Ball State University Athletics
Football Team Spring Practice #9 Report
April 13, 2011 | Football
Ball State head football coach Pete Lembo discusses the Cardinals Spring Practice #9. The Cardinals will host its annual Spring Game April 23.
Today was practice #9, how healthy is the team at this time?
Not too bad - and I hope I don't jinx us for tomorrow! Running back Cory Sykes is the only significant injury. He has a small break and a tear in his finger that will require surgery. He should be fine for summer workouts and preseason camp. Defensive tackle Adam Morris rolled his ankle on Saturday, but should be back later this week. Receiver Jack Tomlinson has been nursing a hamstring most of spring, so he hasn't been able to do too much. Running back David Brown has a minor back injury, but we hope to get him back in action later this week. It has been great to get Dan Manick in the lineup after missing most of the first week with a hamstring pull. He has got a chance to be a very good offensive tackle. We go to great lengths to make sure everyone knows the tempo of the drills throughout practice. If everyone is on the same page as to the speed of the drill, there is less chance for injury to occur.
How much is the season discussed during Spring Practice or is the focus on installing your new system?
Great question. Each practice is figuratively earmarked as a "game" versus an opponent that we will play in the fall. After practice, the coaching staff grades the team's performance on offense, defense and special teams. There are always tangible pieces to each practice that can be graded. For example, how well did we pursue to the football today? Did any of our defenders fail to hustle? We can grade those kinds of things. The next day, we will post a score for the "game" based on the grades. The score and winner reflects how we performed in the practice. Today's opponent was Western Michigan and tomorrow we face Eastern Michigan. A coach is assigned to speak briefly about the upcoming opponent following each practice session. We had a terrific assistant coach who worked with us at Lehigh and Elon named Tony Trisciani. He gave us the idea several years ago. Tony is now a very successful head high school coach at Whitehall High School in Eastern Pennsylvania.
How have the three quarterbacks responded to your offensive system?
It's baby steps right now for those guys. We put a lot of responsibility on their shoulders in this offensive system. They are great kids who are committed. However, it is always a big difference seeing something on video or on the white board and then turning around and executing it when the bullets start flying on the field. Our quarterbacks are in blue jerseys so that they don't get hit during team periods. That's a good thing for them, because at times we are holding onto the ball too long right now. They will continue to learn and eventually, the speed of the game will slow down for them. Until then, thank goodness for the blue jerseys! Brooks Medaris is doing an excellent job in his role as the third team quarterback. We are counting on him to know the system and the signals. He has embraced this role and is making a valuable contribution to the program.
You have been in the community a lot and people are talking Ball State football in the spring, what can the fans do at this time to help the program as we head into summer?
Attending the spring game on the 23rd would be a great start. We kickoff at 3pm, so there's plenty of time to get "honey do's" covered in the morning and then come over and enjoy some Division I college football at Scheumann Stadium. It will be a great opportunity to get a sneak preview of the team headed into the summer months. Several players have already solidified summer employment in Muncie and we appreciate the many local businesses that have stepped up to help out. Summer is the only time of year our guys can build their resume from an employment standpoint. We hope to place some more student-athletes into quality summer positions before the end of the semester.
