First Day of Practice is complete and there were a handful of articles detailing it. Here’s a few:
JP Giglio gives a recap of the day, Pack, Glennon back to practice field.
Mike Glennon’s first August practice as N.C. State’s starting quarterback wasn’t much different than one in April.
Glennon, a fourth-year junior, did have a full, red beard, but other than that, it was business as usual on Tuesday as the Wolfpack opened training camp for its first season in four years without Russell Wilson.
“I didn’t really try to treat it any different,” Glennon said.
He did notice a few more cameras following him as practice started before 4:30 p.m. in the summer heat. And there was a No. 16 on the field, but it Jesse Riley, a walk-on cornerback, not Wilson.
Luke Decock talks about the players from the debacle of 2009 maturing into this years leaders. Wolfpack all grown up.
There are games from the 2009 season that Tom O’Brien will never pull out of the film library. They might sit there, unwatched, forever. It would be too painful for the N.C. State football coach to watch all those raw freshmen and sophomores, particularly on defense, thrown into roles for which they were nowhere near ready – with disastrous results.
“I would never go back and watch that,” O’Brien said this summer. “I wiped it from the memory bank and moved on. Have good thoughts.”
As the first day of the new season arrived Tuesday, the Wolfpack is all grown up. The same players who featured in those horror films two years ago are in starring roles now. The secondary, once as vulnerable as a litter of puppies, now has teeth. The lines are older, the linebackers veteran. Nate Irving graduates, and senior Audie Cole pops into the middle, just like that.
Brett Friedlander discusses two of the Wolfpacks new captains. Bryan, Sweezy grow into roles as new Wolfpack captains.
George Bryan has come a long way, both on and off the field, during his football career at N.C. State.
Tuesday, only hours before the start of fall camp with its first practice, the senior tight end from New Hanover High solidified his role as a leader by being named as one of the Wolfpack’s captains for 2011.
“It’s another dream-come-true at N.C. State, I guess,†Bryan said. “I never thought I’d be a captain, but it’s a great honor and I’m going to try to take on that challenge the best I can.â€
Brett then focuses in more on Glennon. Glennon era at N.C. State off to an ‘up-down’ start.
The Mike Glennon era at N.C. State didn’t get off to an entirely seamless start Tuesday.
About halfway through the Wolfpack’s opening fall practice, while running an offensive drill, the new starting quarterback realized that his unit had only 10 players on the field.
So he backed off the line.
It was a mistake that would have cost State a timeout in a game. But because it was just the first day of practice when habits are made, the entire offense was sentenced to 10 “up-downs†in the 90-plus degree heat.
The moans and groans that accompanied the exercise let it be known that no one was happy about the punishment. But the message was received loud and clear. To be a good team, even the simplest of mental lapses can’t be tolerated.
Derek Medlin at PackPride has Tom O’Brien’s interview with the media afterward including a link to the audio. Fall Camp, Day 1: Tom O’Brien
“It’s one down and we have 28 practices to get better. This is all about, camp is not a sprint it’s a marathon. It’s all about grinding. Everybody had fresh legs today and they were all quick but we’ll look when we get to day five, six, seven and eight to see how they are doing.”
“A lot of guys were forced to play before their time and it was a detriment to us a couple of years ago because they were playing. There are a lot of guys when you look out there. The guys who looked like they made the most strides today were the redshirt freshmen. They line up, they know where they are supposed to be.”
