BUIES CREEK, N.C. – On a sunny, beautiful 70 degree day the Campbell football program began to prepare for the 2009 football season with the first practice of the spring on Wednesday, March 18 at Barker-Lane Stadium.

The Camels went through the usual running, passing and defensive drills for the two hour session. The day meant more though. It was the first day that the football program and those 75 players practicing could look at themselves as veterans of the college football game and confidently put 2008 behind them and firmly look toward 2009.

The session was crisp with players running drill to drill with great enthusiasm and vigor under the watchful eye of the CU coaching staff. The coaching staff and players had something back that had been missing for the last four odd months and that was the game they love to play.

“Boy that was fun,” head coach Dale Steele exclaimed with a twinkle in his eye following the practice. “We picked-up right were we left off at the end of last season and that is a great feeling. The team was able to carry over much of the execution from end of last season allowing us to get into the session quickly. I was also pleased with the way we caught the ball. Normally the first day of practice can be a learning process but the players didn’t seem to have much of that. The receivers and running backs came out of their cuts and caught the ball very well. The defensive backs did a good job of breaking on the ball. The team was able to get in and out of formations quickly and operated very smoothly today. This was a good start for this football team. I was very pleased with the start and I think this will be a solid building block toward the rest of our spring sessions.”

The Camels will continue to practice regularly on Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and Saturdays until the Orange-Black Game on April 18 at 2 p.m. See below for a complete spring practice schedule.

CU will also host a Ladies Clinic on April 13 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Campbell Football Fieldhouse. For more information about how to sign up for the clinic please check the website gocamels.com or call 910-893-1974.

2009 Football Practice Schedule Dates