01-25-2014, 04:33 PM
Bleacher Report article written by Dan Pompei
<p class="" style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(55,55,55);font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, sans-serif;">MOBILE, Ala. — A.J. McCarron opted out. Jadeveon Clowney, Teddy Bridgewater and Johnny Manziel weren't eligible to participate. Anthony Barr said he wasn't healthy enough.
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(55,55,55);font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, sans-serif;">So that left Gus Bradley as the star of the Senior Bowl. The head coach of the South team created as much buzz in the stands and on the sidelines as any of the players.
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(55,55,55);font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, sans-serif;">"They have an awesome practice with a great tempo," Chiefs general manager John Dorsey said. "You can see the teaching aspect. They run the position-specific drills we like to see. Guys are competing. It's a credit to Gus and his staff."
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(55,55,55);font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, sans-serif;">Said another high-ranking front-office man, "He is so engaged and he gets the most out of his players. You also can tell he has coached his coaches well, which is something that not many of them do well."
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(55,55,55);font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, sans-serif;">Bradley, unlike well-respected North coach Mike Smith, was somewhat of an unknown to many in attendance. He just completed his first year as head coach in Jacksonville after four years as Pete Carroll's defensive coordinator in Seattle. After this week, Bradley isn't an unknown anymore.
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(55,55,55);font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, sans-serif;">Bradley has been all over the practice field in Mobile, patting shoulders, giving instruction and keeping the pace intense. He spends time with all of the position groups and connects with as many players as possible. "He's got a lot of energy," said Tennessee defensive tackle Daniel McCullers, who is playing on Bradley's Senior Bowl team. "He's fired up all the time. His energy comes off on everybody and we try to work hard for him. He's passionate about what he does."
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(55,55,55);font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, sans-serif;">Bradley likes to keep things moving so his team can get a lot of work done in a short period of time. "Players generally like it when it's highly organized and moving," he said. "They don't like a lot of standing around. I think for us as coaches, too, if there is a lull in practice, sometimes there is a lull in coaching. I think when it's high tempo, it not only amps up the play, but coaching as well. The whole objective is to have high tempo during the week so when you get to Sunday, then it feels like the game is slowing down and they can play faster. It's a balance, though. You have to be careful how much you push them. The objective is not to play on Wednesday or Thursday. It's to get ready to play on Sunday."
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(55,55,55);font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, sans-serif;">Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell thinks Bradley might run Jacksonville's practices at an even higher tempo than he ran the South team practices. "They hit the ground running and they don't stop until practice is over," he said.
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(55,55,55);font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, sans-serif;">The result in Jacksonville was steady improvement. After losing their first eight games, the Jags won four of their last eight. Some cited the work Bradley did with an inferior roster as part of the reason for the firings of Browns coach Rob Chudzinski and Texans coach Gary Kubiak, both of whom lost to the Jaguars.
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(55,55,55);font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, sans-serif;">"What we've seen from our very first practice in minicamp until the last is guys continued to get better," Caldwell said.
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(55,55,55);font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, sans-serif;">One of Bradley's trademarks that has been evident during practices at Ladd-Peebles is the way he pushes players with challenges. The Jaguars ran three straight days of wide receiver-defensive back one-on-ones here. They designate the matchups in meetings prior to practice. In seven-on-sevens, they keep score—and put it on the scoreboard for all to see. And Jaguars coaches call out players frequently.
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(55,55,55);font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, sans-serif;">
Bradley is a lot like Carroll in this regard. Of course, he's also a little like Jon Gruden and Jim Mora, other head coaches he worked for. But Carroll also is a big proponent of practice competition.
"These look like Seahawks practices," Seattle general manager John Schneider said. "They are awesome. Gus is so gregarious. He has that heart, kind of like Pete, where you can see how much he cares about it."
Bradley said the key is to challenge players only on things within their control—things like effort, focus and communication. When a player is physically beaten, Bradley does not see much value in railing at him. "We feel a lot can get accomplished when you stay away from discouragement," he said. "When you stay upbeat and positive, you have an opportunity to get better. So we try to provide that culture."
McCullers said the Jaguars staff has stressed they don't want them thinking negative thoughts, and they have tried to breed confidence.
This is what Bradley told the South team in a post-practice huddle that was videotaped by Jaguars.com: "They showed up a little bit, man. But you know what, you rallied. Take that opportunity and turn it into a positive thing. Remember, we're going up, man. It's was a great job, a great effort the whole way through. Let's keep going man; there's nowhere but up. Keep getting better."
Bradley's approach makes him an ideal coach for the Senior Bowl, and also for the Jaguars. In Jacksonville, he is trying to turn around a team that has a winning percentage of .323 over the past six years.
"Knowing where we were as a franchise, we knew we were going to go through a lot of adversity," Caldwell said. "We knew it was going to be a slow build and there were going to be some ups and downs. So to have a guy who was consistent and consistently positive with a lot of energy was going to help us through those times."
Ladies and gentlemen, Gus Bradley.
