Why Is Campus So Pretty?

Today we are going to highlight someone that has been a great influence on training camp and a great influence here at Minnesota State; Bruce Leivermann.

Bruce Leivermann

Bruce is head of the grounds crew, and him and his team are the reason that Minnesota State University has the stunning and beautiful campus that it does.  They are the reason for the crafted landscapes that are scattered all over campus, that includes the trees, gardens, and perfectly clean cut grasses. They are the reason the sport fields on campus are so beautifully kept and mowed, with straight lines and fresh bright paint. They are the reason that the Minnesota Vikings can come to MSU every summer and expect a nice location to host their pre-season training camp. Him and his crew do a lot for our university and the reason it looks so good, which is why we wanted to put him in the spotlight.

 I had heard from a fellow intern that Bruce was a funny guy and today I got the chance to meet him. He picked me up at the media entrance and gave me a ride on his golf cart over to the crew. I got to take a picture of the crew and then sat down to interview Bruce. (In the golf cart. I felt pretty lucky)

My first question to Bruce was what he has to do to prepare for training camp, and if it’s different than how he does things during the year.

He responded, “Training camp consists of more preparation in regarding to more painting, more field preparation, such as; we do divots, more cutting, more fertilizing. Stuff like that.”

I then asked what kind of interactions he has with the Vikings when preparing for camp. He said, “ I meet with their field guy, basically once a week prior to camp. Then once camps going, we talk everyday.” Following up on that I asked if he ever gets any special requests.  He said, “The latest one this year was, we actually painted the fields, and then were told they weren’t bright enough. So, we repainted them the same day. They looked very nice.”

Relative to the amount of time of preparation it takes to get the field ready for the three weeks the Vikings are in town, Leivermann said that things get rolling in the spring,

“The field work starts in May, preparation for camp ramps up roughly around the end of June," he said.  "Then really starts intensively once camp's involved."

A typical day for Leivermann and his crew during camp starts with field maintenance.  “First thing every morning we go out and fill divots that the players make that mess the fields up. We do divots first, then we move, clean up any debris, then depending upon the paint, we have to paint and that’s it.

For those not in the trenches, it would seem that hosting and being responsible for the practice fields for a National Football League franchise would be stressful and daunting.  Not so much, says Leivermann. “We look forward to its. It’s fine.”

Leivermann, who is in his fourth year at MSU and is responsible for the look of the entire campus, credits his background in working in the golf course industry as one of the reasons he was ready for the challenge he faced in coming to oversee things at the University.  “I’ve been here for four years and I started in the golf industry and I just got the niche for it. I like playing golf and I like the outdoors. But I'm fortunate with the crew we have here that consists of fourteen people. We all share the responsibilities on campus. Everything is pretty equal as far as time on different areas. 

But, as Leivermann notes, it's all in the approach. “We are happy when the Vikings are happy or MSU is happy. If we can please both athletics departments, we’re happy.” 

Leivermann And The Crew 

Saturday Night Recap

Hello from MavBlog!

Looking forward to another great week at training camp. Today being Monday, I wanted to include some photos from Saturday’s night practice at Blakesee Stadium. The practice went from 7:30-9:30 and was followed by fireworks. It was a great way to end Family Football Day.

Here are some moments I captured during the practice:

Kurt Coleman and Jabari Price

Sendejo Prater and Posey

View From End Zone

Xavier Rhodes Looking On

Blair Walsh

Joe Banyard

Cheering Vikings Fan 

Big Stretch

Adam Thielen

Cordarrelle Patterson Signing For Fans

Josh Robinson Roles Reversed 

Jarius Wright With Begging Fans

Vikings Heading Off The Field

End Of The Night Fireworks

Family Football Day

Happy Friday and Happy Family Football Day!

Today is an exciting day here at training Camp, It’s Family Football Day today and as you can see this morning, the stands were filled. For Family Football Day, the Verizon Vikings put on special activities throughout the day that the whole family can enjoy.

