HANOVER – If you’ve been following along, you read the other day that Dartmouth coach Sammy McCorkle made a point of avoiding the word “concern” while talking about rebuilding an offensive line that lost four of five starters to graduation.
After passing the midway point of spring practice Saturday morning, there was another word McCorkle avoided when talking about his coaches heading out recruiting during the team's week off.
Oops.
“We don’t use the word off,” McCorkle said following a brisk session. “It’s not a week off. I’d call it a ‘bye-week,’ and as I just reminded the guys, it is not a week off.”
Blame Mother Nature and Dartmouth’s academic calendar for pushing spring practice far enough into April that it conflicts with the start of the FCS “contact period” for recruiting, which started on April 15. That being the case, several coaches went to Buddy Teevens a few years back with the idea of breaking up spring practice with a week when the coaches could hit the road.
McCorkle has embraced the idea, and while he’ll be heading down to Texas and his assistants will be spread far and wide, the players will be around the facility, watching video, rehabbing with trainer Ben Schuler and his staff, and working with strength coach Conor McNally.
“It’s a chance to take the pounding off the body and it will allow them to deal with the soft tissue stuff,” explained McCorkle. “But we’ll have them continue to work on conditioning, agility and change of direction stuff to keep getting in better shape.
“The guys will come over here for player-led meetings and watching video. They will work on their fundamentals and their individual stuff, and it will allow them to recover.”
SPEAKING OF WHICH
Limited so far in camp this spring has been starting quarterback Grayson Saunier, who had an offseason ankle procedure. The week off will bring him that much closer to being a full go by the end of spring.
“That’s the hope,” McCorkle said. “He could have gone this week, but it was just kind of a nagging thing this week, which is the reason why we pulled him back.
“He’s got a little scar tissue, so with this week and next week he’ll have two weeks of recovering. The hope is when we get back out he’ll be ready to get out there and go.”
In the best tradition of Teevens, McCorkle pointed to the bright side.
“Grayson being out has been great for the rest of our guys,” he said, meaning the other quarterbacks. “He’s been a great mentor to them. He’s been like an assistant quarterback coach out there.
“It’s been great for Noah (Trigueros), and Woods (Ray), Charlie (Peters), and Jaden (Cummings) to get more reps out there. And they’ve done a great job with it.”
HOW WAS PRACTICE, COACH?
McCorkle: “There was good energy. The guys played hard and flew around the way we talk about all the time. You can work hard and have fun doing it, and the guys did that today.
“It was up and down, a rollercoaster a little bit offensively. I thought the defense came out here today ready to go and challenge the offense. It was good to see the offense rebound a couple of times and make some plays. I was happy overall to see the guys come out and compete. They let their hair down and played.”
STAY UP
While the words “concern” and “off week” may not be in McCorkle’s lexicon, you don’t have to be at practice long to hear the words “stay up” repeated time and again.
In no-tackling practices, players shouldn’t ever leave their feet and that’s something McCorkle and his assistants stress constantly.
“In order to play this game, you can’t be on the ground,” the head coach said. “You aren’t going to be able to make plays on the ground.
“When guys are on the ground it’s about fundamentals. They’re not taking the extra step, they’re not bringing their hips (though), they’re stopping on contact, all that little fundamental stuff. We’re cleaning that stuff up and today was much, much cleaner.”
AT THE MID-POINT
So, is the Big Green ahead of where McCorkle hoped it would be after the sixth of 12 spring practices, or is it behind?
“We’re probably where I thought we’d be,” he said. “We’ve got new guys at a lot of positions, a lot of new coaches, and we’ve got new stuff going in defensively. The hope was, ‘Hey, you get around practice six and you are hitting your stride.’
“I thought we hit our stride today. I really did. Things went smoothly. We were actually ahead of the practice clock today. I looked at my watch, and we were about four minutes ahead. That’s the first time that has happened, so we were very efficient. The guys came out ready to go. They were bouncing around. I never had to wait on them. They were ready to go to the next station and ready for the next period.”
LOOKING AHEAD
Dartmouth’s new staff acclimated earlier this spring to practicing on the 70-yard artificial turf of the indoor practice facility. When weather permitted, the five new position coaches and two quality control coaches learned how practices are organized on the 100-plus yards of Memorial Field.
Come preseason, they’ll have some sessions across the street on the two 100-yard Blackman Practice Fields. While the retooled staff could get a sneak-peek at how practice would set up come late August at Blackman if they had one session there this spring, McCorkle seemed to give the idea only a little thought when asked if he would consider one practice on the real grass.
“It’s an idea,” he said, “but as nice as it is, I worry a little about going out there with the footing if it’s a little wet. I don’t want to get any ‘hammies,’ or ‘quads,’ or anything like that.
“So no, I think we’ll be out here. The new coaches are fast learners, so I don’t think it will be an issue for them.”
NAMES
Plays, players, and notable goings-on that earned a notation in one onlooker's notebook Saturday included linebacker Cameron Lee stuffing a short-side run during the first team period … the offensive side cheering loudly when Myles Craddock took advantage of a hole for a nice gain up the middle … Noah Trigueros finding Nick Lemon for a 45-yard gain on a streak down the middle … wide receiver James Elliot’s blocking turning a short pass into a nice gain … defensive backs Ethan Couvertiere and Samuel Washington converging on a receiver down the middle to disrupt a home run pass … defensive back Lou Lamar with a sideline breakup … Jaden Cummings with a strike to Jonathan Nelson on a slant.
During goal line pass skeleton, Trigueros with a perfectly thrown ball to Ian Scott in the corner of the end zone, just out of reach of a defender … tight end Kristian Strong with a good block on the edge freeing Trigueros for a short TD run … linemen Chris Chol and Taylor Faalele stuffing a middle run … defensive back Christian Harris wisely pulling up when he had a “kill shot” at Woods Ray when the QB was rolling left.
In the final team period … Josh Johnson with yet another of his patented tackles for loss … Chol getting his hands in the face of a quarterback trying to find a receiver downfield … quarterback Charlie Peters with an excellent fake handoff that allowed him to run around right end for good yards … linebacker Matthew Boydell with a tackle for loss.
No’Koi Maddox highlighted the final period with back-to-back plays that brought cheers. First, he defeated a one-on-one block to make a stop. He topped that by reaching out and pulling in a pass batted by a defensive teammate and running it in 30-or-so yards for a “pick six” with McCorkle both escorting him the last few yards and cheering him on.
ON TAP
The Big Green returns to the field for the seventh of 12 practices on April 28. The spring game will be three weeks from today, May 9.