AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2008 > April > 16
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Last practice before T-Day
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Light fare today in Tech’s last practice before Saturday’s spring game/finale.
Players are in helmets, shorts, tops, etc., but no pads.
I spoke with coach Paul Johnson for a while this afternoon, and we touched on a variety of things. I’ll go into bits and pieces in a smattering of short stories and blogs eventually.
Part of what we talked about: perceptions, and how they’re often wrong, slanted, a hurdle and something he and his staff will have to sometimes fight. This can be media perceptions, fans’ perceptions, players’ perceptions of each other and themselves, etc.
I also asked for his assessment of his team’s chemistry/unity/cohesion, etc. His perception (there’s that word) is that he feels guys like each other well enough, but there was/may still be too much separation between groups (offense/defense, line/’backers, etc) in the way guys go about business. Too many guys thinking, ‘Well, I did my job, and if we lost (or screwed up a play), then somebody else screwed up,’ kind of thinking.
He said there has been improvement in that regard, and it remains a focus of the coaching staff: worry about and evaluate yourself/your unit, and don’t worry about/evaluate others. And so on.
More to come. Looking forward to Saturday, if I’m there (that’s to be determined).
