Camp Week 2 and Jamboree

Practice
Week 2 went into the books with mostly prep for the Jamboree. Getting a few plays to run and run correctly is the main purpose. Not to show to much, but to at least see how the kids to vs a different team. It is also the 1st opportunity to get the full defense together. Practice during the week was good, we got some players back from vacation. One of them, Brian looks like he will be my solid #2 cornerback. He made some big plays during practice, especially on run support.
Personally I dont show much during Jamboree since they are scouted. also dont mind a good butt whuppin as it usually get the kids more focused. Jordan is coming along as my Mike LB. Kyle is showing too much hesitation as the Will.
So far the defense stacks up like this
LB's
WillLB Kyle
MikeLB- Jordan
SamLB- Jake
DTs Jeremy and Isaiah
DE's Sean and Eric
FS Aaron
CB's- two rookies, Ian and Brian

The Jamboree
The first time the team dons the Scarlet and Gold. they look like CRAP in pregame warmups. Not awake, not hitting and no excitement. I throw up beforehand as I usually do before any game, so my nerves are shot. Good thing today doesnt count.

1st Offensive Series. TEAM 1
We drive from the 40 yard line down to the 10. A good solid 4-5 yards a pop. My FB fumbles the ball inside the 10. It will be a long day.
2nd Offensive series
We drive from the 40 to the one and score on a QB Sneak. Nothing looks better than little Peyton sneaking behind big Cal
3rd and 4th offensive series. We drive 15-20 yards each time. Passing looks poor, but we are getting good 4-5YPC

The 1st 2 defensive series went great vs TEAM 1. We stopped them cold on all run and pass plays and even forced and recovered 2 fumbles.
The third series they broke a 35 yrd run on a missed tackle and scored on 4th down run inside the 5.
The 4th series included another missed tackle on 3rd and long from the 42 with a long TD run. Still a good defensive performance overall.

Team 2 was the defending League champions. For some reason I wasnt as impressed with them. Offensively we moved the ball well include a great 30yd catch from my WR Jason. 3 Drives ended with fumbles. They didnt stop us, we beat ourselves

Defense looked awesome against the run. No gains on any of their 20 plays. Then their QB lit us up on two deep passes for TD's (Both with my Backup FS in the game, he bit both plays on the shorter patters, leaving the deep man one on one)

All in all the team looked good. Our mistakes were our own, and it looks like with one week left of camp and our 1st game week prep, we should be ready for the Vikings in Week one

Camp, Week 1

So week one of training camp is in the books. Hours of tacking and blocking drills, tons of agility. The team is starting to shape up and come together.An odd fact of this season is that no one wants to play Quarterback. However it looks like last years Backup QB has the edge on this years job. He has really stepped up as a leader, and with a name like Peyton, he has the credentials
One of the most interesting players has to be Cal. At the tender age of 10, Cal is 5'7 155lbs And not fat. Solid, Quick and dwarfs every other player on the team (and maybe the league)Cal is an immovable object. He thus far cannot be blocked and is a plow at blocking
In a Sumo type blocking event (blocking out of a circle) both sides ended with a tie and the teams chose one player as a sudden death playoff. Cal was chosen and easily defeated Peyton. Choosing a rookie was an odd move for any team.
We are in the process early in the season of breaking down position, finding our backfield and sizing up some positions for the defense
The blocking looks good, tackling needs some work

The 1st post of the 2007 Season

Welcome to the Knights 2007 story.

Inspired by the HBO special "Hard Knocks" I decided as the head coach of the 2007 Red Squad I would keep an ongoing blog of the season, starting from camp and hopefully ending with a championship.

Camp officially starts on August 15th and the season runs to Thanksgiving. I will keep ongoing weekly update of the team progress, issues, depth charts, position battles and anything else happening with the team.

Last Names have been ommited to protect the innocent.

The coaching Staff consists of the following

Coach Jeff - 11 year head coach, Defensive coordinator. Creator of the Newport Gambler 46 (Inspired by Coach Callende)

Coach Ryan- 7 year assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and dubbed "Rain Man" by coach Jeff

Coach Jonathan.- Has son Adam on team, will be QB and Backfield Coach

Coach Gerald- Has son Peyton on team (Peyton wants to be QB) He is new to the staff. I am unsure what his strengths are.

Coach Jim. His son Jake is on the team. Jake was last years fullback. Jim will be assisting me with the defense.

I feel like I have a great staff put together. The team consists currently of 23 players. Last year this group went 7-1 and went to the playoffs, winning its 1st game but losing the conference Championship. I feel a little like Norv Turner, inheriting a team that seems to only have 1 step forward to take, but could take two steps back.