level.”
(on the experience helping the secondary once the season rolls around)
“That is a huge factor because we are more experienced. Everyone is looking at the offense and when they come out of the huddle we are seeing the hand singles from the sideline and we are looking at everything as a unit and bringing it together. We are able to make plays and get picks when we are in the right position and help our linebackers out. We know that the d-line can do their job and now we just communicate really well together.”
(on the improvement of the offense and of the receivers)
“Coach [Petrino] said we had the upper hand throughout the spring, but I think [the receivers] come and meet the challenge. We strive to work hard as a secondary, but I feel like they do the same. Coach Lamar Thomas is getting those guys right and you see that in one-on-ones and skelly and things like that. They are working on different techniques and learning how we are playing them and just coming out and trying to perfect their craft.”
