Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: Wildcats Conclude Training Camp
8/27/2015 3:34:00 PM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsporrts.com Special Contributor
Now all that separates them from game week are a mock game on Thursday night, a weight lifting session on Friday morning and that annual event called Meet the Team at Ryan Field that evening. All of them, coaches and players alike, then take Saturday off, and on Sunday begin final preparations for their Sept. 5 season opener against Stanford.
And so here some finals words on fall camp...
SURVIVORS: During a full season, the 'Cats will run approximately 800 team reps. During just this fall camp, they ran around 500. But despite that heavy load, they suffered no soft-tissue injuries. "Not one, and that's a first," Fitzgerald said.
"That goes back to the way they prepared in the off-season," he then explained. "Their hydration and preparation for practice, they're taking it very seriously. We've tweaked a lot of things from that standpoint. I mean, we're spending 15 minutes prior to practice everyday with a whole new level of warmup-- well, we did it a little in the past, but now it's mandatory. All those things are positive."
SNAPSHOT: Each year's team, of course, takes on a personality. What is this ones? "At this point, from a camp standpoint, these guys love football," Fitzgerald said. "We've thrown different things at them, we've thrown curve balls and fast balls and sliders, the whole nine yards, and they've just embraced it. Their attitude's been great. Either they've gotten smarter and quit complaining about things that don't matter, or their attitude is terrific, just terrific. That starts with the guys on the Leadership Council and the seniors. The seniors were here when we won a lot of games and, in my opinion, when we should have competed for a championship and didn't. So I think they're highly motivated."
TWO SENIORS: Superback Dan Vitale and defensive end Dean Lowry were both true freshmen who contributed on the Northwestern team that won the 2013 Gator Bowl. They stopped to chat shortly after their coach made that comment and were asked what they had learned during camp about this year's edition.
"Right now what I've noticed throughout camp is we've got a bunch of guys who are competitors and want us to do better," said Vitale. "I think we took a huge step offensively. The defense has always been solid. But we took a huge step offensively and really built some chemistry. That's something I think we kind of lacked the last two seasons. We built that chemistry and got that competitive edge back."
"I would say that competitive edge," echoed Lowry. "Throughout spring ball, the whole emphasis was competition, whether it was within position groups or O(ffense) versus D(efense). That whole competitive mentality brings out the best in people, and that really carried over into this camp. Guys are really stepping up."
Where did that edge go missing?
"Coach really stressed, in past years, there were what we call 'Comfortable Twos,' guys that didn't really have that edge once their time came," said Lowry. "This year, whether a guy's a starter or two-deep, he's ready to step up and make the change and be a big contributor. That comes with competing the whole offseason, and being ready now to step up."
"I would agree. I just think people got too comfortable," said Vitale. "After we had a great season, we felt we were on top of the world and got too comfortable sitting where we were. You can't do that. You've got to be striving to be at the top all the time. I think we got that back this camp."
What was the major difference between the bowl team and the teams of the last two seasons?
"A lot was that competitiveness," said Vitale. "What goes along with that is the maturity. I would say with this group that we have, with the chemistry we've built, we've put together a pretty-mature football team and we're getting more crisp in everything, on and off the field. Maturity was a big emphasis from our Leadership Council and the leadership on the team, and I think it's gone a long way."
"Along with that is the combination of good, young talent and older guys bringing those guys along," said Lowry. "I know my freshman year I had guys like Tyler Scott and Quentin Williams who were more-experienced and helped guys like me and (defensive end) Deonte (Gibson) come along. So I feel older guys like me and Dan have really emphasized trying to bring along those younger guys who can play to make sure we have a continuity from seniors to freshmen."
"I've said this a couple times before. But when I was a freshman, a guy told me to play every single play like it's your senior year. That's something that we're trying to emphasize now as a senior group," said Vitale. "Like Dean said, a lot of younger guys are going to have to play. So if we can get them to play every single down like it's the last time they're going to step on the field, we're going to do some great things together."
Do those younger guys share their sense of urgency?
"Definitely," said Lowry. "Defensively, there's quite a few guys who can play and they're very talented. They come to work everyday, have a great mentality, great work ethic. It's been pleasantly surprising so far, and hopefully we can keep it up. It's a long season. We're trying to make them aware of that. The season's a marathon, not a sprint. But if they can keep that mentality, keep working day by day, we can be a very dangerous team, top to bottom."
"I agree with Dean," said Vitale. "I think one of the cool things with freshmen is how anxious they are and how excited they are with everything the coaches throw at them. Seeing that as an older guy, that's kind of cool. It kind of rejuvenates you a little bit when you see that kind of attitude every single day and how hungry they are to learn and make plays. It makes us excited. If you can have that through the entire team it's pretty cool."
That prompts us to recall that Fitzgerald told his defensive linemen and his defensive backs that, "Our team has got to have your personality."
"I think we take pride in having a good work ethic each day," Lowry says when reminded of that. "I think that started in winter time and spring time, guys having that mentality of getting after it and always wanting to compete and get better. It's really carried over into this camp."
But has the offense taken on the personality of the D line?
"They're very hard-working themselves," Lowry demurred.
"The thing they wanted to get out of us was showing up every single day ready to compete and put forth all the effort you possibly can," Vitale finally said. "That's something he (Lowry) does every single day. He just flat out out-plays people. That's what we need. And another thing about him is his maturity. He comes here every single day ready to play football. That's what he's excited about. That's what gets him going. He doesn't need to be started up by any outside forces. Everything with him is his love of football.
"That's what we needed to get back to."
