Inside The Lava Bear's Training Camp (HC) - ThumbsBruised's Blog

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Inside The Lava Bear's Training Camp (HC)

Posted on June 29, 2010 at 11:47 AM.

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LAVA BEARS TRAINING CAMP WEEK 1 IN REVIEW!

By Brisco Kipp
The Lindenwood Honeycomb
Archive

Orlando, FL - As training camp got under way this week you could tell that the summer workouts really helped out first year coach John Gruden. Coaches and players already have a feel for each other and everything looked very crisp and organized. The morning practices ran about 2 hours and there were about 24 periods for each part of practice. Everything was pretty consistent this week, with one special teams practice moved into the Bubble because of lightning strikes. Other then that, the afternoon session ran about an hour. But Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon practices were dedicated to special teams. Special teams coach Mark Bavaro said, "Special Teams is a 3rd of the game and we will thrive on special teams here. We will boast one of the best special team units in the country.�

The Defense looked very good not allowing the offense to catch any rhythm and the main cause of that was Kenyatta Dukes. To no one's surprise. Not one O-linemen could stop him in any one-on-one drills or in any team drills, for that matter. It got to the point where Offensive Coordinator, Jay Gruden, asked coach English to sub someone else in so the Offense could get work done. �I never seen anything like this kid! He is the definition of unblockable." Jay Gruden said.

Kenyatta could be one of the scariest 20 year olds I have ever come in contact with. He reminds me of young Julius Peppers. He stands at 6'7, just an inch shorter then Peppers, and weighs 262 pounds. He originally signed with the University of Miami out of high school but failed to meet NCAA requirements, which landed him at the #1 JUCO in the country, Blinn College. In only one season at Blinn, he amassed 88 tackles and led the country with 19.5 sacks, which aslo helped lead them to a NJCAA National Championship. Kenyatta chose Lindenwood after backing out on his commitment to USC. Kenyatta, a native Miami boy, will be a Sophomore next year. Dukes said he planed on winning a national championship before his time is done at Lindenwood. "When I came on an unofficial visit here, I just felt like this was the place I wanted to come to. I felt a winning vibe here. With the coaches that were hired and the backing of Mr. Knight, I couldn't turn that down. Ya know, you start the tradition here, you're the first ones. You set how high the mark is. Everybody is going to want to come here...you'll see. We got real good people coming in this year who switched their decision on signing day when they found out who was backing Lindenwood. What better booster then Nike?"

Kenyatta will be wearing #2 this season at Defensive End. When i asked why he wears #2, he replied "My number wasn't always 2. I rocked 45 but 2 is how many sacks I want a game. Of course more is better, but that's the minimum I want a game and that is reality." Its just a personal goal, but the ultimate is to win every game. If he can keep up with the pace he had this past week in training camp, I see no argument there. The Lava Bears will have their first Offense vs Defense scrimmage next Friday and it will be open to the public. We should get a better feel how the depth chart will start to come together for the opener against LSU.

Come out an meet Kenyatta and the rest of your 2010 Lava Bears On August 24th for Media Day and last day of camp festivities. There will be free autographs and food. Also, Hummer of Orlando will be holding a raffle for a 2011 hummer.