Practices getting physical under Herman
Coach’s infamous ‘circle drill’ having instant impact on Longhorns culture
AUSTIN — The discordant screeching of Drowning Pool’s heavy metal song “Bodies” spilled out over Red River Street.
Whatever was happening behind the mesh fences at Frank Denius Fields sounded violent.
“Today was a pretty physical day,” Texas coach Tom Herman said following his team’s seventh spring practice. “We put the ball down on the 4-yard line and on the goal line. We got after it pretty good.”
“Physicality” has been a term often invoked by Herman, his staff and his players.
One drill in particular, designed to breed an almost gladiatorial culture, has traveled with Herman from Ohio State to Houston and now, to Texas.
It has been a staple of Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer’s practices for years, and Herman decided to coopt the brutal drill.
It requires the entire squad to form a circular barrier, with room enough in the middle for incredible collisions.
Two players line up, then crash into one another like rams with something to prove.
The first objective is to get the other man to the ground; the second is to become comfortable with this level of physicality.
Contagious energy
It sounds a bit insane. Possibly more so is just how much joy the players seem to derive from the barbarous activity.
“Circle drill is fun to me,” defensive end Malcolm Roach said. “Really, it gets the energy right in practice.
“It really sets the tone for practice from the start; it’s that energy level that we have to keep throughout the whole practice.”
Even those who have been unable to participate, like tight end Andrew Beck, have what could be described as a masochistic desire to enter the circle. Though he is still not fully recovered from a broken foot, Beck broached the subject with Texas strength and conditioning coach Yancy McKnight.
“I was talking to coach McKnight today because I haven’t gotten to go in circle drill yet,” Beck said. “So I was talking to coach, ‘Are you going to throw me in there,’ ” Beck said. “He was like, ‘I can’t right now with how the foot is.’
“Well, I’m ready whenever you go. I’m standing there strapped up, my mouthpiece is in. But it’s exciting to see everybody (in there).”
The emphasis is not solely on infusing this team with more aggression.
There is also something of an ongoing battle between incumbent quarterback Shane Buechele and freshman Sam Ehinger.
Despite Buechele’s statistically efficacious freshman campaign — he set a UT freshmen-record with 2,958 passing yards and 21 touchdowns — Herman has decided to hold off on naming a starter until fall practice begins in August.
“Shane, you can tell, has played 12 college games,” Herman said. “There’s some seasoned-ness to him.
“Practicing against this defense is as hard as it gets for a quarterback in terms of protections, checks and runs because it feels like they got 15 guys on the field at all times. It’s difficult, but you can tell he’s got some poise back there and some game experience, where it’s not too fast for him.”
After an incredible junior season at Austin Westlake, in which he was honored as the state’s Gatorade National Player of the Year, Ehlinger lost most of his senior campaign to injuries.
Though Herman has raved about the “alpha male” newcomer, Ehlinger appears clearly behind Buechele at this admittedly early point.
“Sam, it’s still pretty fast for him,” Herman said. “But you see glimpses when things are clean, he makes some nice throws and good decisions. I think you can win with either one of them. Shane, just right now, you can tell a little bit that he’s got a little bit of experience.”
Meeting expectations
Whoever lines up under center on Sept. 2 for the season opener against Maryland will get to spread the ball around to a receiving corps Herman touted as the deepest he has ever been around.
UT returns six of its top eight receivers from 2016.
“It’s nice to be able to roll six, seven guys in there and not feel like there’s a massive drop off,” he said.
While quarterbacks battle and others adjust to new positions, Herman and his staff will use these remaining spring practices to improve communication and, of course, forge a tougher identity.
“You continue to praise in your meetings if someone is exceptionally physical and does things up to our expectations, you praise the heck out of it,” Herman said. “When someone isn’t, you criticize the heck out of it. Eventually they learn.
“We all want to be praised, right? So you learn what the expectations are, and you just go do it.”