University of Houston Athletics
Cougars Ready For Second Week
8/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
HOUSTON - The University of Houston football team returns to the practice fields tomorrow afternoon to begin the second week of its preseason camp. The Cougars took Sunday off after practicing on both Friday and Saturday for the first time in 2009.
After getting through the non-football items on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, UH has practiced twice in the Houston summer, and UH head coach Kevin Sumlin is pleased with what he has seen so far.
"The tempo has been good. We've had a lot of snaps," Sumlin said. "We had a really good special teams cover unit period (on Saturday.) We were looking to put some of our younger guys in coverage drills, particularly some of the freshmen and newcomers to see how they can operate on our special teams and get on the field because a lot of them are fast and can run."
Sumlin also emphasized that his team is a little bit ahead of where it was a year ago; the first season under Sumlin, his new coaching staff and new systems on offense, defense and special teams.
"Once you get the basis of your offense on the field, you start finding situations that you can work on," Sumlin added. "Last year we were a decent third-down team offensively and defensively, because we practiced the heck out of it.
"Now we have to continue to practice those situations, and we have a good grasp of those and continue to hone in on situations such as red zone, tight zones and short yardage. So, we are trying to get into some of those situations thrown into every practice."
As mentioned, the Cougars return to the practice fields tomorrow afternoon, donning shoulder pads for the first time during camp. Houston will practice in full pads for the first time later in the week.
