Oklahoma State University Athletics
Football Practice Report - March 14
March 14, 2013 | Cowboy Football
March 14, 2013
VIDEO: Linebacker Spotlight | 
PHOTOS: Defense & Linebackers
STILLWATER, Okla. - The Oklahoma State football team practiced in full pads Thursday for the first time this spring. Weather conditions were ideal for the two-hour session on the practice fields adjacent to Gallagher-Iba Arena. After practice, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Glenn Spencer shared some of his thoughts.
On Thursday's practice:
"It was the first day of pads. There was good and bad. I was just telling them that this sport reveals a lot. Every play out here will be a challenge to man up and play with some toughness and some intensity. It's not there yet. It's our job as a group to get them to do it and it's my job as the coach to get them to do it every snap and we didn't do it every snap today. It's the first day, so we'll find a lot of corrections to make between the first and the second full day. I'm looking forward to looking at the film."
On if intensity and toughness are two of his focus points this spring:
"No doubt. Yes. No doubt, no doubt. Our side of the ball - we've got to start with that, the emotional aspect. It's between their ears and it's in their heart. The technique part is going to come with reps and everybody coaching hard. The coaches are really straining in meetings and drawing all that out of them. If we don't have that intensity and toughness, nothing else matters. That's definitely something that by practice 15, I want to sit back and say `Hey, we're ready for camp. We've got that taken care of.' We'll just keep working on the other things."
On what Caleb Lavey and Shaun Lewis bring that casual observers might not see:
"Both of them are very smart and intelligent. In so much of what we do, you have to make adjustments. You have to react on the run. It's just part of the game, when people spread the field and change formations on you, sometimes your call has got to adjust. Those guys handle all that. People have no idea how Caleb controls a game for us. How when he does his job, the ball is going to bounce out and somebody else can make a play or if somebody's not doing their job and the ball comes back in at times, he's there to make a play. It all works together. He's the general out there. Everybody respects him a lot. They know he can get them lined up, they know he's going to make the adjustments off of motion. To me that's not an intangible, that's a tangible. Same thing with Shaun. Shaun is out there in space a lot, but he's also got to come inside and have some toughness in the box. It's a tough position to play. I'm expecting both of those guys to have great years."
