12/14 GMAC Bowl Article from Memphis' Commercial Appeal
Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2004 10:38 am
West trying to make best of extra practices
By Phil Stukenborg
December 14, 2004
Practice for the GMAC Bowl began Friday for the University of Memphis football team.
The Tigers also practiced Saturday, took Sunday off, and resumed workouts Monday at the Murphy Athletic Complex. They'll practice daily through Thursday, taking Friday off to travel to the bowl site in Mobile, Ala., before resuming workouts at an area high school.
It's an additional two weeks of practice that serves as a fringe benefit of the postseason. Not only do the workouts prepare the team for the bowl game, but they give the returning players beneficial repetitions.
"We're working some of the younger guys in fundamental drills that we do prior to our team scout work," Tiger coach Tommy West said. "We're involving everybody, where during the year you just involve the guys that are playing because you have to move so fast.
"Now you can slow down, take your time and you can work everybody. All the (young) wideouts and running backs and linebackers are getting work."
West said Monday it's not as productive a period as it used to be. Before NCAA scholarship reductions were mandated, teams had as many as 150 players.
"I can remember in the 1980s (as an assistant coach at Clemson), we used to keep our young guys out and scrimmage after the travel squad (finished practice)," he said. "We'd always leave the week before the week of the game and went somewhere else and practiced."
West said the only restriction was the team had to stay within 60 miles of the game site.
"If we played in Orlando, we went and stayed in Daytona," he said. "If we went and played in Jacksonville, we stayed in Daytona.
"We'd practice six days prior to going to the bowl site. And I tried to do that my second year (as head coach) at Clemson (in 1995) when we came in second (in the Atlantic Coast Conference) and went to the Gator Bowl."
West said the experience was a disaster.
"By the time we got to Jacksonville, those kids were ready to go home," he said. "And by the time the game was to be played, they didn't even want to play.
"It was the worst. I knew we were in trouble."
West said some of college football's most prestigious programs falter in bowl games for similar reasons. Alabama went 0-7-1 during an eight-year stretch from 1968-75 under legendary coach Bear Bryant. Michigan went 0-7 from 1970-79 and Ohio State went 2-8 between 1970-80.
"Some of the great, great coaches were not good in bowl games," West said. "Nebraska had a terrible bowl record. One of the reasons was they preached, 'We'll have our fun after the bowl game.'
"Then they go through two-a-days and work their players like dogs up until the game. You don't have enough people to do that anymore."
West said it's important for this program to use the bowl experience to its benefit, not as a detriment.
"The impact of a bowl game for us now is from a recruiting standpoint and an attitude standpoint," West said. "We're close to being a team that expects to go to a bowl game."
While the workouts leading up to the Dec. 22 game against Bowling Green won't be much different than they were for any other opponent during the season, West said being able to extend the season is a positive.
Having a postseason date boosts the program, giving it another two weeks of exposure.
"It just helps the overall attitude of your team," he said. "We're not the pits anymore. We don't dress in a locker room that leaks. We walk a little bit different, we talk a little bit different. We don't boast about what we're going to do. We carry ourselves a little different because we are expected to play well and win. And with that comes a different attitude."
Briefly
Tiger officials said those who purchased tickets to the GMAC Bowl from the U of M ticket office can pick up their orders today, Wednesday and Thursday from 9 a.m to 7 p.m. at the school's Athletic Office Building.
By Phil Stukenborg
December 14, 2004
Practice for the GMAC Bowl began Friday for the University of Memphis football team.
The Tigers also practiced Saturday, took Sunday off, and resumed workouts Monday at the Murphy Athletic Complex. They'll practice daily through Thursday, taking Friday off to travel to the bowl site in Mobile, Ala., before resuming workouts at an area high school.
It's an additional two weeks of practice that serves as a fringe benefit of the postseason. Not only do the workouts prepare the team for the bowl game, but they give the returning players beneficial repetitions.
"We're working some of the younger guys in fundamental drills that we do prior to our team scout work," Tiger coach Tommy West said. "We're involving everybody, where during the year you just involve the guys that are playing because you have to move so fast.
"Now you can slow down, take your time and you can work everybody. All the (young) wideouts and running backs and linebackers are getting work."
West said Monday it's not as productive a period as it used to be. Before NCAA scholarship reductions were mandated, teams had as many as 150 players.
"I can remember in the 1980s (as an assistant coach at Clemson), we used to keep our young guys out and scrimmage after the travel squad (finished practice)," he said. "We'd always leave the week before the week of the game and went somewhere else and practiced."
West said the only restriction was the team had to stay within 60 miles of the game site.
"If we played in Orlando, we went and stayed in Daytona," he said. "If we went and played in Jacksonville, we stayed in Daytona.
"We'd practice six days prior to going to the bowl site. And I tried to do that my second year (as head coach) at Clemson (in 1995) when we came in second (in the Atlantic Coast Conference) and went to the Gator Bowl."
West said the experience was a disaster.
"By the time we got to Jacksonville, those kids were ready to go home," he said. "And by the time the game was to be played, they didn't even want to play.
"It was the worst. I knew we were in trouble."
West said some of college football's most prestigious programs falter in bowl games for similar reasons. Alabama went 0-7-1 during an eight-year stretch from 1968-75 under legendary coach Bear Bryant. Michigan went 0-7 from 1970-79 and Ohio State went 2-8 between 1970-80.
"Some of the great, great coaches were not good in bowl games," West said. "Nebraska had a terrible bowl record. One of the reasons was they preached, 'We'll have our fun after the bowl game.'
"Then they go through two-a-days and work their players like dogs up until the game. You don't have enough people to do that anymore."
West said it's important for this program to use the bowl experience to its benefit, not as a detriment.
"The impact of a bowl game for us now is from a recruiting standpoint and an attitude standpoint," West said. "We're close to being a team that expects to go to a bowl game."
While the workouts leading up to the Dec. 22 game against Bowling Green won't be much different than they were for any other opponent during the season, West said being able to extend the season is a positive.
Having a postseason date boosts the program, giving it another two weeks of exposure.
"It just helps the overall attitude of your team," he said. "We're not the pits anymore. We don't dress in a locker room that leaks. We walk a little bit different, we talk a little bit different. We don't boast about what we're going to do. We carry ourselves a little different because we are expected to play well and win. And with that comes a different attitude."
Briefly
Tiger officials said those who purchased tickets to the GMAC Bowl from the U of M ticket office can pick up their orders today, Wednesday and Thursday from 9 a.m to 7 p.m. at the school's Athletic Office Building.