Pirates Complete First Two-A-Day
August 10, 2011 | Football
Aug. 10, 2011
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GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina took another step forward in preseason camp by completing its initial two-a-day schedule Wednesday at the Cliff Moore Practice Complex. The Pirates spent two-and-a-half hours during the morning practice wearing full pads before returning to shells for the hour-and-a-half session in the afternoon.
"We have three two-a-days scheduled into our fall camp and the first one went well," head coach Ruffin McNeill said. "We had full pads on and the guys did a good job. The whole key to it is progressing each day and making sure we get better."
With a one-day break from sprints at the end of practice, ECU closed the morning session with a combined 55 minutes of skeleton, special teams and team-on-team work.
"During the first practice, we did a lot with special teams,” McNeill said. “The second practice was mainly focused on offense and defense. The defense got in some specific opponent work today."
The afternoon practice opened with a focus on fundamentals. The offensive and defensive units used nearly 25 minutes in skill drills, including route precision for the receivers and getting around blocks by the linebackers.
"They’re doing a good job," McNeill said of the progress the defense has made. "I think the coaches are doing a really fine job of installing the package. The players are doing a great job grasping the concepts and carrying them from the classroom to the field.”
To close the afternoon session, the quarterbacks went through a series of scramble drills with the receivers before another extended period of team-on-team work, which featured the No. 1 and 2 offensive and defensive teams going against early-designated scout squads. The last 10 minutes were spent with freshmen in pass skeleton, giving the coaching staff another chance for close evaluation.
Notes
The Pirates return to a single-workout schedule Thursday and Friday in preparation for the program's first intra-squad scrimmage Saturday afternoon ... East Carolina has two more two-a-days scheduled, Monday, Aug. 15, and Thursday, Aug. 18.
Thursday's Practice Time: 8:45 – 11:45 a.m.
Season Opener: Sept. 3 vs. South Carolina in Charlotte (7:00 p.m.)
