Football talk
posted by LW, Tuesday, June 30, 2009
It's still June, so the thought of two-a-days right around the corner isn't overly appealing (didn't we just wrap up spring practice two weeks ago?).
But some excitement is starting to build, stoked by some reading about the 2009 season.
J.P. Giglio of the News & Observer of Raleigh has a mid-summer ACC football report and says the conference's offenses, boosted by the return of both QBs and all four RBs from last year's All-ACC teams, should get quite a boost.
There's a big void at WR, though.
Paul Strelow of The State ranks the ACC's QBs, and I mostly agree with his assessment.
I tend to think Tyrod Taylor is a little high at No. 3, and Christian Ponder is a tad low at No.8.
I agree with Paul that Ponder's passing ability is in serious question. But his running ability helped open up a long-struggling offense, and that can't be ignored.
Also from Strelow, a blog entry on Trevor Booker's progress -- or lack thereof -- with Team USA.
Willy Korn tells ESPN.com's Heather Dinich he's back to his old self after working with former NFL QB Jerry Rhome.
Korn would work with his father and throw to him, and they sent Rhome a DVD of the spring game and a few spring practices to see how he could help.
"We really didn't have to spend a whole lot of time correcting stuff when I went down there because I worked so hard on it with my dad and my dad would tape me throw so I could go back to the house and watch it and see what I need to correct," Korn said. "It improved a ton before I even got down there to work with coach Rhome. He was excited to see my release had gotten quicker and shorter and it wasn't so long and I was getting the ball out of my hands pretty quickly. It just gave me a lot of confidence for a guy with his experience and his knowledge of the game to look at me and say, 'You're throwing fine, your mechanics look good,' two weeks after the spring game. It gave me a lot of confidence."
Rhome reinforced it and cautioned Korn to keep the ball close to his ear and not let it drop on the follow-through, and obviously not to drop it. It's almost become second nature.
"It's starting to feel that way, it really is, with all of the reps we're getting out there in seven-on-sevens," Korn said. "When I went down there to work with coach Rhome I still had to consciously think about doing it the correct way. Now that I've had a month and a half of doing it the right way, it's starting to become muscle memory. It's coming naturally finally."
Speaking of the 'Noles, here's a piece on defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews.
Dennis Dodd gives his ACC predictions, and he's not drinking the orange Kool-Aid. He picks the Tigers fourth behind No. 1 N.C. State, No. 2 Florida State and No. 3 Wake Forest.
The Dabo Swinney era goes into its first full season. A 4-2 finish by the former receivers coach was enough to raise hopes after the end of Tommy Bowden's 9 1/2-year reign. There is always the fear that Clemson is still Clemson. Since 1999, it has never won less than six or more than nine. The Tigers have had the talent to win the ACC each of the last three seasons but they always seem to disappoint. Kevin Steele was a huge get as defensive coordinator coming from Alabama. Tailback C.J. spillers is less than 1,000 yards away from becoming the ACC's career leader in all-purpose yards. Swinney will be reminded at every turn that the last ACC title was in 1991.
Looks like the Education Department has taken notice of the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch's exposure of athletics departments' blatant misuse of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
The federal agency that protects student privacy is examining the shroud of secrecy surrounding big-time college athletics.
"You've given us some food for thought," said Paul Gammill, who leads the Education Department office that monitors compliance of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, commonly called FERPA.
In reaction to The Dispatch's ongoing series, Secrecy 101, Gammill said his staff now is deciding what information about athletes should and should not be protected by the federal law created to keep students' academic records from public scrutiny.
Gammill also will meet next month with the NCAA, the organization that oversees college athletics and punishes rule-breakers, and plans to speak with James L. Buckley, the former U.S. senator who wrote the FERPA law in 1974.
Buckley has said that FERPA is being used in ways he never intended.
Duke's Vince Oghobaase, who could've gone just about anywhere out of high school, looks to elevate his game in his final year with the Blue Devils.
Here's an update on N.C. State's Nate Irving, who's managing to smile through the injuries suffered in a recent car accident.
And Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald has another fantastic story, this one on Bernie Kosar.
LW
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Can't say I'm totally geeked about football season just yet.
It's still June, so the thought of two-a-days right around the corner isn't overly appealing (didn't we just wrap up spring practice two weeks ago?).
But some excitement is starting to build, stoked by some reading about the 2009 season.
