Colorado State University Athletics
Addazio Impressed With First Workout
2/29/2020 2:48:00 PM | Football
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – He watched the players work their way across the practice fields.
Individual position work was giving way to special teams drills Saturday morning, and in the middle of crossing paths stood Steve Addazio.
Watching. You could almost read the thoughts on the face of the first-year Colorado State football coach as he waited until the players made their way to their intended targets.
They got there, sure enough, But not as quickly as Addazio would have preferred. On the first day, you can't let things slip. Setting expectations becomes moot if the standard isn't met.
So he sent them all back to the point where they started. Time to do it again. And do it right, and he let the position coaches know it was on them to get the troops humming.
"That's it man. We have to set the rate of the pack," Addazio said. "What do leaders do? They set a standard and they hold everybody accountable to it. Our standard is to have a great passion for the game of football, to have passion, to have great effort, to have intensity. As a coaching staff, we're going to have that, we're going to set the example and we're going to want our players to follow."
There's a lot to comb through, which isn't lost on Addazio. Trust has to be built on both sides, but he's more than encouraged by the attitude on display during winter conditioning. From his vantage point, the team was more than ready to step onto the field.
Defensive lineman Ellison Hubbard, speaking for his group, said looks were not deceiving thanks to Antoine Smith, which allowed them to make a solid first impression.
"It did go actually how I'd thought it would go. We knew it was going to be a fast tempo. I like the way our coach got us prepared mentally before we went out there," Hubbard said. "I like how he got us going, and I like what he knows.
"I think we did. I think the new coach likes the way we play, how good our effort was. I think they were really impressed. We came out executing what they had planned for us. As a whole, I think it went well."
It's been a short turnaround for the staff and the players to get to know each other. The time has been well spent, and Addazio says he's inherited a group that loves the game and wants to improve, and as he said, that's about as good of a foundation as a coaching staff could ask.
For the next 14 practices, it will be all about getting better. The schemes will be installed, and they have to be learned. There will naturally be missteps along the way through a transition, but with a backdrop of desire, those can be overcome.
From the player's perspective, there is growing anticipation.
"I'm actually excited to see what we are going to do with the new concepts on offensive and defense," Hubbard said. "You're going to see guys out here showing that, hey I can play, I can start, and if we can pick up on this, we're going to be a good team. That last two years, we didn't get the record we wanted."
But on the first day of spring camp, Addazio filled his checklist. Now, it was moderate in length. The game is not played in shorts and helmets, it is based on contact and physicality. Those are things he couldn't see Saturday.
He'll just have to wait. But for now, the opening day of camp has them all moving forward, which makes it a perfect start.
"I thought they came out today and had a great work ethic, a great attitude," Addazio said. "They really strained out here and hustled, and I liked the tempo of our practice; we were flying around and I thought they had a lot of fun, but we got a lot of work done. They've really prepared hard over the last couple of months and trained hard and prepared for an opening day like this. Now obviously we're not in pads, and that's what foot is. Football's pads and that will be Thursday."
Individual position work was giving way to special teams drills Saturday morning, and in the middle of crossing paths stood Steve Addazio.
Watching. You could almost read the thoughts on the face of the first-year Colorado State football coach as he waited until the players made their way to their intended targets.
They got there, sure enough, But not as quickly as Addazio would have preferred. On the first day, you can't let things slip. Setting expectations becomes moot if the standard isn't met.
So he sent them all back to the point where they started. Time to do it again. And do it right, and he let the position coaches know it was on them to get the troops humming.
"That's it man. We have to set the rate of the pack," Addazio said. "What do leaders do? They set a standard and they hold everybody accountable to it. Our standard is to have a great passion for the game of football, to have passion, to have great effort, to have intensity. As a coaching staff, we're going to have that, we're going to set the example and we're going to want our players to follow."
There's a lot to comb through, which isn't lost on Addazio. Trust has to be built on both sides, but he's more than encouraged by the attitude on display during winter conditioning. From his vantage point, the team was more than ready to step onto the field.
Defensive lineman Ellison Hubbard, speaking for his group, said looks were not deceiving thanks to Antoine Smith, which allowed them to make a solid first impression.
"It did go actually how I'd thought it would go. We knew it was going to be a fast tempo. I like the way our coach got us prepared mentally before we went out there," Hubbard said. "I like how he got us going, and I like what he knows.
"I think we did. I think the new coach likes the way we play, how good our effort was. I think they were really impressed. We came out executing what they had planned for us. As a whole, I think it went well."
It's been a short turnaround for the staff and the players to get to know each other. The time has been well spent, and Addazio says he's inherited a group that loves the game and wants to improve, and as he said, that's about as good of a foundation as a coaching staff could ask.
For the next 14 practices, it will be all about getting better. The schemes will be installed, and they have to be learned. There will naturally be missteps along the way through a transition, but with a backdrop of desire, those can be overcome.
From the player's perspective, there is growing anticipation.
"I'm actually excited to see what we are going to do with the new concepts on offensive and defense," Hubbard said. "You're going to see guys out here showing that, hey I can play, I can start, and if we can pick up on this, we're going to be a good team. That last two years, we didn't get the record we wanted."
But on the first day of spring camp, Addazio filled his checklist. Now, it was moderate in length. The game is not played in shorts and helmets, it is based on contact and physicality. Those are things he couldn't see Saturday.
He'll just have to wait. But for now, the opening day of camp has them all moving forward, which makes it a perfect start.
"I thought they came out today and had a great work ethic, a great attitude," Addazio said. "They really strained out here and hustled, and I liked the tempo of our practice; we were flying around and I thought they had a lot of fun, but we got a lot of work done. They've really prepared hard over the last couple of months and trained hard and prepared for an opening day like this. Now obviously we're not in pads, and that's what foot is. Football's pads and that will be Thursday."
Players Mentioned
DL
/ FootballThursday, May 14
Monday, May 11
Friday, May 08
Tuesday, April 28