Bobby Petrino gives a summer update on the team

Bobby Petrino met with members of the media on Thursday afternoon to give an update on the team, much like Rick Pitino did just a week or so ago. There may not have been any breaking news at this press conference, but I love knowing that the season is now less than 7 weeks away! Just hearing Petrino talk about the players and the scheme and the schedule, it has to get you fired up! Ok, it doesn’t have to, but that would be nice so I am not the only one.

You can check out the video here from thecrunchzone.com. As always, we appreciate their coverage of these things. Below that I have listed some of the key points in case you don’t have time to watch the whole video.

*Petrino is excited about the gains that the team has made in the weight room. He says it will be exciting in a couple weeks when they do their testing to see how much stronger they are and what type of shape they are in.

*He is very excited about the attitudes and work ethic of the players.

*This summer has been different than in the past because the coaches can spend more time with the players and be around them more for workouts.

*Some guys that were not available in the spring are now back and healthy. This is good for the depth of the team. He mentions Ryan Mack and T.C. Klusman as guys who are healthy.

*Keith Brown, Lorenzo Mauldin, and Terrence Ross are all back at full speed.

*Jamon Brown weighed 348 pounds when the staff arrived. He now weighs 327. “I’m really excited about him at that weight because I think he’ll be a much better player.”

*He says that “Quarterback is the number one concern. We’re replacing a guy that played the game at a very, very high level. I was excited about the progress we made in the spring, but we do have a long way to go. Not only starter, but who’s going to be the backup?”

*Replacing the safeties is also a concern.

*They were very disappointed in James Quick and his decision making. But he has done everything the staff has asked him to do, and with a positive attitude. They will continue to monitor him.

*The difficulty about preparing to play against a 3-4 defense is trying to figure out who the 4th rusher is going to be.

*Defensively, Petrino is excited about how our personnel fits what a 3-4 defense is meant to do. He mentions Lorenzo Mauldin, Deiontrez Mount, and Trevon Young as guys that can rush the passer, drop in coverage, and play the run.

*After 10 days of installing the offense in the fall, they will then take it and mold it around the starting quarterback. You emphasize certain parts of the offense depending on personnel.

*They put in a lot of the offense already, and Petrino said he was kind of nervous and didn’t want to put in too much. But what allowed them to do that was the returning experience they had on offense.

*He talked about how great the schedule is. Referenced his time as a coach in the SEC West and how you have to be prepared every week because they will all be against talented and well-coached teams.

*On recruiting, he says you are never really happy. But he did say they did a good job of getting players onto campus this summer. The evaluation process is going well. The biggest thing is getting players to the city so they can see campus and see what it has to offer.

*Michael Dyer is healthy. He couldn’t do some of the drills in spring practice, but he kept improving. The first time they really saw him at 100% was in the spring game.

*On Dyer returning to wearing #5: Petrino says Dyer came to him before spring ball and asked about changing his number. Petrino said let’s see how the spring goes and then we will talk about it.

*When talking about Dyer’s mentality when it comes to wearing Teddy Bridgewater’s old number?? “I’ll bet you Mike thinks of that as his number.” Now I am not one to toot my own horn too much, but I did say this on Monday night…

https://twitter.com/JustinRenck/status/488864606874370050

https://twitter.com/JustinRenck/status/488864868435378176

*He calls DeVante Parker “an exceptional talent.” Compares him to Jimmy Smith of the Jacksonville Jaguars, who Petrino coached in the pros. Petrino is impressed because he (Parker) knows he is a very good player, but still goes out there and works hard to improve.

*There was a “bod-pod” reference, because why not? He said they want to find out the strongest and heaviest that each player can be without losing speed. Each guy is a little bit different.

*Card March will be done how it was before. And by before, he means when he was here. So I assume that big tunnel that says “Card March” will be used again!

*On the black uniforms: Petrino tells a story about the last time he was here, he was riding with his son (Bobby) who said he couldn’t believe that Bob Huggins left Cincinnati. Petrino asked why that was a big deal, and his son’s answer was “because their uniforms are tight.” So that showed him what was important to the younger kids.