Here is the schedule for today’s festivities:

Saturday, August 2^nd – Family Football Day at Verizon Vikings Training Camp
9:30am-10:30am Vikings Village is open for the day
10:30am-11:30am Morning Walk-Thru
1:00pm-2:00pm Gatorade Jr. Training Camp
2:00pm- 3:00pm Jr. Cheerleader Clinic
7:30pm-9:30pm Practice
9:45pm Fireworks

So hope all you fans can come out, enjoy the day and some football fun.

Because of the festivities today, this post is going to be a shorter post, but would like to touch on a couple things. First are a couple of questions Coach Zimmer answered during his press conference about the practice tonight.   

First question to Coach Zimmer was what situations he plans on working on tonight.

He replied, “We have a no-huddle situation, we’ve got a two-minute, a red zone, short yardage, I think we have a couple of move-the-ball situations. Regular game-like things, so quite a few.”

Next question was on if he is going to do any live contact tonight.

“No, I do not think that we are going to go live. This was my thinking going into it: when you scrimmage against yourself, you have twenty-two of your players out there, so the odds are twice as good that somebody has a chance of getting hurt. I think that with the preseason games, we will have enough time.”

Another questions asked was “What’s the latest on Robert Blanton and Josh Robinson?”

Coach Zimmer responded, “Robert Blanton still has a hamstring injury. I don’t know how long that is going to be. Josh Robinson is really close. He probably could go tonight but we are probably going to hold him out because we have a day off tomorrow, and then he should be good to go next week.”

The last question I would like to include from the press conference is one that addresses next weeks game against the Raiders. It’s just six days away and will be an exciting start for the Vikings. A reporter asked, “What are you doing as coaches to get ready for the pre-season game?”

Zimmer’s response,

“I won’t do it tomorrow, but some of the coaches have started looking at the Raiders a little bit as far as where we’re going. We talk about game-like situations, challenges, when to use time outs, go for field goals, things like that.”

“The coaches will start looking at the Raiders but honestly, and I told our players a little bit last night, we’ve got a game in six days now. To me, this is about us and us getting better and evaluating our guys against other guys. I don’t want to go out there and trick the Raiders. I want to go out and play solid, fundamental football. Where guys aren’t thinking and their athletic ability doesn’t show up.”

“I want to find out if we can cover and can line up and play the run, and if we can block people in the running game, and if we can get open on offense and throw the ball in the right places.”

That upcoming pre-season game will be Friday, August 8, at 7:00pm.

The People of Training Camp

What a great day to start off August! 84 degrees and sunny. 

To start off with this post, I want to say that part of this blog is to include the community of Mankato, and how the Vikings coming here, affects different aspects of it. For 49 years, the Vikings have been coming down to Mankato to put on their pre-season training camp which is a great kick-off for their season. It brings down tons of well-known media crews, radio stations, sports writers, and bloggers that report the ins and outs of the Vikings practice, team, and organization. I however, want to tell you some of the ins and outs of the people affected by training camp. I want to bring you stories from behind the scenes. Stories on how training camp affects the town, the community, the people, fans, workers, interns and others... that don't usually get reported. 

So for my first inside story, I am going to talk about my experience at this Friday morning's practice with a particular touching group of people. 

As I was waiting for the post-practice press conference, I noticed a group of people waiting in line to get autographs in the area that players pass to return to campus. Curious, I approached the woman who looked in charge and asked politely what this group was for. She sweetly informed me that their group is from an organization called Ventures Travel. She, Lisa Moore, is the director and said it is an organization that provides trips and vacations for people with disabilities. Touched by what she told me I asked if I could take some pictures during the autograph signings, and ask some of the group members a couple questions about the team and training camp. 

As the Vikings players started proceeding through the gates, this is what I captured:

Cornerback Xavier Rhodes

Quarterback Matt Cassel

       

Andrew With Adrian Peterson

Here is a picture of Adrian Peterson signing a poster for a group member named Andrew. I got to speak with Andrew and asked him who his favorite player was.

