Are you ready for some football?
By Joe Lombardi
Cup O' Joe
After what I heard from head coach Tony Johnson last week, the Copperas Cove Bulldawgs certainly are.
While meandering down the hall at the Bulldawg Annex, I was surprised when Coach Johnson threw open his office door, grabbed me by the hand and excitedly said “Guess what?”
“Uh, tell me what,” said I.
Coach Johnson, who’s always an upbeat breath of fresh air, then announced how over 70 prospective Bulldawg players attended volunteer workouts last week. That, to put it mildly, was great news. It was an indication that kids are buying in to our new skipper’s barely month-old program
Starting today, the coaches and us fans will get an early look at how things are shaping up, since the first day of spring training will unspool starting at 4:30 p.m. on the Annex practice fields.
However, I wouldn’t expect to see too much of what Cove has been working on up to this point, even though Johnson admitted his staff has installed some basics on both sides of the ball. He did say we could experience a multiple offense paired with a 3-4 defensive alignment.
Keep your eyes open at practice, too, because chances are you’ll catch a glimpse of today and yesterday.
Obviously, junior-to-be offensive lineman Michael Uni will be there. If you haven’t heard, he already has Division I offers from Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech and the University of North Texas. He’ll be a handful for opponents to deal with.
Joining Johnson’s coaching staff is a familiar name from the Dawg Hall of Fame, which we don’t have, but should and that’s Brelan Chancellor, who will coach safetys and special teams.
Brelan is one of the all-time great Bulldawg pass catchers, who played college ball at UNT and went on to the (then) San Diego Chargers. If anyone can teach these kids what it means to be a Bulldawg, he certainly has the credentials.
Also joining the almost-completed coaching staff is Aaron Emeyabbi coaching cornerbacks and serving as assistant head coach.
From here, it looks like the train’s front wheels are back on the rails. Over the next month, Coach Johnson and company will work hard to get all the other cars rolling again.
Go Dawgs!