March 30, 2011
NORFOLK, Va. - The weather has made the Football Monarchs adjust schedules for the rest of the week. With the rain coming down on Wednesday afternoon, the coaching staff was forced to cancel practice and add another session for Sunday afternoon.
Coach Wilder meanwhile had a recap of his Monarchs' last three practices.
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN:
The coaching staff has selected four Monarchs to serve as spring captains. They are quarterback Thomas DeMarco, linebacker Craig Wilkins, defensive tackle Ronnie Cameron, and punter Jonathan Plisco.
THE ALL-STAR TEAM:
The coaching staff is also taking a different approach to special teams this spring. The Monarch staff isn't using a traditional depth chart, but instead is using teams of offensive players and teams of defensive players with the idea that everyone gets to compete for a starting spot on special teams. In turn, it also allows for more reps for each Monarch.
"By doing that we're saying to everyone `you're on special teams.'," said Wilder. "Last year you might have been on the punt team, but not the punt block team. Now in essence you are staring on both, so you are always competing in practice. It goes back to our philosophy that our special teams is our all-star team - the best of everybody. We want our players to have a mindset that they want to start on special teams before I start on offense or defense."
"That's hard to do," continued Wilder, "because unless you are Jonathan Plisco or Jarod Brown, you were recruited here to play offense or defense. But this mindset has really started to take over on our team where they are thinking `ok, coach wants us to be really good at special teams and I want to compete to get on the field .'"
Wilder also noted it was a big philosophical shift in the team that the coaching staff was excited for.
"That's something we'll keep working on in the spring that's different," he said . "I've never done it before in coaching and neither has anyone on the staff anywhere else. Its something that's unique to what we're trying to do. "
TACKLE FOOTBALL:
Friday's practice will be the Monarchs first in full pads. The quarterbacks - Thomas DeMarco, Rashad Manley, & Nate Ong - who are usually in redshirts and off limits, will be live all spring long. ODU's signal callers will play in game-like situations where they can take off and run the ball, be sacked, or hit after they throw the ball. It also makes it more realistic for the offensive and defensive lines.
"In the past it hasn't been that way," said Wilder. "If Ronnie Cameron broke through for a sack, he'd have to go by the quarterback. It was hard for me, or whenever we had game officials, to know when to blow the whistle. Now, he's got to tackle the quarterback or make the quarterback escape and make a play on the run."
"Now when I'm the official, I may be a little quick on the whistle," quickly noted Wilder.
The only Monarchs you'll see in redshirts this spring will be the kickers and punters.
"That's because we're doing live work on special teams, which we've never done before," continued Wilder. "I've had to make it clear to the team that those guys are off limits."
Wilder also joked that he had to make it clear to his kicker and punters that they can't get in there and tackle anybody either.