Pirates Inch Closer To First Full Pads Session
August 07, 2014 | Football
GREENVILLE, N.C. - For the second-straight day, warm and humid conditions greeted East Carolina at the Cliff Moore Practice Complex as head coach Ruffin McNeill guided his squad through a three-hour session in shells on Thursday.
Beginning Friday, the Pirates will enter another phase of preseason camp by wearing full pads for the first time and continue preparations for the camp's first of three scheduled two-a-day workouts Saturday.
"We had a very physical practice and I was excited to see all the movement on the field after putting on pads for the first time Wednesday," McNeill said. "Execution and getting better with each repetition continues to be something we stress and the players have responded very well to that.
"Each practice I set daily themes on what we can do to keep growing the development of our program (vision and mission). Thursday the concept was to be a good teammate and the mission was to pick out one fundamental or technique to work on, and get better at."
Similar to Wednesday's agenda, Thursday's practice featured coverage skills and reads (roughly 30 minutes), and ball security points of emphasis for both the offense and defense. The final 25 minutes before the Pirates' conditioning work was spent in a team-on-team segment that pitted the top three units on both sides of the ball against each other instead of the scout team.
"We have a pretty regimented schedule during fall camp," McNeill added. "By working out in the mornings, the players have more time to recover. But that doesn't mean they get the afternoons off. We have meetings lined up daily starting at 3 p.m., then we workout with Coach (Jeff) Connors, then we meet again in what I call a teaching session going over a specific phase of the game."
Camp Notes:
McNeill announced the addition of eight preferred walk-ons to the Pirates' 105-man camp roster Thursday: OWR Dwayne Duckett (5-10, 175, Jr., Columbia, S.C.), OL Bladen Gatling (6-2, 323, Jr., Murfreesboro, N.C.), TE/IWR Beau Huffman (6-2, 193, Fr., Massillon, Ohio), DS John Oliver (6-3, 271, Fr., Charlotte, N.C.), ILB Cole Pickard (6-0, 220, Fr., Walkertown, N.C.), QB Ray Smith (6-1, 177, Fr., Whittier, N.C.), ILB Davonte' Spruill (6-3, 212, Fr., Plymouth, N.C.) and P Jim Squatriglia (6-2, 236, Fr., Huntersville, N.C.).
Up Next:
Friday's Practice Time: 8:45 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Season Opener: Aug. 30 vs. North Carolina Central (8 p.m. EST)