<p class="" style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(55,55,55);font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, sans-serif;">MOBILE, Ala. — A.J. McCarron opted out. Jadeveon Clowney, Teddy Bridgewater and Johnny Manziel weren't eligible to participate. Anthony Barr said he wasn't healthy enough.
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(55,55,55);font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, sans-serif;">So that left Gus Bradley as the star of the Senior Bowl. The head coach of the South team created as much buzz in the stands and on the sidelines as any of the players.
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(55,55,55);font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, sans-serif;">"They have an awesome practice with a great tempo," Chiefs general manager John Dorsey said. "You can see the teaching aspect. They run the position-specific drills we like to see. Guys are competing. It's a credit to Gus and his staff."
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(55,55,55);font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, sans-serif;">Said another high-ranking front-office man, "He is so engaged and he gets the most out of his players. You also can tell he has coached his coaches well, which is something that not many of them do well."
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(55,55,55);font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, sans-serif;">Bradley, unlike well-respected North coach Mike Smith, was somewhat of an unknown to many in attendance. He just completed his first year as head coach in Jacksonville after four years as Pete Carroll's defensive coordinator in Seattle. After this week, Bradley isn't an unknown anymore.
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(55,55,55);font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, sans-serif;">Bradley has been all over the practice field in Mobile, patting shoulders, giving instruction and keeping the pace intense. He spends time with all of the position groups and connects with as many players as possible. "He's got a lot of energy," said Tennessee defensive tackle Daniel McCullers, who is playing on Bradley's Senior Bowl team. "He's fired up all the time. His energy comes off on everybody and we try to work hard for him. He's passionate about what he does."
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(55,55,55);font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, sans-serif;">Bradley likes to keep things moving so his team can get a lot of work done in a short period of time. "Players generally like it when it's highly organized and moving," he said. "They don't like a lot of standing around. I think for us as coaches, too, if there is a lull in practice, sometimes there is a lull in coaching. I think when it's high tempo, it not only amps up the play, but coaching as well. The whole objective is to have high tempo during the week so when you get to Sunday, then it feels like the game is slowing down and they can play faster. It's a balance, though. You have to be careful how much you push them. The objective is not to play on Wednesday or Thursday. It's to get ready to play on Sunday."
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(55,55,55);font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, sans-serif;">Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell thinks Bradley might run Jacksonville's practices at an even higher tempo than he ran the South team practices. "They hit the ground running and they don't stop until practice is over," he said.
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(55,55,55);font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, sans-serif;">The result in Jacksonville was steady improvement. After losing their first eight games, the Jags won four of their last eight. Some cited the work Bradley did with an inferior roster as part of the reason for the firings of Browns coach Rob Chudzinski and Texans coach Gary Kubiak, both of whom lost to the Jaguars.
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(55,55,55);font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, sans-serif;">"What we've seen from our very first practice in minicamp until the last is guys continued to get better," Caldwell said.
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(55,55,55);font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, sans-serif;">One of Bradley's trademarks that has been evident during practices at Ladd-Peebles is the way he pushes players with challenges. The Jaguars ran three straight days of wide receiver-defensive back one-on-ones here. They designate the matchups in meetings prior to practice. In seven-on-sevens, they keep score—and put it on the scoreboard for all to see. And Jaguars coaches call out players frequently.
<p style="font-size:16px;color:rgb(55,55,55);font-family:'Open Sans', Arial, sans-serif;">
Bradley is a lot like Carroll in this regard. Of course, he's also a little like Jon Gruden and Jim Mora, other head coaches he worked for. But Carroll also is a big proponent of practice competition.
"These look like Seahawks practices," Seattle general manager John Schneider said. "They are awesome. Gus is so gregarious. He has that heart, kind of like Pete, where you can see how much he cares about it."
Bradley said the key is to challenge players only on things within their control—things like effort, focus and communication. When a player is physically beaten, Bradley does not see much value in railing at him. "We feel a lot can get accomplished when you stay away from discouragement," he said. "When you stay upbeat and positive, you have an opportunity to get better. So we try to provide that culture."
McCullers said the Jaguars staff has stressed they don't want them thinking negative thoughts, and they have tried to breed confidence.
This is what Bradley told the South team in a post-practice huddle that was videotaped by Jaguars.com: "They showed up a little bit, man. But you know what, you rallied. Take that opportunity and turn it into a positive thing. Remember, we're going up, man. It's was a great job, a great effort the whole way through. Let's keep going man; there's nowhere but up. Keep getting better."
Bradley's approach makes him an ideal coach for the Senior Bowl, and also for the Jaguars. In Jacksonville, he is trying to turn around a team that has a winning percentage of .323 over the past six years.
"Knowing where we were as a franchise, we knew we were going to go through a lot of adversity," Caldwell said. "We knew it was going to be a slow build and there were going to be some ups and downs. So to have a guy who was consistent and consistently positive with a lot of energy was going to help us through those times."
Ladies and gentlemen, Gus Bradley.
![[Image: 30F6D8C9-327D-4297-A47E-081FF3D08CF8_zpsbbkha6ck.png]](http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l521/jfand/30F6D8C9-327D-4297-A47E-081FF3D08CF8_zpsbbkha6ck.png)
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