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University of Minnesota Athletics
Spring Practice Report: Day 3
3/27/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Spring Practice Report: Day 3
The Butler Did It
As the assembled media was waiting for Coach Kill to come off the indoor practice field at the Gibson-Nagurski Football Complex Saturday evening, a great deal of attention was being paid to the final minutes of the overtime NCAA Tournament game between Butler and Florida.
In fact Butler's victory was the first thing talked about when Coach Kill finally greeted the reporters in attendance. Coach Kill is a big basketball fan and said he's impressed with the Bulldogs' head coach, Brad Stevens.
"Is that right?" Kill asked when he was told Butler had advanced to its second straight Final Four. "Boy, that guy can coach, now. That guy's a ball coach. He gets those kids to play together. They play hard. They do a great job."
That sounds like the exact formula Gopher fans are hoping Coach Kill brings to the Gophers.
3-Peat
Saturday marked the third straight day of practice for the Gophers. They went hard and fast for three days straight, absorbing as much as they possibly can of Minnesota's new offensive, defensive and special teams philosophies.
Coach Kill said it was good to get all three of the practices that are required to be without pads out of the way in one bunch. The Gophers will now go to an every-other-day practice schedule for much of the remainder of spring ball.
"We've been able to throw a lot of stuff at them to learn," Kill said. "We've gone pretty hard for three days, pretty fast and pretty quick."
Now, with three days before their next practice, Kill said it will be up to his team to do the right things, catch up on their schoolwork and take care of themselves between Saturday night and Tuesday afternoon.
"You can't go out and be stupid, you've got to take care of your body," Kill said. "I can find out who is going to take care of their bodies on Saturday night and Sunday and do what their supposed to do. You'll find out pretty quick on how some of them perform on Tuesday on what they've been doing."
Speed Kills
Coach Kill has stated that he's looking for speed. But he isn't ready to proclaim anyone's speed up to his liking through three spring practices. He needs to see them in pads first.
"I don't know yet," Kill said of the team's speed. "I really can't tell you that. People carry their pads differently. We're running around here in shorts. We'll see as we put the pads on how fast we play and how quick we play. It's a different game ... I'm serious, some guys get shoulder pads on and they run slower. Some guys who aren't real fast in a 40 time play faster."
Coach Kill and his staff will get the chance to take a look at the speed of their team with pads on when they put them on for the first time this spring at Tuesday afternoon's practice. Kill said he's hopeful the snow will be removed from the outdoor practice fields soon, so he can take his team out in the fresh air next week.
Gopher Media Roundup
Here's a look at what's new on the Gophers in cyberspace:
- In his latest SidCast, Sid Hartman said Coach Kill was relentless in day one of spring practice.
- The Star-Tribune's Phil Miller has linebackers Keanon Cooper and Brendan Beal gushing about Tracy Claeys' defensive schemes.
- The Pioneer-Press has a story about defensive tackle Curran Delaney , who is an Iraq War veteran, serving as a sniper in the Marine Corps.
-By Andy Seeley, Associate Athletic Communications Director
