 
|
Andrew Downey Spring Blog - Week #3 - April 9
April 9, 2008
"In preparation for spring ball and the 2008 season, I went through an extensive off-season workout program. This off season for me was all about maintaining my strength, getting faster, lowering my body composition and watching cut ups from last year's games to prepare myself mentally. As a team, the goals for the spring are simple. I think this team needs to become a close, tight-knit family. Off the field we have that "family" atmosphere, now we have to transition that relationship to the football field. As a defense, we need to know what we are all doing on each snap of the bal,l and know what each of our strengths and weaknesses are for that matter. Each of us needs to be responsible for doing our job and getting it done on every snap. If we can acheive this task as a defense it will be very hard to run, throw or score on us. Reaching that goal starts in the spring. We get to break things down to the base schemes and start from scratch. This helps both the young guys as well as the veterans. Personally, I want to use the spring as a time to get better and more consistent. Last year I made some plays, made some tackles, but at the same time I made a lot of mistakes and my goal is to eliminate as many as those mistakes as I can. Last year I got caught on too many blocks and didn't shed them the way I should have. Also in a few games I had some missed tackles which is unacceptable. I am very excited to be able to have a full offseason with assistant coach Jermaine Walker (former Black Bear linebacker) on staff, and having him be able to work with me and the other linebackers. It is very convenient having someone like Jermaine as a coach. He played here just three years ago and has a great feel of "today's game," and can give you tips and hints about things that he used to do when he played. I find that very helpful. Another area I feel like the Maine linebacking corps needs to work on is pass coverage and causing turnovers. I believe last year we only had one, maybe two interceptions as linebackers and that needs to change. As a defense we didn't have many turnovers either and part of that is discipline. Coach (Robb) Smith, our defensive coordinator, hangs his hat on being physical and playing with discipline. This spring we need to practice with the utmost discipline, as it will make us a much better defense. We start spring practice on Thursday morning at 5:45 in Alfond Stadium. I am very excited to start spring practice and see the product of all the off-season work that this team has put in."
#10 |
