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By ANTONYA ENGLISH and Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 9, 2001
Gators QB Martin considers redshirt
GAINESVILLE -- After two days of freshmen-only practices at Florida, the status of three players remains uncertain and that of another probably was decided.
Freshman quarterback Ingle Martin said Wednesday he likely will redshirt rather than "waste a year" behind three returners.
Meanwhile, offensive lineman Jonathan Colon and wide receiver Dallas Baker are awaiting test scores and Thomas "Stone" Pittman has been placed on the disabled list of baseball's Class A Jupiter Hammerheads with a severely pulled hamstring. Florida coach Steve Spurrier said Pittman's status remains "up in the air." ... Several players, including defensive ends Alex Brown and Kennard Ellis, will be up at dawn today trying to complete the 12-minute run they failed last week.
TALLAHASSEE -- Florida State's 30-member freshman and newcomer group held its first day of practice under the watchful eye of coach Bobby Bowden.
The group practiced in the morning on the FSU football practice fields but the afternoon session was moved indoors because of inclement weather. The players took part in physical testing in the morning before working through a 12-period practice session, their first as members of the Seminoles.
The offense and defense practiced separately for about 1 hour, 30 minutes in the afternoon. The group is scheduled to practice twice more today before welcoming the returning members of the varsity tonight.
"This is a good-looking group," Bowden said after the morning session. "What we are trying to do is teach them very slowly because the biggest thing they have to do right now is learn what we are doing. They have to learn a new system and learn what we want to do and that takes a long time."
No injuries were reported after the practice sessions.
ORLANDO -- With the conclusion of conditioning runs, UCF begins practice at 7:30 a.m. today. The team conducted its preseason testing in the weight room as well as 16 110-yard conditioning runs and is set for the start of two-a-days.
Players who had perfect attendance in the voluntary summer workouts were exempt from running, and despite the fact players who were tested trained on their own, strength and conditioning coach Reese Bridgman is pleased with what he saw.
"I think our conditioning level for the game of football is really good at this point in time, even for the freshmen," Bridgman said.
The team got a break from the heat because conditioning runs were completed by mid-morning rather than mid-afternoon as in years past.
The team has scheduled two-a-days in an attempt to miss the heat. The first session will run from 7:30 to 10 a.m., followed by a session from 5 to 7:05 p.m.
JACKSONVILLE -- The Dolphins hired veteran high school coach Charles Edwards as receivers coach and former Jackson High assistant Matt Elliott was named quarterbacks coach, coach Steve Gilbert announced.
Edwards, who also will coordinate the special teams, comes from the Bolles School in Jacksonville, where he was coach at the middle school since 1997 and remains the athletic director. Elliott joins Jacksonville after a two-year stint as an assistant coach at Andrew Jackson High in Jacksonville, where he worked with quarterbacks, receivers, running backs and tight ends.
Practice opens Monday.
BOCA RATON -- Howard Schnellenberger, coach and director of football operations, unveiled the official inaugural season artwork in between the first two-a-day practices featuring incoming freshmen. The ticket office prepared to mail tickets to the program's first season-ticket holders. The inaugural artwork by artist Todd Dawes will be featured on the inaugural game ticket-holder and limited edition merchandise. The design incorporates tropical elements of south Florida and features Schnellenberger, a fighting owl and Pro Player Stadium.