Brian Bohannon woke up at 3 a.m. thinking of something he perhaps hadn’t anticipated before Kennesaw State held its first spring football practice on Monday.
It wasn’t the only time he woke up.
Bohannon remembered those things and made sure they were all taken care of before the Owls took the field on Monday for the first of 15 practice sessions in preparation for its inaugural game in 185 days – a number Bohannon knew by heart – at East Tennessee State on Sept. 3.
“It was a good day,” Bohannon said as the sun finally broke through a cold, wet morning with temperatures that hung around 50 degrees. “The great thing about it is our kids are in pretty good shape. The kids knew what to do versus the last time we came out (in the fall).”
There were no injuries as the team ran through drills. The squad will return to the field on Wednesday before they put on pads to practice on Friday and Saturday. The Monday-Wednesday-Friday-Saturday routine will continue until the Black and Gold Spring Game on March 28 at Fifth Third Bank Stadium.
The biggest difference between Monday’s opener and the practices that were held in the fall were the introduction of some special teams work.
“The bulk of our team that will be playing in the fall is out here now,” he said. “We’ll add 15-30, but only half will probably play.”
Though a depth chart will be established coming out of the Spring, Bohannon said nothing was decided on Monday other than they are building to Wednesday and will go from there.
Offense: Offensive coordinator Grant Chesnut said the Owls will spend the spring working on improving fundamentals, increasing the effort and speed that's required in college and to continue to learn the schemes.
“Tremendous amount of improvement in the fall from practice one to the last practice,” he said. “We have to keep climbing that mountain.”
Quarterback Chandler Burks will miss the spring with a torn ACL suffered in the fall. He is one of five players who sat out Monday’s practice with injuries.
Defense: Among the objectives for the defense is to improve its tackling.
“We want to be the best tackling team in the Big South,” defensive coordinator Brian Newberry said.
To help the team improve upon what Newberry said wasn’t done well during the fall practices, each player’s tackling efficiency rating will be kept during every practice. Each day, that percentage will be posted on a board for all to see in a pride/shame motivating tactic.
Other than that, Newberry said they won’t implement in any new drills or change the way the players are being coached, other than to stress the need for better tackling.
