College football players have very regulated schedules, but on the upside, we always know what comes next. During Spring practice, we have three practice days and three meeting days (and Sundays we have off). Below, I describe a practice day – Tuesday, April 14th.
6 a.m. – My alarm goes off, and I’m out of bed to make some quick oatmeal before heading to campus to begin my day.
6:20 – Leave the house heading to the Memorial Hermann Football Operations Center.
6:30 – ARRIVE. I get to the facility, check in for breakfast, and complete my daily hydration test. I just have a PowerBar because I don’t like to eat too much before practice.
6:45 – I go to the training room and hop on the bike to warm up my knee. I tore a ligament in it last August, but I’m 100% healthy now. I also do some light stretching.
7:00 – I go to the weight room so the strength staff can work on my knee. Kaleb Whitehair, the Director of Physical Therapy Services for our team, has really helped me with rehabbing my knee over the last eight months.
7:24 – SPECIAL TEAMS MEETING. Everyone who plays special teams meets together in one room. We start by reviewing film from Saturday’s practice, then go over the drills we will do today, emphasizing key points and some technique work.
On Tuesdays, we usually go over punt and kickoff teams, but today we did punt team and punt block return. I’m a returner, so I sit with those guys and Coach Marcus Trice and Coach Michael Bishop, who work with the returners. Everyone watches the same film, but each position group gets coached up individually.
8:00 – POSITION MEETINGS. Coach Jordy Joseph oversees the running back room. He leads off by talking about how far we’ve come since the first Spring practice on March 9. He also talks about being intentional in everything we do, which we have focused on this year.
I’ve had really good coaches all my life, but Coach Joseph has been one of the best. He’s not afraid to tell me what I really need to work on and he’s not going to sugarcoat it. About midway through Spring, I broke a big one, and he ran down toward the end zone, and as he congratulated me, he said, “Don’t get infatuated with the good plays. Don’t over-analyze that ****.” He’s right.
8:30 – We are released from position meetings and have time to get our pads and start heading to the practice fields. I like to get to the field early so I can take a beat and get my mind right.
9:00 – PRACTICE BEGINS. All practices are scripted with specific goals, but each is structured the same way: special-teams focus periods, drills, 7-on-7, and team 11-on-11. We work on punt return in some pretty heavy wind. Wind is the enemy of the punt returner.
With the RB unit, I’ve been working on outside zone this spring, and we’ve been hitting that heavy. We make corrections from Saturday’s practice. I am working on hitting my landmarks, staying true to the scheme, and really understanding why we’re focused on those landmarks. In outside zone, I’m working towards hitting a spot behind the tight end and reading the widest defender on the line. Coach Joseph is really coaching me up on this.
Another one of my goals is no fumbles this year. We have put in extra work on my technique, how I hold the ball, and my awareness. I’m in the weight room every day, getting grip work to help reach my goal.
10:50 – Helmets off, shoulder pads off. Each unit meets with its coach to discuss a part of practice or highlight teaching points. Then we meet as a team to go over the rest of the day’s schedule, what time we’ll meet tomorrow, and any announcements, such as who needs to speak with academics or the media.
11:00 – PRACTICE ENDS. As a Tuesday treat, we get ice cream, and the truck is parked between the indoor and the facility. Every time the truck comes, I get the blue raspberry slushie. It’s refreshing.
11:10 – I go put my gear away and head to the cold plunge. After practice, there can be as many as 15-18 guys in the plunge at the same time. I go to the corner and pray and meditate while I’m in there. We spend about 3 minutes in the cold plunge.
11:20 – I go shower, get changed, and head for lunch check-in.
11:30 – I have lunch with Amare Thomas pretty much every day. Today, it’s chicken and beef quesadillas, and Keisean Henderson and Steve Polk join us.
12:30 p.m. – Get ready for class and then head over to Bauer. I’m majoring in business administration and will graduate in May 2027. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have two in-person classes.
1:00 – CLASS. Business Statistics (BUSI 2305) and Connecting Bauer to Business (BUSI 3302) back to back.
3:45 – I go back to the football facility for some individual work. I do some stretching, then work on catching tennis balls with the JUGS machine. One hand, two hands, and different variations.
6:30 – I head home. My plan is to make spaghetti.
8:00 – FILM STUDY. I spend a couple of hours on my iPad watching film from the first 13 practices of the Spring, focusing on how far we’ve come. It will be my second year playing in this system (and third overall), so I don’t need to spend much time learning the plays.
What I’m doing is learning why we’re running the plays and where everything should go. I’m working on understanding defenses more and how defensive lines shift. That’s giving me a presnap image of what’s going to happen before the play. That way, during the play I’ll be able to react to what I’ve seen.
10:30 – LIGHTS OUT. I try to get to bed at 10, but sometimes it’s 10:30. During Spring practice, never later than that. Another day of meetings and film study awaits.
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