Aug. 10, 2005
EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - The Lafayette football team hit the practice field as a full squad for the first time on Wednesday afternoon, putting in just less than three hours of work under blue skies in 90-degree temperatures at the Metzgar Fields Athletic Complex.
"I thought we had a good first day," head coach Frank Tavani said. "We got the freshmen acclimated out here yesterday, and bringing the whole team together and practicing for the first time, things went as smoothly as I had hoped."
The Leopards, which bring 98 players into preseason camp, progressed through their normal practice schedule, beginning with stretching and a special teams walk-through, and then moved on to sessions with the positional coaches and coordinators. The offensive skill players ran a 7-on-7 passing shell drill against the linebackers and secondary before the offensive and defensive linemen were brought in to work on the running game.
"We're teaching and learning, getting reps for the starters and moving right on down the roster," Tavani continued. "We're going through our assignments right now, and eventually we'll stop thinking and start executing. It's a little limited in what we're able to do, with just helmets on, but we'll build up to some physicality a little later."
Practice concluded with a series of timed sprints that served as the team's conditioning test.
"I wanted to wait until the end of practice to go through the gassers, so that they were a little fatigued once we got there. I thought, on the whole, everybody came back in shape, and our team speed is excellent," Tavani said.
The Leopards will practice in helmets only again on Thursday. They will strap on their shoulder pads for the first time on Friday, and hold the first full pads session on Sunday before two-a-days begin on Monday.
NCAA regulations that went into effect in 2003 limit the number of two-a-day practices that are allowed to every other day. Tavani will hold a single three-hour practice on days between double sessions.
The squad will continue its weight room testing and positional meetings each morning, with special teams, full team and more positional meetings each night following dinner.
The tentative date for the intrasquad scrimmage is set for Monday, Aug. 22 at 1:30 p.m. The Leopards open the season on the road on Sept. 3 at Marist in a contest slated to start at 7:00 p.m.
