- November 5, 2024
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Flagler Palm Coast football coach Caesar Campana knows the drill. By mid-morning, the heat and humidity in Flagler County are reaching unbearable levels. And so, practice begins at 8 a.m.
Monday marked the first official day of fall football practice in Florida, and the Bulldogs were well into drills by the time the heat and humidity began to set it. By the afternoon, temperatures reached triple digits in Flagler County, according to Weather.com.
Perhaps the No. 1 goal is to make sure all the players and coaches make it through Day 1. Campana’s team and staff managed to do that Monday.
“There are so many organizational things to get together,” said Campana, who is now in his fourth year as FPC’s head coach. “We put all our special teams on the field as well as showed our players the drills we will be doing.”
Monday was dedicated to the basics, but intensity will begin to pick up as the week wears on. A five-day, heat acclimatization period has been mandated by the Florida High School Athletic Association. That means players will dress in helmets and shorts for the first two days. Players will then wear shoulder pads and helmets — not full pads — for the following three days.
During the spring, Campana noted how large his team is on the offensive line. That’s still the case, but Campana said he also is interested in the overall team speed. “We are a pretty fast team right now,” he said.
That said, most of the players at the skill positions are young. And so, Campana said the main focus is getting the young running backs, receivers and defensive packs good enough to play in a tough Class 8A (largest in Florida) schedule.
Campana said he wants to see improvement on the offensive and defensive lines over the coming weeks.
“This is a great bunch of athletes to work with,” he said. “They are fun to coach and to be around. I know that we are going to have a great year with them.”
For coverage from Matanzas' first week of practice, see Saturday's Palm Coast Observer. Follow @aobrien7 on Twitter.
