First One is in the Books

Practice number one for 2009 is in the books, and it was a good one. You could tell the players and coaches both were ready to get to work. Very crisp and energetic. It was very obvious, even before the Tim blew the horn to start stretch, the players were excited and enthusiastic!

It appears that Salpointe is a GREAT place to practice. Of course the coaches still have to look at film angles and things like that, but lots of room and the turf seems to be okay. I talked to some of the WR's and DB's about footing, and they all seemed to think it was okay.

I think the best thing about practicing at Salpointe is the fact it is very fan friendly. Lot of good close seating. They were also treated to alot of Michael Jackson music. Coach Stoops has been allowing music during practice since the beginning of last year, and today was a heavy dose of Michael Jackson.

Media was out in full force, but it was nice to see so many fans out there! Of course the RED ARMY are as good as it gets in terms of fans, and they had some of their troops out early this morning watching practice.

As of now we can only go in shorts and helmets and we will not be able to put on pads for another few days, but we still had a very fast paced practice. I thought Tim, Benny and the guys did a great job for first day. Coach threw in a two minute drill after he had called everyone up, that wasn't on the practice script, and the mgr's didn't miss a beat. They were right on the chains and clock and ready to go.

All in all it was a fun and very successful first practice.


Coach Stoops in mid season form:
Daniel Jenkins in his first official stretch with Coach Ed:

Strength coach, Shawn Farria, stretching out a player:

Coach Seth Littrell and his troops:

Nice backdrop for practice! Man I love Tucson!!!!!!

The most important thing we own, THE GATOR:

Managers loading up the pop ups onto the gator:

Tim bought us two new clocks, which were much needed:

KOLD was out in full force this morning:

New GA trainer, Bryce Sorrier (right), from University of Georgia talking with veteran trainer, Justin Kokowski (left):

Red Army was there even before the horn blew. More came later:

What an Exciting Day

The managers worked until 10:30 last night and were back here at 4am this morning. Everyone was on time and excited about getting out to Salpointe High School for the seasons first practice. When I left the house at 3:30 this morning there were sprinkles on the windshield, and the streets were even more wet the closer I got to campus. I immediately texted Tim to remind him to put Trunk 23 (Coaches Gore Tex Storm fit) on the truck. I wasn't surprised when he responded right away.....already done.

It is 4:15am right now and the managers have already left McKale for Salpointe. I hope to have a report and pictures of the first practice later this morning.

Wow, we really are "The Luckiest People in the World"

Last Minute Late Night Work

Well, tonight is one of those super late nights with all the focus on details for tomorrow mornings first practice. While Tim and I head off to a team meeting that starts here in a few minutes, the managers will be loading equipment into each of their players lockers. In the morning, everything they will need for practice will be waiting for them in their locker, including shoes. There are over 300 shoe boxes all over the equipment room right now, each waiting to be loaded into lockers. Each player will have a new pair of cleats, shower sandals, and weightroom workout shoes.

One of the most important things we have to deal with this evening is making sure each of the 105 players are eligible by our director of compliances standards. He and his staff have to do all kinds of paperwork on each kid. One of the ways we try to keep out of trouble is by not putting their equipment in the players locker if they have not cleared all paperwork. This causes us not being able to start too soon.

Also, each manager is going over a checklist of items that have to be loaded into there fanny packs for fixing equipment on the field. Each manager also goes through an extensive training from us on the proper technique to be used. Benny is our guru, so he handles most of the training.

Then, there is checking in (again, using a checklist) our uniforms the guys wore today for video mug shots. They will be washed and put away tonight as well.

Can't wait until tomorrow! 3am will come early in the morning, but we are all excited!!!

Vets report, plus, Media Day

Another fun day in the Equipment Room! After getting all the new players taken care of yesterday with equipment, today the Vets are reporting and coming by the equipment room to get fitted for this years gear.

In addition to the Vets reporting, all the players are getting video and still mug shots done for TV and Video board. The good news is that we had to get their navy game jersey and white game pants loaded up in their lockers for the event.

