Hurricanes Wrap Up Ninth Session of Spring Practice
March 29, 2007
Coral Gables – Nine down and six to go. The Miami Hurricanes held their ninth session of spring practice this afternoon on the Greentree Athletic Fields in Coral Gables.
With no opponent to prepare for and the season opener still five months away, the Hurricanes are developing a team chemistry, with dozens of players competing for starting jobs and roles that will guarantee them valuable playing time.
“It’s still going well. There’s a lot of excitement, a lot of enthusiasm,” said head coach Randy Shannon. “The players are staying positive, and that’s what we’ve tried to work on, building the chemistry of what we’re trying to build as a team. Today we put the defense in some situations and they responded to some things and they didn’t respond to other situations. That’s part of football.”
Shannon said the defense will always be ahead of the offense in the spring. “We have a new offense, new players, new schemes, new coaches. But they’re doing fine. We’re excited about what the offense is doing. We’re giving them a lot of different looks, and we’re keeping them thinking. Right now, it’s all about mental toughness. I’m trying to develop what we do as a team. The more we keep pushing that way, the team will become pretty good. When we start playing as a team and have a total team concept, then I will start talking about individual players. Until then, I can’t.”
The Hurricanes will hold their second scrimmage of the spring at 6 p.m. Friday night at Traz Powell Stadium in Miami. The scrimmage is open to the public and is free. Traz Powell Stadium is located at 11380 NW 27th Avenue. Fans should park on the west side of the stadium.
“The first scrimmage (last Saturday) was really good as far as finding out what guys can do, who can play when they’re tired. We had 137 plays, so everybody went about 40 plays each,” said Shannon. “We’ve treated this week like a game week. I want to see improvement in all areas. We have to improve on running the football, but we have to be consistent. When we have a chance to knock the defense out, we have to do that. And when the defense needs to control the offense, they have to do that. We can’t play good for 30 plays and then for two plays not play good. Consistency is a big part of what we’re doing.”
ONE WEEK UNTIL SPRING GAME AND BANKUNITED CANESFEST
The annual spring game and BankUnited CanesFest will be Saturday, April 7 at the Orange Bowl. The game begins at 10 a.m., and in addition to watching the 2007 version of the Hurricanes, fans will be able to select-a-seat and get autographs from their favorite players. Sebastian the Ibis and cheerleaders will be on hand to entertain fans, who can also purchase the latest apparel and merchandise. Gates open at 9 a.m.
