Training Camp Report: Titans Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz Says Heat = Wins
It’s hot out there today, campers. The mercury is in the low 90s, but the Titans' feels like the surface of the sun. Of course, the heat didn’t stop the team from running practice in pads and helmets. Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz says the heat helps his guys get ready for an early season schedule in the sunny climes of Jacksonville and Houston (when the roof’s open at Reliant Stadium.)
“Last year at camp we had 13 straight days of over 100 degree heat,” Schwartz tells Pith. “It was brutal, but you know what happened? The guys went out and played.”
Schwartz says that the heat of training camp helped the Titans win a game last August against the Jaguars in Jacksonville.
It was week three, near the end of a tight game against their division rival. The Titans defense was on the field and had to change direction for the start of the fourth quarter. “We had to move a good distance, like from the twenty to the twenty,” Schwartz recalls. “When the refs blew that whistle, all our guys, at the same time, turned and ran to the opposite side of the field. None of them were dragging or waiting around for a bottle of water... I think Jacksonville was counting on our guys wilting in the heat and we didn’t.”
Schwartz calls that 80 yard jog “one of the most inspirational things I’ve ever been around in the NFL.” The Titans defense played tough throughout the fourth, holding on for a 13-10 victory.
Looks like next week will be even hotter. It won’t be fun to practice in, but it might bode well for the start of the ’08 season.
