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Coaches gearing up for another season
It is the calm before the storm.
A little more than a month from now, dozens of football players will arrive at the LaGrange College campus, with the first preseason practice set for Aug. 17.
From that point, there will be less three weeks before the season opens with a game at Birmingham Southern.
For the moment, head coach Todd Mooney and his fellow coa-ches have a chance to relax a little bit before the "storm" arrives in August.
"If there is such thing as a down time, this is it," Mooney said.
Don't think the Panther coaches are sitting around eating Oreos and watching the soaps, though.
With a new season drawing closer every day, there is plenty of work to do, even if many of the players are back in their hometowns for the summer.
From pouring through game films to getting everything in order to play in a new conference next season, there is no shortage of work.
"We are in the process of going back through every clip of every game from last year," Mooney said. "We are breaking down all the film we have collected on our opponents for next year. We're beginning the process of dealing with compliance in the (St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference), new video exchange policies, that kind of thing. And we're in the process of getting three new coaches indoctrinated."
Everything Mooney and the other coaches are doing is geared toward having the team ready to go when opening day comes around on Sept. 6.
The Panthers are preparing for their third season, and Mooney has positive feelings about the prospects for 2008.
The Panthers were a first-year program in 2006, and they didn't win a game.
In Year 2, the Panthers were a much improved team and they had chances to win several games, but it didn't happen.
As the Panthers embark on Year 3 in search of their first win, they're a veteran group, with nearly all of the players returning from the 2007 season.
"It is so nice to have such a great group of guys who are veterans," Mooney said. "With two full offseasons, the talent they have stacks up. They've had the opportunity to build themselves so that they're physically mature enough now.
"This season, we'll be taking the field with people who match up. They have the experience and they've had the time in the weight room. We're excited about that. I love the kids that we have coming back. I love the work ethic."
Mooney is also pleased with the freshmen who'll be joining the veterans this season.
"The freshman class, we're about three people away from rounding that out, and that looks very, very good," he said.
One thing Mooney said he hasn't had to worry about his the academic performance of his players, which has been solid.
"We check grades every semester, and as a team we've really stepped it up," he said. "We've turned a corner and have done very, very well. I believe we had 26 guys that registered a 3.0 or better last semester. We had four end up on the Dean's List."
The coach has also encouraged the players to focus on life outside of football, and he's proud of their response.
"They're branching out. They're doing a lot outside in the community, in the schools," Mooney said. "They did a lot of work with Habitat for Humanity this year. They're really doing a nice job."
As for the football side of it, even though many of the players aren't on campus this summer, they're sticking with the Panther program.
"They have a strength and conditioning manual," Mooney said. "This year, we stepped it up and got technical. We don't have paper any more. We have it on a Web site, so they can check that out and see what they need to do.
"Tony Kunczewski, who coordinates our defense and runs our strength program, did a great job setting that up, and the guys have really jumped into it. It's very easy and very accesible."
Panther timeline
# Report date: Aug. 16
# First practice: Aug. 17
# Season opener: Sept. 6 at Birmingham Southern
# Home opener: Sept. 13 against Shorter
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