Competition Drives SU Spring Practice
3/8/2011 8:14:35 PM | Football
Syracuse, N.Y. – Spring is the time to make a statement for the Orange football team. The 2011 squad took the field for the first of 15 Spring practice sessions today in Manley Field House. Head coach Doug Marrone is watching closely to see which student-athletes emerge at every position, especially the 10 starting positions vacated by the graduation of the 2010 senior class.
“I expect them to compete against each other and I expect that there will be some type of separation where you can say this is the best player at that position,” Marrone said. “You don't like to keep it real close as you go into pre-season because you do not have as much time in the pre-season.”
In addition to establishing the best player at each position, Marrone and the coaching staff are focused on building depth at every spot through competition on the field, in the weight room and in the classroom.
“We have to make sure that we cover all of our bases, that we have enough depth at all of the positions, we have enough competition,” Marrone said. “When you have competition, you have a better football team. Everyone has to keep working extremely hard because if they don't then, obviously, they get beat out.”
The Orange will have two more practices this week (March 10 and March 11) before the University's Spring break. When the student-athletes return to campus, the team will practice on March 22 and 24 in Syracuse followed by a Saturday intra-squad scrimmage in Rochester at Sahlen's Field on March 26. All Spring practice sessions are free and open to the public.
