University of Richmond Athletics
Spider Football Practice No. 2 Report
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – The University of Richmond Spiders football team continued its quest for a 2014 CAA Championship on Tuesday when the squad hit the field for its second practice of training camp.
The Spiders began practice at 2:15 p.m., working on 1st and 2nd down installation for both the offense and defense, along with base fundamentals and techniques, wearing just helmets with no pads on a hot, humid day in Richmond.
Practice Notes
- Former Spider standout Doug Howell was a special guest at practice today. Howell was a member of the 2008 National Champion squad and is currently enrolled in law school at Howard University.
- QB Michael Strauss continued to look sharp in the 7-on-7 drills, as he threaded the needle to RB Seth Fisher in a play action down the left sideline that highlighted the day.
- Defensively, DL Winston Craig and DL Nick Velardo forced QB Michael Rocco his first incompletion of the day with swarming pressure in the backfield.
- RB Jeremiah Hamlin recorded an impressive run down the right sideline on the second-team offense.
- As a whole, on just the second day it is obvious that the veterans are compelling great leadership, helping the newcomers learn the Richmond way of becoming successful.
Post-Practice Quotes
“We got a long ways to go. It’s just the second practice, but we’ve got a long ways to go before we see Morehead State. The focus really is just getting the install in, getting better each day, learning the fundamentals, learning the techniques so that we are at our best and ready to go August 30.”
-- Assistant Coach Bill Polin on Tuesday’s practice
“I thought we did better than yesterday. We need to pick it up. Once we get pads on it will get a lot better because we’ll be able to hit. Now it’s more of a focus on just feet, hands and footwork. Tomorrow should be a better day.”
-- DL Evan Kelly on the defense’s performance at practice
“Well, (Michael) Strauss said at the end of practice that we took a small step back. As a whole offense I think we might have had a better practice yesterday, but as a running back corps, I think we got better today as a position.”
-- RB Seth Fisher on the offense