PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (March 29, 2022) – The first day of spring practice is in the books for first-year head football coach Leonard Bubba McDowell and his staff. The annual Purple and Gold Spring Game will be held on April 23.
Coach McDowell took over at the helm of the football team on January 4. McDowell inherited a promising and experienced team that finished the 2021 season with a 7-5 overall record and was 6-2 in conference play, which led to a SWAC Western Division Title. The team will go through 15 spring practice sessions, weather permitting, from 3-5 p.m. each Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Saturday’s practices will be held from 9-11 a.m.
Credited with assisting former head football coach Eric Dooley with building the current team’s success, McDowell has served as an assistant head coach for the past eight seasons while also leading the development of the defensive unit over the past three seasons.
“This is what it’s all about; it’s fun to be out here again,” McDowell said on opening up spring ball. “I think everybody was excited to get out here, and I think all the players were excited to start playing a little football.”
The Panthers participated in a number of drills throughout the afternoon, spending most of the time with their respective position coaches to develop each player’s understanding of the system and their skill sets. Before practice was over, the offensive and defensive units lined up against each other to help mimic game situations.
The first practice session was aimed to help address some key aspects throughout the spring, which is getting the players to understand the system, skills and team unity.
The spring roster will feature some new faces along with some familiar ones as well. There are 65 returning players, 15 of who had starting roles in 2021.
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This article originally appeared on pvpanthers.com.
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