MSU will go through four practices before putting on full pads Wednesday.
Camp Begins: What Joe Moorhead Said After First Preseason Practice
August 04, 2018 | Football
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Preseason training camp is underway for 18th-ranked Mississippi State under the direction of first-year Bulldogs head coach Joe Moorhead as the squad went through a two-hour workout Friday evening and will do the same Saturday night.
State spent Friday and Saturday morning in position meetings and walk throughs and will increase the installation each day leading up to the first full pads practice on Wednesday. Sunday will be an off day followed by practices on Monday and Tuesday.
"It felt great to be back on the field, to see some of the fruits of Coach (Anthony) Piroli's labor in the summer," Moorhead said. "Guys are in great shape. Some of them have changed their body compositions, gotten a lot leaner, bigger, faster, more explosive. It's just great to be playing some football again."
The spring saw some players being held out in the spring to injury recovery, but the Bulldogs begin preseason training camp in solid shape health wise. Senior quarterback Nick Fitzgerald is full go for the camp as he returns from an ankle injury.
"In terms of taking reps and being in the team drills and things like that, he's going to participate in everything," Moorhead said. "The one thing our training staff has talked about is just managing and limiting his reps as camp progresses, to make sure we're not putting any unnecessary wear and tear on it. We're going to kind of gradual. But there's no restrictions on him right now."
Moorhead also unveiled recipients of the team's Iron Dawg awards, which goes to those players who stood out during summer workouts. The list includes: safety Johnathan Abram, linebacker Willie Gay Jr., defensive end Gerri Green, tight end Justin Johnson, safety Mark McLaurin, defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, wide receiver Austin Williams and offensive lineman Darryl Williams. All eight were recognized in the team meeting on Thursday night.
Season tickets, mini-plans and individual game tickets for the 2018 Bulldog season can be purchased at HailState.com/tickets, by calling 1-888-GO-DAWGS or in person at the MSU Athletic Ticket Office on the first floor of the Bryan Athletic Administration Building (288 Lakeview Drive), Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Head Coach Joe Moorhead
August 3, 2018
On the first day of practice…
"It felt great to be back on the field, to see some of the fruits of Coach (Anthony) Piroli's labor in the summer. Guys are in great shape. Some of them have changed their body compositions, gotten a lot leaner, bigger, faster, more explosive. It's just great to be playing some football again."
On team's health status heading into camp...
"Yes, everyone in the practice today is full-go."
On the criteria behind "Iron Dawg" selections…
"That was a bit of subjective criteria by the strength and conditioning staff. But certainly, effort, attendance, punctuality, all of those things. Performance, all of those things combined."
On any position groups that stood out…
"That's very hard to tell today. I mean, you've got kind of like a gym class. Helmets on, t-shirts and shorts. A bunch of young freshmen swimming from an assignment standpoint, but the great thing is guys came out and gave tremendous effort. A lot of retention from the spring game 'til now, it shows that the guys were studying film and doing things on their own in summer. That's a very positive aspect of the day. Once we get the pads on we'll be able to tell who is going to separate themselves."
On how Nick Fitzgerald look in practice…
"One, he looked healthy. His drops were clean, the run-game footwork was good. We kind of went versus scouts. We didn't go against each other. But he was moving around well, no signs of any lingering issues."
On Nick Fitzgerald's limitations in practice…
"We'll never have the quarterback live during the course of fall camp. That's the one limitation I would say Nick has along with the other guys. In terms of him taking reps and being in the team drills and things like that, he's going to participate in everything. The one thing our training staff has talked about is just managing and limiting his reps as camp progresses, to make sure we're not putting any unnecessary wear and tear on it. We're going to kind of gradual. But there's no restrictions on him right now."
On performance of the newcomers…
"I saw a lot of guys who were trying to figure out where to go and why. When they got in there the speed of the game I think caught them by surprise a little bit. The positive part is there's a lot of talent, there's a lot of potential. But day-one, a lot of install in a SEC West program, I think they were all shocked."
On Austin Williams settling in within the receiver group…
"We want Coach (Luke) Getsy, in our philosophy, to cross-train all the receivers. And the way we teach is conceptually, it's not necessarily the memorization of routes by position but a conceptual understanding. He's right now playing the slot, our H-position. But the slot lines up you know two different sites to the field. He's intelligent enough to grasp all three of the spots. And hopefully all of our guys can go to that."
On the number of receivers he'd like available during the first game…
"The next 28 opportunities are going to be critical for guys in that unit to separate themselves. And we ended spring ball with waters a little bit muddied, and guys kind of grouped-up. So ideally you'd like to go into a game with three guys that are primary starters. You generally travel eight to a road game. But we have not been a huge rotation team in the past. We've had three guys that are primary starters that got a majority of reps. That's not necessarily set in stone, if there are guys that can split the reps, or multiple guys we can play at each position, we'll do that. The thing I'm looking for most is for people to step up and separate."
