Portsmouth Trojans 2012

[trojandave]

Tobias: Do you honestly think that with 23 years as the head coach of the Trojans, that Coach Clifford and his staff do not know how to teach the proper techniques of protecting the football, or that for one year they just forgot how to teach it? Since 32 turnovers in a season is the most since 1993, last year was an aberration, certainly not the norm. Do the players have any culpability in this?

[93Bulldog]

trojandave talking football?

Wow.

[trojandave]

93Bulldog: Basketball is and always will be my favorite sport by far........but I do like the gridiron sport also........I certainly wish our football Trojans could do better.

[trojandave]

Tobias: Any athlete who has to have the coach motivate him to lift weights and get in great overall condition is an athlete who lacks self-motivation.........as a distance runner for 41 years, who has run numerous half-marathons, marathons and ultramarathons by being self-motivated, and who has won a number of awards along the way, I know the importance of being a self-motivated athlete. If an athlete lacks self-motivation to get himself in better football shape, he isn't going to be much of an athlete and for not very long.

Coaches do have a responsibility for developing a weight lifting and conditioning program, but it is NOT SOLELY their responsibility to get that athlete in shape........the individual has to do their part as well.

[trojandave]

I would say right now that sophomore Sky Oliver will be the QB, because he was most likely the #2 QB on the depth chart going into the 2012 season.

[West Side Pride]

Portsmouth needs to get it together, and for one...stop pointing fingers. Win together, loose together. It's everyones fault. Now fix it.

[trojandave]

West Side Pride and I have the same mindset.......the problems concerning Portsmouth football are not the fault of any one individual, but a collective shortcoming in many aspects. Tobias does bring up some good points, but I have to disagree with him from the standpoint that those shortcomings and the by-products of them are solely the fault of the head coach.

EVERYBODY within the Portsmouth football program has to get on the same page........if so, we will see much better results.

[starbase_318]

Effective change takes strong leadership! Who is the main focal point, the VOICE, of ANY sports program? Who provides the direction, guidance and sets the tone and agenda for ANY sport?

[West Side Pride]

Effective change takes strong leadership! Who is the main focal point, the VOICE, of ANY sports program? Who provides the direction, guidance and sets the tone and agenda for ANY sport?

As far as leadership goes, there is two kinds. Last year west had a veteran squad that ran particulars. Fumble the football and not only was the coaches on your
butt, but even worse was 7 or 8 of your senior leaders wanting to drive your head in ground. Needless to say, West only had a few fumbles, and it was'nt the
coaches doing.

[West Side Pride]

They are there every year, Ports. don't have them? They are a must!! Maybe there isn't any help for the Trojans. I will say this, if they don't win more games and help
with points (even if it's a big gate) drop'em and pick someone else better.

[starbase_318]

Evolving leaders are the best and often the most effective leaders. They recognize the need to change to remain successful. Vision, empowerment and delegation are key aspects of any successful organization and/or sports program. My way or the highway is the key ingredient in failure!

[Trojan_FB_Alum]

With camp starting today whats the latest on the Trojans? I assume we are still up in the air about who this years QB will be. What I have heard it could be weedeebrock albrecht or Oliver? Any news on this front would be more then interesting. We should have some of the better backs that we have seen in awhile although young with Charles, Robinson, Rideout at fullback and also Alex Dickerson. I'm very interested in seeing who the 5 bigs up front are. We return Alex Grashel who started every game last year at tackle Kyle Williams who started several at guard and a few others who saw time last season.
What about the d with the retirement of chuck Burke will the d look different under new d coordinator Chad Hammond? I expect to see similar alignment but I'm guessing a somewhat more aggressive blitz package.
On this side of the ball I know we return d linemen in Rideout, Levi hall, Bryan sexton, who all saw a good deal of time last season. What about our lb we lost Horsley porter and Jordan all from last year. Who is filling spots I would expect to see Charles and possible albrecht in the lb positions.

Let's get this topic started again and lets try to keep it about what's goin on this season not what you want to happen with coaches. Whether you like the coaches or not they are here for the 2012 season no good can come of talking them down on here so let's support the Trojan team as awhole coaches and players.

