Spring Football Notebook 2024: Physicality ramps up in 1st outdoor practice

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Syracuse was exclusively outside for the first time this spring, taking advantage of the 50-degree weather just four days after a massive snow storm. The duality of Syracuse in March has given this team an opportunity to vary their practice conditions.

With music blasting, coaches made the rounds in stretching lines, hyping up their players to “hit hard,” or else adjusting their warmup mechanics. As soon as drills started, the crack of helmets and shoulder pads rang from all around the turf field as snow melted on the sidelines.

“I’m just loving the energy from the coaching staff as a whole, the players too” said Jaeden Gould. “Just from spring workouts, I think we really carried that competitive nature on.”

Here’s some observations from Syracuse’s fourth spring practice:

Position groups go head-to-head

Running backs versus linebackers. Defensive tackles versus offensive guards. Defensive backs versus wide receivers. The second padded practice under head coach Fran Brown delivered on the promise he made during his introductory press conference: the team was hitting bright and early on a Wednesday morning.

One drill featured a linebacker and running back lined up face-to-face, with an extra pursuer directly to the right. When the whistle blew, both turned and ran backwards, curled around a cone, and then the offensive player would catch a pass while being chased by the extra defender. First, they’d have to break free of the backside defender before coming back around to face the other, both with a head of steam.

Here’s LeQuint Allen Jr. going up against Marlowe Wax:

The boys are HITTING today. Some physicality early in today’s practice. When they lose the rep, some are doing pushups. pic.twitter.com/JpOzctLAVL

— Wyatt Miller (@wymill07) March 27, 2024

“It was fun to get back out there, put pads on, be able to strike people again,” said new edge rusher Fadil Diggs. “Coach (Robinson) always wants us to play violent up front, because that’s where the game starts, so we got to always make sure that we impact the line of scrimmage.”

Robert Wright is “forcing versatility”

New linebackers coach Robert Wright, who worked with defensive coordinator Elijah Robinson at Texas A&M, was in the thick of the linebacker drills. Thus, Wright echoed Robinson, saying their scheme won’t be set until they figure out each players skillsets. Right now, they are in the stage of constant evaluation.

“Schematically, every defense has won a championship and every defense has also gotten blown out,” Wright said. “It’s less about the schematics and more about the intensity that we’re going to play with… At the end of the day, the Xs and Os, they’re whatever, it’s how the defense plays that makes a difference.”

In the second set of linebacker drills, after the contact reps had been exhausted, Wright dropped back to pass. He moved his eyes around before passing, running or directing the two defenders across from him to the tackle ring. This forced the players to stay alert without knowing where they’d be asked to burst toward.

The purpose of this drill was to “force versatility” on the linebacker unit. Robinson said something similar on Saturday, claiming that “the more you know, the harder it is to get rid of you.”

“All of the linebackers are doing a lot of different things, playing different positions, we are constantly changing it, even from drill to drill, from play to play,” Wright said. “So, when we put them in different positions we can see who looks comfortable to execute and do their job the best, so we’re kind of forcing versatility on them right now.”

Defensive backs love Fran Brown

For the first time, Syracuse defensive backs have been joined by Brown in position meetings. Brown played defensive back years ago and has coached it at multiple Power Five programs, so his input is valuable, even though they have a position coach.

“It’s great to have a head coach that’s really interactive with your position group,” Gould said. “I mean, he’s a real DB coach, you just look at his product, you look at where he’s been, who he’s coached, the resume speaks for itself… It’s always good when the head coach sets that standard and lets you know what he expects from your room.”

Every practice, Brown has been locked in on the defensive back drills. Whether he’s throwing jump-balls to the pylon or dictating change of direction drills, he’s making his voice heard.

Brown was actually Alijah Clark’s position coach in his freshman year at Rutgers, so he’s used to that intense interaction from Brown, but not as a head coach. Clark said the only difference is that he has more power now, and gets to run things his way.

“He’s a very creative guy, and he knows what to do to get what he wants,” Clark said of Brown. “He has the power to do that now, and he’s doing it.”