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Players' goals must be thought out Wednesday, Jun 4, 2008 By Harry King FAYETTEVILLE - Homework assignments cobbled together at the last minute from CliffsNotes on Football 101 won't pass muster with Bobby Petrino and his staff. The topic came up when the new Arkansas football coach was asked about a report that his players were supposed to set three individual goals per week during spring practice. Not only goals, he said, but the players must identify obstacles and solutions. Without prompting, he added: "They need to be very specific. Let's say I'm a quarterback. One might be something like I want to sit on my third step in the three-step passing game as opposed to hitch my feet forward." Those who try to take a shortcut will get caught. "There's times we turn 'em right back to 'em and say, 'This isn't good enough. You just did this in the hallway two minutes ago. Take it back. Do it tonight. Make it better.'" The exercise is purposeful, a constant in Petrino's staunch dedication to preparation. "It's a good way for young men to really focus on their position and the technical aspects of their position and how they can improve," Petrino said. Normally, a column would not be overrun with quotes, but his words explain some things better than a paraphrase. "It's a process," he said during an interview in his office. "We start out by this is the way we're going to operate, this is the way we're going to handle our business, and then the players start experiencing success and their self-confidence goes up and you can build upon it. "We still have some building to do, no question about that," he said. "Certainly, we're coaching young men who are used to other habits for two or three years. It takes a little bit of time, but we're going to keep pushing it, and keep working it and doing the things we believe in as a staff." His no-nonsense reputation is well-deserved, but he didn't duck a question on a variety of topics: -"I'm not one that's big on the pre-game speech. We kinda do it a little bit different because we spend time on Friday nights with meetings. I talk to the team more on Friday night than the five minutes before we go out on the field." Brother Paul is more like their father, Bob Sr., when it comes to rah-rah speeches, he said. -He's not inclined to allow a TV camera in the dressing room to record something for his weekly TV show. "I'm not big on that," he said. He has thought about what he wants to do - no surprise - and "certainly I have an understanding how I want to do it." But, nothing he'd care to share at the moment. -He relaxes by playing golf and he likes to "goof around on the lake" with his family, water skiing or jet skiing. He can still get up on one ski, he said with pride and a grin. -Like many other coaches, he has a number of plays that he prescripts. "That allows you to practice them, the players can be prepared for it," he said. Third down or position on the field can dictate a quick change in the sequence, he said, "but it gives you a good way to practice, prepare." -Most of the preseason magazines pick Arkansas at or near the bottom of the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference. Petrino hasn't looked at any of them, but admitted that some of his assistants read all of them. "No, not really," he said, when asked if he cared about the predictions. "The preseason is always based on how you did the previous year and what you have coming back, and since we don't have many returning starters, it doesn't really matter," he said. ------- Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media's Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com. |
