MSU Fall Camp Opens
8/4/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Montana State football coach Mike Kramer has no idea what the long-term effects of a new NCAA rule that limits football practices to once a day during the first week of fall camp will be, but he’s found a side effect.
“I’m bored to tears,” Kramer said with a sigh on Monday morning.
The MSU staff will put its team through the paces each afternoon this week at 2:45 pm, but as a result of the NCAA policy will be limited to one practice per day during the five-day “acclimatization period.” After the first five days of camp, teams are allowed to practice twice a day, but not on consecutive days.
“I’m not used to this slow of a start,” Kramer said of his team being locked into only one practice a day this week. “(The rule) was designed to ensure the safety of the players from overwork in extremely hot conditions. I’m ambivalent to whether or not the new rule will protect players, but it really limits the amount of teaching we’re able to do. We’ve never run a death-march camp. Our practices aren’t brutal.”
Another effect of the new rule is that veterans are eligible to practice immediately, which Kramer said will change the mindset of all involved. “It will be a tremendous challenge to our rookies, because they’ll have to go at the same pace as the veterans from the beginning, which is a very accelerated pace” Kramer said. “It will be a great challenge for our coaches, too, not to go too hard and to fast because the camp is longer.”
Kramer said that enthusiasm is high as camp opens at MSU, but that his team still has plenty to prove. “We’re approaching this season as a 7-6 team that played really, really well at times last year but that struggled at times,” he said. “We want to be a team that is way better than .500, and that plays consistently well from the first day of camp until the last day of the season.”
“I’m bored to tears,” Kramer said with a sigh on Monday morning.
The MSU staff will put its team through the paces each afternoon this week at 2:45 pm, but as a result of the NCAA policy will be limited to one practice per day during the five-day “acclimatization period.” After the first five days of camp, teams are allowed to practice twice a day, but not on consecutive days.
“I’m not used to this slow of a start,” Kramer said of his team being locked into only one practice a day this week. “(The rule) was designed to ensure the safety of the players from overwork in extremely hot conditions. I’m ambivalent to whether or not the new rule will protect players, but it really limits the amount of teaching we’re able to do. We’ve never run a death-march camp. Our practices aren’t brutal.”
Another effect of the new rule is that veterans are eligible to practice immediately, which Kramer said will change the mindset of all involved. “It will be a tremendous challenge to our rookies, because they’ll have to go at the same pace as the veterans from the beginning, which is a very accelerated pace” Kramer said. “It will be a great challenge for our coaches, too, not to go too hard and to fast because the camp is longer.”
Kramer said that enthusiasm is high as camp opens at MSU, but that his team still has plenty to prove. “We’re approaching this season as a 7-6 team that played really, really well at times last year but that struggled at times,” he said. “We want to be a team that is way better than .500, and that plays consistently well from the first day of camp until the last day of the season.”
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