North Carolina State University Athletics
2005 Preseason Football Diary
8/2/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 2, 2005
The 2005 football season got under way at NC State on Tuesday, kicking off with a greeting from athletics director Lee Fowler and Chancellor Oblinger. Unlike previous years, "reporting" date was more like any other day for the Wolfpack players, as most of the team has been in Raleigh working out this summer, with many attending summer school.
This was the first year that freshmen were allowed to attend summer school, so almost the entire incoming class has been on campus for almost a month. The players lined the halls of the first floor of the Murphy Center this afternoon, getting fitted for shoulder pads, helmets and choosing which set of shoes they wanted to practice in. The line moved a little faster than usual, since most of the freshmen already know their way around and know all of the staff.
The freshmen all posed for headshots, which will be posted online within the next week and will be used in the game programs. These headshots are also used by the television networks when they introduce starting lineups, so the players are usually pretty serious about getting a good looking shot. The video staff from the ACC Office goes to every school and shoots the photos - Scott McBurney and Slim Vollinger did a great job getting the guys in and out quickly and to the auditorium in time for their 3:00 meeting.
Summer school exams aren't until next week, so a majority of the players will get up and attend classes for the rest of this week, then will head to the Murphy Center in the afternoon for meetings with various staff members to go over the rules and regulations of the equipment room, training room, dining hall, media relations, ticket office - the list goes on and on! The compliance office will have to spend a great deal of time meeting with the squad, getting forms filled out and taking care of all the red tape that has to be completed before practice can begin. Classes, study hall and meetings will take up most of the next two days, and then the team will practice for the first time on Friday afternoon. There are only three days of two-a-days on this year's preseason schedule, so the individual practices should be pretty intense.
I'll update you after Friday's practice, since the next two days won't be much to write about!
