Screw up, do push ups. There seemed to be plenty of them going around at Monday’s practice session. Click on photo for larger view and slide show.

Intensity Remains At High Level

Spring football at the University of Louisville is into its third week now, and the atmosphere continues to be high pitched. The coaches aren’t swearing as much as they were the first few days but parental guidance is still advised.

This is football, after all, and not a game for the meek, at least not anymore on the U of L campus. Too much ground to make up from the past three seasons for any niceties. There is a sense of urgency for many players, knowing a harder and tougher breed will be joining them in August.

As a result, one doesn’t hear much from the players, none of the joking that used to occur between the players or with fans on the sidelines during practice sessions. In fact, the players rarely say anything, obviously wanting their actions to speak for them.

The crowd is down to a couple of hundred people, consisting of the hard core fans, friends, parents and girl friends. The hard core includes more than a few with a knowing look in their eyes, like they can really determine whether progress is being made, ready to post their conclusions on local message boards.

Bilal Powell has slimmed down and looks quicker, but you already knew that. Doug Beaumont is still the best receiver, no news there. Josh Chichester still has a way to go, mumbling under his breath that his missed reception was actually thrown out of bounds.

Honestly, watching practice at the field level is challenging at best — far different from the view provided from the stands in Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. Sometimes it’s difficult for one to tell whether the skill level has actually improved or one sees great improvement because that’s what one wants to see. The observer will leave that for the coaches.

The only things certain are that a lot of work needs to be done and that the intensity level has improved dramatically during practice sessions.

Chris White, a freshman receiver from Elizabethtown, appears to have a bead on this Adam Froman pass but the defense closes quickly, denying him the reception, courtesy of sophomores Daniel Brown (24) and Agyei Williams (40).