Fall Camp Trojan Style

Every year around the middle of August, millions of football players around the country prepare for their upcoming season. The Trojans of DSU are one such team that hopes to improve upon last season. This time is known as fall camp. This two week period of two-a-day practices and team meetings is used to fine tune the team, prepare the incoming freshmen and create team unity.

The first day is the day that all the players arrive on campus and move into the dorms. Most freshmen come early because of their eagerness to get things started, while upperclassmen that are familiar with the procedure come later in the day. All the players meet and get to know each other and get comfortable with their surroundings. There is a wide variety of people who joined the football team, from high school stand outs to people who want to give college football a shot; even a marine, thrown in for good measure. This diversity really brings the team together because everyone learns to work together no matter what type of background another player has.

The team is really a tight-nit family and they work to make each other better by any means necessary. They can accept anyone into their circle as long as that person is willing to contribute something to the team. They work together very well and everyone is approachable. They are a band of brothers who go into battle knowing that each person will give everything they have got to achieve victory.

On the second day the players wake up to check out equipment at the field house. The players receive their spirit packs, equipment and lockers. After check-out, the players head to the practice field to do a 300-yard shuttle run. The shuttle run involves the players sprinting 50 yards back and forth until they have reached 300 yards in under a minute. Then the players gather in to the basement of Zimmerman Hall to test out on weight lifting. Following the testing the players head to the marketplace for lunch and a few words from Head Coach Nate Holtz. He explains a few things about the school and how excited he is about this season. The players meet the people involved with dining services and receive instructions on how the meals work during camp and during the school year. After lunch, the players convene in the science center for meetings with the coaches, president Knowlton and Dakota State’s Athletic Director. The players then introduce themselves to each other by standing up saying their name, where they are from and what position they play. Once each player has done this, they are informed that each player must be able to know everyone’s name in about three days. The consequence for not knowing someone’s name is extra conditioning after practice. Unit meetings and position meetings follow, along with a team dinner. The day closes out with an organizational walk-thru that explains to the players how practices work. The players then go back to the dorms to get some sleep for the start of practice.

The next day the players wake up around 6:30 and head to breakfast at 7:00. Today is the first day of two-a-days. Players meet in the respective position meetings and get to know the playbook. After an hour, the players head out to the practice fields for a pre-practice stretch. Coach Holtz blows the whistle to gather the team in to tell them what is expected for the day. The team then splits up between offense and defense and head out for drills. The defense begins the practice with turnover circuit where players hone their skills in taking the ball away from the offense. There are four stations set up with two involving stripping the ball away from the ball carrier, and two that work on intercepting a pass. After turnover circuit, the players split up into individual position drills.

The Defense works on leverage drills and getting around the offensive line. They also work on plays that they have learned in their team meetings. It’s important for them to know what they are doing with all the defensive packages, stunts, and coverages. Offense works on running technique, footwork and their respective plays as well. After about 6 or 7 drills, the team gathers in the middle of the field for Team competition. Even without pads, the intensity is very high between the offense and defense. Everything about these practices is high intensity and every player is trying to get on top of their games. Players fly around at a hundred miles per hour and try to deliver as much punishment as they can. Once the pads go on, everything is intensified even more. The hits become harder and the intensity is doubled. Conditioning plays an important role in camp because it takes everyone to that next level of work. Conditioning ranges from straight on 110 yard sprints, to a 12 minute run where players jog around a box while coach Rave tells them to do different types of exercises. Players push out whatever strength they can muster. This is the part where the mind tries to tell the body that it can’t give any more but the players with the most heart can ignore what the brain tells them and they push on.

Once the pads go on, the players become even more excited about football and their power and strength seems to become augmented two-fold. They adopt a bar fighter’s mentality that it is a battle between them and their opponents and that there is no way that they will back down. The players fly around the field and deliver punishing blows on a regular basis. Every hit has that familiar pop of the pads and some impacts are too violent for description. Emotions run high around this time as the offense and defense square off twice a day. Each side challenges the other to step up and prove that they have what it takes to dominate. Whether it is a sack for the defense or a long gain for the offense, each side shows that they have what it takes to compete.

Football really proves what type of person one can amount to and how well they respond to high intensity situations. It is a sport that emphasizes the team concept and that the whole is better than the sum of its parts. DSU is hoping for great success this season and by the way things are looking, that success looks to be within reach.