It’s Tryout Time in Tennessee
Charliy Nash
Tuesday September 5, 2006
A surprising 108 athletes showed up for the event, and only a handful were out of their element (I won’t single any of them out, no reason to embarrass somebody for reaching for a dream). It was no easy task for the Kats’ coaching staff, aided by af2 coaches Ron Sedlesky of the Birmingham Steeldogs and Milt Theodosatos of the Tennessee Valley Vipers, to sort through all these players.
Many of the players brought along friends, family members or coaches to support them. Among them was Bill Caldwell, co-owner of the NAFL Nashville Storm who came to encourage four of his players. "The tryout this year was well run, reasonably priced, and it was clear that they were making a serious effort to evaluate talent," he observed, "Tryouts by minor league professional teams have been given a bad name by the many fly-by-night outfits who have used them as a fundraising technique; it was clear that that was not the case here."
Another person who was pleasantly surprised was Kats’ line coach Darrin Kenney, "It was much better than I expected, to be honest with you. Some of those guys look like they have some potential." Kenney explained that at this stage they’re not looking for polished players, "You’re looking for athletes. Some of these guys have been coached well, some of them haven’t. You’re looking for something to say, can I work with this guy or can’t I work with this guy. We saw some guys we could definitely work with."
The Kats plan to bring some of the participant into training camp on two-day waivers for further evaluation. Many more will be invited to af2 camps as a result of their performance at the tryout. It was definitely a day that exceeded expectations.
Coach Charliy’s Open Tryout Tips
I should charge for the following observations, but I’ve decided to let you have them for free. I’m not an expert talent scout, but I did a real good job of predicting who would survive the first round of cuts. I picked up a few things that can really improve your chances of being one of the last people to go home.
1. Run Through It, Not To It
How obvious is this? In a 40-yard dash you run past the finish line. Everyone knows that, right? Well, a surprising number of candidates didn’t get that memo and slowed down as they approached the finish line. That fraction of a second that you give away could be what puts you behind the other guy. This doesn’t only apply to the dash; I saw the same thing while watching the short shuttle. Some would make their second cut and come back to the start/finish line; the smarter ones would explode past the line.
2. Follow Instructions
With a lot of players and a short amount of time the coaches can’t evaluate everything. They can tell if you follow the directions – and not following them is the quickest way to end your day.
3. Preregister
Everyone gets a number. The drills are run in order by your number. If you have a high number, you’re more likely to be doing drills on torn up turf, increasing your odds of slipping. The people who preregister get processed first and get lower numbers.
4. Be Seen
Not all of the evaluation will be done on the day of the tryouts. The coaches will be watching film of the drills. At least half of the players were wearing black or grey. If you were one of those guys and made a great play that was caught on film, how would anyone be able to tell it was you? If I was going to try out I’d bring two or three different colored shirts with me, then look to see what everyone else is wearing and pick something that would stand out. (At this tryout nobody wore green, so that would have been perfect.) One guy wore a shirt with contrasting long sleeves – one white and one black – as well as purple shorts. He was impossible to miss, and (more importantly) he performed well enough to warrant notice.
5. Step Up
I was watching drills with the linemen. For one defensive drill the coach asked for an O-lineman to stand in and either block or slide as the other guys rushed. Out of the forty or so linemen, about half said they had only played O-line – but only two stepped up and took on the blocking assignment. Maybe the other were afraid they’d miss a chance to show what they could do on the rush, but these two guys showed that they were willing to do what was needed, and that they could follow directions. If they need a holder for the kickers, someone to retrieve the kicks, whatever – you can either step up or sit back.
6. Use of Free Time
It’s not always your turn (especially if you’re a kicker). You’ll have some moments when you’re waiting on the sidelines. During one of those times I noticed an O-lineman practicing the pass rush techniques the coach had just shown him, while most other players were just milling around or watching. When it was his turn he did an outstanding job of applying what he had learned and practiced.
7. Look Where You’re Going
Back to the shuttle run: The turf gets torn up. You try to plant and cut on torn up turf and you are going down. Most players took their starting stance right in the middle of the course, and hit the torn up turf. A few were smart enough to take a step back or forward and run on a better surface, which improved their times.
Charliy Nash has covered both incarnations of the Nashville Kats, and now has make the 2 hour drive to Huntsville for an Arena Football fix. He also covers the Tennessee Titans as a blogger for nfl.com and still hopes this will eventually lead to a paying gig.
