You Better Get Outside Dog![There’s a ton of new HS football info in here]

“You Better Get Outside Dog”!!!!!

Many people say that when they are trying to chase the dog out of the house and they want him to get outdoors, but today we say, “Get Better Outside Dog”, and here is what we mean….

If you’ve been outside at all today, then you know it is very hot and very humid and this is exactly what you can expect when August 1 gets here and HS football begins. So, just like the title says, “You Better Get Outside Dog”….

The heat is here and if you don’t get out in it, you won’t be ready for it and with the 7 on 7’s coming to Eastern Guilford in just two weeks, somebody better be getting ready dog…..

I was out doing some training in this mess this morning and the problem we have is, most of the kids are doing some kind of indoor workouts and this will not have them ready for the heat, unless they are working in a non-air conditioned area, and I have a feeling that is not the case….

You’ve got to get out in this stuff and get working to get ready….August 1 is six weeks away and time is slipping away….Several kids were down at Duke for a camp yesterday and I think there was something going on over at North Carolina back on Friday, and Don Osborne has his kicking camp running every Sunday, now through July 31, over in Thomasville at Cushwa Stadium and Don will have a special one-day only invite camp, coming in July…..

You have to get into this heat and humidity stuff and you just can’t go out one day and be ready for it, you have to work and adjust your way into a good working order in this mess and this is what you will be seeing almost every day in August……

To make it here, you have to get ready now and get in shape, so you can go till you hear the whistle…..I like to see guys going till after the whistle and have the referee tell you to stop….Get on that block and stay on that block and after about 10 times of riding that defender until the whistle or even beyond it just a bit, the defender will start to slow down as you wear him down and he will quit….That’s why you have to get used to this weather, so you won’t quit and you can stay on that block….Stay on that block till the the ref asks you if you have a hearing problem….I was in a game once and the ref flagged me for not putting the ball carrier down on the whistle…..I told him, I couldn’t hear the whistle for everyone yelling for me to put the guy down…..Fifteen yards and and it was worth it…..My job was to carry those runningbacks back down the field and if they had the ball they were fair game….

Leg Drive is important here too….It may sound basic and and in some ways it is….You have to keep those legs driving on your blocks and on your runs as backs, until you hear that whistle….The principle of driving is big when you consider that you might be able to drive your opponent right out of the play and on down the field, where he has no chance at all to be in on the play…

Those big 7 on 7’s are coming with teams like Page, Dudley and Eastern Guilford on hand at EG and it will be a chance to see kids like James Summers, Drew Rogers, Tuc Phan, Micah Gaylord, Demetrious McCorkle, Demetrious Dick, Brandon Burkes, and the surprise guys from Eastern Guilford that are set to run behind the two huge linemen who are anchored up front for EG…..

In thinking more about Brandon Burkes from Dudley, the big FB/LB, I figured out this morning who he reminds me of…..You know who????? Del Seagraves, who used to be a FB/LB for Dudley….Brian Seagraves brother or cousin, and Del went on to play for the Greensboro Prowlers arena football team and he got a tryout with the Washington Redskins…..Where did he play in college? Was it for the Pitt Panthers?????

There will be some good ones down at the EG 7 on 7’s, sponsored by the Holt brothers, Torry and Terrence……

We had kids down at the Duke Camp yesterday and at North Carolina on Friday…..Speaking of local football and on the high school level, we will have the new players at Oak Ridge this fall and among them will be Jeremy Reynolds, Chris Simmons and Brandon Simmons….There are others and they may become the “Oak Ridge Five” or more as the season approaches….

I not going to turn on a kid and I wish both Jeremy and Chris the best as the try and further their chances on entering college and I will remember #13 Reynolds and #24 Simmons for the fine work they did in the Guilford County Schools while at Dudley and hope they find success at ORMA….ORMA is where their parents want them to be now and that is what matters the most…

Coach O will have to get to work and have that squad ready at ORMA by mid-August and one of the key parts will be his coaching staff and I’m sure we will learn more about that staff as time moves on this summer and the opening of fall practice approaches……The staff will be a key and soild first-year results will go a long way in building the foundation of that ORMA football program…..

The staff that Grimsley had a few back was one that could have made some more magic if they could have kept those guys together, when they had head coach Todd Shuping, with Coach Saunders, Coach Anderson, Coach O, Coach Hayes and etc…..A well-oiled machine, but times and locations change and we must move on…..

We need to keep our eyes on all the kids in the county as the season apporaches and if we hear of more player moves we will try and pass them along as the coaches and parents send them our way….

I want to get a list of names and a complete tally of who all is attending the Don Osborne Triad Football Kicking Schools on Sundays in Thomasville….I need more info on Don and what is going on at his camp/combine…..Don is 75 years old and he is considered one of the top high school kicking experts/instructors in the state…..Names that I would expect to be on his list include Redfern(Karson), Wall, Hunt, Miller, Law, Johnson and Hunter and I know that there has to be more……

Until our next football talk, remember to stay on that block and keep the legs driving until you hear that whistle or you hear the ref ask you if you have a hearing problem…….Hold or sustain that block and to be sure to get busy and start doing what I am saying, remember:

“You Better Get Outside Dog”!!!!!