Senior Bowl is a Field of Dreams for college seniors

The Senior Bowl is a proving ground for players like Mike Iupati of Idaho. (Icon SMI)

By Brock Murphy, Lindyssports.com columnist

Mobile’s Little Field of Dreams

So, what is it like to take in a Senior Bowl practice at little Ladd-Peebles Stadium? In some ways, it is the closest thing to the Field of Dreams a football enthusiast will ever experience.

Kevin Costner’s Field of Dreams was set in the middle of rows of ordinary corn. Mobile’s wondrous real estate is set in the midst of row after row of old and ordinary homes. It just appears. And it is right.

In the film, legends of baseball materialized from the outfield corn. In Alabama’s Bay City, famous names from the gridiron materialize from ordinary cars in the parking lot.

Sit down in open space near row 20 of one section of the stadium, and a quick glance around reveals Jerry Jones, Mike Singletary, Alonzo Highsmith, Reggie Cobb, John Fox, Pete Carroll, Vann McElroy and Cliff Branch. They are all smiles as the scene plays host to the year’s least-intense most-enjoyable reunion for all of these men whose livelihood depends upon their organization beating their good friend’s next season. Barbs are tossed around, to be sure, but so are the hugs and much laughter.

In a beat-up old stadium in a town in Alabama most people have never heard of.

And then, team-by-team, 88 of the season’s most talented and athletic seniors take the field, pads start popping, scouts and coaches and agents start bantering about the action.

And, on a sunny, 63-degree day, all seems right in the world.

Shemy Schembechler

Had the chance to speak with Shemy Schembechler, son of the late-Bo Schembechler before Tuesday’s North Team practice. An infectious optimist, Shemy is now a scout for the Washington Redskins who covers — what else? — the Midwest region.

He shared several joyful memories from his days as a coach’s son while his father held court in Ann Arbor.

The one likely to gather the most interest for the local market was that of his father’s relationship with Alabama’s legendary coach, Bear Bryant. Shemy’s recalled his father’s relationship with Bryant grew in the final few years of Bryant’s career and came as a result of Bryant being invited to coach one side of two different Hula Bowls.

On each occasion, Bryant asked the elder Schembechler to coach the team’s offense. And Shemy has a clear recollection of being a young boy in a rental car in Hawaii listening to his father and Bear Bryant discuss life and football.

The proverbial fly on the wall for the convergent musings of two legendary football minds.

With a mischievous grin, Shemy added a final recollection of his father laughing about Bryant hitting the golf course during a practice or two, feeling “confident” that the two coaches who he picked to scheme and install his squad’s offense and defense were more than competent to do their job.

Idaho’s Mike Iupati

Playing for one of the season’s surprise teams, the WAC’s Idaho Vandals, Iupati may be the most talented lineman in Mobile this week. At the least, he has been the topic of most conversations overheard the last two days about the linemen in attendance this week.

Separate from the small national stature of his alma mater, Iupati’s road to Mobile was far from predictable. Living with his Aunt in small town California, he and eight other family members occupied a three-bedroom residence. Resources were scarce but his recollection of that time is full of warmth and reverence.

He was quite talented coming out of high school but academics hindered his access to larger programs. Simply stated, he was not an academic qualifier.

Several schools offered to take him if he would first attend a two-year junior college. However, Idaho offered to take him as a Proposition 48 candidate, an option that let him avoid a junior college route. He bit, and Idaho now claims a gold helmet among the headgear floating around the stadium grass.

Inspired to give his draft preparation his best effort, Iupati started working out under twenty-year NFL veteran and former offensive tackle for the Rams, Jackie Slater. Slater will mentor Iupati as both an offensive tackle and a guard. Iupati’s ability to take snaps at both positions will only enhance his draft stock.

A beast on the field, Iupati is remarkably soft-spoken and respectful in person. Keep an eye on where he lands on draft-day.

Practice Results

The North Team hit the field first on Tuesday. The practice was noticeably sharper though the quarterbacks and receivers still have a way to go before their rhythm and feel for one another cleans up the passing game. More than a few footballs hit the field.

As often occurs when systems and teams are first installed or assembled, the defensive line appears to be ahead of the offensive line. Among the players who seemed to catch the scouts’ eyes were California’s Tyson Alualu (defensive tackle), Arkansas State’s Alex Carrington (defensive end) and Penn State’s Jared Odrick (defensive tackle).

Still, it must be said that Notre Dame’s Sam Young (offensive tackle) held his own more often than not, as did Idaho’s Iupati. Arizona State’s Shawn Lauvao made a noticeable improvement from what could be described as a shaky first practice. His bright yellow helmet shines bright so that every snap he takes draws attention – that is a good thing when those snaps are successful.

Wayne State’s tailback, Joique Bell, is a small school underdog. He held his own in one-on-one pass-rush drills against the linebackers Tuesday morning and, for the second consecutive day, showed impressive speed and power during his carries.

Oregon’s LeGarrette Blount continued to show good power and finish his runs. He showed enthusiasm for the one-on-one pass-rush drills with the linebackers and only rarely lost the battle.

The linebackers performed well throughout practice. Missouri’s Sean Weatherspoon and Washington’s Donald Butler seemed to shine though impressive snaps were also logged by Iowa’s A.J. Edds, Utah’s Koa Misi and TCU’s Daryl Washington.

The passing game struggled, but tight end Garrett Graham of Wisconsin made more than a few catches that seemed to turn heads. The lightest of the three tight ends on the North Team (6-3, 234), he had to show onlookers that he has sticky fingers and good instincts. So far, mission accomplished.

The South Team practiced in the afternoon. Tim Tebow drew a gallery of fans, as did the Alabama players who personalize the pride felt by local Crimson Tide fans on the heels of the newly minted National Championship.

Tebow struggled with fumbled snaps and poor throws on Monday so even those in attendance who were working had an extra focus on his performance on Tuesday. By and large, he delivered. Rumor has it he is suffering through step-throat, but he was lively in practice and showed good velocity on several of his throws.

Consistent with the level of his performances at the end of this season, Ole Miss’s Dexter McCluster (5-8, 165), the smallest player on either roster, had an impressive practice. He continually made impressive catches in traffic and in coverage. Tebow delivered several of the passes and, each time, the completion resulted in loud cheers from the crowd.

The same cheers erupted when Tebow connected in early route drills with Alabama tight-end, Colin Peek.

Tulane’s Jeremy Williams (6-0, 205) has drawn notice from a few scouts. A wide receiver, he absorbed several important catches in skeleton and full-squad snaps on Tuesday.

Two of the most impressive players in each of the first two practices for the South are from the University of South Florida. Defensive-end, George Selvie (6-4, 247) looked faster than every other defensive-lineman during many of the drills. The jury is still out whether he can power through linemen, but there seems little doubt he can quickly claim the edge on most snaps.

Nate Allen (6-0, 205) is the second USF Bull to turn heads this week in practice. Many felt he was the superior talent in one-on-one drills against the receivers on Monday and he did little to retard that sentiment on Tuesday. Clearly, he has great size for a cover corner and should get taken in the earlier rounds of the draft.

Both of the starting defensive ends from nearby Troy University are on the South roster. Brandon Lang (6-4, 260) and Cameron Sheffield (6-3, 256) showed flashes of burst off the edge, but both struggled with power moves in one-on-one drills against the offensive linemen on Tuesday afternoon. They combined for 15 sacks for the Trojans in 2009.