Aug. 11, 2009

MEMPHIS, TENN. - The Tiger Football team had an early wake-up call Tuesday for the first day of practice at the Murphy Complex.

The squad was out on the field just after 5:30 a.m. warming up and mixed things up a bit with a walk-through prior to stretching that then led into 17 periods of practice. The squad was out in helmets and shorts and will go through the same type of workout on Wednesday morning. The Tigers will add shoulder pads on Thursday and will come out in full pads on Saturday.

Coach Tommy West was pleased with how the team came out and was ready to go for the first practice.

"The good thing about this morning was the energy," said West. "I thought we had great energy. Now we kind of set a place and I'm going to hold them to that, and make them have the same energy every day. We had a typical first morning. Everybody was jacked up and ready to go. We even started 10 minutes early. Everybody's on cue, but I thought it was a good start."

"In shorts it's hard to tell, but I thought they all moved around well," added West. "We are just learning how to play right now, get good body positions and play the game the right way and by Saturday, we'll put pads on and we'll be able to tell who can play football."

All but two players reported today. Dejarrius Adams, a junior college transfer from El Camino College, and Mike McDonald, a transfer from Lackawanna CC, both were awaiting academic clearance. McDonald is expected to practice Wednesday morning.

The Tigers worked for over two hours with drills and mixed the special teams work in throughout practice. The special teams unit is being led by assistant coach John Wozniak, who was hired in June from Montana State. Five quarterbacks got some reps today including seniors Arkelon Hall, Will Hudgens and Brett Toney, sophomore Tyler Bass and true freshman Will Gilchrist. All are competing for the starting job when the Tigers open the 2009 season against Ole Miss on Sept. 6.

"I thought they worked really good today," said West. "We've got more depth than we had and I think we're a little ahead offensively running our stuff. We've got backs that have played, wideouts that have played, quarterbacks that have played, so we're a little bit ahead of where we usually are when we start. Defensively, I expect our defense to be a little bit behind. But I love their energy today."

Two Tigers were on the sidelines working with the strength and conditioning staff today. Senior safety Alton Starr is continuing to rehabilitate his knee after suffering an ACL tear in the St. Petersburg Bowl, and senior offensive lineman Malcom Rawls is strengthening his knee after undergoing a scope over the summer.

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