Got to the practice fields around 12:40 and immediately noticed the throngs of Junior Day visitors and their families. Spotted four-star CB Jarrod Hewitt.
Doesn't seem like anybody committed quite yet. Yesterday's commitment of WR Phil Benker was somewhat unexpected - sounds like it was a guy GOL green-lighted for an offer once he checked him out in person, and he jumped on it.
Notables spotted at practice: Signees Tristan Payton and Mike Rogers and former players Sha'reff Rashad, Terrance Plummer, Brandon Alexander, Jordan Ozerities and Scott Teal.
Full pads are here! Players stretched to the sound of "Zombie Nation." Much short duration of individual drills today, so I didn't all that many good photos.
With the full pads, they began the meat of the practice with one-on-one tackling drills. RBs typically go against LBs, WRs vs. DBs, etc. I didn't have the best view at times because standing players can block the view, but did glimpse what was probably the standout moment: Walk-on WR Kyle Coltrain just absolutely obliterated safety Tre Neal. Coltrain has done some impressive things at times.
Here are some of the best plays/moments/performances:
-RB Taj McGowan looks really fluid out there. I commented to someone that I wouldn't be surprised if he's playing this year. Again, still need to see more practices but a guy like him has real potential to enter the top three. After the practice, GOL commented that McGowan was really impressing him.
-Play of the Day Part I: Holman threw a ball Pete DiNovo's way - not sure if the throw was a little off or Pete maybe misran a route, but Pete corrected, jumped and pulled down the ball with one arm while safety Jared Henry delivered a crushing mid-air blow. Pete held on and made the catch and Henry was a little dazed on the play, slow to get up. It was encouraging to see because DiNovo has not really gone through much contact having been a quarterback for his whole playing career. GOL smiled and had some positive things to say about Pete when asked afterward.
-Play of the Day Part II: Later in the practice, walk-on safety Brendin Straubel had a monstrous hit of RB Taj McGowan. It was vicious. All the defensive players roared in delight, yelling "Screws!" Domenic Spencer told me later that's Straubel's nickname.
-Other highlights: DT Jamiyus Pittman blew through the OL and tackled RB Will Stanback in the backfield, Holman delivered a strike to WR Jordan Akins in triple coverage (maybe wasn't an ideal throw but Akins still came up with it), RB Dontravious Wilson may have had the longest run of the day for 20-plus yards. Drico Johnson picked off Holman. Jared Henry also had a pick, but on a tipped ball. Seemed like there were a lot of defensive linemen getting hands on balls. LB Domenic Spencer had a nice pass breakup. QB Nick Patti threw a nice strike to WR Blake Tiralosi. TE Michael Campbell had a nice catch. It will be interesting to see how he develops.
-Best shirt at practice: I saw a young man stroll into practice wearing a vintage black polo with the old yellow UCF "State of Florida" logo and "Manny" in script embroidered on the sleeve. He told me he was Manny's grandson and the shirt was from the 1980s.
-Worst dressed at practice: There were a group of college-age girls watching pratice wearing what I'd describe as "workout gear" (tank tops, yoga pants, etc. I first noticed one was wearing a Bitcoin Bowl hat with a NC State logo on the side. I thought to myself it must be one of those dual-team hats (NC State logo on one side, UCF on the other). Later in practice she walked by and I was floored: It was a NC State Bitcoin Bowl Champions hat. Seriously. How do you show up wearing that? Unreal. Should have been kicked out.
-As I said above, Mike Rogers was back at practice. I finally had the opportunity to ask GOL about his status and he confirmed that Mike was fully cleared by UCF and the NCAA and would be enrolling for Summer A. Big news for the secondary. He could play corner or safety, but I think safety is where he'll start out. That's just a guess based on the depth there.
-When we approached GOL for interviews, he wanted to know the score of the Kentucky-Cincinnati game. He was rooting for Cincinnati and seemed encouraged because the score was close at the time.
Doesn't seem like anybody committed quite yet. Yesterday's commitment of WR Phil Benker was somewhat unexpected - sounds like it was a guy GOL green-lighted for an offer once he checked him out in person, and he jumped on it.
Notables spotted at practice: Signees Tristan Payton and Mike Rogers and former players Sha'reff Rashad, Terrance Plummer, Brandon Alexander, Jordan Ozerities and Scott Teal.
Full pads are here! Players stretched to the sound of "Zombie Nation." Much short duration of individual drills today, so I didn't all that many good photos.
With the full pads, they began the meat of the practice with one-on-one tackling drills. RBs typically go against LBs, WRs vs. DBs, etc. I didn't have the best view at times because standing players can block the view, but did glimpse what was probably the standout moment: Walk-on WR Kyle Coltrain just absolutely obliterated safety Tre Neal. Coltrain has done some impressive things at times.
Here are some of the best plays/moments/performances:
-RB Taj McGowan looks really fluid out there. I commented to someone that I wouldn't be surprised if he's playing this year. Again, still need to see more practices but a guy like him has real potential to enter the top three. After the practice, GOL commented that McGowan was really impressing him.
-Play of the Day Part I: Holman threw a ball Pete DiNovo's way - not sure if the throw was a little off or Pete maybe misran a route, but Pete corrected, jumped and pulled down the ball with one arm while safety Jared Henry delivered a crushing mid-air blow. Pete held on and made the catch and Henry was a little dazed on the play, slow to get up. It was encouraging to see because DiNovo has not really gone through much contact having been a quarterback for his whole playing career. GOL smiled and had some positive things to say about Pete when asked afterward.
-Play of the Day Part II: Later in the practice, walk-on safety Brendin Straubel had a monstrous hit of RB Taj McGowan. It was vicious. All the defensive players roared in delight, yelling "Screws!" Domenic Spencer told me later that's Straubel's nickname.
-Other highlights: DT Jamiyus Pittman blew through the OL and tackled RB Will Stanback in the backfield, Holman delivered a strike to WR Jordan Akins in triple coverage (maybe wasn't an ideal throw but Akins still came up with it), RB Dontravious Wilson may have had the longest run of the day for 20-plus yards. Drico Johnson picked off Holman. Jared Henry also had a pick, but on a tipped ball. Seemed like there were a lot of defensive linemen getting hands on balls. LB Domenic Spencer had a nice pass breakup. QB Nick Patti threw a nice strike to WR Blake Tiralosi. TE Michael Campbell had a nice catch. It will be interesting to see how he develops.
-Best shirt at practice: I saw a young man stroll into practice wearing a vintage black polo with the old yellow UCF "State of Florida" logo and "Manny" in script embroidered on the sleeve. He told me he was Manny's grandson and the shirt was from the 1980s.
-Worst dressed at practice: There were a group of college-age girls watching pratice wearing what I'd describe as "workout gear" (tank tops, yoga pants, etc. I first noticed one was wearing a Bitcoin Bowl hat with a NC State logo on the side. I thought to myself it must be one of those dual-team hats (NC State logo on one side, UCF on the other). Later in practice she walked by and I was floored: It was a NC State Bitcoin Bowl Champions hat. Seriously. How do you show up wearing that? Unreal. Should have been kicked out.
-As I said above, Mike Rogers was back at practice. I finally had the opportunity to ask GOL about his status and he confirmed that Mike was fully cleared by UCF and the NCAA and would be enrolling for Summer A. Big news for the secondary. He could play corner or safety, but I think safety is where he'll start out. That's just a guess based on the depth there.
-When we approached GOL for interviews, he wanted to know the score of the Kentucky-Cincinnati game. He was rooting for Cincinnati and seemed encouraged because the score was close at the time.
