Refreshed, motivated Randle shining early in fall camp for Rebels

By Ryan Greene

Thursday, Aug. 12, 2010 | 2:15 a.m.

ELY — Fall camp in 2009 for UNLV running back Bradley Randle entailed a lot of watching from the sidelines during live team drills, which play a big role in guys separating themselves and standing out in the crowd.

With limited exposure in terms of repetitions with the first- and second-team offenses, it became rapidly apparent that the highly touted recruit would be redshirting.

In his second camp as a Rebel, Randle wasted no time in making his presence felt on Wednesday night. It was not only the team's first practice during a 10-day stay up north in Ely but also the first day in full pads.

"My mindset has totally changed," he said. "For me, not redshirting or anything like that, I want to reach my full potential and see where I can be in the future."

During contact drills on Wednesday, Randle showed that he could be much more well-suited for first-year coach Bobby Hauck's balanced offensive attack than he was for the shotgun spread offense, which former coach Mike Sanford employed.

Grinding between the tackles, he showed to be the faster and more aggressive at bursting through holes than anyone else out of the backfield, ripping off a handful of lengthy runs. The compact Randle also showed some surprising punch in terms of running over defensive backs and pushing piles, never stopping his legs from moving in an endless pursuit to make plays last as long as possible.

"The best thing Bradley does is he only has one speed," running backs coach Dominic Daste said. "Whatever he's doing, he does it at 100 miles an hour, and it carries over to live drills."

Daste was a member of Hauck's staff at Montana before coming to UNLV and saw the same qualities from Randle in high school that the former Rebels staff did.

"I recruited him at my previous job," Daste added of Randle, who ran for 1,593 yards and 22 TDs as a senior at Vista Murrieta (Calif.) High. "I worked my butt off to get him elsewhere, but I'm glad he's here now.

"If Bradley was six feet tall, he'd probably be at USC or something. He's an extremely talented kid who works his butt off, and I'm glad I get to coach him."

The hard work is already showing, as he leapfrogged veterans Channing Trotter and Imari Thompson on the depth chart to close out spring ball. Now, he's seeing reps in the fall with both the No. 1 and No. 2 offenses and showing no signs of letting up. Also in the mix is junior C.J. Cox, who entered the fall atop the running back heap.

"This is the biggest blessing, and this is the perfect offense for me, I feel. I'm very comfortable with it," Randle said. "We've got lots of returning offensive linemen. They're big guys. I can hide behind them. I'm at 5-foot-8, trying to do my little shifty things, and when I see the hole, I just hit it."

The departed coaching staff repeatedly compared Randle's abilities to stop on a dime and change directions to that of Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders, while his apparent role in the new offense will showcase his top-end speed, as well.

Several plays that have been run so far in camp for the 195-pound Randle involve him taking pitches and tosses, shooting to the outside and turning upfield in a blur.

He's running not only with the God-given abilities that got him to UNLV but some fuel that he added by taking a somewhat unexpected redshirt year.

"It was pretty disappointing," he said of sitting out in 2009. "I know I got smarter, bigger, faster, stronger. As I say it, all the 'ers.' It's good. I'm just proud to be playing now."

Secondary shuffle

It will be awfully interesting to see who is listed atop the heap at the two cornerback spots with the No. 1 defense when the first depth chart of fall camp is released.

On Wednesday, assuming roles at various times with that unit were veterans and newcomers alike. Senior Quinton Pointer and junior Will Chandler saw some reps at those spots, as did a pair of freshmen who hail from Las Vegas — Bishop Gorman grad Taylor Spencer and Palo Verde product Sidney Hodge.

"I think we'll probably play up to five (cornerbacks)," Hauck said. "On defense, assuming we can develop our depth, we really want to play our two-deep. We want to play at a certain tempo and speed, and in order to do that, we feel our second group has to contribute.

A long, long day

The Rebels left early from Las Vegas and still did not arrive in Ely until roughly 4 p.m.

That allowed enough time to quickly drop off bags at the hotels that the team is split between then head straight downtown for practice.

The first practice in pads lasted more than three hours, but Hauck was pleased with the effort shown considering the strain of the day.

"I was impressed with my team because they got off of the bus after a four- or five-hour bus ride and had a really good practice," he said. "It was a really good, physical and intense practice."