Rattlers Picking Up On New Philosophies During Spring Drills

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  – The Florida A&M football team took to drills at 5:45 a.m. in Bragg Memorial Stadium for the second day of spring football. The team looked sharper after going through their previous day of drills under new head coach Alex Wood. The team went through roughly a two hour workout.

After warmup, under the direction of Russell Barbarino, the team broke into segments for position drills. The team went through 7-on-7 drills, followed by 11-on-11.

FAMU quarterback Carson Royal has quickly grasped many of the concepts of the new offense and is pleased with the new system. “It’s really fast-paced and there’s a lot going on, so you really just have to slow it down mentally and make sure everyone is in the right position. We’re starting out with the basics right now, so making sure that as a team we get the tempo going and are in the right place is a key,” he said.



The pace is borderline frantic. At that time in the morning, only the FAMU Army ROTC cadets are up and moving around. The Rattlers football coaches rival their intensity though, barking and engraving their system into the minds of the football squad, much like sergeants drill their troops.

The team will hold their first Saturday practice tomorrow at 10 a.m. in Bragg Stadium. The practice will last approximately two hours, providing the coaches with a glimpse of the personnel and their ability to grasp Martin Spieler’s offense and Theo Lemon’s defense. Wood patrols all aspects of practice pacing back and forth between segments working on quality control.

Linebacker Akil Blount expressed his pleasure with what he is seeing. “I am happy with what I am seeing from the offense. As a defender, I look at what they are doing and it will be difficult to defend if it is executed properly,” he said.

Royal feels the team is excited about the possibilities of the new systems. “As a team we love it. Everyone has positive reinforcement when the coaches are talking about the plays and everyone has a great mentality going into practice. This morning we started out a little slow, but we got the tempo going and that’s what we really need. This offense is very exciting and I’m sure our fans will enjoy it too. It gets plays going and with just a small break between plays, it will give the crowd something to see and hopefully catch some defenses off guard,” Royal said.

COURTESY FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION