MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama opened preseason practice for the 2011 football season Wednesday morning, working through a heat advisory that pushed the heat index into triple digits.
Newcomers reported to camp Monday, followed by returning players Tuesday. The heat forced the Jaguars to take a 10-minute break midway through the morning session.
Jones: ‘We Have to Find a Way to Work Through It’
Head coach Joey Jones said the conditions could not be allowed to slow the team’s preparation.
“It was very hot, but I told the team that we have to find a way to work through it,” Jones said. “We have to come out with the attitude that we are going to get work done. And we have to be smart as coaches and back off of it at times and be smart about how we structure our practice. But it was a good day, and we had good effort.”
Inside the First Practice
Players worked in shorts, shirts and helmets. Practice opened with special teams, focusing on the punt unit, while the offensive and defensive lines went through drills in the end zones.
For nearly an hour, the team worked in individual and group drills. Quarterbacks threw first to tight ends, then to wide receivers and finally to running backs, and the running backs also worked behind the offensive line.
A 20-minute 7-on-7 period followed, then a 30-minute team period in which the offensive line worked on blitz pickup. A second special teams period covered kickoff and punt coverage.
Offseason Work Shows
Jones said the coaches will learn more once the team puts on pads, scheduled for Monday after the first off day of camp on Sunday.
“We’ll find out more about their explosion once we get the pads on,” he said. “But as far as quickness their feet look better and we just look better physically. I told them a couple of weeks ago that all the weight room stuff and offseason conditioning has to transfer to the field. Just because you look better doesn’t mean you are a better football player. If you’re stronger you have to play stronger; if you’re faster you have to play faster.”
Jones credited the strength and conditioning program led by Coach Schwind.
“We look bigger and faster,” Jones said. “Coach Schwind did a heck of a job with the offseason program. There is no doubt that we are bigger. I think some of the linemen are starting to look better, as well as the linebackers. That is good, but so is the mental side. You can just see they are comfortable by what they’re doing; the freshmen and new guys’ eyes were like saucers, but the older guys know what is going on. That maturity and experience is something that we have on this team now, and these older guys can start coaching these younger guys.”
Quarterbacks Report Strong Summer
C.J. Bennett enters camp as South Alabama’s No. 1 quarterback after starting the final three games of last season, which the Jaguars finished undefeated.
“Everyone was excited to get out here,” Bennett said. “We had one of our best summers as a team. I thought the tempo was pretty good for the first day of practice, especially with this heat. We looked pretty good. You always have the first-day kinks, but we’ll just keep working.”
Quarterback Myles Gibbon said summer workouts with the receivers paid off on the first day.
“We came out, and it felt like we had been out here for a few days already,” Gibbon said. “We were smooth, people knew where to go and the guys who have been here showed the freshmen coming in exactly what to do right away so we didn’t have to waste time telling them. I can tell right away how much smoother it is with guys I threw with in the summer.”
Gibbon named Bryant Lavender, Greg Hollinger and freshman Anthony Ingram among the receivers he worked with over the summer.
Up Next
The Jaguars return to the field at 6:15 a.m. Thursday. The heat advisory has been extended through Thursday, with temperatures forecast near 80 degrees at the start of practice and approaching 90 by 9 a.m.
