Aug. 7, 2007
Orlando, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - The UCF football team worked out for the first time this fall inside as the Knights spent their Tuesday afternoon practice in the Nicholson Fieldhouse. Much like their work outdoors, the team spent the opening of practice working on individual drills before moving into some offensive and defensive installation.
Both the offense and defense worked on short-yardage situations as well during the two-hour session and offensive coordinator Tim Salem has seen his side of ball make good strides through the first six practices of fall camp.
"We are progressing, moving forward and playing hard," Salem said. "We are not slowing down anything for these players from an installation standpoint. And of course we are not slowing down in terms of the effort we want to get out of these kids. With all of the summer work that they put in, they are pretty strong and in good condition, which has allowed us to go fast."
Head coach George O'Leary closed the practice with another tackling drill as the defensive backs and wide receivers went one-on-one and those units were followed by a match-up between the linebackers and running backs in the same drill.
Both sides of the ball had bright spots during the closing drill and it allowed the offense to show an area where Salem said the team improved the most over the summer months.
"I think we have seen some guys that have gotten stronger on the offensive side of the ball," Salem added. "That has been due to the offseason program they went through from May until the end of July. We have some experience at certain positions and those guys from the experience and added strength have really had a chance to improve themselves."
The Knights will take to the practice fields again on Wednesday with the start time set for 3:20 p.m.
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