UC Pro Day

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The University of Cincinnati football team will host Pro Day at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday inside the Richard E. Lindner Center in Varsity Village.




All events are closed to the general public, but open to the media.

Heights, weights, and measurables will take place inside the weight room on the first floor of the complex. Because of space limitations, there will be no filming in the weight room. Media can observe that portion of the work out from the deck located on the second floor.

Once that portion of the day is complete, we will move outside to Nippert Stadium for the timing and on-field drills. Media are welcome to film and observe the timing and on-field drills inside Nippert.

In case of inclement weather, the timing-drill portion of the day will switch to: Wall2Wall Soccer, 864 Reading Road, Mason, Ohio 45040.


http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100308/SPT0101/303080086/1064/UC+football+hosts+Pro+Day+on+Wednesday
 
RT @joereedy: Niners coach Mike Singletary is here at UC pro day. 26 teams in attendance
 
In case you missed the first part of Craig Carey's Big Adventure, click here. That's the background of how he's training like crazy for UC's Pro Day so he'll have a shot to continue his football career in the NFL.

Now, let's talk about his chances for impressing a scout or two on March 10 when most of the NFL teams invade the UC weight room and Nippert Stadium to measure, weigh and inspect each of the now former Bearcats.

Look, Carey isn't dense. He realizes his climb to pro football is steep, if not completely vertical. He's seen former Bearcats long shots have strong Pro Days only to be left on the outside of the league looking in. He knows a player in his position - a player not many college football fans outside of this city know much about - is an afterthought to the team representatives who will be attendance mostly to watch Tony Pike and Mardy Gilyard.

But he knows there's a chance, however slim. He knows he'll have a shot to impress.

"Hopefully the scouts come and see my ability and that everything goes well," Carey said. "Hopefully I'll get some individual workouts and go from there."

http://www.gobearcats.com/blog/2010/03/craig-careys-big-adventure-part-ii.html
 
During UC’s Pro Day on Wednesday at Nippert Stadium, Gilyard’s 40 time was much improved while Pike was a little more consistent on throwing drills.

After running a 4.56 at the Combine, Gilyard ran a 4.47 on Wednesday. Scouts had concerns after the Combine about the 40 time but those problems seem to have been alleviated.

“I ran way better than I did at the Combine. I knew it was faster,” Gilyard said.

Gilyard also had a couple nice sideline catches where he corrected himself after bobbling the ball. The one thing that definitely helped was his familiarity with Pike.

“I felt like it was gameday all over again,” Gilyard said. “I felt like he was going to throw me another touchdown, another bomb, another intermediate route and that I could take it for six points.”

Pike, who turned 24 on Wednesday, struggled early with a couple of his passes sailing high, but he settled down as the passing drills went along and had a couple of tight spirals on some bombs.

There were also a couple times when he wasn’t on the same page as his receivers, but that was mostly due to different names between routes in NFL and college. Since the Combine, he’s also been tweaking his delivery slightly in how he holds the ball.

“Just from talking to guys they were happy with what they saw. It’s an ongoing process to get on the same page,” Pike said.

Besides Pike and Gilyard, 11 other UC seniors worked out. Among the more intriguing is Alex Daniels, who played on the defensive line with the Bearcats but is being considered by some teams as a tight end or fullback. Daniels did run routes while Pike was throwing.

Defensive lineman Ricardo Matthews is also getting a look from a couple teams.


http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100310/SPT0101/303100079/1064/UC+pro+day+good+for+duo
 
Cincinnati held its pro day this morning, and while Tony Pike and Mardy Gilyard are the highest-profile prospects, others did their best to impress the scouts as well.

Gilyard and Pike didn't do every drill because they did most of the same stuff at the NFL combine. But Gilyard did run the 40 and posted a time of 4.47 seconds, best of those who participated today.

Defensive lineman Alex Daniels pulled a muscle during his 40 but had some other impressive numbers. He bench-pressed 225 pounds 31 times, tying Curtis Young for best on the team. Daniels also showed off a 36.5-inch vertical leap and 10-foot, nine-inch broad jump. Not bad for a 265-pounder.

Defensive back Brad Jones ran the 40 in 4.56 seconds, second-fastest behind Gilyard. Jones also had a 39-inch vertical. Safety Aaron Webster ran a 4.66 in the 40.

Linebacker Marcus Waugh, known as a workout warrior, benched 225 pounds 29 times.

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigeast/post/_/id/8396/numbers-from-cincinnatis-pro-day
 
“I’m excited for them,” said Cincinnati head coach Butch Jones. “You look at everything they’ve brought to this football program, and then they’re able to display their skills today and for the National Football League.”

Scouts watched with keen eyes as players were put through a variety of tests and drills, including the 40-yard dash, 225-pound bench press, 20-yard shuttle run and 3-cone drill.

For Gilyard, Pro Day was a chance for the wide receiver to improve upon his 40-yard dash performance from the NFL Scouting Combine, where he ran the drill in 4.56 seconds.

“At the combine he did OK. He didn’t really hurt himself, but he didn’t really help himself,” said Clif Marshall, Gilyard’s trainer from Ignition Athletics Performance Group. “So what happened today was he improved on his 40-yard dash.”

Gilyard’s unofficial 40-yard dash time Wednesday was 4.47 seconds. Gilyard said the look on Marshall’s face as he crossed the finish line was all he needed to see to know he had improved his time.

“I did way better than I did at the combine. I mean, way better,” Gilyard said. “I feel like in my 40 I ran smoother, I ran better. I didn’t even need to see my time, because I know it’s better.”

Gilyard had set a goal of running a 4.5-seconds 40-yard dash and isn’t concerned when some say his time in the drill might not be fast enough to compete with top-level NFL defensive backs.

“I’m not a straight-line guy,” Gilyard said. “That’s not me, that’s not my M.O. I run away from people that run 4.3s. I’m not a 4.3-in-a-straight-line guy. I haven’t run track in forever.”

Gilyard ran a 4.03-seconds 20-yard shuttle run and posted a time of 6.71 seconds in the 3-cone drill. Both times were the lowest of the day in each event.

“I don’t think I could have run better,” Gilyard said. “I slipped a little bit in my 3-cone, but I still ran a stupid time.”

Pike elected not to run in the timed drills, but did throw for the NFL scouts on hand in passing drills and came away happy with his performance.

“I was happy with how I came out and threw today compared to the combine,” Pike said. “Overall I had a good day.”

Associate head coach and defensive backs coach Kerry Coombs was pleased with the way Pike, Gilyard and their teammates performed Wednesday.

“I think our kids have shown up extremely well,” Coombs said. “I’m very pleased with the way they’ve run and with the way they’ve tested.”

Coombs is the lone member of the Cincinnati coaching staff to have coached this year’s senior class. Jones, hired near the end of last season, wishes he could have had the chance.

“I wish we had them all back,” Jones said of the departing seniors. “But that’s the beauty of college football. Players graduate and they move on, and it’s up to the next senior class to provide stability and leadership.”

The goal of Wednesday’s Pro Day was to improve the participants’ draft stock, but Pike remains unsure of where he’ll be selected in April’s upcoming NFL Draft.

“It could be anywhere,” Pike said. “You can sneak to the late first [round], or you can drop anywhere. [Scouts] are kind of saying second or third [round] right now, but as far as that goes, you don’t know anything.”

http://www.newsrecord.org/sports/gilyard-improves-at-uc-pro-day-1.2187761
 
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