Building a football team from scratch is going to be a long and arduous journey for UTPB.
In a little more than a year, the Falcons will kick off their inaugural season, and the squad took another step in its preparation for that day.
UTPB hit the field officially for the first time before the crack of dawn Monday morning as the 76 players that make up the team donned helmets and practice jerseys.
With no game scheduled for 375 days, working on the players’ conditioning and building team chemistry will be the early tasks for the Falcons.
“I think the most important thing is getting them to focus on bettering themselves every day,” UTPB head coach Justin Carrigan said on Sunday before the practice. “For this year, we’re our own opponent. We’ve got to figure out every day how to get better than yesterday.”
During the two-hour practice, the Falcons worked on the same things any football team would during its opening session — tackling form for the defense, foot work for the linemen, ball security for the skill positions. The team will wait until sometime in September to put on the pads and do some of the more physical drills.
The Falcons still are in an unfamiliar situation to its players and coaching staff — working toward an unknown opponent that is still more than a year away.
Without that preparation for weekly opposition, the competition will be an internal one for the squad.
“It’s all going to be on the practice field, and we’re going to have to find it in each other to make it through this year and have a good season,” said 2015 Odessa High graduate Dwayne Amoyaw, who is among the wide receiver recruits for the Falcons.
While a year of practices will be a grueling experience for UTPB with no games to serve as the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, the players believe that all the hard work will pay off next year.
“I feel like we’ll keep an eye on the future,” Amoyaw said. “We’re patient enough to wait that year. We’re all just eager to play.”
The chance to play college football is why the players came to UTPB and that chance will eventually arrive on Sept. 3, 2016.
Until then, it’s about preparation for players like Amoyaw, so when that day comes where the helmet and pads go on for real, they’ll be ready to compete.
“It’s great to have an opportunity like this. I’m blessed to play at any collegiate level. I’m really excited. I’ve always wanted to play college ball,” the former Broncho said.
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