Football players report Thursday morning
8/4/2010 6:00:00 PM | Football
The players will report between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. to be issued equipment, check physicals and insurance with the training staff and residence hall check-in.
The first team meeting will take place at 1 p.m. with a second meeting at 7 p.m.
Actual work on the field at Bowers Stadium will begin with "Bearkat Run" at 8 a.m. and the first official practice in helmets and shorts at 7:15 p.m. When the student-athletes are not on the field, they will be in various daily offensive, defensive and special teams meetings.
"Everyone is eager to get started," Fritz said. "We made a lot of progress in spring ball and had a large number of players stay in Huntsville this summer to work out together. We've got a lot of things to get accomplished and the staff is looking forward to having the players in camp."
Fritz was named as the 14th head football coach at Sam Houston last December. He rolled up a 97-47 record in 13 seasons at Central Missouri and led Blinn to two national junior college championships.
In 28 years as both a head and assistant coach, Fritz has produced an overall record of 220-78-5. That includes a pair of two-year stints at Sam Houston where he served as a graduate assistant in 1984-85 and secondary and special teams coach in 1991-92.
Out of the 90 student-athletes expected to report Thursday, only 30 are returning lettermen. Twenty others are either squad members or red-shirts from the 2009 team or transfers who participated in 2010 spring work.
"One of the big things I want to see in preseason camp is the mix with the new guys," Fritz said. "It's going to be a mix that's about 50-50 between returnees and newcomers. We are going to mesh that group and make a team out of it. We will have a large group of new guys on campus. The staff and myself will have to get to know everyone and see how they fit in."
Fritz believes he has brought together a talented staff of assistants. The group includes two former Southland Conference head coaches as coordinators, Bob DeBeese (Southwest Texas head coach for six seasons) on offense and Scott Stoker (Northwestern State head coach for seven seasons) on defense.
Assistant head coach Jeff Conway came with Fritz from Central Missouri and will coach wide receivers. Other members of the staff are Ben Beasley (defensive backs), Johnny Jernigan (defensive line), Anthony Johnson (running backs) and Derek Warehime (offensive line).
"I like the staff we have put together," Fritz said. "I think this is going to be a good mix. It will be an interesting season that is for sure, but we are looking forward to it."
Preseason camp will run from August 6 to the opening day of classes August 25. The Bearkats expect to hold four full-contact scrimmages during preseason work.
Sam Houston will open the 2010 slate Saturday, Sept. 4 against the Baylor Bears at Waco. The first home game will be Saturday, Sept. 25 when Gardner-Webb visits Bowers Stadium for Bearkat "Family Weekend."
Season tickets for Bearkat football at Bowers Stadium are available through the new exciting "2-2-2" offer, order your tickets now by going to the Bearkat tickets page on www.gobearkats.com or call (936) 294-1729.
Fans also may visit the Sam Houston athletic ticket office located in the Ron Mafrige Field House located in the south end zone of Bowers Stadium. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
2010 Sam Houston Football Pre-season Practice Schedule
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Thursday August 5 Friday, August 6 Saturday, August 7 Sunday, August 8 Monday, August 9 Tuesday, August 10 Wednesday, August 11 Thursday, August 12 Friday, August 13 Saturday, August 14 |
Sunday, August 15 Monday, August 16 Tuesday, August 17 Wednesday, August 18 Thursday, August 19 Friday, August 20 Monday, August 23 Tuesday, August 24 Wednesday, August 25 Thursday, August 26 |
