Aug. 6, 2008

WINSTON-SALEM, NC – Winston-Salem State University head football coach Kermit Blount will lead the Rams into the 2008 season on Friday afternoon as the Rams hold their first practice of the fall.  Blount, the 16^th-year head coach at WSSU is excited that the season is finally kicking off.
 

“All the recruiting, planning, and organizing is complete, and now we get to strap it up and play football…it is an exciting time of year.  As we enter into our third year in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference we again look forward to putting the best possible team on the field.  We feel that we will be extremely competitive and if opponents are going to beat us, they will have to beat us on the field.  It will be an exciting season for our fans, our administration and our players.  As the season heads into the fall we are again thrilled to get underway” Blount said.

Per NCAA regulations, the Rams will practice in only shorts and helmets for the first five days of practice and will be limited to only single-sessions of work.

“We use those first practices [without pads] to work on conditioning and to try to bring the young guys up to speed in getting acclimated with our systems.  Our guys have worked very hard in the off-season and conditioning-wise it looks like we are ready to go, but it is still good to get out there and get some things worked out before we start full-contact practices next week” Blount said.

The Rams will practice once a day on both Friday and Saturday, per NCAA mandates.  Following a rest day on Sunday, the Rams will again institute single-session practices on Monday August 11, Tuesday, August 12 and Wednesday, August 13 before donning full pads for the start of double-session practices on Thursday, August 14, 2007.

All practices are open to the public and pre-practice and post-practice are opportune times for credentialed media members to conduct interviews with players and coaches.  To set up interviews, please contact the WSSU Office of Athletic Media Relations at (336) 750-2143 or Assistant Director of Athletics, Chris Zona at (336) 391-8852 to secure interview arrangements.

WSSU Football Week One Practice Schedule:

Date Practice Time Equipment

Friday, August 8, 2008 TBA Helmet and Shorts

Saturday, August 9, 2008 TBA Helmet and Shorts

Sunday, August 10, 2008                OFF DAY

Monday, August 11, 2008 TBA Helmet and Shorts

Tuesday, August 12, 2008 TBA Helmet and Shorts

Wednesday, August 13, 2008            TBA                      Helmet and Shorts

Thursday, August 14, 2008         TBA                       Full Pads

- wssurams.com -