The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers Practice In Pads For First Time This Spring
3/21/2009 12:00:00β―AM | Football
March 21, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB football team held its third spring practice on Saturday morning, which also served as the Blazers' first time in full pads.
UAB went through 22 periods, which lasted approximately two hours, at the practice fields where they were able to participate in full-contact drills for the first time since the conclusion of the 2008 football season.
UAB head coach Neil Callaway was pleased with his team's spirit and attitude during the first day in pads.
"Today was a good day," said Callaway. "There was a lot of enthusiasm and good competition.
"Those two aspects are a big key. If we can keep up the enthusiasm and continue to have good competition, we will keep getting better. I was pleased with today."
Of the two-hour practice, about 60-90 minutes was spent with full contact. The Blazers devoted time to full-contact drills that allowed the team to get back in the swing of things.
"With today being the first day back in full pads, we didn't spend the entire practice hitting each other," said Callaway. "We did about an hour to an hour-and-a-half with full contact. We started with blocking and tackling and went from there."
Although he was pleased with the overall practice, Callaway knows his team has things that they need to continue to work on during the rest of the spring practice sessions.
"We had a good day, but we are not polished and we have things to work on with execution," said Callaway. "I think if we can continue to have a good attitude at practice like we have had, we will get a lot of things accomplished."
