Football Conducts First Full-Squad Practice
8/10/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 10, 2002
Waco, Texas - Surprisingly mild temperatures greeted the Baylor football team Saturday as the Bears went through their first full-squad practice of the preseason. Mid-morning thunderstorms rolled through Central Texas, and the lingering cloud cover made for cooler, albeit humid conditions.
"This was a pretty nice day for August," Head Coach Kevin Steele said. "But between now and August 31st we'll have plenty of heat in Texas, I'll promise you that." Steele was matter-of-fact in discussing the Bears' first day of fall practice.
"The first thing I should do is take out 'Coaching 101' and give you the clich?s - 'we've got a long way to go', 'the defense is always a little ahead of the offense', 'we've got a good group of young men', 'they're very focused.'
"Today, our summer conditioning was evident. You could tell these guys are in very good shape and that they've got a purpose about themselves. The defense retained from the spring very well. The offense was a little rusty, but that's not unusual for day one, particularly with what all the offense has in already."
For Baylor's 23 newcomers, who had gone through three practices by themselves since reporting earlier in the week, Saturday was their first chance to work with the Bear upperclassmen.
"The newcomers handled everything very well and fit right in," Steele said. "I think this team has something to do with that because they want anybody out there who can help them be successful. So they kind of welcomed them with open arms and made them feel a part of it real quick and showed them the ropes. There were some mistakes, but it was because of lack of effort."
Senior defensive tackle Kevin Stevenson, a three-year starter, missed Saturday's practice so that he could participate in Baylor's summer graduation ceremonies. He will return to the practice field for both of Sunday's schedule workouts.
Baylor opens the 2002 season Aug. 31 on the road against California.
