Said, seen and read on Friday

Heard some classics Friday from coaches Bradley Dale Peveto and Todd Cooley.

Peveto, speaking to the team at the end of a grueling practice that lasted nearly three hours in the morning steam before wrapping up at 12:30 in the lunch hour, was in gear.

Speaking about the six "perfect 40s" he made the Demons run at the end of the workout, he said it was all about toughness and discipline.

"Let me tell you sumpthin', you can't order that over the internet. You gotta earn it. You gotta develop it. It's got to become a way of life for our football team, and if we do, we can't be stopped."

Then, later in his remarks, he began to review the afternoon's activities after the first full-contact practice of fall camp.

"Here's what you got. You got a nice afternoon. People fly to Arizona to spas, and pay a lot of money. We gonna give it to you for FREE!" (At this point, Cooley, standing behind the circle of players, couldn't help but grin.)

"You get lunch from 1-2. You get treatments from 2-3. From 3-3:30, the offense lifts and the defense gets in the ice-cold pools. Then we switch it and the offense gets in the ice-cold pools. Then from 4-4:30 it's the Issues meeting and you get to hear a great speaker. ... People pay a lot of money at spas for the stuff you're getting this afternoon, men!"

Cooley did his part later, talking to me about his hopes for the offense to follow Friday's good performance with two more steps forward Saturday. It wasn't original but it fit great.

"Can we put two practices back-to-back? Can we put three back-to-back-to-back? If we do, then we'll be cooking with grease."

Friday was also the debut of the Demons' Oklahoma drill. It's a classic football test used at all levels. Just Wednesday night, I was watching the HBO show "Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cincinnati Bengals" and saw the Bengals doing the drill.

At Camp Peve, the Demons set up four different stations so the action was non-stop and flowing like dominos falling. There's a tailback, taking a handoff from a quarterback right behind center. The center blocks a nosetackle. The running back tries to knife by the defender, but all the action takes place in a corridor about three yards wide, defined by blocking dummies. If the ballcarrier stays inside the dummies and gets past them, the offense wins.

As Peveto said when he called the team together before the drill, "it's mano y mano, guys!"

The four stations were set up according to size and position so there were not any mismatches.

The defense dominated the first round, winning three of the four battles, and went up 5-3 after two rounds. Then the offense did not lose again, winning an amazing 17 straight (only one was a close call). The reward: watching the defense do up-downs for a minute.

Cautioned offensive line coach Jeremy Offutt to the Purple Strike: "win with dignity, guys!" They did.

Spotted earlier Friday morning in the newspaper ...

Great Media Day coverage in the Shreveport Times from Kelly Morris ...

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20090814/SPORTS02/908140342/It-s-crunch-time-for-Demons

... and Roy Lang III

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20090814/SPORTS0405/908140323/1001/SPORTS

Doug Ireland, SID

Voice of experience

During Media Day activities Thursday, the Demon offensive line took the opportunity to pose with one of the greatest of their kind - not only at NSU, but in college football history.

That smiling fella in the middle on a knee is retired 12-year NFL veteran Marcus Spears, a two-time All-America offensive tackle for Northwestern in 1992-93.

What makes him special in college football history? Marcus Spears and Jerry Rice are the only two FCS (then Division I-AA) players ever to be elected to the Football Writers Association of America All-America team. Rice made it in his senior year (1986) at Mississippi Valley State. Spears joined players from Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Nebraska and Georgia, among others, on the 1993 FWAA squad.

Being one of the five offensive linemen selected also made him a semifinalist for the Outland Trophy given to the nation's top lineman. One of the top 10 linemen, offense or defense, in college football -- that's quite impressive. He was the first, and is the only, FCS player ever considered for that award.

Spears has spent the last two days with the Demons, speaking to the newcomers Thursday morning and to the full squad Friday afternoon in coach Peveto's "Issues" series.

He reprised what he used to do at the request of the NFL. Late in his career, Spears was invited by the league to be one of the speakers at the annual NFL Rookie Symposium held in San Diego, designed to help new NFL players adjust to life in the big leagues.

Spears will be nominated for the College Football Hall of Fame next spring.