[jgordon0315]

With camp starting today whats the latest on the Trojans? I assume we are still up in the air about who this years QB will be. What I have heard it could be weedeebrock albrecht or Oliver? Any news on this front would be more then interesting. We should have some of the better backs that we have seen in awhile although young with Charles, Robinson, Rideout at fullback and also Alex Dickerson. I'm very interested in seeing who the 5 bigs up front are. We return Alex Grashel who started every game last year at tackle Kyle Williams who started several at guard and a few others who saw time last season.
What about the d with the retirement of chuck Burke will the d look different under new d coordinator Chad Hammond? I expect to see similar alignment but I'm guessing a somewhat more aggressive blitz package.
On this side of the ball I know we return d linemen in Rideout, Levi hall, Bryan sexton, who all saw a good deal of time last season. What about our lb we lost Horsley porter and Jordan all from last year. Who is filling spots I would expect to see Charles and possible albrecht in the lb positions.

Let's get this topic started again and lets try to keep it about what's goin on this season not what you want to happen with coaches. Whether you like the coaches or not they are here for the 2012 season no good can come of talking them down on here so let's support the Trojan team as awhole coaches and players.

Sounds like Wedebrook will be the quarterback..........I'm guessing Dickerson will be a wideout...not sure though....the backfield of Johnnie Charles/ Robinson and Rideout should help out whoever is the quarterback and the defense as well........upcoming season will be interesting to say the least!

[trojandave]

There are a number of issues facing the 2012 Portsmouth Trojans........first, the defense lost some key players from a unit that actually was improved over the 2010 squad........Duke Edwards, Austin Porter, Ronnie Truman, J.W.Horsley, Wayne Evans, Mason Jordan, Dion McKinley, and L.J.Adams are among the personnel losses on defense (8 starters) from last year, and I'm not that confident that all those losses can be adequately filled......Austin Rideout is a star in the making, but he can't make every tackle.......second, the quarterback situation is very unproven with the transfer of Cody Stapleton to Minford.......whomever the QB is, there will have to be on-the-job training with no previous varsity experience........third, the Trojans have been unable to run the football for the past couple of years, and the question remains despite talented Darion Robinson and Johnnie Charles........can PHS run the football effectively to offset an inexperienced QB?

Also, Zaide Whitley (team MVP last year) did a good job on kickoffs and extra points, and he has graduated.......who will fill that very important spot on the team, and are we going back to letting teams start their possessions at the 45 yard line?

I would love to be more optimistic about the 2012 football Trojans, but with 3 losing seasons in the last 4 years, no playoff appearances since 2007, personnel losses at key positions, and a quirky schedule that starts with 4 road games, I'm having a difficult time forecasting a winning season for the Men of Troy........but of course I'm hoping for the best............GO TROJANS!!

[Trojan_FB_Alum]

Dave you are right we lost plenty of guys off a defense that was improved. However I'm very high on this years junior and sophomore classes. With a healthy johnnie Charles and Brandon Wederbrook this year Jacob albrecht who saw time last season the addition sophomore speedsters Dickerson and robbinson along with the athleticism of Oliver and a few others I think our lbs and DBs should be young but with a lot of ability. Our d line will see Levi hall bryan sexton and Austin rideout who all saw time last year. I personally would like to see us try grashel out some at a dt spot to add some size in certain situations. My point is although we lost some guys we return a good amount of guys as well. Also for several of the guys mentioned football is thier top priority. Although good atheletes dion duke Lj and Wayne were all basketball first guys.

As for the run game we are all in agrence that robbinson Charles and rideout should be pretty dangerous and I'm actual interested to see Wederbrook at QB ( think bootleg lead boot trap boot and options could be dangerous with him). Although we must find an offensive line. That is the biggest obstical I see for this team currently.

Jgorden as for Dickerson I expect to see him in a number of roles but mostly z and h. I don't know just my guess.

[PTrojan59]

Was watching Channel 25 and they were talking some football, they showed the new helmets and said there will be a whtie P with a stripe down the middle so i thought that was cool. Joe said that the jamboree game would be August 19th against Piketon at the coliseum so i cant wait to see that matchup. I have also heard Wederbrook will be the qb. A couple seniors know one mentioned who should make an impact are Josh Clark & Ethan Blackburn. I would expect a lot of Johnnie Charles & Darion Robinson with the inexperience at qb. Hoping for a good season ! Go Trojans

[trojandave]

TrojanFBAlum: If, as you say, we must find an offensive line, that will be a crucial element to the success of our running game........otherwise, what is a talented backfield will only be able to do so much.........I believe that one of the main reasons the Trojans have struggled the past 4 years (14-26) is because we are getting pushed around too much on the line of scrimmage........I would have to think one of the more viable solutions to that is getting in the weight room and getting in there OFTEN, and then WORKING HARD when you get in there. The coaches make the weight room available, so it's up to the kids to make the committment........it also helps to do some cardio before the season starts, and I would like to see less cramping this year as opposed to last season. Hopefully our Trojans will be in the best football shape they've ever been in........I know that can only help their performance on the field.

