Deacons Hold First Preseason Practice
8/5/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 5, 2010
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest football team went through its first practice Thursday night in preparation for the 2010 season. The Demon Deacons worked for better than two and one-half hours at the Doc Martin Football Practice Complex on the Wake Forest University campus.
The first two days of practice are limited to shorts, jerseys and helmets as the players acclimate to the summer heat. The Deacons ran through a number of standard blocking and passing drills with a good dose of emphasis on the fundamentals.
"What I was impressed with was the enthusiasm of the players and, especially, the enthusiasm of the coaching staff," said Grobe following the workout. "You can tell that Coach (Ethan) Reeve and his (strength and conditioning) staff did a tremendous job of getting the guys in shape."
A late afternoon thunderstorm had subsided by the time the Deacs hit the field at 7:30. While the conditions remained humid, the temperature and a slight breeze made the weather far more tolerable than it had been earlier in the day.
Grobe saw a lot of enthusiasm from his defensive unit during the first practice.
"What we've got more than anything is an enthusiastic group that is excited about playing defense," said Grobe. "We have better overall team speed on defense. There's some young guys but it's a pretty physical unit, they like to mix it up. They like to get 11 guys around the football. They do all the things that coaches enjoy seeing on defense. I think if the group will come together and not give up big plays, and be more aggressive in taking the ball away from people. But this can be a pretty good defensive football team."
Wake's head coach also took a moment to praise junior offensive guard Joe Looney.
"He's the most enthusiastic guy on the football team," said Grobe. "He's an Aaron Curry-type at offensive guard, as far as his attitude. As far as a guy who plays as well as Curry, I can't tell you that. But he's a guy who bounces to practice, likes to practice, loves to play on Saturday, lives for football and is liked by everybody on the team. He's one of our favorite guys because he's just such a good person. One of the main reasons he got on the field right away (as a freshman) is because of his enthusiasm. He's just so pumped up all the time. It doesn't matter where you see him, if you see him at breakfast at 6:30 in the morning or you've finished up a late night practice, he's bouncing around. He's enjoying life."
Wake Forest will practice in shells again on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Doc Martin Complex. The Deacons will practice on Saturday afternoon on campus starting at 3:30 p.m. The Deacs open the season on Thursday, Sept. 2 at BB&T Field against Presbyterian.
