TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — There is college football at Bragg Memorial Stadium again. Monday was day one of practice for the Rattlers, the first time they've been able to strap the helmet on since COVID-19 axed spring practice back in March.
It's been a long time coming for Florida A&M University. They've been able to condition and conduct walk-throughs, but there's nothing like lining up against each other, full 11 on 11 work.
Head coach Willie Simmons admitting the time off shows, but that was expected.
They'll have 14 more practices in this fall season before breaking for Christmas, and the MEAC is still set to play a spring slate. That's what they're gearing up for now.
"You take the guys out of a routine for over six months, you can imagine how rusty we are at a lot of positions, we're just going back to basic football," said Simmons. "Blocking, tackling, throwing, catching, just football 101. We really want to get back to that, and we have some new guys we have to get back into the fold because when this spring comes, we're going to compete for a Championship. We'll need a lot of those guys to be able to do so."
Simmons said they did have some guys opt out because of COVID-19. He said the guys here are working on building a good nucleus to be ready to go come spring.
