Pioneer three-a-days begin Monday
|
First-year coach Gerald Tidwell and the Pioneers will begin a week of three-a-day practices Monday, with action in full gear getting underway Monday at 6:30 a.m.
After a dozen afternoons of non-mandatory conditioning drills, Tidwell said his players are showing a lot of enthusiasm and are eager to go full speed.
“I’m very pleased with the effort the kids are giving,” he said. “I’m really excited. The thing I wish we had more of is more kids coming out and wanting to be a part of it. We’ve got just under 50 kids on the varsity squad, which is really eight to 10 kids short of where we want to be.
“But the kids that have come out are enthusiastic, and their enthusiasm is really contagious among the coaching staff, too. When you take a team that’s gone 1-19 over the past two seasons, you don’t expect to see the kind of great attitudes we’ve seen, so that’s been a big positive for us.”
The schedule for this week’s practices slates 6:30-8:30 a.m. as a defensive practice session. After a 45-minute break, the Pioneers will work on the passing game from 9:15-10:15 a.m., then break for an hour lunch before wrapping up each day with offensive practice and kicking game work from 11:15-1:15.
“We want to start early in the day, get the kids out before it gets hot, get our work done, and be done for the day,” Tidwell said. “It’ll be a little slow getting started Monday morning, but as soon as we get the kids used to what we’re after, we’ll always be getting something done.”
The Pioneers will leave a week from today for Camp Tanisi in Westmoreland, where they will spend the second week of fall practice. While working each day at the camp, the team will also travel to Lebanon for a scrimmage on Wednesday, Aug. 7, and will face Portland in another scrimmage on Friday, Aug. 9, before returning to McMinnville.
“We want to get the kids, in a good way, away from Warren County for a little while,” Tidwell said. “We want to be in a situation where we can spend time as a team coming together, so we think this is the best way to do that.”