STATESBORO, Ga. ? Georgia Southern Football returned to the practice fields on Tuesday morning (March 24), after taking last week off due to Spring Break. The Eagles have just five more practices before the annual Blue-White game.
Head coach Chris Hatcher used Tuesday as the final of three allotted practices of wearing just helmet and shorts. The team will work out in either shells or full pads for the remainder of spring. The third-year head coach also noted the intensity was not where he would have liked to seen coming off a 10-day break.
“We looked alright, it was not as intense of a practice as maybe we had wanted. But it was the last day of practice in just helmets and shorts. Today was a day to come back and tone up on things, and get back into a groove. Thursday and Friday will be big days for us. We saw some things, but today was more of a day to get back into the swing of spring ball,” said Hatcher.
Hatcher noted that the team was excited but noticed the toll of what the lack of conditioning last week had on the squad.
“You have a bunch of young guys when they come back they're fired up about getting back to football. They are also pretty tired because they went a week without conditioning,” said Hatcher. “That's the reason we use our last shorts practice when we first come back just to get the guys acclimated to playing football again. The latter part of the week we'll get back after it hitting and have a little more intensity during practice.”
With only five practices remaining before the Blue-White game on Saturday, April 4th (1 p.m.), Hatcher said the coaching staff will start to look ahead to the 2009 opponents, adding more details to keep the guys on their toes.
“You've got to add just a little more to keep the guys sharp and make them think it's not a ?here we go again' type thing (at practice). So we will start working on some of our opponents next week, and we'll throw that it in to change it up somewhat because we are not getting ready for a real game. But fundamentals are big and we kind of try to evenly match that in the course of spring ball,” said Hatcher.
The Eagles will take Wednesday off before returning on Thursday morning.
BLUE-WHITE GAME ON THE RADIO: The Georgia Southern Radio Network announced that the 2009 Blue-White Game will be broadcast live on Eagle 102.9 FM, WPMX-FM in Statesboro, and online at www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com.
The crew of Chris Blair, Terry Harvin and Ryan Chambers will call the game. The broadcast will begin at 12:30 p.m. with ?Countdown to Kickoff with Head Coach Chris Hatcher'. During this year's broadcast, the crew will talk with Coach Hatcher throughout the game with his comments and the normal post-game interview.
“We are excited to carry the Blue-White game again. I know our fans are looking forward to the 2009 season and we're looking forward to the opportunity to help build that excitement. I want to thank head coach Chris Hatcher for his cooperation and our sponsors that help make these broadcasts happen,” said Blair.
HEYDEN GIVES HIS THOUGHTS: Sophomore free safety Derek Heyden will be contributing his own thoughts on how spring football has been in his blog that can be read on www.SouthernPigskin.com. Heyden will write another next week prior to the Blue-White game and a couple more afterwards.
2009 SPRING PRACTICE SCHEDULE:
Thursday, March 26
Friday, March 27
Tuesday, March 31
Thursday, April 2
Friday, April 3
Saturday, April 4 ? Annual Blue-White Game, 1 p.m.