Protocol on the defensive line numbers…
"Yeah, we're pretty deep there, so that's something that really we discuss getting into game week. We sit down with each side of the ball and each position coach and talk about who is going to dress out for the game, what the two-deep or the three-deep looks like that, and it really goes more by series than play. One for one, or two for one or three for one. Those are things that are decided in game week."
On Korey Charles moving to wide receiver…
"We thought it was something where obviously we lost Reggie Todd. He's a guy that possessed a lot of speed, played our Z position. We're pretty deep at defensive back and Korey is a guy that has tested very, very well in terms of 40, vertical jump, and short shuttle and things like that. He's a very explosive athlete so we're looking to add a little bit more speed and explosion to our wide receiver position. He had actually approached me about it prior to spring ball. So it was something we wanted to discuss. He wanted to go through spring and keep the DB thing going. We just felt for a couple of different reasons it was a good move for us offensively and as a team, and for him personally."
On the evening start time for practice…
"We just want to be smart. We'll have four different types of practices, so to speak. We'll have an A.M. practice which will run 9:30 to 11:30, then our walk-throughs are at night. Our P.M. practice is 6:00 to 8:00 and our walk-through is in the morning, and we'll have a Sunday schedule. I think it's a delicate balance of making sure you're prepared for the weather you're going to play in throughout the season. At the same time making sure you're taking care of the guys from a heat standpoint and endurance standpoint, and making sure they're fresh heading into the first game."
On Keith Mixon's health status…
"On the field and playing, so that's a positive. Not on the sideline and in a red jersey. He did a really good job with Coach Piroli and the strength staff and the medical staff did a great job getting him healthy. I think he's excited as we are to get him back on the field. Because you look through some of the games last year, as an offensive staff we went back and watched all his targets and all his catches. He's a guy that can make some plays."
On the talent within the receiver corps…
"What kind of hand have we been dealt? As a quote I actually heard, life's not about the cards you're dealt but how you play them. I think we've got a lot of talent at the receiver position. I mean I'm excited. This has been an offense that has been predicated on the ability to throw the ball and specifically down the field. I think it's just a matter of those guys separating themselves. But I don't think it will be for a lack of talent. I think we've just got to do a good job, coach them up, put them in position to be successful. And I know Coach Getsy and our system will help them do that."
State spent Friday and Saturday morning in position meetings and walk throughs and will increase the installation each day leading up to the first full pads practice on Wednesday. Sunday will be an off day followed by practices on Monday and Tuesday.
"It felt great to be back on the field, to see some of the fruits of Coach (Anthony) Piroli's labor in the summer," Moorhead said. "Guys are in great shape. Some of them have changed their body compositions, gotten a lot leaner, bigger, faster, more explosive. It's just great to be playing some football again."
The spring saw some players being held out in the spring to injury recovery, but the Bulldogs begin preseason training camp in solid shape health wise. Senior quarterback Nick Fitzgerald is full go for the camp as he returns from an ankle injury.
"In terms of taking reps and being in the team drills and things like that, he's going to participate in everything," Moorhead said. "The one thing our training staff has talked about is just managing and limiting his reps as camp progresses, to make sure we're not putting any unnecessary wear and tear on it. We're going to kind of gradual. But there's no restrictions on him right now."
Moorhead also unveiled recipients of the team's Iron Dawg awards, which goes to those players who stood out during summer workouts. The list includes: safety Johnathan Abram, linebacker Willie Gay Jr., defensive end Gerri Green, tight end Justin Johnson, safety Mark McLaurin, defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, wide receiver Austin Williams and offensive lineman Darryl Williams. All eight were recognized in the team meeting on Thursday night.
Season tickets, mini-plans and individual game tickets for the 2018 Bulldog season can be purchased at HailState.com/tickets, by calling 1-888-GO-DAWGS or in person at the MSU Athletic Ticket Office on the first floor of the Bryan Athletic Administration Building (288 Lakeview Drive), Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Head Coach Joe Moorhead
August 3, 2018
On the first day of practice…
"It felt great to be back on the field, to see some of the fruits of Coach (Anthony) Piroli's labor in the summer. Guys are in great shape. Some of them have changed their body compositions, gotten a lot leaner, bigger, faster, more explosive. It's just great to be playing some football again."
On team's health status heading into camp...
"Yes, everyone in the practice today is full-go."
On the criteria behind "Iron Dawg" selections…
"That was a bit of subjective criteria by the strength and conditioning staff. But certainly, effort, attendance, punctuality, all of those things. Performance, all of those things combined."
