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By Jason Pugh, Northwestern State Associate Athletic Director for External Relations; featured photo by Jason Pugh
NATCHITOCHES – As the Northwestern State football team gathered together Monday for its “report day” portion of fall camp, there was something that seemed to be lacking a season ago.
Familiarity.
“We didn’t really know what to expect (last year),” redshirt junior linebacker Danny Sears said. “We had only had a spring (with head coach Blaine McCorkle and his staff) before fall camp. New people, you’re merging with a lot of different people, and you didn’t know what to expect. I think we’ve done a really good job this summer of coming together more. We know what to expect from each other, and we really established our standards as a team.”
The Demons spent most of Monday handling the tedious parts that come with the beginning of the season.
There were forms to fill out, equipment to pick up and, of course, meetings. Hearing from university athletic administrators took up most of the afternoon, but it was the Monday night meeting that signaled a change in attitude.
“From the moment we got here, everyone was excited to get into the locker room,” junior offensive lineman Isaiah Ybarra said. “We’re excited to be here, which we haven’t had in a while. Guys are ready to eat.”
Ybarra added waking up for breakfast Tuesday morning truly will have him ready for camp, which begins with a 7 p.m. practice at Turpin Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Monday night team meeting, which followed a day of mostly administrative duties, set out a road map for the Demons to follow throughout McCorkle’s second fall camp at Northwestern, which leads into the Aug. 28 season opener against Alcorn State in Turpin Stadium.
“Things are a little more football-specific tonight,” McCorkle said. “Things are a little more intense in nature in the way the presentations are made. We outline who we are and where we’re going.”
Some of that roadwork was put together during summer workouts, which has made report day a bit of a misnomer as most of the Demon roster spent time in Natchitoches in June and July.
“The way things are now, the kids are here all summer, so it’s not like you’re excited to see them because you haven’t seen them in a while,” McCorkle said. “You see them every day all summer, which is great and a nice change of pace, but a new year is upon us.”
