Odds and Ends
I'm Up Early
I'm up a little bit earlier this morning and I'm running behind. If I missed a link to a newspaper or other website, then help me out in the comments.
Texas Tech Football
Offseason Workouts
DT's Christopher Martin takes a look at the football team's offseason workouts with lots of quotes from strength and conditioning coach Bennie Wylie. Who doesn't love this:
"I will not let anything tarnish this team," he said, "so everyone in this room has to be on the same page. If you are not moving forward, then you are falling behind."
To make sure that doesn't happen, Tech is running through an eight-week summer workout program to prepare for this season, and Wylie has created an atmosphere of intensity that ensures each player improves.
During these workout sessions, no player is standing still at any moment, and Wylie patrols the weight room hooked up to a microphone encouraging his players and watching his finely-tuned workout routine unfold.
Wylie said maintaining a high level of tempo and intensity in the weight room is essential to preparing the team for game day.
"When you watch the workout, it looks like total chaos with me yelling over the loud speaker and guys running everywhere, but these guys know what they are doing," he said. "The more we can replicate chaos in the weight room, the more we can teach our players to stay poised under pressure which will make games easier for them."
And RB Baron Batch is working on improving his quickness:
"Quickness is definitely something that I try to focus on every day going into this offseason and I am going to just keep working," said Batch, who had 758 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground last year. "We work hard to win, and every win at this level isn't easy, so we are working to bring home another awesome season."
I love Wylie's intensity and there may not be a better foil to Leach, who obviously isn't visibly intense, to get Texas Tech to be better in every facet of the game, including the weight room.
Go read the whole thing.
Behind the Scenes at the Broadcast Booth
Interesting look from the Broadcast Booth's Brian Jensen as they work to prepare for the 2009 season under the new Learfield Sports regime.
Dixon's Draft Day
Tomorrow is DE McKinner Dixon's draft day and CBS Sports' Rob Rang has a quick scouting report on the eligible players, including Dixon:
Expected to be the Red Raiders' leading returning sack artist, Dixon finished last season with nine sacks and 11 tackles for loss and appeared poised for a breakout senior campaign. After his second suspension for academics, however, coach Mike Leach dismissed Dixon from the team.
Dixon, 6-3, 250 pounds, has good burst off the snap and flashed playmaking ability early in his career, posting 29 tackles and six sacks in 2005 as a true freshman. Dixon didn't play in 2006 due to his first academic suspension and moved on to Cisco Junior College in 2007 (where he posted 68 tackles and nine sacks) before signing back with the Red Raiders last year.
A bit of a 'tweener, Dixon lacks the bulk and strength most 4-3 teams are looking for at defensive end, but flashes the agility to potentially make the switch to outside linebacker in the 3-4 scheme. His burst off the snap could warrant a late-round selection or at least a free-agent contract, but his academic struggles and May arrest for driving without insurance and with an open container is certain to cause teams concern.
Scouting the Enemy
Rock M Nation's The Boy with a Beyond the Box Score look at the Texas Longhorns offense.
Nice article from Roll Bama Roll's Nico 2.0 on why conference championship games should cease.
Dr. Saturday's Matt Hinton with a look at the Houston Cougars current version of the Run 'n Shoot (which it's not the Run 'n Shoot, but rather the point of the article is the explosive offense of Houston).