McMackin stresses fundamentals at camp

Greg McMackin isn't one of those coaches who'll observe from afar.

He'll wear out his sneakers roaming the practice field, and won't hesitate to break into a drill to offer tips on the finer points of technique.

The approach, though, sometimes puts him a bit too close to the action.

While McMackin watched the quarterbacks and receivers work yesterday, Daniel Lofton buzzed in front of the coach to snag a pass across the middle, close enough to brush the visor off his head.

"The ball kind of led me that way and I got a little scared, I didn't want to hurt him," Lofton said. "I caught the ball and he was right there."

"I was playing too up at the free safety," McMackin quipped. "I'm going to have to deepen a little bit."

Attention to detail has been the emphasis of the first two days of fall camp, the practices largely devoted to fundamentals and working on the fine points of technique with team not in pads until next week.

"Little things are really important, where they point their toes, what their key is, where their hands are," McMackin said. "You have to get the repetitions and then you do it naturally."

"He is so organized, he has everything in writing, exactly what he wants you to do," senior linebacker Adam Leonard said. "He even says if he sees a mistake on film, first he looks at himself, then the coordinators and the position coaches and then he looks at the player. He puts a lot of pressure on himself in being real organized and being real specific with what he wants us to do."

The offense and defense are scheduled to get together for the first time in 7-on-7 drills in today's practice scheduled for 4-6 p.m. at the grass practice fields.