North Carolina State University Athletics
The Norris Notebook: First Day of Football Practice
8/5/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
After some of the hottest days of summer late in the week, Saturday was a refreshing change for everyone at NC State's first football practice of the 2006 season. The two-hour workout was held under overcast skies and a cool breeze. The team reported on Thursday and went through the usual preseason routine, and the first two days of camp led into Saturday's helmet-only practice. With the new freshmen working their way into the mix and the veterans leading the way, football season is officially underway.
When the players reported on Thursday and Friday, the football coaches and staff were ready. Physicals and talks about preparing for the heat with head football trainer Jamey Coll were scheduled, and the team also met in the team auditorium so the players could go over equipment, dining hall, media interview policies and team rules and regulations. NC State Chancellor James Oblinger was on hand to welcome the team, as was NC State director of athletics Lee Fowler.
Following that, the freshmen headed to their first media opportunity.... head shots!
The ACC office comes to every league school in the fall to shoot freshmen headshots. They players learned quickly about some of rules they'll have to abide by, like how to groom their facial hair. The guys can only have tightly groomed mustaches, no sideburns nor beards of any kinds. Keeping a beard trimmer on hand during photo days is always part of my job!
On Friday the guys had their running tests with a series of 110 yard runs.
With the paperwork and early meetings out of the way, the team finally hit the field at around Saturday. The quarterbacks and offensive coordinator Marc Trestman were first to arrive, but soon the entire team made its way to the field.
With the offense in red, the defense in white and the quarterbacks dressed in black, the team began to flex while John Deraney and the other kickers punted to Darrell Blackman and a few others. Deraney in particular boomed a few punts over the head of Blackman in an impressive display that cornerbacks coach Greg Williams was in awe of. I was taking pictures of Blackman fielding punts and I was constantly scampering out of the way so I didn't get hit when he turned to run after the ball.
Many of the freshmen were easy to spot as they had their names written on the front of their helmets, but once practice kicked into gear they quickly learned how the team operates. I noticed in particular the height of the freshman receivers, and you could tell they were all excited to be out on the field for the first time. All in all the freshman quickly caught on in the early A-B-C-D drills before period one of practice started at .
Before the team started the first of 20 periods, head coach Chuck Amato had the team gather around. He talked to the team about keeping its intensity throughout practice and also said he did them an early favor by making sure the weather was nice for the first day of practice!
Blackman continued to shine during the 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills, making a few nice catches in his fall debut at wide receiver and he also gained a chunk of yardage on an end around by beating a unnamed safety to the corner and turning up field.
Another running back at a new position, Reggie Davis, also saw significant playing time at linebacker with the first team. Ray Brooks looked good at defensive end on the other side of the ball as well.
The only other thing I wanted to mention is getting used to number changes, especially on guys that have been here a few years. LeRue Rumph is now 52 instead of 29, Jamelle Eugene moved up to 29 from 28, Daniel Evans decided on number 7, and of course John Dunlap is now number 1 instead of 82.
The guys will attend meetings this afternoon and church tomorrow before hitting the practice field again Monday evening.
Assistant media relations director Pat Norris will check in with his preseason football practice notebook during fall camp.
