Rome Travel Log: Friday, April 28
4/28/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 28, 2017
The Michigan football program is on a one-week special educational and football experience for its student-athletes with a week of learning and practice in Rome, Italy. Follow the Wolverines on social media (#HailRoma) and with a daily travel log on MGoBlue.com.
Friday, April 28
8:15 & 8:30 a.m. -- Wake-up calls reverberate throughout the hotel, summoning the travel party to wake up and attack the day.
8:30-9:30 a.m. -- Breakfast is held on the ninth floor in the Terrazza Degli Aranci; the talk of the morning is the NFL Draft and teammates Jabrill Peppers and Taco Charlton being selected in the first round.
9:42 a.m. -- Loading up the buses for another day at the Giulio Onesti Training Center.
10:08 a.m. -- The buses arrive at Onesti, and the player and staff head for the locker rooms to change and prepare for practice.
10:49 a.m. -- Walkthrough begins with the offense at the north end of the field, wearing white jersey, and the defense in the south, wearing blue jerseys for the day's practice.
11:01 a.m. -- Coach Jim Harbaugh blows his whistle to start the period for field goal.
11:17 a.m. -- Strength coach Kevin Tolbert runs the team through the paces of stretch before the Wolverines break off for individual drills on offense, defense and special teams.
12:05 p.m. -- Harbaugh blows the whistle, gathers the team and tells them there will be an Oklahoma drill at midfield and open field tackling drills in the other open spaces on the field.
12:14 p.m. -- The team does 7-on-7 drills with an emphasis on the red zone.
12:28 p.m. -- Full team periods commence for the last few periods of practice.
12:47 p.m. -- The second practice concludes with some team running.
12:58 p.m. -- Harbaugh brings the team together for a few minutes and talks about making sure you have that football focus and you're always dialed in so you can get better as a player; he brings up tailback Chris Evans for some wise words to the team and provides an opportunity for ESPN's Marty Smith to say a few words to the Wolverines.
1:04 p.m. -- Players and coaches mingle around with fans, coaches, families and media for almost an hour on the practice field.
1:15 p.m. -- Harbaugh is presented with a helmet from the Wolverines Piacenza football team of Italy that stopped by practice; Harbaugh traded his trademark Michigan sweatshirt with one of the players in exchange for his team sweatshirt.
2-3 p.m. -- The coaches and players head over to the cafeteria for lunch.
3 p.m. -- U-M's coaching staff conducts a one-hour clinic with nearly 90 coaches from Italy, Hungary and France; the clinic is hosted by the Federazione Italiana di American Football (FIDAF), which helped immensely with the team's practice needs in Rome.
3:05 p.m. -- After introductions, the coaches go through a series of different drills for each position group that the coaches could take back and implement with their players.
3:56 p.m. -- Each assistant coach goes through the proper stance for their respective position group.
4:11 p.m. -- They break off into offense, defense and special teams and ask questions to the Michigan coaches for 20 minutes, before Harbaugh sounds the horn to conclude the clinic.
4:37 p.m. -- The staff hands out 'Forza Blue' t-shirts to the participants as they leave the practice field.
4:49 p.m. -- A bus with the coaches and managers who participate in the clinic leaves for the Gladiator Training School.
4:37 p.m. -- The player buses depart for the Gruppo Storico Romano Gladiator School.
5:36 p.m. -- Michigan arrives and divides into 10 teams for ability tests, physical and intellectual performances with scores and penalties associated with each of the 11 challenges.
7:20 p.m. -- Winning competitors for the duels square off on the main stage at the Gladiator center.
7:34 p.m. -- Once the team duels are completed, players start to call out duels between coaching and staff members, starting with a battle between Harbaugh and Tim Drevno; about six other challenges ensue with the highlight bout between Don Brown and Pep Hamilton, with Brown being hoisted in the air by the defense after being declared the winner.
8:44 p.m. -- The team eats a traditional Italian meal outdoors next to the Gladiator School.
9:57 p.m. -- The buses return to the hotel calling to an end another great day in Rome.
