North Carolina State University Athletics
Annabelle Vaughan's Preseason Diary, Practice 4
8/11/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 10, 2004
OK - Computer access problems at home again last night, so sorry to be late again putting this entry up. Today (Tuesday) was another day of "thud" - that is hitting without wrapping up or bringing the offensive player to the ground. Tomorrow (Wednesday), when they put on pads, I'm sure there will still be a lot of thudding, just with a different result. Today's practice was shorter - just 18 periods, but there are still segment meetings tonight after workouts are over. Have I told you what the team's theme for this year is? (In my office, we call them the "Amato Mottos"). Remember, every year under Coach Amato, the staff has come up with a motto that the team repeats every day in practice. The first year Coach was here, it was FINISH. The next, it was "Full Speed Ahead." "Step Up" was the motto for the 2002 squad and last year's team was "Cut It Loose." For 2004, the theme is simple and you can see it emblazoned on every player's t-shirt: DISCIPLINE. It's probably one of the words I've heard come out of Coach's mouth more than any other since he's been here, so it's an appropriate theme for this team. Besides individual position work, there was more one-on-one with the defensive backs and receivers and some drills with the offensive line against the defensive line. The last three periods were 11-on-11 drills and during those periods, the speakers from the stadium were blasting with music. Almost seemed like game day. By the way, I had a couple of e-mails from fans wondering if the uniforms are in after I made a comment about the equipment staff yesterday. The uniforms are not in and the players haven't even seen them yet. Relax! Enjoy the anticipation! You can see them on Meet the Pack Day (August 22) and I think you'll be very pleased with what you see. By the way, not sure if everybody has heard that Meet the Pack Day is now going to be an autograph session only. The coaches know that meeting the players and getting autographs seems to be what fans want the most, so we're extending the time in hopes that everybody will be able to see who they want to see. It will be from 2-4 in the RBC Center. I'm sure the marketing office will put more details up closer to the time. Right before practice, I had the opportunity to go into the new press box (which is now a construction site) for the first time. It is unbelievable! A group of people from the university and other places, including Charles Upchurch, the facility owner representative, Jay Waddell, head superintendent, Dave Rainer, the Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities and Billy Bryant, from NCSU Construction management, took a tour and I was absolutely floored. The view from every floor is amazing. The field view is excellent, even from the top level, but the view of the surrounding countryside is also wonderful. I've been in a bunch of press boxes, but I can already tell that ours is going to be the best. You folks with suites and club seats are going to love it. Gassers again after practice today and then the offense had a meeting with Coach Herring on one field and the offense met with Coach Mazzone on the other. After that was over, Marcus Stone and Brian Clark stayed on the field doing some extra work. Marcus would throw the ball to Brian and he would catch it one-handed. Then they would move five yards down the field and do it again. They did a set with Brian catching right-handed and then he catching it left handed. I never saw him drop it once. Several players did interviews after practice - Jed Paulsen was interviewed for this week's Lee Fowler Show, so look for that one.
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