West Point - The Army football team moved into the next phase of its preseason camp under head coach Rich Ellerson Friday as the Black Knights enjoyed their first contact practice of the summer.
Under Ellerson’s watchful eye, Army’s players hit the practice field in full pads to begin Friday’s session for a spirited first hour of full contact work. Following their customary 15-minute "halftime" break, the Black Knights returned to the Howze Field turf in shorts and helmets.
"We had a chance to take some people to the ground today and we didn’t get carried away," Ellerson explained. "Fortunately, we came out of today relatively healthy with a few bangs and bruises. We’ve got so much introduced that some of the younger guys really struggled because all of a sudden we’re playing football and trying to have our feet and eyes right and knowing which way to go. There was some real frustration on the faces of some of the young guys, which is natural.
"Pretty soon we’re going to have to keep those guys that know what’s happening together along with the small handful of newcomers that we’re going to start to get ready to play. We have to move in that direction. We hate to do it, but we’re going to have to do it here in the next couple of days."
The fact that the speed of the game increased such a great deal for the newcomers on Friday speaks to the intimate familiarity with both the offensive and defensive systems possessed by the Black Knights’ returnees.
"At the end of practice I was trying to tell the young guys that a year ago, everybody felt essentially the same way," Ellerson expressed. "You can see how much growth (the veterans) have experienced and how proficient the older guys are. I wanted to tell them that you can relax and understand that the journey is going to have some bumps but you’re going to get there. That doesn’t necessarily help how they feel right now.
"We have to raise the bar on our veterans. There’s no doubt that they came in ready to play, they’re excited to play. But we need to keep the bar high enough for those guys. There’s still a level of precision that eludes us. The ball is on the ground too much. With the first team, we can’t have that. We won’t tolerate that, not for a second. We just need to make sure we keep the bar high enough for the veteran players. And they want that. They absolutely want to have high expectations for them so they are accepting of the coaching."
Army opens its season September 4th against Eastern Michigan.
