University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Football Goes Through Second Day of Helmets and Shorts for Practice
8/3/2023 12:14:00 PM | Football
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The second of two mandatory helmet and shorts only football practices by the NCAA took place Thursday morning on the Southern Miss campus with the Golden Eagles going through a 2-hour, 20-minute workout at the Joe P. Park Practice Facility.
While the team is limited on being able to have contact during this time, the first two practices allow the coaches a chance to teach and improve on things that they worked on during spring practice and earlier this summer during organized team activities.
It also gives the younger players a chance to pick things up making the transition to Division I football from either high school or junior college. For third-year coach Will Hall, he has not seen many struggles over the first two practices and that both the rookies and veterans are both understanding the early demands of summer camp.
"I don't know that I've seen any," said Hall of his players struggles. "Everybody is excited. It's early and we haven't hit the grind part yet. We've got depth and we're installing on both sides. [I've seen] nothing out of the ordinary. The young kids are swimming like they should be. For them it's like jumping into Calculus IV when you didn't take Calculus I, II and III, so you've got to get caught up and learn. Going from high school football to college football is a drastic, drastic, drastic change. That's big for a lot of them but we've got attitudes and I like the young kids. They've got a lot of length and size and they've got a chance to be really good players."
One position group that Hall was asked about after practice and their ability to get better without pads was the offensive line.
"You want to cover people up and make sure we're assignment sound," said Hall. "You want to make sure you're doing with technique you teach and we want to make sure that we're covering people up. That's really it. You can convince yourself of anything until you put pads on at all positions. We like where we're at with this group. Most of this group has played in some way, shape or form. Last fall most of them played and then they played again this spring. I'm looking forward to watching them play again tomorrow."
The Golden Eagles now transition into moving into pads tomorrow with a Friday morning practice.
"We want to make sure that we are looking to see who can block, who can get off blocks and then who can fit up and tackle," said Hall. "We're not going to be able to tackle tomorrow, so who can fit it up the right way and thud and get in the position to tackle. And then who can execute offensively with pads on. Catching the ball is different, throwing the ball is different, all those things are different with skill kids so seeing that adjustment and how they overcome it. Then when we finally get to go live a few days after that, it will be interesting to see who can tackle and who can break tackles."
Hall went on to say that football is played in pads and that is the way it should be.
"They're called football players," said Hall. "They're called football players, I don't know what else to say. Football is played with pads on. If you can play without pads a lot of times you can still play with pads but there are some people that just can't do it and there are some people that are better with pads on. You've got to play football with pads on."
The Golden Eagles open the 2023 season at home, Saturday, Sept. 2, against Alcorn State. Tickets are still available for the six home games this fall. Fans can contact purchase tickets at SouthernMissTickets.com, by calling 1-800-844-TICK (8425) or visit the Pat Ferlise Ticket Office on campus weekdays during normal business hours.
While the team is limited on being able to have contact during this time, the first two practices allow the coaches a chance to teach and improve on things that they worked on during spring practice and earlier this summer during organized team activities.
It also gives the younger players a chance to pick things up making the transition to Division I football from either high school or junior college. For third-year coach Will Hall, he has not seen many struggles over the first two practices and that both the rookies and veterans are both understanding the early demands of summer camp.
"I don't know that I've seen any," said Hall of his players struggles. "Everybody is excited. It's early and we haven't hit the grind part yet. We've got depth and we're installing on both sides. [I've seen] nothing out of the ordinary. The young kids are swimming like they should be. For them it's like jumping into Calculus IV when you didn't take Calculus I, II and III, so you've got to get caught up and learn. Going from high school football to college football is a drastic, drastic, drastic change. That's big for a lot of them but we've got attitudes and I like the young kids. They've got a lot of length and size and they've got a chance to be really good players."
One position group that Hall was asked about after practice and their ability to get better without pads was the offensive line.
"You want to cover people up and make sure we're assignment sound," said Hall. "You want to make sure you're doing with technique you teach and we want to make sure that we're covering people up. That's really it. You can convince yourself of anything until you put pads on at all positions. We like where we're at with this group. Most of this group has played in some way, shape or form. Last fall most of them played and then they played again this spring. I'm looking forward to watching them play again tomorrow."
The Golden Eagles now transition into moving into pads tomorrow with a Friday morning practice.
"We want to make sure that we are looking to see who can block, who can get off blocks and then who can fit up and tackle," said Hall. "We're not going to be able to tackle tomorrow, so who can fit it up the right way and thud and get in the position to tackle. And then who can execute offensively with pads on. Catching the ball is different, throwing the ball is different, all those things are different with skill kids so seeing that adjustment and how they overcome it. Then when we finally get to go live a few days after that, it will be interesting to see who can tackle and who can break tackles."
Hall went on to say that football is played in pads and that is the way it should be.
"They're called football players," said Hall. "They're called football players, I don't know what else to say. Football is played with pads on. If you can play without pads a lot of times you can still play with pads but there are some people that just can't do it and there are some people that are better with pads on. You've got to play football with pads on."
The Golden Eagles open the 2023 season at home, Saturday, Sept. 2, against Alcorn State. Tickets are still available for the six home games this fall. Fans can contact purchase tickets at SouthernMissTickets.com, by calling 1-800-844-TICK (8425) or visit the Pat Ferlise Ticket Office on campus weekdays during normal business hours.
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