On any position groups that stood out…
"That's very hard to tell today. I mean, you've got kind of like a gym class. Helmets on, t-shirts and shorts. A bunch of young freshmen swimming from an assignment standpoint, but the great thing is guys came out and gave tremendous effort. A lot of retention from the spring game 'til now, it shows that the guys were studying film and doing things on their own in summer. That's a very positive aspect of the day. Once we get the pads on we'll be able to tell who is going to separate themselves."
On how Nick Fitzgerald look in practice…
"One, he looked healthy. His drops were clean, the run-game footwork was good. We kind of went versus scouts. We didn't go against each other. But he was moving around well, no signs of any lingering issues."
On Nick Fitzgerald's limitations in practice…
"We'll never have the quarterback live during the course of fall camp. That's the one limitation I would say Nick has along with the other guys. In terms of him taking reps and being in the team drills and things like that, he's going to participate in everything. The one thing our training staff has talked about is just managing and limiting his reps as camp progresses, to make sure we're not putting any unnecessary wear and tear on it. We're going to kind of gradual. But there's no restrictions on him right now."
On performance of the newcomers…
"I saw a lot of guys who were trying to figure out where to go and why. When they got in there the speed of the game I think caught them by surprise a little bit. The positive part is there's a lot of talent, there's a lot of potential. But day-one, a lot of install in a SEC West program, I think they were all shocked."
On Austin Williams settling in within the receiver group…
"We want Coach (Luke) Getsy, in our philosophy, to cross-train all the receivers. And the way we teach is conceptually, it's not necessarily the memorization of routes by position but a conceptual understanding. He's right now playing the slot, our H-position. But the slot lines up you know two different sites to the field. He's intelligent enough to grasp all three of the spots. And hopefully all of our guys can go to that."
On the number of receivers he'd like available during the first game…
"The next 28 opportunities are going to be critical for guys in that unit to separate themselves. And we ended spring ball with waters a little bit muddied, and guys kind of grouped-up. So ideally you'd like to go into a game with three guys that are primary starters. You generally travel eight to a road game. But we have not been a huge rotation team in the past. We've had three guys that are primary starters that got a majority of reps. That's not necessarily set in stone, if there are guys that can split the reps, or multiple guys we can play at each position, we'll do that. The thing I'm looking for most is for people to step up and separate."
Protocol on the defensive line numbers…
"Yeah, we're pretty deep there, so that's something that really we discuss getting into game week. We sit down with each side of the ball and each position coach and talk about who is going to dress out for the game, what the two-deep or the three-deep looks like that, and it really goes more by series than play. One for one, or two for one or three for one. Those are things that are decided in game week."
On Korey Charles moving to wide receiver…
"We thought it was something where obviously we lost Reggie Todd. He's a guy that possessed a lot of speed, played our Z position. We're pretty deep at defensive back and Korey is a guy that has tested very, very well in terms of 40, vertical jump, and short shuttle and things like that. He's a very explosive athlete so we're looking to add a little bit more speed and explosion to our wide receiver position. He had actually approached me about it prior to spring ball. So it was something we wanted to discuss. He wanted to go through spring and keep the DB thing going. We just felt for a couple of different reasons it was a good move for us offensively and as a team, and for him personally."
On the evening start time for practice…
"We just want to be smart. We'll have four different types of practices, so to speak. We'll have an A.M. practice which will run 9:30 to 11:30, then our walk-throughs are at night. Our P.M. practice is 6:00 to 8:00 and our walk-through is in the morning, and we'll have a Sunday schedule. I think it's a delicate balance of making sure you're prepared for the weather you're going to play in throughout the season. At the same time making sure you're taking care of the guys from a heat standpoint and endurance standpoint, and making sure they're fresh heading into the first game."
On Keith Mixon's health status…
"On the field and playing, so that's a positive. Not on the sideline and in a red jersey. He did a really good job with Coach Piroli and the strength staff and the medical staff did a great job getting him healthy. I think he's excited as we are to get him back on the field. Because you look through some of the games last year, as an offensive staff we went back and watched all his targets and all his catches. He's a guy that can make some plays."
On the talent within the receiver corps…
"What kind of hand have we been dealt? As a quote I actually heard, life's not about the cards you're dealt but how you play them. I think we've got a lot of talent at the receiver position. I mean I'm excited. This has been an offense that has been predicated on the ability to throw the ball and specifically down the field. I think it's just a matter of those guys separating themselves. But I don't think it will be for a lack of talent. I think we've just got to do a good job, coach them up, put them in position to be successful. And I know Coach Getsy and our system will help them do that."
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