Heacock pushing secondary; Day 2 notes

Withthreestartersbackandthefourthaformernickelbackwithplentyofgamereps,Purdue'ssecondaryappearsingoodshapefor2013.

ButsecondarycoachJonHeacockisn'tsoquicktoofferpraise,thoughthegroupincludesfour-yearstarterRicardoAllenandmulti-yearstarterLandonFeichter.

Heacocklikesthetalent,sure,buthealsoknowswhatgroupdidlastseason.TheBoilermakersallowednearly234passingyardspergamein2012,ranking10thintheBigTen.

"Whatdoweneedtodobetter?Everything,"HeacocksaidSundayaftertheteam'ssecondpracticeoftrainingcamp."Whenyoulookatthenumbersfromthepast-andIdon'tlikegoingthere-butwehavetobereal.Yeah,we'reallbackbutwe'regoingtohavetoplayalotbetter.

"Ithinkthat'sthefunpartaboutthisgroup.Ithinkthey'resharpenoughtoknowhowweplayediscriticalandwe'vegottochangeanddosomethingsbetter,andbeingbackwillhelpthemdosomethingsbetter."

Oneofthegoalsincampwillbetofindatopeight,minimally,thoughHeacockwouldliketogo10deepwithconfidence.Rightnow,headmitsthereareonly"sixorsevenguyswhoreallyknowwhat'shappening.Theotherguysarestillinthelearningmode."

ThetopplayersrightnowincludeAllen,FrankieWilliams,NormondoHarrisandAntoineLewisatcornerback,andFeichter,TaylorRichardsandAnthonyBrownatsafety.Harriscurrentlyispartofthenickelpackage,thoughAllenwillonceagainslideinsidetoactuallyplaythenickelbackthisseason.Lewisisthebackupnickelatthispoint.

Heacockwouldliketofindmoredepthatsafety,andhe'sworkingwithEvanFeichter,KyleMarzec,AshkanMizaniandfreshmanAustinLogan.

DepthisespeciallycriticalbecauseHeacocksaidmost,ifnotall,ofhistopplayersinthesecondaryalsoplayspecialteams,andhe'dratherhavehisplayersrestondefensethanspecialteams.Butinordertodothat,heneedstofeelcomfortablewithbringingguysoffthesideline.

AllenthinksLewiscanbesomeonewhocancomeinandmakeplays,especiallyashebecomesmoredisciplined.

"Whenitcomesdowntomakingplaysinpractice,he'soneofthetopguyswhomakesplayseveryweek,"Allensaid."Sometimeshegoesoutoflineofwhatcoachwants.Eventhoughhemadeaplay,sometimesit'snotforhimtomakeaplay,buthe'saverycompetitive,reallynaturalcorner.Icanreallyseeifoneofusgottired,Icouldseehimcomingintothegameandmakingplaysbecausehedidlastyear."

Heacocksaidhehasaneagerbunchthathecantellmadeprogressintheoffseason,butnowit'suptohimtofine-tuneandcontinuetoteachtheplayerstodevelopabetterproductthanin2012.

"Wehavesomeworktodo.Thebestnewsformeandourgroupisthey'rejustdyingtodoit,"Heacocksaid."Thatmakesitalotoffuntocoach.Ijusttoldthem,ifwepracticelikewepracticed,youcancoachthem.Youdon'thavetocheeronrunhere,runthere,they'rerunningtheplayandnowit'smyjobtocoachthemtodotherightthings.Youcantellwe'vehad16practices.They'veimprovedsincewe'vegottenhereonDay1.I'mproudoftheirattitudesandtheireffort.Thekeynowistoteachthemwhattodoandthatallowsthemtocontinuetoplayfast.

"We'restillonthegroundfloor.Ihaven'tlookeduptotheceiling.I'mnotsurethereisonewiththisgroup.Butwe'restillonthebasefloorandIthinkthat'sfairatthispointintime.Ithinkthat'swhereweshouldbe."

ProductiveDay2DarrellHazellsawsomenervesonSaturdayduringtheopeningdayoftrainingcamp,buthethoughthisplayersrespondednicelyonDay2.

Purduehadbettertempo-somethingthatwasstressedafteritwasonly"average,"Hazellsaid,onthefirstday-andalsoexecutedbetter.

"Itwasareallygoodpractice,"Hazellsaid."Ithoughttheyplayedinspired.Ithoughttheywerevocal,whichweneedtodo,weneedtocommunicatebetter.Theyhadsomeenergy(Sunday)."

MovingupTheonlychangetothefirst-teamunitonSundaywasontheoffensivelinewhereJordanRoosmovedintotherightguardspot.

