By Mike Marzelli, Pine Bluff Commercial
The Arkansas-Pine Bluff football team will use its off-week to lick its wounds and get a head’s up on preparing for Grambling State, while the coaching staff will take advantage of the extra time by getting a jump on in-season recruiting.
UAPB will practice this afternoon before taking Thursday through Saturday off to allow players’ various bumps and bruises to heal and to give head coach Mo Forte and his staff time to leave Pine Bluff to get a look at potential student-athletes for next season.
Forte himself will travel to Detroit Wednesday on a recruiting trip.
“We wanted to give them a little rest and get some of the little, nagging injuries taken care of so we’re ready to play a tough Grambling team [on Oct. 13],” Forte said. “We’re fortunate in that we don’t have any big injuries but really it’s not that much more than one day off because on normal Fridays we don’t do too much and on Saturdays we never practice because we have games.
“We’ll go through a normal practice [today] and then all of the coaches will leave to go recruit.”
The Golden Lions will exchange tapes with Grambling today, which will give them a heads up on preparing for what the Tigers have been doing under new head coach Ron Broadway.
Broadway, who won the mythical Black College Football National Championship last season at North Carolina Central, has been an acquaintance of Forte’s for nearly 30 years, dating back to when both were young assistant coaches in the Atlantic Coast Conference at North Carolina and Duke, respectively.
“I know him fairly well, we go way back,” Forte said. “We don’t really know how they’re going to be different from the last few years but Ron is a heck of a coach and what he has done is take talented players that they always have at Grambling and breathe new life into them.
“I think he has brought a renewed sense of enthusiasm and they’ve adjusted quickly to his system already because they’re 5-0.”
Grambling is coming off of wins over Alabama A&M and Prairie View A&M and will host Mississippi Valley State at Eddie Robinson Stadium this weekend. The Tigers have proven to be one of the top offenses in the Southwestern Athletic Conference during their perfect start with many of the same players they had last year, including All-SWAC quarterback Brandon Landers and receiver Clyde Edwards.
“Last year Grambling was flying high at this point of the year and then they took a nose dive after they lost to us,” Forte said. “We knew they were a talented football team even last year. What coach Broadway has done is sell them on himself and his system.”
Broadway’s system, according to Forte, doesn’t feature specific run or pass-first characteristics but is more of a mix.
“Really I think all coaches would tell you that they want to have a 50-50 mix of run and pass even if they usually focus on one or the other,” Forte said. “Ron is going to do whatever suits his talent best against an opponent on any given day so all we can prepare for is to get the best his kids have to offer, and with their talent that is a lot.”
The Arkansas-Pine Bluff football team will use its off-week to lick its wounds and get a head’s up on preparing for Grambling State, while the coaching staff will take advantage of the extra time by getting a jump on in-season recruiting.
UAPB will practice this afternoon before taking Thursday through Saturday off to allow players’ various bumps and bruises to heal and to give head coach Mo Forte and his staff time to leave Pine Bluff to get a look at potential student-athletes for next season.
Forte himself will travel to Detroit Wednesday on a recruiting trip.
“We wanted to give them a little rest and get some of the little, nagging injuries taken care of so we’re ready to play a tough Grambling team [on Oct. 13],” Forte said. “We’re fortunate in that we don’t have any big injuries but really it’s not that much more than one day off because on normal Fridays we don’t do too much and on Saturdays we never practice because we have games.
“We’ll go through a normal practice [today] and then all of the coaches will leave to go recruit.”
The Golden Lions will exchange tapes with Grambling today, which will give them a heads up on preparing for what the Tigers have been doing under new head coach Ron Broadway.
Broadway, who won the mythical Black College Football National Championship last season at North Carolina Central, has been an acquaintance of Forte’s for nearly 30 years, dating back to when both were young assistant coaches in the Atlantic Coast Conference at North Carolina and Duke, respectively.
“I know him fairly well, we go way back,” Forte said. “We don’t really know how they’re going to be different from the last few years but Ron is a heck of a coach and what he has done is take talented players that they always have at Grambling and breathe new life into them.
“I think he has brought a renewed sense of enthusiasm and they’ve adjusted quickly to his system already because they’re 5-0.”
Grambling is coming off of wins over Alabama A&M and Prairie View A&M and will host Mississippi Valley State at Eddie Robinson Stadium this weekend. The Tigers have proven to be one of the top offenses in the Southwestern Athletic Conference during their perfect start with many of the same players they had last year, including All-SWAC quarterback Brandon Landers and receiver Clyde Edwards.
“Last year Grambling was flying high at this point of the year and then they took a nose dive after they lost to us,” Forte said. “We knew they were a talented football team even last year. What coach Broadway has done is sell them on himself and his system.”
Broadway’s system, according to Forte, doesn’t feature specific run or pass-first characteristics but is more of a mix.
“Really I think all coaches would tell you that they want to have a 50-50 mix of run and pass even if they usually focus on one or the other,” Forte said. “Ron is going to do whatever suits his talent best against an opponent on any given day so all we can prepare for is to get the best his kids have to offer, and with their talent that is a lot.”
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