I spoke with Alford and Hart one on one and...

by scriptcomesfirst , Tuesday, March 31, 2009, 14:28 (6265 days ago) @ Jay

and asked Verducci a few questions during chalk talk (as well as attending his presentation). We hit 3 coaching home runs in my estimation. Not just on their knowledge, but on their respective personalities for the personnel groupings.

I'll give you my impressions of each (one at a time as I have things to get done tonight):

Alford brought each guy in individually and asked them their goals, how they would like him to help them reach them, and what they expect from him when they fall short. He gave them 48 hours to respond. He shared an anecdote about Robert Hughes (who he said has been impressive btw), where he had been getting on him a lot during the 2nd practice and Hughes was ready to blow. He pulled him aside and said, "Robert, this is what you asked me to do. I have it in writing." Since then, Hughes has been a model student, even when getting blasted... which happened a lot during Friday's practice.

One of his two main points of emphasis is decisiveness, and for one practice at least, Armando sure took that to heart. Also, and I posted as much on IE, ball security is his calling card. His teams fumbled just 13 times in 8 years.

Judging by his rapport, approach, knowledge, etc. I expect his coaching to pay big dividend.

I'll post my thoughts on Hart/Verducci when I have a bit more time.