Preseason Southern U. news and notes

[tampajag]

Just to give me something to do, I'll be posting any Southern news here..........
Stump Mitchell spoke quickly and forcefully. He delivered his points with passion and energy. Tuesday afternoon, as usual, the man was pumped.

And preseason camp at Southern University hadn’t even started yet.

http://theadvocate.com/sports/southern/ ... o-get.html

[tampajag]

Southern University football players report for preseason camp Wednesday intent on restoring pride to their program.

In years to come, they’ll fly across the country for big games against big teams, who will presumably cut some big paychecks.

http://theadvocate.com/sports/southern/ ... orgia.html

[tampajag]

He couldn’t help himself.

Wednesday afternoon, as Dexter James walked out of the A.W. Mumford Field House, having just reported for preseason camp at Southern University, he spotted a handful of running backs a few feet away.

It was high time for James, a defensive tackle, to get in the first shot of football season.

http://theadvocate.com/sports/southern/ ... james.html

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Now that he’s been on the Southern University payroll for a little more than a month, quarterbacks coach Chad Germany said the players and assistant coaches know him now.

http://theadvocate.com/sports/southern/ ... ay-of.html

[tampajag]

Thursday afternoon, when the Southern football team wrapped up its first day of preseason practice, the temperature was 94 degrees, with a heat index of 111.

“Blazing hot,” linebacker Anthony Balancier said.

The Jaguars offense, by contrast, looked a little cold.

http://theadvocate.com/sports/southern/ ... first.html

[tampajag]

Thursday afternoon at Southern University, about halfway through the first practice of preseason football camp, amid triple-digit temperatures and soup-like humidity, offensive players gathered around assistant coach Ricky Diggs.

Let’s leave it at this: Diggs had a few choice words for the players. Most of them weren’t flattering.

http://theadvocate.com/sports/southern/ ... splay.html

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Jared Green spent four years at the University of Virginia, earning his bachelor’s degree in anthropology. To him, it was the only major that made perfect sense.

http://theadvocate.com/sports/southern/ ... story.html

[tampajag]

With a pair of thick-soled shoes, he might be all of 5-foot-7. After a heavy thunderstorm, he might tip the scales somewhere north of 170 pounds.

You see Lavell Williams in the weight room at the A.W. Mumford Field House, trying to get the most out of men who are literally twice his size, and you think: This guy must have a rip-roaring little man complex.

http://theadvocate.com/sports/southern/ ... ig-in.html

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All across this great state of ours, we’ve come to accept a few things as virtual guarantees.

Yes, death and taxes are obvious. So, too, are crawfish boils in the spring, snowball stands in the summer, and new Kardashian TV shows about once a month.

There is, of course, at least one other guarantee: When late summer arrives, football fans love preseason camp.

http://theadvocate.com/sports/southern/ ... rs-at.html

[tampajag]

Saturday morning, near the end of Southern’s third practice of preseason football camp, coach Stump Mitchell was disgusted - not with players or their effort, but himself.

During team drills, Mitchell made a mistake with a detail in one of his play-calls.

Junior wideout Charles Hawkins was the first to correct him.

http://theadvocate.com/sports/southern/ ... s-has.html

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Even these days, after the Southern football team finishes off a long practice in gruesome conditions, Brandon Rice often bounces through the hallways of the A.W. Mumford Field House with an ear-to-ear grin.

No relief from the heat? No relief from preseason camp? No end in sight to team meetings and film sessions? No problem. At least, that’s the kind of attitude teammates often see from Rice.

http://theadvocate.com/sports/southern/ ... g-his.html

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Go ahead.

Ask Paul Lounsberry, now in his second year as offensive line coach at Southern University, how well his troops performed last season.

It takes him about, oh, one-tenth of a second to answer. There’s no sugar coating. There’s no spin.

“It was horrible last year,” Lounsberry said. “Horrible.”

And if the Jaguars offense is to play better this season, it has to get better results from the big men up front.

http://theadvocate.com/sports/southern/ ... front.html

[tampajag]

So let’s say it’s hotter than a sauna outside, with temperatures in the upper 90s — which, at Southern University, it is.

And let’s say that preseason football camp is well into its second grueling week — which, at Southern, it most certainly is.

And let’s also add that players, like everywhere else, are simply trying their best during each and every drill, if for nothing else than two major reasons: 1) it’s important to get things right, and 2) it’s important to get this steam bath of a practice over with.

http://theadvocate.com/sports/southern/ ... -over.html

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Southern prepares, hopes for quick turnaround in Stump Mitchell’s second season

http://theadvocate.com/sports/southern/ ... eover.html

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When two of Southern’s top offensive linemen missed preseason practice with minor injuries last week, freshman guard Zach Brown got an instant promotion to the first team.

So far, coach Stump Mitchell said, Brown has made the most of his opportunity.

http://theadvocate.com/sports/southern/ ... first.html

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This, Stump Mitchell concluded, was downright lovely.

On another long summer afternoon, after the Southern football team finished its first preseason scrimmage Saturday - it lasted 2 hours, 12 minutes and 110 plays in hot, steamy conditions - Mitchell, the second-year coach called his team together on the practice field near A.W. Mumford Stadium, then openly praised his players’ effort.

http://theadvocate.com/sports/southern/ ... chell.html

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Sometimes, when universities feel an economic crunch, or when they’re in the mood to de-emphasize athletics on campus, they’ll consider a move to drop football.

And sometimes, the academic folks win. They drop football.

Jorge Baez and Jamie Payton faced a very different, very rare problem.

http://theadvocate.com/sports/southern/ ... at-su.html

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Before preseason camp began at Southern, coach Stump Mitchell said fans could expect “big things” this season from a smallish player — 5-foot-9 cornerback Virgil Williams.

Mitchell and his staff believed the sophomore could cement his spot as the team’s No. 1 cornerback.

http://theadvocate.com/sports/southern/ ... irgil.html

[Grizalltheway]

Sup, tj?

[tampajag]

Sup, tj?

get out my thread. I'm using the andy technique of talking to myself

[Grizalltheway]

Sup, tj?

get out my thread. I'm using the andy technique of talking to myself

Sorry, just thought you were getting a little ronery.

[tampajag]

get out my thread. I'm using the andy technique of talking to myself

Sorry, just thought you were getting a little ronery.

I appreciate the love (no homo)

[tampajag]

LINEBACKERS

POSITION COACH: O’Neill Gilbert.

PROJECTED STARTERS: Demetrius Bentley, Corey Ray, Jamie Payton, Corry Roy.

ON THE BENCH: Franchot West, Jared Detrick, Javandon Vallare, Robert Sanchez, Larry Johnson, Christian Allen, Daniel Brown.

SOMETHING TO CHEW ON: Southern was so comfortable with its depth at linebacker that it moved sophomore Anthony Balancier to safety. Balancier, who played weakside linebacker last season, ranked third on the team with 45 tackles.

http://theadvocate.com/sports/southern/ ... lance.html

[tampajag]

Now in his fifth season at Southern University, senior linebacker Corey Ray knows the drill. He’s used to it.

Every preseason, he said, players and coaches naturally believe they’ll be better than they were the year before.

“We said the same thing during camp last year,” Ray said.

http://theadvocate.com/sports/southern/ ... -this.html

[AZGrizFan]

Now in his fifth season at Southern University, senior linebacker Corey Ray knows the drill. He’s used to it.

Every preseason, he said, players and coaches naturally believe they’ll be better than they were the year before.

“We said the same thing during camp last year,” Ray said.

http://theadvocate.com/sports/southern/ ... -this.html

Corey Ray sounds jaded.