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MARSHALL SPORTS
End of camp a relief for Herd
Darius Marshall returns a kickoff during Marshall football special teams scrimmage Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008, at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
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HUNTINGTON -- Young people, particularly of the active and athletic ilk, aren't wired for 10 p.m. bedtimes.
The college life lends itself to late nights and sleeping in. Simply put, it's pretty much the best time of your life. But for Marshall University's football student-athletes, lights out couldn't come soon enough this month.
Preseason camp is a demanding stretch totaling 24 practices in 18 days. Days stretch from dawn to well past dusk, and it's all football all the time. Veterans and newcomers alike reside in dorms, although rooms essentially serve as a place to collapse after 12 hour days where every minute is scripted.
Thundering Herd preseason camp wrapped with the second of two Friday practices. A few days earlier, several players, along with conductor of Marshall football, were polled informally on what they actually enjoy from preseason camp; responses were much wordier when then asked what doesn't exactly excite them about the enduring month of August.
Following, in their own words, are thoughts on preseason camp.
Walk-on to starter
Echoing many of his teammates, senior right guard Matt Altobello pointed to camaraderie as a positive.
"Camp is a good time for your team to bond," the team leader said. "You don't have any time apart from each other, so you've got to get along with each other.
"It can be a negative if you don't get along, but what we have right now in this camp is everybody getting on the right page at the right time with the players and coaches."
The 6-foot-1, 291-pound Keyser, W.Va., native also fell in line with peers concerning the other side.
"The negatives of camp -- it's just a grind to tell you the truth," Altobello said. "It's very, very grinding on your body, on your mind. That's another thing where team bonding comes in, having people to push you through and counterbalance each other."
Altobello arrived on campus in 2004 as a mostly anonymous walk-on. Now a scholarship starter, Altobello laughed when asked to compare his inaugural Marshall camp to this season's.
"My first camp was kind of confusing to tell you the truth," he said. "You don't know where you're going. Campus is new. Everything's new and you're trying to learn the offense.
"You're just trying to get your name out there. You're trying to push for a spot.
"Now you're kind of trying to hold on to a spot. And you've got to kind of reach around and lead some of the guys who are behind.
"I'm in the same spot as those seniors were when I was a freshman. Now I've got to do the same.
"You see some of the freshmen kind of group together, which is good. And most of the seniors are turning around and leading, and that's what needs to happen."
"PROBABLY THE WORST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE"
Like Altobello, John Jacobs tabbed bonding as a top asset gathered from the previous three weeks.
"The biggest thing I enjoy is that it forces us as a team to be around each other all the time," the junior defensive end said. "They talk about football family; it forces you to live in the same rooms with the same guys and be around nothing but the same guys for three straight weeks.
"The only people you have in your life are your teammates and that's probably the biggest benefit."
"I was at the stadium at 6:30 this morning for rehab. Tonight, I'll probably get done about 9:30 or 10 o'clock. You're around the same people.
"You have to get along or you won't be able to function. It forces you to get used to people."
As for a negative? Yep, the grind.
"Mostly just having to walk around all the time," Jacobs said. "You come here (the Memorial Student Center) to eat, go back over there (the Shewey Building) -- just the demanding schedule of always having to be somewhere and doing something.
"You don't have any time to chill and relax. That's the way it has to be, but that's probably the biggest negative."
Jacobs also chuckled when his first Marshall camp was mentioned. The answer, however, was to the point and revealing.
"My first college camp was probably the worst experience of my life," the Broadway, Va., native said. "I had no idea what was coming for me. I didn't realize football was 12 hours out of the day.
"I was homesick and having the same feeling probably a lot of the freshmen are having right now. You just have no idea what to expect and the energy it takes to make it through and get something out of it."
Armed with such perspective, what has been his advice to first-timers this month?
"Just keep going," Jacobs said. "It gets better. Keep going. Just keep going day to day and before you know it's going to be over. It has to end sometime.
"And then it only gets better."
THE NEW GUY
Jamie Hatten could be experiencing some of Jacobs' struggles from 2005. The true freshman tight end from Hendersonville, N.C., offered refreshing frankness when a reporter attempted to pry a positive from his first preseason camp.
"Camp's not really about enjoyment," Hatten flatly said. "I'm thankful to be able to play at this next level, practicing in the big stadium and learning from the older guys.
"It's not always fun, but I enjoy getting to play at this level.
"It's kind of a shock at first. The first few days are probably the hardest. If you do get used to it, your body kind of adjusts to waking up so early.
"It's tough, but it's got to be tough."
Support for newcomers hasn't lacked during this camp. True freshmen naturally are drawn to each other, sharing questions and concerns; veterans, meanwhile, have displayed real leadership on the field and in team meetings.
"I think the true freshmen do get a little bit of a bond," said Hatten, noting that the process began more than a month before camp when most freshmen arrived for summer school and voluntary workouts.
"As far as the tight ends, we're constantly in meetings where it's just the tight ends," he added. "I spend a lot of time with Lee (Smith) and Cody (Slate) and Matt Parkhurst. They're great to learn from."
Camp's frantic pace is especially dizzying for freshmen, attempting to shed a redshirt and earn immediate playing time.
"Probably all of the mental learning, trying to learn an offense so quick," Hatten said of challenge No. 1. "A lot of the guys kind of learned the offense in the spring. And now it's so close to (opening opponent) Illinois State, (the coaches) can't slow down that much for the new guys.
"The older guys have to be pushed at a good pace to install everything."
"I SPEAK FOR EVERYONE"
Preseason camp is especially essential for center Brian Leggett, anchor of an offensive line featuring at least two new starters. The senior has switched from right guard, where he started each game last season.
"A positive of camp is really you get to bond with your teammates," Leggett said. "We also get to do that year around but in camp we're required to do that. It's a good experience to get to know all of your teammates.
"And then on the field we're getting to work around each other and figure out how each person works.
"You've got to have all five guys (along the offensive line) working on the same page, and once you have that you're going to have a good play regardless. If everybody's going in the right direction and everybody's picking up the reads, we're bonding as a group."
Unlike most teammates, the Meridian, Miss., native somewhat fished for a camp downer.
"Definitely the sun, but we've had pretty cool weather so we really can't complain," Leggett said. "But with camp it's just the grind and every day getting up, working full days.
"There's really not too much to complain about."
Normally soft-spoken and laid back, the volume rose when asked for advice to rookies.
"I speak for everyone when I say that the first camp is definitely the longest," Leggett declared. "It feels like you're in camp for about 30 days, and you think it's never going to end.
"From then on, it's downhill. You know what to expect and once you get the rhythm of practice you're prepared for it more."
THE VERSATILE VETERAN
Ian Hoskins was recruited to Marshall as a safety in 2004. The fifth-year senior segued to linebacker and now lines up at defensive tackle at 6-2 and 253 pounds.
"Very different," Hoskins said, weighing August 2004 against now. "Very different. I'm a lot more relaxed now. I know what to expect out of camp. I know what camp's about. It's just everything."
The Campbellsville, Ky., native virtually resides in the weight room, thus the progression of position switches. Still, he more than welcomed the one-day break provided last weekend after 15 practices in 12 consecutive days.
"That's a very, very much-needed break," Hoskins said. "It cuts a lot of tension actually. The guys get to get away. When you're around each a lot, even like brothers, they're around each other a lot and they start to bicker.
"It's a good little break and you can gather yourself and then come back and get back to work."
Hoskins physique defines fitness and strength, but he also concedes the camp is an absolute grind.
"Definitely just the wear and tear on yourself," he said. "That's everywhere across the country. But it's good. You've got to learn. This is the best time to put everything in and get to know everybody.
"But definitely the negative is the wear and tear on your body."
THE COACH
Mark Snyder has experienced Marshall preseason camp as a playmaking defensive back and now as Thundering Herd head coach. Reflecting on camp as a player in 1987, it's obvious Snyder appreciates the long days clocked by his 2008 squad.
"You're dead-legged and you're tired," Snyder said. You've got to think and you've got to try to focus when you're tired. The heat plays a role I think.
"I went to bed as early as I could possibly go to bed. And I caught every catnap I could, just so I was fresh at practice, because you're tired."
Players mostly carry a bit of dread into camp, but from a coaching perspective, it's all adrenaline. This is what all of those behind-the-scene offseason hours of staring at film and game-planning is about.
"I don't think there's anything I don't look forward to," Snyder said. "Well, a lack of sleep and you don't see your family now that you're older.
"It's easier for us. Even though it's tiring it's nowhere near as physically demanding as it was as a player.
"Our job is to take them where they can't take themselves. We all try to catch a little exercise here and there to keep ourselves feeling what they're feeling in a certain perspective.
"And that helps you back off or pour on a little bit more. But it's a little easier as a coach."
Snyder immediately flipped back to his playing days. There was a vivid memory of those two-a-day workouts in the Huntington heat.
"When I was a player, and we were doing grass drills and they're blowing the whistle and you're going up and down and all they're doing is blowing the whistle," Snyder said. "I'd go 'I can't wait to be a coach. I can not wait to be a coach.'
"Because they're sitting there screaming at you. You're (exhausted), and all they're doing is blowing the whistle. And you're just thinking 'get your butt down here and do it.'"
His players no doubt have felt the same at times, but this camp was light both in mood and physicality. Snyder and his coaching staff scaled back full contact to avoid injuries; a strategy pulled off with a healthy team entering Saturday's season against Illinois State. Kickoff to the 2008 season is 4:30 p.m. at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
"I think fundamentally we got a little better," Snyder said. "I feel like we got better as a team in a whole bunch of aspects. We got to throw a lot of situations (at the players) to prepare for the season.
"Now it's time to hunker down. One week seasons, each week."
