Football August 07, 2009 USF

Training Camp Central: Blackwell & Canales Reminisce

Day Two - Friday, Aug. 7- Practice Update

Multimedia
• Photo Gallery: Day 2 - Friday, Aug. 7
• Aug. 7: Coach Leavitt's Extended Media Session
• Aug. 7: MJ with B.J. Daniels
•
Not Much Has Changed
We caught offensive coordinator Mike Canales and offensive program assistant Marquel Blackwell after practice and asked them what has changed since they last worked together.

"I'm a little skinnier and he's a little fatter," said Canales, who was the USF offensive coordinator from 1996-00 while Blackwell was the star QB from 1999-02.

"To be honest he hasn't changed a bit," said Blackwell. "Same guy, that's why I am excited to be here."

Canales worked at NC State, Arizona and with the New York Jets before returning to USF prior to the 2007 season.

"Marquel put the things we taught him to use on the field, that's why he got a shot at a NFL career, and now he is putting them to use as a leader. He knows our system, our drills, our scheme and he'll be a different voice when the quarterbacks have questions. More than anything he is an example for our players. If you work the system, you will have an opportunity at the next level."

On the alumni front, former Bulls offensive lineman, Joey Sipp, was at practice this morning. Sipp, an assistant coach at Hillsborough High School, was the first USF player to ever start every game of his collegiate career with the Bulls.

The Fastest LB in USF History
Coach Leavitt is not one for exageration. So when he said that junior college transfer Jacquian Williams could be the fastest linebacker in USF history, it made immediate headlines. You can watch and listen to Coach Leavitt bestow the praise on Williams on BullsVision.

You can read more about it courtesy of the St. Pete Times.

Bulls Are Receiving Votes
For the third-straight season, the University of South Florida football team is listed in the USA Today Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll, this year picking up 11 points and tying for No. 40 on the list.

View the complete USA Today Coaches' Poll here.

Twitter to Phone
Are you like most Americans and addicted to your cell phone, iPhone or Blackberry? If you want your USF Bulls football information the minute a story breaks, sign up to have @USFFootball Twitter alerts sent directly to your phone via text mesage. Make sure you have a Twitter account, follow these instructions and be among the first to get every breaking USF story.

2009 Schedule | 2009 Roster | Buy Tickets

Practice Report Archive
• Friday, Aug. 7: Canales & Blackwell Reminisce
• Thursday, Aug. 6: Post-Practice Recap
• Thursday, Aug. 6: Camp Preview: Open Day Is Here

Training Camp BullsVision Video Archive
• Friday, Aug. 7: Leavitt | B.J. Daniels
• Thursday, Aug. 6: Matt Grothe | Jessie Hester & A.J. Love

Training Camp Photo Gallery Archive
• Friday, Aug. 7: Reed, Barrington, Lamar & Tight Ends
• Thursday, Aug. 6: Newcomers

Last year USF started the season with a No. 21 ranking, the first time the program was ranked in the Coaches' Preseason Poll. In 2007, USF received votes in the poll and spent the majority of the year in the top 25, including a week as the No. 2 team in the country.

Click Here to Read the Complete Story

Leavitt, who owns a vote in the Coaches Poll, said it, "Didn't mean one thing to him," that USF was receiving votes. Coach has always remained steadfast that polls, especially preseason, can be a distraction.

He also avoided questions when asked to devulge if he voted USF in the top 25, how many BIG EAST teams he voted for and who he placed No. 1.

Special Teams Update
The punt team got some good work in this morning before the start of practice. P/K Delbert Alvarado turned in about an average of 40 yards per punt. Return men, Patrick Richardson, Derrick Hopkins, Tyson Butler and Colby Erskin were all back to return for Alvarado and all four looked good, however special teams coach John Hendrick stresses that there is a long way to go.

"It is just like everything else on this team, we have a bunch of work to do from A-to-Z," said Hendrick. "Every team has a bunch of work to do, and also individually with our kickers, and our individual fundamentals, we have a bunch of work to do. But I'm optimistic because we have some athletic ability; we have some guys that have the ability to play the roles that we are putting them in, so I'm optimistic about where we are going to go."

Additional comments from Hendrick on special teams:

What do you work on early with special teams?
“We do a lot of drills with the kickers where we can get them to a place where they can put all the pieces together and be a complete kicker. From a punting standpoint we look to make sure that they have a good drop, that they catch the ball, see the ball right, make sure that they position the ball right and that their steps are right. Extra points and field goals we work on our timing, on our plant foot to make sure that everything is in line, the skip through after the kick, making sure that the kickers head is down and that all of the weight is going forward an not fragmented and off to the right or left.”

On what spots are open to be won or lost
“All of them, everything is up for grabs right now. We're just working different guys, switching different guys around to see who a best fits where so we can be as efficient as possible when we play.”

On what true freshmen are making an impact?
“There are some that have a chance, I'm not going to talk about them right now, but there are about three or four that have a chance to make an impact this year.”

He's So Fast We Missed Him
While hustling around on day one of camp, our GoUSFBulls.com staff missed the biggest story of opening day: Lindsey Lamar.

Matt Grothe said, "He has the quickest I've ever seen." You can watch Grothe's media session and comments on Lamar here.

Or you can read more from Brett McMurphy on TBO.com and Greg Auman on TampaBay.com.

Daily News Wire
• NY Times: No National Power, No Star Power, No Worries
• The Ledger: Consistency On Offense Key for South Florida in '09
• TBO.com: Nothing is certain with Bulls this season
• TBO.com: Lamar off to fast start
• St. Pete Times: Leavitt starts with patience
• St. Pete Times: Reed glad to be back as Bulls open camp

Single Game Tickets
Single game tickets for the season opener against Wofford on Sept. 5 are available for purchase through GoUSFBulls.com and Ticketmaster. Fans can also purchase tickets to the game against Charleston Southern. Single Game tickets for the rest of the home schedule will be put on sale at a future date. In the meantime, you can stil purchase season tickets, including the Eat For Free package for just $150 by calling 1-800-GoBulls.