First practice of the 100th season in the books
8/7/2015 12:22:00 PM | Football
After much anticipation, the first preseason practice of the 100th season of Sam Houston football is in the books. Everyone, coaches and players alike, was excited to get started.
“There was a big difference between last year's opening practice and today's,” Bearkat second-year head coach K. C. Keeler said. “We're light years ahead of where we were last year. We had a great spring practice and everyone was here during the summer and it shows. There's a lot more continuity. The kids know what the expectations are. Still, we're a long way from being a finished product. There's lots of work to be done in the next month before the opener.”
Of the 95 student-athletes on the practice field Friday, 51 are returning lettermen and 19 were starters on either offense or defense last year. There also is a talented group of newcomers working hard to learn the Bearkat system.
“With so many guys back, everybody is in a rhythm,” offensive tackle Brandon DeWitt said. “We all feel this can be a strong year for us if we continue to do the things we did last year to be successful.”
Sam Houston opens the year on Saturday Sept. 5 in Lubbock about the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
“We really haven't talked much about Texas Tech yet,” Keeler said. “Last year, we spent a lot of time talking about the opener with Eastern Washington because, with so many new players and young men who hadn't been with us in spring ball, we wanted to convince the guys they could compete with the number one team in the nation. Right now Texas Tech is the only game on our schedule but what's most important is us getting better every day.”
There is stiff competition at every position for playing time. Keeler has stated often that this year's squad is among the deepest he's coached.
“Each of us has to have the mindset that every day, no matter what, no matter how long you have been a starter, your job can be taken,” preseason All-America offensive lineman Donald Jackson III said. “You have to stay hungry to get better each day.”
The Kats will work daily from 8 to 10 a.m. with strength and conditioning lifting sessions and individual position meetings in the afternoons through Tuesday, August 11. The team will take a day off from on field sessions before resuming workouts with a two-a-day session Thursday, August 13.
"With such a deep team we want to play faster and more up-tempo this year," Keeler said. "That's something we are really emphasizing right now."
Season tickets for Sam Houston's six home games at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium plus the 90th “Battle of the Piney Woods” are on sale now online at www.gobearkats.com or at the SHSU Athletic Ticket Office now located on the west side of Bowers Stadium.
Beginning Thursday and running for the first week of Sam Houston practice, any fan who buys a season ticket will be eligible to win a special prize in a daily season ticket holder drawing.
