Hello Celebritys

Day two of TCU spring practice is in the books. Coach Patterson was pleased with what he has seen in these last two practices and said there has been “lots of energy.” It is early though and this team hasn’t put on the pads yet. Here are my observations and a few minutes of audio from Coach Patterson from this afternoon.

- I thought Casey Pachall looked good. He was making the right reads and putting the ball in the right places. Pachall took all the first team reps while Matt Brown worked with the second group. More on that below.

- Tight ends Logan Brock and Corey Fuller were both making nice catches. Not just regular catches, but catches with guys in their face. Hopefully TCU will utilize the tight end position more this season.

- Josh Boyce and Skye Dawson looked sharp in their routes and catching. With those two and Antoine Hicks, I think this receiving core will be just fine come September.

- Speaking of the receiving core, Coach Patterson mentioned that they have changed the way they call plays a little bit to make it easier for the new WR’s coming in this fall. They changed it two years ago, but did not change it last season due to so many returning starters. Does this mean Patterson hopes to get Brandon Carter and/or LaDarius Brown on the field this season as true freshmen? Or it could be they just wanted to simplify things…Stay tuned…

- Redshirt freshman Sam Carter could be a star in the making at strong safety. He looked good today and others have said he looked sharp yesterday also. “We’ve only taught two days but really it’s amazing, he is a very smart player” Patterson said after practice when asked about how quickly Carter was picking up the position.

- This team is young, but Coach Patterson said he’s been very happy with all of the redshirt freshman and sophomores. He also noted that he has “really enjoyed up to this point the level of enthusiasm of trying to get better, communicating, and listening that this group has done to this point.”

- For your Dwight Smith update, he looked good and is fully healthy from all I know.

- Remember how people were making a big fuss about the new Nike cleats TCU wore in the Rose Bowl? Well, they must not have been that bad because there were players wearing them in practice today…

Here are the post practice questions I got in with Coach Patterson. To listen to Patterson’s comments, the .mp3 is posted below.

Angry Trey: Is this spring different than last year’s since the team is younger?

Coach Patterson: No. For the last 14 years we’ve taught it the same way. Same coverage got taught 14 years ago that just got taught today. The same blitz package got taught the same way. Yesterday we taught the tackling drill without pads on. It was younger so it wasn’t as good as what last years was but you have to have a starting point. You got to see how much a team can grow in 15 days because we teach spring ball just like it’s part of two-a-days. You get 29 practices in the fall and 15 in the spring. This is the growing up stage of our part of it. We are very physical in the spring, we are very demanding in the spring, we believe we have to get stronger in the spring, and academically we have to get ourselves in the right position so you can clear your mind come summer time so you can handle the grind when you get in the fall.

Angry Trey: I know you are looking for players and talent but is this the point when leaders start to emerge?

Coach Patterson: I don’t know, right now in the teaching phase everyone is trying to hang on. We’ll get through 5 days of teaching and then we start over and were not teaching anything new. The same thing happens in the fall. You go through 5 days of teaching and then you go into an evaluation stage, then you go into a getting better stage, so right now just like all of us, we will only be as good as our weakest link. So if one guy isn’t getting it done, it affects all of us.

Angry Trey: Is the QB job Casey’s to lose or is it an open battle?

Coach Patterson: No, right now he is just the next guy. Somebody asked me yesterday if this is the lowest amount of quarterbacks we'll have in the fall and the answer is no. We had to go in Andy Dalton’s freshman year, he was the starter, Marcus Jackson was the backup, and then Yogi Gallegos came in as a true freshman which is what we will start the fall with this year too.

Coach Patterson was asked other questions also, the full media session is below. It’s around six minutes long.

I was able to catch up with TCU head coach Gary Patterson after the team’s practice this afternoon. Coach Patterson spoke about the size of Wisconsin, Kelly Griffin, playing in the Rose Bowl and more. Check out the audio below.

You can also listen or download HERE or HERE

Angry Trey: A lot of people have been talking about the size of Wisconsin, mainly their offensive line, is that something that sticks out to you or bothers you?

Coach Patterson: No, they are only about 317. We play against Cannon, he’s 361. Every offensive line we’ve played against this year has been bigger than us.

