From what I heard was that he did not want to any the strength exercises that Fobbs wanted him to Do. Fobbs wanted him to do a lot of speed conditioning exercises and he just wanted the guys to lift weights and nothing else. I also hear the new Coach is from Southern Miss.
Krazy, what you were told contradicts the following below:
By Rob Daniels
Staff Writer
GREENSBORO -- They convened football practice at N.C. A&T on Wednesday morning. Sort of. To the old guard -- or the old tackle -- a team get-together with no pads, no helmets and no hitting seemed odd.
To the Aggies, it just seemed hot.
"I'm about to die," joked linebacker Williams Short as he walked out of the Bryan Center and prepared for timed running on the Belk Track. "I don't want to die."
He didn't, and that was kind of the point. After a run of heat-related death in amateur and professional football, the NCAA in 2003 ordered Division I-A and I-AA football teams to ease their way into preseason practice.
In the first five days, some sessions must be devoted exclusively to what the Aggies did on Wednesday: testing and/or drills conducted in shirts and shorts and no football-specific equipment.
In the first two days, action on the field can include helmets but no pads. On days three and four, shoulder pads are added. On the fifth day, the NCAA created full practice but with time limits.
"It does limit our training time, but in this heat, if it helps athletes who train hard but briefly, that's what we need to do," said Ralph Cornwell, A&T's new director of strength and conditioning. "And the body will get acclimated."
On Wednesday morning, the heat was breathing down the neck of the 90-degree mark, eventually reaching 91 with a heat index of 94 at Piedmont Triad International Airport. If there had to be a workout of some sort -- and the Aggies play three games in the first 11 days of the schedule -- this at least looked sensible.
They didn't do it this way when George Small played offensive and defensive line for the Aggies in the late 1970s or in the NFL in the 1980s.
Now entering his third year as A&T's coach, Small could sit back, reflect and wonder.
"It has its pros and cons," he said. "You have to work within the guidelines that govern you. Within that structure, we have to adjust and make it work from the days when we just strapped it up. We would have had the pads on today."
Not that the current Aggies had it all that easy. They had to complete 16 sprints of 110 meters, completing each one in 18, 17 or 15 seconds depending on their position.
As the first group went at it, others sat in the stands and offered sage counsel for the first few sprints.
"Don't go too fast," one player said, encouraging his teammate to save his energy.
It may not sound too hard to do 110 yards in 15 seconds, but try it yourself after having done it a dozen times.
"I can't believe I finished," freshman running back Kevin Pate said.
The Aggies practiced in helmets Wednesday afternoon. Eventually, Cornwell said they will display the benign signs of acclimatization, which include increased sweating, quicker recovery and -- perhaps the best bonus -- a decreased need to throw up. Trash cans were placed alongside the track Wednesday to accommodate that need.
But amid the suffering, there was perspective.
"I could be a whole lot worse," defensive back Maurice Weaver said. "I've got a sister in Iraq."
Contact Rob Daniels at 373-7028 or rdaniels@news-record.com
