Panthers Don Full Pads For Football Practice

By  //  August 17, 2012

Another Milestone For New Program

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Not even the sweltering 90-degree temperature was going to stop the newly formed Florida Tech football program from holding their first full pads practice Thursday afternoon at Panther Field in Melbourne.

Linebacker Michael Ferguson of Cocoa said he's enjoying practices under Head Coach Steve Englehart at Florida Tech. The team worked out in full pads for the first time on Thursday. (Image by Derek Suomi)

Led by Head Coach Steve Englehart, the Panthers put in a days worth of drills before an afternoon lightening storm hastily ended the session.

“They’ve been chomping at the bit to get out there today,” Englehart said. “Full pads allows us to go full live tackle. This is what these kids have been waiting for.”

Englehart said that the team was still a little green and has a lot of work to do. He said at the same time they are very coachable and working extremely hard to get where they need to be as a unit.

“You can tell that they’ve been really well-coached in high school, but the learning curve is still there,” Englehart said.

Linebacker Dylan Searcy played for prep football at Gulf Shores High School in Alabama and said tackling drills went well Thursday.

“We were excited on defense, getting to hit some people and cut them up,” said Searcy.

Linebacker Michael Ferguson played for multiple championship teams at Cocoa High School.

He said the first days of practice at the collegiate level have proven to differ slightly from his high school days.

“It’s different because Coach Englehart tells us what he wants and we have to prove that we can live up to those expectations,” said Ferguson.

Englehart said the practices so far have already shown him where the team is running thin positionally.

He said would be addressed next year through the recruiting process.

The coming days will see the Panthers continue to practice and the team will be put into some in-game situations to prepare for upcoming scrimmages in September.