Players led extra workouts in summer, it is paying off in camp

Nobody has seen the Kansas football program over the years closer than Clint Bowen. A former player and a coach on staffs for four different head coaches there isn’t much he hasn’t witnessed. But this summer he saw something that was different.

The players took it on themselves to hold extra practice workouts outside of the normal summer schedule.

“We definitely had it at a higher level then anytime I have ever been around here or other schools,” Bowen said about the workouts. “Our kids did a nice job. I give credit on our side of the ball to Daniel Wise, Tyrone Miller, and Joe Dineen. Really all of them were in on it.”

The extra workouts consisted of doing physical workouts and also going over their schemes. Dineen said the time they put in over the summer has helped move fall camp faster with their learning.

“We're not spending and wasting all of our time on installing and correcting installs,” Dineen said. “In my experience throughout camp it usually takes 10 days to two weeks to install everything. I know our game plans will change but we worked on a lot.”

NCAA rules limits the amount of time coaches can work with players during the summer. Bowen said he had never seen the players put in this many hours over a summer on their own, which has helped a lot starting fall camp.

“They got it organized and showed up,” he said. “They got a lot accomplished.”

A big part reason the players were able to achieve it was so many returning players. They know what is being asked of them and know the schemes that have been installed.

“I just think this year maybe more than others we have a lot of leadership on our team,” Dineen said. “We have a lot of seniors and it is our last go around. None of them have experienced the winning that they've wanted.”

It wasn’t just the defense. They held the same workouts for offense and special teams. Now the players hope the extra effort and time translates into more numbers in the win column.

“We knew its important if we're on the same page and it gives us a better chance to win,” Dineen said. “I think it was something where wo got together and said this is a good idea so we put it into play. We had a really, really good turnout and we kept it going through the whole summer. The work we did is really showing up in fall camp.”