Four takeaways from early fall Memphis football camp
The Memphis football team gets nine practices before classes begin on Aug. 17.
The Tigers are a third of the way through after Sunday's session.
Here are four takeaways from the first batch of workouts and what head coach Ryan Silverfield will be looking for as fall camp continues Monday.
Newer Tigers impress
Silverfield mentioned during a virtual press conference before camp convened that he was anxious to finally see his youngsters and newcomers in action. The cancellation of spring training due to the coronavirus pandemic prevented the latest crop of Tigers from working with their new coaches and teammates – outside of what Silverfield classified as organized team activities – until recently.
Sixth-year senior quarterback Brady White has been encouraged by what he's seen thus far.
“The one thing with the young guys, and it's awesome, there's a pretty big group of them and they're extremely talented,” he said. “A lot of good moments, good flashes. If we can get them coming along a little more, get them up to speed, they can mature and grow and be bigtime players for the Tigers down the line.”
Senior defensive lineman O'bryan Goodson said he is anxious to see what sophomore running back Rodrigues Clark will do with a more pronounced role in 2020. Last season, Clark played a limited role in eight games, rushing 26 times for 85 yards and a touchdown.
“He looks outstanding,” Goodson said
of Clark.
“I always knew he had it in him. He’s been working hard, putting in extra hours. Man, I’m proud of just seeing him out there running with the (first team), not messing up. This kid is gonna be special. This is gonna be the year that everyone knows who ‘Dreke’ Clark is.”
White a fan of Tigers' new playcaller
Someone else who has impressed those around him early in his first fall camp in a new role is offensive coordinator Kevin Johns.
Johns was in the same position at Memphis last season. But once former head coach Mike Norvell left for the same position at Florida State, playcalling duties were handed over to Johns.
White said it’s been smooth sailing since Johns began officially calling plays at the 2019 Cotton Bowl.
“I mean, obviously, it’s still the same offense,” White said. “You might have little tweaks here or there. (But) the one thing is (Norvell and Johns) are different individuals. There aren’t, like, drastic changes. Like, maybe rather than this, let’s do this. Or, ‘what are you thinking here?’ That’s what I love. I love how (Johns’) mind works. I love that he communicates with me and we kind of attack it together and communicate really well.”
COVID-19 testing update
COVID-19 outbreaks continue to hamper certain college football programs as they prepare for the upcoming season.
On Sunday, UTEP became the most recent team forced to halt workouts after six Miners returned positive tests. Silverfield declined to go into specifics regarding the status of his roster but assured the program will proceed by sticking to the mandated protocols and maintaining caution.
“I’m going to keep all the COVID stuff in-house right now,” he said.
“Every day, we do a daily COVID check. Anybody that has any issues at all, we’re going to be smart about (it). We’ve tested the guys throughout and we do have plans in place coming up very soon to test the entire program, where we test everybody – coaches, staff, support staff.
“(But) we’ve been doing things the right way and we’re going to continue to be safe and take the right precautions.”
Positives of the new normal
The changes that have been brought about by the presence of COVID-19 have stretched far and wide, affecting many walks of life.
Sports included.
But the ever-optimistic Silverfield indicated last week there will be some aspects of how things are required to be handled now that will be adopted once things return to normal.
“You’re seeing businesses throughout the world that are learning different ways they can operate,” he said. “I’ve tried to do the same, especially with our staff. I think Zoom meetings are something that won’t go away. Then, I think what it’s taught us is we’ve got to constantly be able to adapt. What COVID has taught us, especially from a planning standpoint, is to be flexible. We put together a plan for the week and every day is different.
“The nice thing is our kids have been resilient.”
What's next?
The Tigers have spent the first three days of fall camp working through what Silverfield calls “base install.”
Following Sunday’s practice, he said that won’t change in the coming days.
“Really, the next three to five days is going to be continuing with the base of what we’re doing,” Silverfield said.
“Right now, the meat of our offense is going in. Defense (is) the same. We’re installing a defense that’s new to all these guys.
“We’ll get into more specific stuff – short yardage, goal line, third down and red zone – as we move throughout camp.”