The local media have traditionally taken advantage of this day to gather in and around McKale to get interviews of the coaches and players. I guess yesterday was our big day with the media, and rightfully so, today is all about the players and coaches. Tim made the front page of the Arizona Daily Star, and Robert Lloyd made page 3 with a GREAT photo of him getting shoes off of the shelf in the shoe room. You can see some pictures and a video of all that on their website, which is: www.azstarnet.com

Everyone seems to be having a great time. You can feel the excitement and enthusiasm from the Veteran Players inside the equipment room. These guys work so hard all summer, and they are ready to take that hard work to the practice field. Coach Edmonds and his staff do an incredible job with them, and the players are excited about playing football again.

Enjoy some pictures from today: I have included some shots of the media talking to some of our coaches, also there are some of the Vets inside the equipment room, then there are some of the players in their uniforms hanging around waiting for their turn in the studio.

Rookies Report

All of the new players for this years team has officially checked in to the equipment room and have been fit with all of their gear! It is another great looking group.

Even though most of them have been here and have been fitted for helmet and shoulder pads, today they all came in and picked out gloves, shoes and anything else they need.

What seems to be a tradition here at UofA, the media is all over the arrival of new players in the equipment room. All 3 local network news stations were here to video and interview me for TV. The local newspaper and websites were here too. Last year, Mike McBride was here to assist us with fitting, and he couldn't believe all the media coverage in the equipment room. He said in all his years at UCLA, he couldn't remember one single media person in their room for first day fitting. Trust me, I get alot of jokes thrown my way with all the coverage.

Defensive Managers: (left to right): Jordan Gobel, Zak Risdon, Michael Harlow, Billy Worthington, Jack Banker, Ben Hulka, Mike Reed.
Offensive Managers: (left to right): John Landwehr, Jordan Bates, Willie Salzman, Ryan Ewalt, Michael Barnett, Robert Lloyd, Jeff Gallego, Michael Baranowski.

Wendell getting interviewed by one of the local news stations:

Player trying on new shoes and photographed by Arizona Daily Star:

Robert Lloyd and Willie Salzman (shoe guru) set up at the shoe station:

Cordarius Golston, freshman linebacker, signing all the papers before he leaves:

Mike Reed and Michael Barnett greet the players as they arrive and show them the gloves:

Benny and his helpers as they fit facemask on the helmets and help adjust helmets:

Last Day for getting Ready

Today is the last for preparation. The managers worked all weekend and throughout the day today to put the finishing touches on the big day tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day the first year players report. Even though we have fit all of them in helmet and shoulder pads, they still have to come by and check in tomorrow for shoes, gloves and everything else they need for the year.

We will have them try on their jerseys with their shoulder pads among other things. Even though all of them have been around most of the summer, it is still exciting to actually kick off the new year.

When we leave work today, the equipment room will be very clean and organized. Tim will have the room set up in stations for each player to come by and choose what style and size they need.

Also, a group of managers have been outside setting up things we need for practice out on the practice fields.

Mainly though, today is all about getting ready for tomorrow. One of the things that have been going on is wearing out our heat transfer machines. We have been numbering each players practice gear using our Stahl's heat transfer machine. Below you will see a couple of the 5 machines that seem to go non stop this time of the year putting numbers on everything from laundry bags to girdles.

Last Golf Outing of the Year

This weekend was the last weekend to get out and enjoy a friendly round of golf. Coach Stoops treated all of to a final round of golf at The LaPaloma Golf course this past weekend. I'm not sure what team won the grand prize, but no one has called me to let me know where to pick up First Place Trophy.?????

My team had the most fun! I was paired with Coach Dykes, Coach Tuiasosopo, and Coach Kish. I really appreciate those guys carrying me all day.

My best guesses are: Coach Stoops was lowest score (If not Mike, than Mark); Longest drive had to go to Coach Littrell.

As usual, a GREAT time had by all.

Now it is time to get down to business!!!!!