While the on field results of this season have been less than stellar, Coach Doeren continues to impress me with the little things he’s doing to make the program better. GoPack.com just put out an article that talks about how Coach D and the staff use the bye week practices to work out the younger players. Any player who is redshirting or not getting significant snaps gets a dedicated practice to get better. I love it.
Every day this week, after regular practice was complete, Doeren has huddled his travel squad up and then sent them back to the Murphy Center for conditioning and treatment. Then he and his staff put all of the younger players through a 30-minute “developmental” practice. Any player who is redshirting the season or not playing significant snaps has stayed out and gone through individual drills with position coaches and even some scrimmage work.
These aren’t the only “developmental” practices that the Pack will hold this season. Every Sunday, Doeren and his graduate assistant coaches bring the same group out on the field for a practice while the remainder of the team lifts weights, meets and has walk-throughs.
“I do this because I always thought the redshirt guys get ignored,” said Doeren, who started the practice as the head coach at Northern Illinois. “It makes them feel like they’re a part of something and not like `they just shelved me for a year.’ They have coaches coaching them once a week individually – they’re not just looking at a card on the scout team. I really enjoy the one-on-one interaction with each of them as well.”
You can read the full article here.