He responded, "Matt Cassel, Adrian Peterson, and fourty-eight."

I then asked how he enjoyed training camp today and he said with a big smile, "Very good!"

I also got a picture of Andrew with Marcus Ableman, who was in charge of the group today. Ableman is an Operations Intern for the Minnesota Vikings and a graduate assistant with Minnesota State Athletics.

Andrew With Marcus Ableman

Tarlisha

This next picture is of Tarlisha. I had remembered waving at her earlier on in practice as I was walking by and getting an energetic wave and huge smile back. Director Lisa Moore said she would be a fun one to interview.

When I asked Tarlisha who her favorite players on the team were, she couldn't stop listing names.

Some of her few favorites included Adrian Peterson, Matt Cassel, and Christian Ponder. When I asked why she liked them she said, "They're really good at football and they have huge muscles."

Tarlisha With Harrison Smith

Cassel 

Running Back Joe Banyard

To sum this up, all I can say is that I was completely touched. It was amazing to see the how the Vikings players interacted with each one of the group members of Ventures Travel. They didn't act as if they had just had an hour of practice right before, or that they wanted to sign the posters and be on their way. Each Vikings player I saw go through that line today, took the time to say hello, interact, and make the group member feel just like a friend. 

Zimmer Press Conference

Hello from MavBlog! 

What a gorgeous day today was for training camp. Here is a view from the sidelines.

Head coach Mike Zimmer spoke following practice

Today during morning practice the coaches worked on drills with special teams. Then they split into offense and defense and worked on some drills that got each quarterback some good reps. Afterwards, Coach Zimmer talked at his Press Conference. 

The first question to Coach Zimmer was, “How much have you installed at this point? How is the game plan for the rest of camp in how you get these guys to do what you want them to do?”

Zimmer responded, “We’re going to keep installing until about the week before we play. I try not to get anything else in about two weeks before the Rams game.”

“So once we get that in then we’re pretty good unless there’s something else obviously that we need game plan wise. I want our guys to play fast in the game and not think.”

Next question from the media was on the officials being there today to break down the contact rules, and how he has interpreted what the league has done and how he can convey that to the team.

“I think there’s going to be a bigger emphasis on some of the illegal contacts this year coming in and some of the holding for the defensive backs. But it’s good to get them in and the good thing about us, I think as coaches here, we adjust to the rules and try to play within the rules.  We try to do things the right way. Try to do what we have to do, in order avoid penalties and still be able to play a tough, physical brand of football.”

A question was then asked,  “How much have you gotten to know Everson Griffen personally and how would you describe him?”

Zimmer responded, “I like Everson a lot. He’s very eager. That’s one of the things I like that he would be. He’s very eager. He wants to please and do good. He’s very excitable. He wants to do things right and he’s a good kid, and I’m glad we have him.”

Another question for Coach Zimmer was, “What do you see from Anthony Barr in coverage?”

He replied, “Coverage is great. He moves well and he’s got a good idea. Somebody was telling me that he takes copious notes in the morning. He’s got pages and pages of them as we talk so he’s very, very into trying to learn what we’re trying to do and teach. He’s got a lot of raw, athletic ability that helps in the coverage aspect of things.”

Another question for Zimmer asked about who he thought has flown under the radar this spring and into camp.

Zimmer replied, “Jabari Price has done a really nice job I thought. He has played some in the nickel, he has played some outside. Rodney Smith started out slow, and in the last two or three days he has shown a lot better. He is running off the ball better now and running better routes. Tiny Richardson has been doing a pretty good job at left tackle and Zach Line has done a good job at fullback.”

A reporter then asked what impresses Zimmer about Jabari.

“He is covering guys pretty well. He is tough and not scared. A lot of time young guys, they come in and play a little tentative but he is not playing tentative at all. He has a little stuff inside him.” “He is good sized, he is competitive, and he can run real well.”

Last question asked were on his expectations for Saturday night.