If we can get an offensive line to jell together and be able to push the opponent around instead of being pushed around, we have enough talent at the skill positions to make some plays........the development of Wedebrook will be very important also........Brandon is a good athlete that will have to make some plays with his feet and arm during the course of the season.

[Trojan_FB_Alum]

Dave you are 100 percent right the backs will be able to do little without some symbolance of a line. We do return Alex grashel though who started every game last season as a sophomore Kyle Willaims who started several games and Nate Basham who saw time and earned some starts last year. All were sophomores last season and were esentiually thrown to the wolves. This year as juniors I expect to see more out of all of them. Others that maybe options on the line are Justin Ohm Brian sexton Levi hall and a possibility of someone from the sophomore class. Ohm will be a senior last season he was 6' ft and 202 lbs. Both Hall and Sexton are probably starters on the d but I could see time on the oline for them as well. Personally if rideout is not in the starting backfield I think he would be one heck of a guard I loved to see him clearing a hole on trap or counter. Good news on all fronts is that I have heard the boys have worked very hard this year in the weight room. Time will tell

[jgordon0315]

Got the chance to check out several days of Training camp with our Trojans and while I'm no guru or anything of the sorts, some key notes of interest......


The QB situation at a glance: Brandon Wedebrook.....Jacob Albrecht.....Isiaiah Lisath...with Austin Hollins getting reps as a freshman.
The backfield at a glance: Darion Robinson.....Johnnie Charles......Austin Rideout....i think I seen Josh Clark working some with the backs as well.
The WR at a glance: Alex Dickerson.....Kahlil Lattimore.....Skylee Jenkins(sp??).....and Sky Oliver....Sky started week 1 of camp mostly with the wideouts and towards the end of the week and on into week 2 he saw some looks at the QB spot.
OL/ DL at a glance......hard to make out some of the kids under the helmets but I took notice of Alex Grashel...Hunter Gibson...and Austin Rideout down there n the trenches. Rideout has the potential to have a monster career at Portsmouth...those guyss, along with levi hall and Bryan sexton will be the key for our running game and our pass protection................also newcomer Isaac Stanley(sophomore to be). As I don't believe Isaac has played since his peewee days but he definitely has the build and size to be an asset to the program. At about 6-4 260...that's something to work with....Hope he sticks with it, as I seen the coaches pushing him! He seems to be soaking it all in...Also, be on the lookout for freshman Darion bailey......he has a work ethic second to none...i expect when it's all said and done he'll be a very productive player (DL)
...Another fresshman of note will be Zach Delotell....I like his motor and his football i.q.
This years team will be a very young team, with (I think we only have 5-6 seniors) ?????Austin Charles, Josh Clark, ethan blackburn??can't think (off the top of my head) who else we have as seniors on the squad.

LB's at a glance...probably will see Johnnie Charles and possibly Darion Robinson at these spots....


but as for the issues of having more football priority guys.....that's overrated! Ideally you may wants your best players to be a one trick pony, but at such a small school, you're not gonna have too many one way stars...the need is too great.....anyways, isn't wedebrook'ss best sport baseball?? wasn't Josh meyer best sport baseball??? And Those guys we lost from last year that were hoopers, were studs too....maybe not elite studs but they were very good. We have the capabilty of being good at multiple team sports......on one count i had 44 kids out to camp.....hopefully we can get this thing turned around soon! Go trojans

[trojandave]

I am very concerned about the kicking game........who will punt, placekick, and kickoff?........This aspect of the game cannot be underestimated........I don't think I need to go into the history books to reveal how many times a subpar kicking game has cost the Trojans games in the regular season and playoffs........it has been a sore point with me for many years, although last year I thought Zaide Whitley did a good job overall, and he even kicked a game winning FG vs. Logan.

One of Zaide's biggest assets as a kicker was that he was able to kickoff close to the goal line, thus making opponents start their possessions much deeper in their own territory.........Do we have anybody that can do that on this year's team?..... Can we make a crucial FG when needed?.......Can we pin a team deep with a punt, or have enough hang time to minimize a return?........it is very important that these issues are not a repetitive problem on the 2012 Trojans.