Angry Trey: Going into the Rose Bowl, they talk about the mystique of that game, do you worry about your team getting nervous?

Coach Patterson: No more than normal. Going last year to the Fiesta Bowl, we understand, we have been in those types of games. I think we’ll be ready to go. They will be excited, I'm excited.

Angry Trey: Talking about Wisconsin, they are known for having big running backs, do you try to do anything in practice to simulate that size you will be going against?

Coach Patterson: No cause I mean Asiata from Utah, Unga, we’ve tackled big backs before. Dwight Smith our scout team running back is about 230 something so we just got to get ready to play.

Angry Trey: When you see that the schools sold 20,000 tickets and you have students lining up outside, what does that mean to you?

Coach Patterson: Obviously the recognition has changed and I’m very excited they want to be a part of us. It’s not any fun to do it by yourself. To have the town, alumni base, school and the kids behind us makes me proud that we have come a long way.

I did not ask the question, but Coach Patterson did mention that there is a chance Kelly Griffin could make it back for the Rose Bowl. He will be a game time decision.

The TCU Horned Frogs held their first two-a-days of the fall today practicing at 8AM this morning and 5PM this afternoon. I caught the afternoon session which included some scrimmage time, so I took down a couple of notes to share. I was also able to get in a few questions with Coach Patterson after practice. Check out the updates and audio below.

- Andy Dalton looked good. He was crisp with his passes and I really didn’t observe many bad plays when he was in with the first team offense.

- Ross Forrest was the first team, left defensive end. Braylon Broughton has mainly been working with the second team defense. Coach Patterson said though, there is still no clear cut number one for that spot.

- I don’t know if I should laugh or worry, but Coach Patterson said that “Tank (Carder) has the strongest leg of all the kickers.” Coach Patterson also added that he would be open to having Tank kick some during the season.

- There seemed to be an emphasis on getting the ball into Jeremy Kerley and Skye Dawson’s hands today. They ran a variety of plays to try and get the ball into their possession.

- Offensive Tackle Nykiren Wellington is a HUGE person. I look forward to seeing him develop over the next couple of season.

Here are the questions I got to ask Coach Patterson. I am disappointed in myself because I had more I wanted to ask, but my mind kind of went blank once I got in the presence of greatness.

Angry Trey: Have you seen any separation from Yogi or Casey for the backup QB spot?

Coach Patterson: “Not yet. If I had to say today probably Casey, but I think it’s pretty close. I’m pretty impressed with Matt Brown. He’s probably the fastest quarterback we have.”

Angry Trey: How hard has it been for you to replace a deep snapper like Clint Gresham?

Coach Patterson: “Shelley’s done a pretty good job up to this point, but obviously Gresham was one of the best in the nation. Maybe one of the best coming out period. So, it’s a hard deal.”

Angry Trey: Is this as deep at running back as you’ve been since you took over?

Coach Patterson: “Oh no. I never say deep because every time I seem to do it, it seems like the third or fourth is the starter by the fourth or fifth ballgame. So, for us we are just going to keep doing what we need to do. Last year when you count Ryan Christian, Joseph Turner, and Ed Wesely, I think probably I felt better there, because really what we’re trying to find, we’re trying to find a third right now. I would probably tell you Jercell Fort is that guy.”

Check out the audio below…

Or click HERE to listen or download.

Mavs continue training camp today in day four from SMU. We have the full recap and comments from Dirk and Coach Carlisle.

- Look for Dirk to put up more three’s this season. The Big German feels that the Mavs running style will help him be open for the trailing shots from the perimeter.

- Nowitzki is also looking forward to Monday night’s pre-season opener against Orlando and the return of Brandon Bass. “Bass was like my little brother when he was here. It was sad to see him go.”

- The focus in training camp continues to be on the defensive end. Coach Carlise says the team “will continue to talk about defense and work on it because from a statistical stand point, that is where we need to take a real leap.”

- Mavs Fan Jam tonight at the AAC presented by 103.3 ESPN Radio. This will be our first glimpse of this Mavs team in action for their inter-squad scrimmage. Free to the public so you don’t want to miss it!

Mavs Training Camp Audio Day 4

Coach Carlisle

Dirk Nowitzki

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