Northwestern University Athletics
Spring Football Update -- April 15
4/15/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 15, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Following Saturday's first spring scrimmage, the Wildcats returned to the practice field Monday afternoon with temperatures (mid-80s) more typical of September than April.
Monday's session included meetings, film review and a shorter-than-usual on-field practice. Afterwards, NU Head Coach Randy Walker shared his thoughts on Saturday's scrimmage as well as the Wildcats' special teams.
Q: After reviewing the film from Saturday's scrimmage, who or what things impressed you?
Walker: "First and foremost, I thought the effort was real solid. We're a far cry from being a polished group, and that's to be expected. We've been in it for seven practices and I didn't expect us to be in midseason form. Yeah, we had some mistakes, we have some things we need to clean up, but everything was correctable. And the one thing I was excited about, I thought our enthusiasm and our energy level was great. We played hard. Not always well, but we played hard. And I'll take that any day. And we've got a chance to keep getting better if we continue to do that on a consistent basis."
Q: What about your concerns from Saturday?
Walker: "Oh, I'm not concerned about anything yet. There are some things we're not doing well, but again, I think those errors are correctable. We can be better. So I think it's just a matter now of hopefully taking things to the next step. We looked at the film today as a team and the kids see those mistakes -- they continue to correct those things. Hopefully this week we'll see a real improvement. But the good news is, we've still got some practices left. Plus, all summer and all preseason to get where we need to be. I'm not ready to hit a panic button or anything yet. I'm glad we're not playing anybody just yet, but I also think we're right on schedule and steadily progressing toward where we need to be."
Q: With spring practice at the midway point, how do you evaluate the progress of the offense and defense with regards to the changes you're making on both sides of the ball?
Walker: "I think pretty well. We have thrown a lot at them. I think that explains some of the confusion out there. You had some overload taking place. And smart as we are -- we have a very smart, bright football team -- you just short-circuit out there. We did have some mental errors and we didn't execute everything like you'd like. But those things will start becoming second nature with the more repetitions we get. All this football team needs is more reps. There's no other way around it. You put some new things in, you make some adjustments, and young players and old players alike, they need the reps to get better."
Q: What about the play of your special teams units this spring?
Walker: "Well, we're going through some changes there as well. As you know, we lost J.J. Standring and he was the focal point of our punt team for four years. Now we're working on punting and adjusting to life without J.J. because he was such a good punter and did such a quality job for us. You know, time will tell. We have a lot of work ahead. But again, I see the same things there. I see small, but consistent improvement in every aspect of what we're doing."
