Colorado State University Athletics
Photo by: Mike Brohard
In Position: Corners asked to go extra mile
6/11/2019 12:00:00 PM | Football
Perkins request translates to different answer for each player
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Anthony Perkins won't have to remind his players of what he wants. Joey Guarascio will do that for him.
The mindset Colorado State's first-year cornerbacks coach wants to instill in his group is a message Guarascio, the strength and conditioning coach, delivers on multiple occasions over the course of an hour-long session as the vibrant colors of a Friday dawn flash across the sky and start to fade away.
Doing what's asked will make you average, he bellows. To be great, push yourself beyond the script.
"I want them focused on doing the little things, building the habits that generate success," Perkins said. "I want them thinking in what ways can I go above and beyond the call of duty, in what ways can I do more than what's being asked of me."
The Rams will spend the summer conditioning. They will lift, they will run. There will be player-led practices. What more can they do?
For the first two weeks of June especially, there is more free time. Classes have yet to start, and for sophomore Rashad Ajayi, there should be no excuses.
"Knowing we don't have school right now, we have much more time on our hands that we would be resting or school work, we can just do extra Jug machine work, or drills, breaking on routes, covering receivers," he said. "The extra time isn't extra time, but it's time we'd use for something else differently."
The process started as the calendar flipped for him. Last year, Ajayi started all 12 games as a true freshman, and he did so a bit undersized. When he went home for the holidays, he treated it as anything but a break.
He was in the weight room every day. He was running. He was eating right and gaining weight. By the time the academic school year was finished, after refining his technique under Perkins in spring camp and lifting for eight weeks after, he was 12 pounds heavier, with Guarascio noting he had become, pound-for-pound, the fifth strongest Ram.
Dajon Owens, who transferred in last season and played in 11 games -- starting the final two -- getting bigger was also key. He's bumped up to 185 pounds and added more than 50 pounds to his lifts, some of it due to increased sessions in the weight room.
Extra? Not really. Necessary? Most definitely.
"That's the way I look at it. Every day we're trying to find something we can improve on," Owens said. "We all have flaws we can work on and get better on every day. We get out of the weight room at 2:30 p.m., so that gives us a lot of time to get on the field and get extra work, working our feet, hips, every little thing that will help us in a game."
As a defense, the Rams had but seven interceptions in 2018. More factors into the number than just cornerback play, but Ajayi is the only member of the returning group who has one. Opposing quarterbacks completed 63.2 percent of their attempts. Again, not all on the corners, but improved play has to be part of the turnaround.
For Perkins, the request will also serve as a mental study. He's going to learn a bit more about his players by what, and how much, they choose to take on themselves. He didn't give each player a list, but all of them are different.
For some, the extra could involve their diet, even hydration. The translation could be technique, or maybe an improved understanding of coverage concepts. A mix of factors could be in play.
What they do will teach him how they think.
"It's not something specific. For each person, they're going to have a different answer," he said. "I want them to train themselves and want them to be cognizant of thinking in that capacity, in that mindset."
Ajayi and Owens both mentioned film work. Some of it can be done on their own, in their free time at home. Some of it can be group work, with open discussions taking place. Those bring an added benefit of knowing the guys they are on the field with, the way they think, how they read certain looks.
A closer group, Ajayi said, will play better together. Meeting together in an apartment, well, Owens knows that will translate onto the field.
What Perkins is asking is a loaded question, but both players view the tasks they tackle as mandatory to becoming the player they envision.
"We're asking a lot of them. We're putting a lot of stuff on their plate," Perkins said. "I want them to grasp the idea that by doing the bare minimum, by doing what's asked of them, doesn't guarantee them anything. What are you willing to do extra? What are you willing to do that other people aren't doing to give you a chance to be successful when it's all said and done.
"This is where I want to get to, this is where I am, what am I willing to do to get there that I'm not being asked to do? What are some of the habits I can build, the choices I can make from a day-to-day standpoint that are going to get me to where I want to go?"
The mindset Colorado State's first-year cornerbacks coach wants to instill in his group is a message Guarascio, the strength and conditioning coach, delivers on multiple occasions over the course of an hour-long session as the vibrant colors of a Friday dawn flash across the sky and start to fade away.
Doing what's asked will make you average, he bellows. To be great, push yourself beyond the script.
"I want them focused on doing the little things, building the habits that generate success," Perkins said. "I want them thinking in what ways can I go above and beyond the call of duty, in what ways can I do more than what's being asked of me."
The Rams will spend the summer conditioning. They will lift, they will run. There will be player-led practices. What more can they do?
For the first two weeks of June especially, there is more free time. Classes have yet to start, and for sophomore Rashad Ajayi, there should be no excuses.
"Knowing we don't have school right now, we have much more time on our hands that we would be resting or school work, we can just do extra Jug machine work, or drills, breaking on routes, covering receivers," he said. "The extra time isn't extra time, but it's time we'd use for something else differently."
The process started as the calendar flipped for him. Last year, Ajayi started all 12 games as a true freshman, and he did so a bit undersized. When he went home for the holidays, he treated it as anything but a break.
He was in the weight room every day. He was running. He was eating right and gaining weight. By the time the academic school year was finished, after refining his technique under Perkins in spring camp and lifting for eight weeks after, he was 12 pounds heavier, with Guarascio noting he had become, pound-for-pound, the fifth strongest Ram.
Dajon Owens, who transferred in last season and played in 11 games -- starting the final two -- getting bigger was also key. He's bumped up to 185 pounds and added more than 50 pounds to his lifts, some of it due to increased sessions in the weight room.
Extra? Not really. Necessary? Most definitely.
"That's the way I look at it. Every day we're trying to find something we can improve on," Owens said. "We all have flaws we can work on and get better on every day. We get out of the weight room at 2:30 p.m., so that gives us a lot of time to get on the field and get extra work, working our feet, hips, every little thing that will help us in a game."
As a defense, the Rams had but seven interceptions in 2018. More factors into the number than just cornerback play, but Ajayi is the only member of the returning group who has one. Opposing quarterbacks completed 63.2 percent of their attempts. Again, not all on the corners, but improved play has to be part of the turnaround.
For Perkins, the request will also serve as a mental study. He's going to learn a bit more about his players by what, and how much, they choose to take on themselves. He didn't give each player a list, but all of them are different.
For some, the extra could involve their diet, even hydration. The translation could be technique, or maybe an improved understanding of coverage concepts. A mix of factors could be in play.
What they do will teach him how they think.
"It's not something specific. For each person, they're going to have a different answer," he said. "I want them to train themselves and want them to be cognizant of thinking in that capacity, in that mindset."
Ajayi and Owens both mentioned film work. Some of it can be done on their own, in their free time at home. Some of it can be group work, with open discussions taking place. Those bring an added benefit of knowing the guys they are on the field with, the way they think, how they read certain looks.
A closer group, Ajayi said, will play better together. Meeting together in an apartment, well, Owens knows that will translate onto the field.
What Perkins is asking is a loaded question, but both players view the tasks they tackle as mandatory to becoming the player they envision.
"We're asking a lot of them. We're putting a lot of stuff on their plate," Perkins said. "I want them to grasp the idea that by doing the bare minimum, by doing what's asked of them, doesn't guarantee them anything. What are you willing to do extra? What are you willing to do that other people aren't doing to give you a chance to be successful when it's all said and done.
"This is where I want to get to, this is where I am, what am I willing to do to get there that I'm not being asked to do? What are some of the habits I can build, the choices I can make from a day-to-day standpoint that are going to get me to where I want to go?"
Players Mentioned
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