By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The college football season is just around the corner and the Tennessee Tech football team begins its prep work in earnest this week as the Golden Eagles open camp.
"It's finally here," said first-year Tech football head coach Marcus Satterfield. "We got here in January and we spent so much energy trying to cultivate more energy and more positivity about the program, trying to get our brand out there. It's seems like we've done so much stuff other than football, it's good to just get camp here.
"It's kind of like taking a break. We can take a breath, focus on football, start to prepare for the season and get these new guys acclimated to Cookeville, our team and our brand. We can actually start to do what we're here to do and that's play football."
The team officially reports in this morning as they check in with the football office, move into their dorm rooms and get equipment.
Satterfield felt like the team had a great camp in the spring and wants to build on that in August.
However, the biggest challenge is introducing a lot of new people to Golden Eagle football.
"We've got more than 40 new players that are going to be in our program when camp starts," Satterfield said. "That's including preferred walk-ons, signees and transfers. There's going to be a lot of faces out there that nobody knows who they are. That's going to be exciting, because that's 40-something guys that we have to get acclimated to how we coach and how we play. All of that is just really exciting for us."
The action starts on Wednesday with two-a-days, starting with a practice on the grass at 8:10 a.m. before hitting Tucker Stadium for an evening walk-through. That day will be helmets only as the team begins its first of five acclimation days, which builds until Tech is in full pads for its practice on Sunday morning at 9:15 a.m.
The goals for these early days are simple.
"I want precision," Satterfield said. "Everything we talk about is games are lost, not won, on Saturdays. The margin of error that you can eliminate by just playing smart and understanding situational football is important. We're starting on day one to teach situational football, because we want our guys to be high-level thinkers and be able to do that now, rather than trying to figure that out when the first game comes around.
"If you can win the situation – red zone, third down, run the football, win special teams and stop the run, all of those things – we think we've got a chance. If we can shrink the games with the deliberate style we play, and I think we can have a pretty good year."
The Golden Eagles will host their first scrimmage on Saturday, Aug. 13 in Tucker Stadium, starting off with their pre-game replication with a dinner and Eagle Walk before getting into the evening's work.
Following an off-day the next day, Tech will get back to work, building up to the Gathering of Eagles on Thursday, Aug. 18. That day is also the campus' Great Move-In Day, with players assisting their fellow Tech students.
Two days later, on Saturday, Aug. 20, the Golden Eagles will host their final scrimmage, then wrap up camp on Aug. 21 before the 2016 fall semester opens up the academic year on Monday, Aug. 22.
Tech opens the season on Sept. 1 as the Golden Eagles host Wofford.
Season and single-game tickets are available for Tech football. To get tickets, visit the Tech Athletics ticket office at the Hooper Eblen Center, call (931) 372-3940 or visit www.ttusports.com.
