By T. Scott Boatright
There’s shape, and there’s football shape.
Legendary football coach John Madden might have said it best.
“There is a difference in being in shape and being in football shape,” the late Madden once said. “Anyone can out on the field and run around, but once you start getting hit and have to get up then you find out the difference between being in shape and football shape.”
Grambling State University football coach Mickey Joseph knows his players are in pretty good shape overall as athletes.
But high humidity and heat index temperatures hovering near the century mark made for a tough workout as Grambling State held its first preseason football practice on Thursday.
Talking to his team at the end of practice, he urged the players to concentrate on taking care of themselves and preparing themselves for (today’s) practice, because he promised it would not get any easier.
Joseph said he feels the Tigers have improved since spring football, but that they had to prepare for practices continually being ramped up in pace and intensity.
“We’re a better-looking team (than in the spring),” Joseph said. “We are better up front on both sides of the ball. I was excited to get out here because I wanted to see where we’re at after summer workouts.
“So, I saw we need to get in better shape, better condition right now. But I thought the effort was there today. We have to clean some things up as coaches, and we will. We have to get them to take care of their bodies — eat, sleep, drink water. The effort was there, but we have to get more out of them.”
Joseph admitted a cooler, wetter July than usual may have played a role in some of his players being caught off guard by Wednesday’s smothering heat.
“It was the first day with helmets on since April — that had something to do with it,” Joseph said. “Now we are more of a stop and go practice. That has something to do with it. We have to focus on continually getting into better shape. We need to help them take care of their bodies and make sure they are eating right, sleeping right and drinking water.
“(Assistant AD for Sports Performance) Scottie (Patton) and (Strength and Conditioning Director) Andy (Levulis) do a great job educating them on that. We have just got to get them to do it and keep doing it.”
Joseph said he believes it will not take long for his Tigers to acclimate.
“With this group it looks like I’ve got to ease into it,” Joseph said. “And then be smart with their reps to make sure we are getting enough reps so that they are being productive. We had to keep the structure there for them. Once we get that built in, they will be fine.”
Joseph said there is really only one particular goal he’s looking to achieve as preseason practices begin for his Tigers.
“Every time we hit the field, we’re looking for improvement,” Joseph said. “Because once a practice is over, we don’t get those days back. Anytime we go we want to see where we improved — did we improve as individuals? Did we improve on special teams? Did we improve in 7-on-7?
“Improvement. Every time we hit the field, we need to see improvement.”
Joseph admitted some of his players are doing a little catch-up on GSU’s system.
“Some of them, this is their third go with the system after spring and early summer,” Joseph said. “The kids who got here in the summer, this is their second go with the install. I am not excited or worried that much about where they are mentally because I think you can always be better mentally.
“But fatigue can get to you sometimes where it screws up your thinking, so we want to make sure that they are mentally sound on what they need to do. We will look at the film, because sometimes you realize after looking at the film that it is not as bad as you thought it was.”