J.P. Giglio of the News & Observer of Raleigh has a mid-summer ACC football report and says the conference's offenses, boosted by the return of both QBs and all four RBs from last year's All-ACC teams, should get quite a boost.
There's a big void at WR, though.
Paul Strelow of The State ranks the ACC's QBs, and I mostly agree with his assessment.
I tend to think Tyrod Taylor is a little high at No. 3, and Christian Ponder is a tad low at No.8.
I agree with Paul that Ponder's passing ability is in serious question. But his running ability helped open up a long-struggling offense, and that can't be ignored.
Also from Strelow, a blog entry on Trevor Booker's progress -- or lack thereof -- with Team USA.
Willy Korn tells ESPN.com's Heather Dinich he's back to his old self after working with former NFL QB Jerry Rhome.
Korn would work with his father and throw to him, and they sent Rhome a DVD of the spring game and a few spring practices to see how he could help.
"We really didn't have to spend a whole lot of time correcting stuff when I went down there because I worked so hard on it with my dad and my dad would tape me throw so I could go back to the house and watch it and see what I need to correct," Korn said. "It improved a ton before I even got down there to work with coach Rhome. He was excited to see my release had gotten quicker and shorter and it wasn't so long and I was getting the ball out of my hands pretty quickly. It just gave me a lot of confidence for a guy with his experience and his knowledge of the game to look at me and say, 'You're throwing fine, your mechanics look good,' two weeks after the spring game. It gave me a lot of confidence."
Rhome reinforced it and cautioned Korn to keep the ball close to his ear and not let it drop on the follow-through, and obviously not to drop it. It's almost become second nature.
"It's starting to feel that way, it really is, with all of the reps we're getting out there in seven-on-sevens," Korn said. "When I went down there to work with coach Rhome I still had to consciously think about doing it the correct way. Now that I've had a month and a half of doing it the right way, it's starting to become muscle memory. It's coming naturally finally."
Speaking of the 'Noles, here's a piece on defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews.
Dennis Dodd gives his ACC predictions, and he's not drinking the orange Kool-Aid. He picks the Tigers fourth behind No. 1 N.C. State, No. 2 Florida State and No. 3 Wake Forest.
The Dabo Swinney era goes into its first full season. A 4-2 finish by the former receivers coach was enough to raise hopes after the end of Tommy Bowden's 9 1/2-year reign. There is always the fear that Clemson is still Clemson. Since 1999, it has never won less than six or more than nine. The Tigers have had the talent to win the ACC each of the last three seasons but they always seem to disappoint. Kevin Steele was a huge get as defensive coordinator coming from Alabama. Tailback C.J. spillers is less than 1,000 yards away from becoming the ACC's career leader in all-purpose yards. Swinney will be reminded at every turn that the last ACC title was in 1991.
Looks like the Education Department has taken notice of the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch's exposure of athletics departments' blatant misuse of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
The federal agency that protects student privacy is examining the shroud of secrecy surrounding big-time college athletics.
"You've given us some food for thought," said Paul Gammill, who leads the Education Department office that monitors compliance of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, commonly called FERPA.
In reaction to The Dispatch's ongoing series, Secrecy 101, Gammill said his staff now is deciding what information about athletes should and should not be protected by the federal law created to keep students' academic records from public scrutiny.
Gammill also will meet next month with the NCAA, the organization that oversees college athletics and punishes rule-breakers, and plans to speak with James L. Buckley, the former U.S. senator who wrote the FERPA law in 1974.
Buckley has said that FERPA is being used in ways he never intended.
Duke's Vince Oghobaase, who could've gone just about anywhere out of high school, looks to elevate his game in his final year with the Blue Devils.
Here's an update on N.C. State's Nate Irving, who's managing to smile through the injuries suffered in a recent car accident.
And Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald has another fantastic story, this one on Bernie Kosar.
LW
For questions or comments on this blog entry, please visit The West Zone message board.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Donnie Patterson. Donnie Patterson is the founder of Patterson Tax Service, located in Easley, S.C. He has been active in tax preparation since 1970, and offers a full range of tax and bookkeeping services.
Larry Williams. Larry has covered the daily beat at Clemson since 2004. Williams, who worked for the Charleston Post & Courier from 2004-08, joined Tigerillustrated.com in November of 2008. He may be reached by email at ldubya08(at)gmail.com. Replace (at) with @.