Panthers Conduct First Football Practice Of Spring
By Florida Tech // February 20, 2013
11 More Workouts Ahead For Squad
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Florida Tech is one step closer to this fall’s inaugural season after opening spring workouts Tuesday evening at Panther Field.
It’s been 108 days since the Panthers last took the field for their final intrasquad scrimmage of the fall on Nov. 3.
Head coach Steve Englehart said he liked what he saw in the team’s first practice.
“I thought it went well,” he said. “They had a lot more knowledge of what we’re doing. We didn’t have to do a ton of teaching and coaching on where to be and where to go on the field. We were able to get lined up pretty quickly and get through practice. We were probably better in this first practice of the spring than where we were in the last practice of the fall. That says a lot about our strength and conditioning program and those coaches. They were able to get them conditioned to the point that we didn’t have to condition them today. They came out and had great energy. They lined up and knew how to perform. There are a lot of things we still need to work on, but it was pretty good for the first day.”
With more than 100 players on the roster and only 12 practices and three intrasquad scrimmages scheduled, Englehart knows time is of the essence. After all, the Panthers will kick off for the first official time in exactly 200 days against NCAA Division I Stetson University at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7 at Palm Bay High School’s Pirate Stadium.
Until then, FIT’s coaching staff is looking to maximize the valuable time they have with the team with goals in mind.
“We want to get a really good understanding of what kind of team we’re going to be schematically, defensively and what we’re going to do offensively,” Englehart said. “We had a lot of time in the fall. Our goal then was to explore our personnel and what we could do. Now, it’s more about narrowing that down and getting really good at who we think we’re going to be.
“We also want to continue to build team camaraderie. That’s the biggest thing. Most of the teams that we’re going to be playing have been with each other for 2-3 years. The seniors at those schools will have been together for four years. You can’t teach or coach that. Those guys know each other and trust each other. We talk to our guys all the time about trust. You have to trust each other and trust the guy beside you. The only way you can truly do that is practice, play, win and lose with each other, so we try to put them through those kinds of situations to build team camaraderie and trust.”
FIT will return to Panther Field for its second spring practice on Thursday at 5 p.m. It will then workout in shells Friday at 5 p.m. and in full pads Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
All practices and intrasquad scrimmages this spring are free and open to the public. Fans are encouraged to bring their own chairs.
Visit http://bit.ly/FITschedule for the complete spring schedule. Dates and times are subject to change.
Season tickets for FIT’s inaugural season this fall are now available online at FloridaTechSports.com. The season ticket price for adults is only $65. Florida Tech staff and faculty with school ID, seniors ages 65 and over, and children ages 5 to 16 are $40 each.
Season tickets may also be purchased in-person at the Clemente Center and over the phone at 321-674-8032 Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
