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Vanderbilt spring practice thoughts

  • I got a chance to take in Vandy's spring practice last Friday in Nashville. A couple thoughts...

    -2012 signees Corey Baty and Caleb Azubike were on hand watching from the sidelines both are guys with the size and physicality to be immediate contributors. Both look the part big time. Azubike told me that he has been told he won't be redshirting and expects to contribute. With his size/athleticism, he could become a beast. Baty could very well end up playing safety but he'll begin his career at WR.

    -Azubike told me that the difference between practice today and 2 years ago when he visited as a sophomore are night and day. Said they're so much more organized, energetic, intense and efficient than they ever were under the old staff (assume that is referring to the year under Bobby Caldwell).

    -I love watching James Franklin work. He is a very high energy coach that is very hands on in every drill. The practice had a great pace, they compete in every drill. It's what you expect out of an SEC practice in the way it is run and organized.

    -The defensive backs will continue to be really good at Vandy under DC Bob Shoop even without Casey Heyward and Sean Richardson. In this year's group it looks like Kenny Ladler and Andre Hal are going to be the stars. Trey Wilson is another guy I've liked in the past but he was wearing a boot when I was there. One guy they really like at DB is Andrew Williamson. He committed to Vandy really late in the 2011 class over TCU and they think he has a chance to be special. The light hasn't turned on yet though.

    -For the wide receivers, Chris Boyd looked to be the top dog of the group but admittedly i spent much of practice figuring out who was who. One kid that jumped out a little bit at me was Jacquese Kirk who decommitted from Louisville late in the 2011 class to sign with Vandy. I had thought he was going to play CB at Vandy but is a WR all the way.

    -Joshua Grady out of Armwood also signed with Vandy as a QB but has moved to WR because he has a better chance at seeing the field and looked good the other day.

    -In the trenches, Wesley Johnson is a beast. The kid can play - and has played - every position on the offensive line. I guarantee you that the DL hate him though. He's always getting in fights and he got in two big fights the practice that I watched. He's #67 and even when Vandy is playing the Alabama's of the SEC, watch him and he'll be mixing it up.

    -It looks like Vandy is going to be using the TE a lot and they seem to have a lot of big TE/H-back bodies to go around. Dilon Van der wal made a really nice one-handed catch in a goalline period. Austin Monahan has a great frame, as does Steven Scheu. A lot of guys really look the part at that position.

    -There were two early enrollees competing: Darreon Herring and Patton Robinette. Herring played really well as a true freshman, making a few plays, getting his hand on the football in pass game, etc. He always had a nose for the ball at Stephenson and that seems to be playing out early on. Vandy has built a good stephenson pipeline. Robinette is a QB so is coming along slowly but is grasping the offense well and is a smart kid.

    Barton Simmons | 247Sports | National Recruiting Analyst | Twitter: @bartonsimmons

    Barton S

  • Overall, Vandy looked more like an SEC team than I've seen them look in a long time. There are still a few guys out there that look like they could never sniff the roster of a team like LSU, Georgia, Florida, Alabama but there are much less than there used to be.

    Barton Simmons | 247Sports | National Recruiting Analyst | Twitter: @bartonsimmons

    Barton S

  • 1 more thing. I love what Franklin does to put pressure on the kickers (an area that Vandy really needs to fix for 2012).

    He squirts water in their face as their lining up, blows an air horn in their ear right before their approache, a couple of times he dumped an entire water cooler on the kicker, holder and snapper right before the snap just to distract them. On every miss the entire team runs to add pressure.

    Barton Simmons | 247Sports | National Recruiting Analyst | Twitter: @bartonsimmons

    Barton S

  • Barton S said...

    He squirts water in their face as their lining up, blows an air horn in their ear right before their approache, a couple of times he dumped an entire water cooler on the kicker, holder and snapper right before the snap just to distract them. On every miss the entire team runs to add pressure.

    Mike Leach approves of this method as well.

    Big A

  • Barton S said...

    1 more thing. I love what Franklin does to put pressure on the kickers (an area that Vandy really needs to fix for 2012).

    He squirts water in their face as their lining up, blows an air horn in their ear right before their approache, a couple of times he dumped an entire water cooler on the kicker, holder and snapper right before the snap just to distract them. On every miss the entire team runs to add pressure.

    Haha, Saben needs to take notes.

    Michmania

  • Barton,

    South Carolina goes to Vandy to open the season. Who you got?

    Jeff4SC

  • To early to start the "Franklin to Arkansas" chatter?

    hines011

  • Jeff4USC said...

    Barton,

    South Carolina goes to Vandy to open the season. Who you got?

    SORRY just saw that you were asking Barton what his opinion was about the game

    This post was edited by shoeless7777 on 4/10/2012 at 3:32 PM

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    shoeless7777

  • They have a football team?

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    SEC SEC SEC!!!

    USMCAG

  • biggrin buddy .....

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    shoeless7777

  • shoeless7777 said...

    biggrin buddy .....

    I keed, I keed.

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    SEC SEC SEC!!!

    USMCAG

  • Jeff4USC said...

    Barton,

    South Carolina goes to Vandy to open the season. Who you got?

    If I'm not mistaken, that will be a Thursday night game too. Dudley Field isn't exactly Lane Stadium but I expect it will be a good atmosphere there and Vandy will be prepared.

    South Carolina is definitely my early pick, primarily because i think they'll have the most disruptive pair of defensive bookends in the conference this year between Jadeveon Clowney and Devin Taylor.

    That being said, I think Vandy could definitely pull an upset and will be prepared and ready to do so. Last year they lost a lot of close games en route to 6 wins. James Franklin doesn't strike me as a loser and I think his team will take after his mentality and find ways to win rather than find ways to lose in 2012. Even if 6 wins is tougher to come by this year in a tougher SEC, I think Vandy will be more equipped to find 6 wins than they were last year under Franklin's 2nd year.

    I think Vandy is getting closer to being able to consistently move the ball in the SEC and a lot of that has to do with personnel.

    This post was edited by Barton S on 4/10/2012 at 3:50 PM

    Barton Simmons | 247Sports | National Recruiting Analyst | Twitter: @bartonsimmons

    Barton S

  • Big A said...

    Mike Leach approves of this method as well.

    I was definitely thinking something similar to that after reading that...

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    Go Vols

    orangeasylum