••••••
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook and check us out on Instagram. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!
NUsporrts.com Special Contributor
Now all that separates them from game week are a mock game on Thursday night, a weight lifting session on Friday morning and that annual event called Meet the Team at Ryan Field that evening. All of them, coaches and players alike, then take Saturday off, and on Sunday begin final preparations for their Sept. 5 season opener against Stanford.
And so here some finals words on fall camp...
SURVIVORS: During a full season, the 'Cats will run approximately 800 team reps. During just this fall camp, they ran around 500. But despite that heavy load, they suffered no soft-tissue injuries. "Not one, and that's a first," Fitzgerald said.
"That goes back to the way they prepared in the off-season," he then explained. "Their hydration and preparation for practice, they're taking it very seriously. We've tweaked a lot of things from that standpoint. I mean, we're spending 15 minutes prior to practice everyday with a whole new level of warmup-- well, we did it a little in the past, but now it's mandatory. All those things are positive."
SNAPSHOT: Each year's team, of course, takes on a personality. What is this ones? "At this point, from a camp standpoint, these guys love football," Fitzgerald said. "We've thrown different things at them, we've thrown curve balls and fast balls and sliders, the whole nine yards, and they've just embraced it. Their attitude's been great. Either they've gotten smarter and quit complaining about things that don't matter, or their attitude is terrific, just terrific. That starts with the guys on the Leadership Council and the seniors. The seniors were here when we won a lot of games and, in my opinion, when we should have competed for a championship and didn't. So I think they're highly motivated."
TWO SENIORS: Superback Dan Vitale and defensive end Dean Lowry were both true freshmen who contributed on the Northwestern team that won the 2013 Gator Bowl. They stopped to chat shortly after their coach made that comment and were asked what they had learned during camp about this year's edition.
"Right now what I've noticed throughout camp is we've got a bunch of guys who are competitors and want us to do better," said Vitale. "I think we took a huge step offensively. The defense has always been solid. But we took a huge step offensively and really built some chemistry. That's something I think we kind of lacked the last two seasons. We built that chemistry and got that competitive edge back."
"I would say that competitive edge," echoed Lowry. "Throughout spring ball, the whole emphasis was competition, whether it was within position groups or O(ffense) versus D(efense). That whole competitive mentality brings out the best in people, and that really carried over into this camp. Guys are really stepping up."
Where did that edge go missing?
"Coach really stressed, in past years, there were what we call 'Comfortable Twos,' guys that didn't really have that edge once their time came," said Lowry. "This year, whether a guy's a starter or two-deep, he's ready to step up and make the change and be a big contributor. That comes with competing the whole offseason, and being ready now to step up."
"I would agree. I just think people got too comfortable," said Vitale. "After we had a great season, we felt we were on top of the world and got too comfortable sitting where we were. You can't do that. You've got to be striving to be at the top all the time. I think we got that back this camp."
What was the major difference between the bowl team and the teams of the last two seasons?
"A lot was that competitiveness," said Vitale. "What goes along with that is the maturity. I would say with this group that we have, with the chemistry we've built, we've put together a pretty-mature football team and we're getting more crisp in everything, on and off the field. Maturity was a big emphasis from our Leadership Council and the leadership on the team, and I think it's gone a long way."
"Along with that is the combination of good, young talent and older guys bringing those guys along," said Lowry. "I know my freshman year I had guys like Tyler Scott and Quentin Williams who were more-experienced and helped guys like me and (defensive end) Deonte (Gibson) come along. So I feel older guys like me and Dan have really emphasized trying to bring along those younger guys who can play to make sure we have a continuity from seniors to freshmen."
"I've said this a couple times before. But when I was a freshman, a guy told me to play every single play like it's your senior year. That's something that we're trying to emphasize now as a senior group," said Vitale. "Like Dean said, a lot of younger guys are going to have to play. So if we can get them to play every single down like it's the last time they're going to step on the field, we're going to do some great things together."
Do those younger guys share their sense of urgency?
"Definitely," said Lowry. "Defensively, there's quite a few guys who can play and they're very talented. They come to work everyday, have a great mentality, great work ethic. It's been pleasantly surprising so far, and hopefully we can keep it up. It's a long season. We're trying to make them aware of that. The season's a marathon, not a sprint. But if they can keep that mentality, keep working day by day, we can be a very dangerous team, top to bottom."
"I agree with Dean," said Vitale. "I think one of the cool things with freshmen is how anxious they are and how excited they are with everything the coaches throw at them. Seeing that as an older guy, that's kind of cool. It kind of rejuvenates you a little bit when you see that kind of attitude every single day and how hungry they are to learn and make plays. It makes us excited. If you can have that through the entire team it's pretty cool."
That prompts us to recall that Fitzgerald told his defensive linemen and his defensive backs that, "Our team has got to have your personality."
"I think we take pride in having a good work ethic each day," Lowry says when reminded of that. "I think that started in winter time and spring time, guys having that mentality of getting after it and always wanting to compete and get better. It's really carried over into this camp."
But has the offense taken on the personality of the D line?
"They're very hard-working themselves," Lowry demurred.
"The thing they wanted to get out of us was showing up every single day ready to compete and put forth all the effort you possibly can," Vitale finally said. "That's something he (Lowry) does every single day. He just flat out out-plays people. That's what we need. And another thing about him is his maturity. He comes here every single day ready to play football. That's what he's excited about. That's what gets him going. He doesn't need to be started up by any outside forces. Everything with him is his love of football.
"That's what we needed to get back to."
••••••
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook and check us out on Instagram. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!
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