Tradition and direction

Former Demon players Britt Brittain and Marcus Spears spoke to the NSU newcomers this morning as part of Coach Peveto's "Issues" series of talks.

They spoke about Demon football tradition, and about taking advantage of the opportunities for success outside of football during the next 4-5 years at NSU.

Brittain told the players that many of their best friends in life will come from this group. He said he and his Demon teammates gather once a year and stay in touch 30 years later.

Spears had the group imagine they all had played 10 seasons in the NFL (he played 12), and asked them, "Now what? The game's over. You have the rest of your life. What are you gonna do?" He stressed taking advantage of every opportunity to grow academically and personally.

Spears will be visiting for a couple of days. Last weekend, he was in Canton, Ohio, to attend the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction of the late Derrick Thomas, his teammate with the Kansas City Chiefs.

He also told the young Demons to take "purple pride" and said he was thrilled to travel to Detroit in 2006 for the NSU basketball team's NCAA Tournament and the win over Iowa. "We're all in this together," he said. "Sport doesn't matter. We're Demons."

Bell shining in Buffalo, more notes

All the action Demetrius Bell got Sunday night for the Buffalo Bills against the Tennessee Titans in the NFL's Hall of Fame exhibition game in Canton, Ohio, has earned him the spotlight in the Buffalo News. Here's the link on a nice feature on D-Bell:

http://www.buffalonews.com/452/story/761158.html

The story was the third-most e-mailed by visitors to the News' website Wednesday.

Demon basketball assistant coach Mark Slessinger is in Buffalo visiting Bell. Back at NSU, lots of people enjoyed watching him get extensive action in Sunday night's game.

BTW, Dudley Guice got into the game late for the Titans but did not get a catch.

Media Watch: Good stories today by Kelly Morris in the Shreveport Times revolving around NSU sports.

Jimmy Heard is lighting it up in his hometown pitching for the Shreveport-Bossier Captains. Recently he won a national award as pitcher of the month for the unaffiliated minor league teams around the country. Here's Kelly's feature on the NSU graduate ('09) and record-setting Demon hurler:

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20090812/SPORTS/908120315/1001&referrer=NEWSFRONTCAROUSEL

Story No. 2 is about football's preseason and the Demons making position switches. The link:

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20090812/SPORTS02/908120324/1001/SPORTS

Demon hoops on the national radar: It's nothing new with Mike McConathy running the show, but Fox Sports columnist Jeff Goodman has checked in with an update on the Demons:

http://community.foxsports.com/goodmanonfox/blog/2009/08/11/ole_miss_northwestern_state_healthy

Wednesday morning paper

Check tomorrow's Shreveport Times for a Kelly Morris story on Demons who are changing positions. She talked with Jeremy Jefferson and Justin Aldredge, along with Coach Peveto, today.

Quick highlights on Demon football

Play of the first day: Justin Aldredge, the converted linebacker playing tight end, made a full-extension diving snag about two feet off the ground of a John Hundley rocket early in a pass skeleton drill Monday morning. There were other nice catches during the morning and afternoon workouts, and I didn't see much of the afternoon session, but Aldredge's catch was a "gasp" moment. It was that good.

Team Gannett: Alexandria Town Talk sports editor Randy Benson attended the entire morning workout and will have a column in his paper and the Shreveport Times on Tuesday morning. Count on outstanding daily coverage this season from both Gannett papers from Benson, Times sportswriter Kelly Morris, and Times sports editor Scott Ferrell.

KSLA TV too: Sports director Mike Dirmann, truly one of the nice guys in our neighborhood, popped in for the last hour of the morning practice. He had interviews with Coach Bradley Dale Peveto and QB John Hundley Monday at 6 and has more to use later, including visits with Jace Prescott, Jeremy Jefferson and offensive coordinator Todd Cooley.

Did you notice?: Not Monday, but Sunday night in the NFL's Hall of Fame game -- Demon greats Demetrius Bell (right offensive tackle) and Terrence McGee (cornerback) started for Buffalo. Bell played the entire first half, staying in with the second team.

Still time: We have two correct answers so far for the Great Eight ID Challenge. Robert Gunn and Sonja Pezant are winners. We need one more. Look back through the blog and see if you can list the right names and schools.