North Carolina State University Athletics
2002 Football Preseason Diary, Day 13
8/13/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 13, 2002
The entire team got a wonderful glimpse of the future this morning, as we practiced for the first time on the new practice fields out at Carter-Finley Stadium. There are three full fields and the grass is like a luxurious carpet. There was a nice breeze blowing through there and a nice view of the ESA and the new operations building. Pretty nice digs for the Wolfpack! We'll go back out there tonight, but before anyone gets too excited: Practices are closed out there just like they are on campus (and there are no bushes to hide behind out there!).
The guys were in shells this morning (shorts with their pads), but they're starting to get into game-week mode. Every day there is a little more installation of the New Mexico game plan. Most of that comes in meetings - they meet before and after practice in the mornings and at night. The coaches were getting after them pretty good this morning and there isn't quite as much joking around. Things are getting serious and will be even more so tomorrow, when we have our second big scrimmage.
Josh Brown and T.A. McLendon were getting a lot of reps this morning at tailback, probably because T.A. has missed so much time. I saw him make a couple of nifty moves out there, so hopefully his injuries are behind him. T.J. Williams also had a couple of big catches today in drills.
Every year, our team has a different motto. In 2000, it was "FINISH," last year it was "Full Speed Ahead." This year, the theme for the team is "Step Up." If you've seen any interviews on television, you can see that the shirts the guys wear under their jerseys have that logo emblazoned across the front. In smaller letters, along the back of the neck of the shirt, is the old motto "FINISH" - which means that's still an important theme as well. I think that as two-a-days are winding down and the guys are tired and everybody is sore, that the coaches are emphasizing even more that it's time to "Step Up." The team has certainly lived up to its mottos each of the past two seasons!
One funny thing that did happen today: in 11-on-11 drills, the offense had a bad play (can't remember if it was a fumble or an offsides or a tackle in the backfield) and Marcus Hudson started jumping up and down all over Scott Kooistra. Marcus is so slim and Scott is so big, it looked like a gnat buzzing around an elephant! OK - maybe I'm getting a little punchy from too much time in the heat and humidity, but I got a good chuckle out of it.
Tomorrow, we'll have a kicking scrimmage in the morning and then another situational scrimmage, similar to last Saturday's in the afternoon. So ... the diary entry will be late again tomorrow.
Diary, Day 1
Diary, Day 2
Diary, Day 3
Diary, Day 4
Diary, Day 5
Diary, Day 5, Part 2
Diary, Day 6
Diary, Day 7
Diary, Day 8
Diary, Day 9
Diary, Day 10
Diary, Day 11
Diary, Day 12