Roos,aredshirtfreshman,wasexpectedtochallengeCodyDavisincamp.Davisworkedwiththe1sonDay1.OnSunday,hespentmuchofhistimeasthesecond-teamcenter.

DevinSmithstillwasworkingwiththefirst-teamoffenseattheotherguardspot.It'spossibleredshirtfreshmanJasonKingwillmakeamovetherethisfall.

RyanIsaac,whoworkedmostlywiththethird-teamD-lineonDay1,gotsomesnapswiththesecond-teamdefenseonSunday.

QBtalkDannyEtlinggotmostoftherepswiththefirstteamoffenseonSundayafterRobHenryhadalargershareonSaturday.

That'sHazell'splanforthenexttwoweeks,alternatingthetopQBoptionsondaysorsometimeseveninspecificdrillsinordertogetthemclosetothesameamountofrepswiththe1sbydecisiontime.

EtlinghadatleasttwointerceptionsonSunday,gettingpickedoffbylinebackerJohnnyThompsonandLandonFeichter.

"Ithoughttheyallwereabitshaky(Saturday),butIthoughtitwasalittlebitbetter(Sunday),"Hazellsaidofhisquarterbacks."Rightnow,wethrewthewholething(attheQBs)andwhenwegetclosertothegame,whoeverthequarterbackis,we'llgivehimwhattheycanhandle.That'sthebottomline.Ifthere'stoomuch,itdoesn'tdoyouanygood."

Etc.

WithBrandonTaylornotbeingontherosterfor2013,thatfreesupascholarship.HazellsaidonSundaytheplanwasto"sitonitrightnow."

PurduehadasmanyaseightplayersfieldingpuntsduringanearlyportionofpracticebutthenhadonlyAkeemHuntClickThird-stringlinebackerRubenIbarraClickEveryperson-fromcoachestoplayerstomanagers-willgetavoteforteamcaptains,Hazellsaid.He'sstilldecidingwhethertoallowonlyseniorstobeeligibleorjuniorsandseniors.Thevotewillcomeinaboutthreeweeks.HeretoviewthisLink.appearedtotweakhisleftkneelateinpractice.Second-teamdefensiveendJalaniPhillipsClickEveryperson-fromcoachestoplayerstomanagers-willgetavoteforteamcaptains,Hazellsaid.He'sstilldecidingwhethertoallowonlyseniorstobeeligibleorjuniorsandseniors.Thevotewillcomeinaboutthreeweeks.HeretoviewthisLink.complainedaboutsomepaininhisrightfootbut,aftertalkingtoateamdoctor,heputtheshoebackonandcontinuedpracticing.HeretoviewthisLink.,RaheemMostertClickThird-stringlinebackerRubenIbarraClickEveryperson-fromcoachestoplayerstomanagers-willgetavoteforteamcaptains,Hazellsaid.He'sstilldecidingwhethertoallowonlyseniorstobeeligibleorjuniorsandseniors.Thevotewillcomeinaboutthreeweeks.HeretoviewthisLink.appearedtotweakhisleftkneelateinpractice.Second-teamdefensiveendJalaniPhillipsClickEveryperson-fromcoachestoplayerstomanagers-willgetavoteforteamcaptains,Hazellsaid.He'sstilldecidingwhethertoallowonlyseniorstobeeligibleorjuniorsandseniors.Thevotewillcomeinaboutthreeweeks.HeretoviewthisLink.complainedaboutsomepaininhisrightfootbut,aftertalkingtoateamdoctor,heputtheshoebackonandcontinuedpracticing.HeretoviewthisLink.,GaryBushClickThird-stringlinebackerRubenIbarraClickEveryperson-fromcoachestoplayerstomanagers-willgetavoteforteamcaptains,Hazellsaid.He'sstilldecidingwhethertoallowonlyseniorstobeeligibleorjuniorsandseniors.Thevotewillcomeinaboutthreeweeks.HeretoviewthisLink.appearedtotweakhisleftkneelateinpractice.Second-teamdefensiveendJalaniPhillipsClickEveryperson-fromcoachestoplayerstomanagers-willgetavoteforteamcaptains,Hazellsaid.He'sstilldecidingwhethertoallowonlyseniorstobeeligibleorjuniorsandseniors.Thevotewillcomeinaboutthreeweeks.HeretoviewthisLink.complainedaboutsomepaininhisrightfootbut,aftertalkingtoateamdoctor,heputtheshoebackonandcontinuedpracticing.HeretoviewthisLink.andWilliamsworkingthemlaterspecificallywithJafarWilliams.

Sunday'srequiredreadingfromthe"APlayer'sManual"was"spiritualthoughts,"Hazellsaid.

ClickHeretoviewthisLink.

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