Zimmer responded, “Honestly we are going to have a few more situations in practice on Saturday, it won’t be live, unless I decided to go a couple plays here and there. I will see how the health is in terms of where we are going. It will be a lot more situations, red zone, move the ball, we got another blitz period. We are just trying to get better each and every day.”

“We are trying to make this football tough, physical, and smart. We want to make sure we don’t make mistakes and we don’t’ want to beat ourselves. We want to play real hard.”

“Like I have said a million times, and I am going to keep saying it; I want our fans, when they watch us play on Sundays, when they turn the TV off, or leave the stadium, they say wow I can't wait to watch these guys next week. They play real hard, they play with a passion, and they do things right. They play the game the right way."

During afternoon practice coaches ran drills such as 11-on-11, individual position drills, two-minute drill, 7-on-7 and kick-off returns.

Some Vikings photos from today:

McKinnon With Teammate Dominique Williams

Adrian Peterson Taking A Selfie

Fan Excitement After Practice

Teddy Bridgewater 

Adam Thielen At Wide Receiver

Captain Munnerlyn Hiding Cookies

Peterson With Young Fans

Thielen Links

In case you are interested, a ton of stories and videos have been put together on former Maverick wide receiver, Adam Thielen.

After spending last season as a member of the Vikings' practice squad, he's now in his second training camp with the NFL club and the Detroit Lakes, Minn., native continues to make and impression. 



Here is a sampling of what the media is saying Adam. Enjoy!

Adam Thielen:  The Next Step.

Adam Thielen impresses Vikings, Rick Spielman

Vikings receiver Adam Thielen making a strong early impression

Thielen Impresses At Vikings Training Camp

Minnesota Vikings 2014 Training Camp Profile: Adam Thielen 

Thielen enters training camp fighting for WR spot

Detroit Lakes native Adam Thielen looking to make Vikings 53 man roster out of training camp

Norv Turner Media Conference

This morning’s walk-through practice ended with a press conference with offensive coordinator, Norv Turner. Turner addressed the media tent with a warm hello and welcome.

The first question asked was on his impressions of Greg Jennings.

“Greg is a pro. He’s a hard worker. He obviously has great experience and great understanding. He is, like the rest of the guys, in the middle of learning a new system. I think he’s done really well with it since we’ve started camp the last four days. He’s really zeroed in.”

 In his last comment Turner replied, “I like what I’ve seen. He’s a guy that can move around and you can create some matchup things with him.”

The next question asked was how he was going to be delegating the quarterback reps.

He responded that those were issues meant for Coach Zimmer, but to give some feedback he said, “We will have these guys ready. Whoever ends up being the starting quarterback, he will be ready to play on opening day.”  

“I’m pleased with the four days, the progress they have made and where they are at, Turner said. “Obviously, you cannot work three for a long time, so the reps will be getting divided up differently.”

A question on Teddy Bridgewater was how does he look so far when he feels pressure?

“I have seen all of Teddy’s college films and one of his strengths, and one of the best things we like about him is how he handles pressure,” Turner said. “He has been outstanding.”

Following that question, someone asked how Teddy has been in the classroom.

“He has been outstanding,” Turner said. “I think that for any of these guys, it does not matter if they have been here for nine years or it is their first year. You’re putting in a new system, new terminology, and new language. We are grinding on them and they are grinding to learn.”

The next question was one interestingly for Turner’s specific coaching style. The question stated, “Some of the players were saying you were one of the nicest mean coaches they have ever had, and they love working with you. What has helped you develop your coaching style?”

Turner responded, “I think your personality is what it is. I have been fortunate to be around a lot of coaches and I think there is a big part of this thing that has to be extremely demanding. I would say the guys on offense would tell you they need to be very precise in what they do, but you know it’s a grind, it’s a long deal and you find different ways of creating an atmosphere that guys feel good about and are motivated to work in and we grind on them, but we don’t want to beat them up. We want to encourage them. I think my background has probably influenced me the most.”