COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – While it's still just one more day before the Tennessee Tech football team straps into the pads for the first time, Thursday morning's practice session still featured plenty of hard hits and some exciting moments for the players.

 

But the stars of the morning session seemed to be the defense as they came up with some crucial stops in the late practice drills.

 

"We did a lot of good things and had some great energy," said Shawn Quinn, Tech assistant head coach and defensive coordinator. "That's what is important. Schemes are great, but nothing is greater than the collective energy when you're playing as a group – flying around, having fun, playing competitive and they're playing with a sense of confidence."

 

With just under a week down in the cumulative camp, including the rookie minicamp days at the end of last week, the team is already starting to look leaps and bounds better than where they were even on just Monday.

 

"You've always got to remind yourself of where we were and where we're going," Quinn said, "and there has been a lot of improvement. We still have a long way to go – got a million miles to go and two tanks of gas to get there. We took a look at where we were six months ago, six weeks ago, a year ago and there are incremental improvements that have started with Coach (Casey) Kramer and his staff (in the strength and conditioning department)."

 

And there were some things that caught Quinn's eye about how the defense performed on Thursday.

 

"We just had great energy," Quinn said. "We had enthusiasm, we were getting to the football. Early on, we didn't do a great job, but we got into the team periods and fixed stuff correctly, which was good. (Wednesday), we didn't do a great job making corrections in the run game. We're going to make mistakes with these young guys and we just have to find ways to fix those."

 

On Friday, Tech will strap on the pads, changing its practice schedule to a walkthrough in the morning and an evening session where the Golden Eagles will get to hit for the first time in camp.

 

"They look forward to it because that's how you play," Quinn said. "All the other stuff is really irrelevant as far as the 7-on-7s and the passing leagues. The game is played with 11 guys in gear blocking and tackling. We're excited to get that opportunity tomorrow on both sides of the ball. Our offense is vastly improved and we're getting better on defense. We both still have a long way to go, but, you know, we've got to do the simple things better and that will win us a bunch of games."