NCCU Eagles dodge rain to get to work for Mack

DURHAM, North Carolina   — That moment when rain pushes back the first day of football practice: “We’ve got to get on the grass some kind of way,” first-year N.C. Central coach Jerry Mack said shortly after 3 p.m. Friday.

NCCU was supposed to start practice at 3:30 p.m. Soaking rain flipped the script.

But make no mistake, the Eagles were going to work Friday.

“Rain, sleet or snow, we’re going to practice,” Mack said.

Having the East Carolina Pirates waiting in Greenville on Aug. 30 can create such a sense of urgency, although NCCU senior defensive end Ty Brown would tell you Mack’s intense like that all of the time. 

Football players at Duke and North Carolina can go hard in indoor practice facilities when the weather outside is frightful. NCCU doesn’t have that option.

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