Coaches compare this feeling to Christmas morning. Except instead of unwrapping presents underneath a decorated tree, they watch players enter the Bel Air High School doors one by one, equipment in hand, giving fist bumps as they pass by, ready for the first practice of the season.
Aug. 13 was the first day the MPSSAA allowed high school football teams to gather for practice. By that day, Bel Air had already issued equipment and hosted optional summer workouts. But this is the true beginning of a long season.
The Bobcats, a perennial Harford County power who are looking to replace key seniors from last year’s group, offered The Aegis unique access to their first practice last week. From arriving at 6:30 a.m. to departing around 11 a.m., here’s everything that happened:
6:41
If not for the fog, the sunrise would still be coming up over the Bel Air High School parking lot. Coach Eric Siegel is already here — he’s certain there will be equipment issues on Day 1 and wants time to smooth them over before practice begins at 7:30. He’s right. One player forgot his jersey at home and needs to be fitted for a temporary one, while players who missed equipment handouts earlier in the summer get fitted for shoulder pads and helmets, which lay spread out across the floor of the wrestling room.
“Didn’t need an alarm clock this morning,” one of Siegel’s assistants tells him.
Siegel once joked about starting practice today at midnight, the second the MPSSAA permitted it. But that was something that sounded like a fun idea until it came time to do it, Siegel said.
6:55
Owen Reilly walks in, a returning first team All-Aegis offensive lineman and accomplished wrestler. “He’s got a shot to make it,” Siegel says as the towering Reilly passes by, adding he’s one of the best players he’s coached, up there with Julien Horton, the 2023 All-Aegis Player of the Year, now a freshman at West Virginia. Reilly has four Division I offers and hasn’t even begun his junior season.
Julian Pickett, Bel Air’s boys basketball coach and junior varsity football coach, is close behind Reilly. Pickett is one of nearly two dozen coaches Bel Air has on staff. Another is his father, Earl Jones, who brings the energy and is full of quippy remarks and words of encouragement. They’re not hitting today — that comes two days later. But you wouldn’t know today is supposed to be an easier practice by Jones’ animated personality.
7:18
All the players are here, dressed — varsity in white and JV in blue — and waiting on the sidewalk between the locker room and the football stadium. In two straight lines, their ears are perked. Carrying the water cooler is typically a freshman task. It’s Reilly’s today. “Little things mean a lot,” Siegel said, pointing to Reilly to show why he’s a trusted team leader. About 75 players are behind him.
“We walk into practice as a team, together, as a group,” Siegel tells them. “We walk out together as a group. Same as game day. We don’t leave a man behind, ever. We already haven’t lived up to that expectation. I’ll get into that in a minute,” teasing a future punishment.
“I’m asking for your full effort today,” Siegel continues. “Here we go.” His whistle blows and the march to the grass begins. Practice is underway.
7:30
They’re on the grass today — field hockey and girls soccer have the stadium turf field. Practice starts with a lap around the field and stretching. A few players are sporting Guardian caps, a padded helmet cover that decreases the risk of a concussion. They’re mandated for most NFL players now and becoming more prevalent in high school, Siegel said.
“First day!” Jones screams as players loosen up.
Other assistants begin setting up the field with cones and equipment. Among them is Steve Gaubatz, wearing a Navy Athletics T-shirt and prosthetic left leg. A firefighter in addition to coach, he lost his leg less than a year ago on a call. Gaubatz was worried Siegel wouldn’t want him back this season. Siegel was worried Gaubatz wouldn’t want to come back.
“It’s kind of amazing, what he’s able to do,” Siegel said. “He’s got a very good relationship with all those guys. Some of them look to him as a father figure. He’s still out here doing it, even though things are a little tough for him.”
7:42
During practice’s first water break, players discuss a potential new chant. “Cats on three; family on six,” they said in unison before jogging over here after another Siegel pre-practice speech. They’re thinking about changing that rallying call. But the talk is cut short.
“On the goal line!”
The reprimand Siegel promised was coming is here. A mount guard was left on the hallway floor and several players walked by without picking it up, the coach said. Sprints are in order. “7:46, and this is what we’re doing instead of practicing football,” Siegel said. “This is how important this is.”
7:50
They break into positions: offensive line, running backs, receivers and quarterbacks. Siegel lets JV players choose where they want to play, with the caveat that coaches might move them later.
Linemen work with a device designed to keep them low while they spring forward, forcing them to rely on their lower body for power. Reilly has this mastered as younger teammates watch for guidance.
Siegel believes the offensive line, which features two players with Division I offers, will be Bel Air’s strength this season. “We think we can move the ball on the ground a little bit,” he said.
Meanwhile, two quarterbacks donning red jerseys (signaling to others not to hit them) work alone off to the side. Without the graduated Patrick Sullivan, Bel Air is turning to Michael Moore, who started a couple games last season when Sullivan was injured, then dropped down to JV to get more time on the field in preparation of taking over the job this year.
8:02
The wide receivers coach stresses the importance of using two hands. Highlight reel one-handed snags are all the rage, but first days are for emphasizing fundamentals. If he sees any one-handed attempts, the coach says, that player will run.
To perfect the hand-eye coordination required for pass catchers, they toss tennis balls back and forth about two yards apart from a partner. A drop means one push-up. After two yards, they back up to five, then 10, then one partner turns their back to the other to work on over-the-shoulder grabs. Why tennis balls? “I don’t have 100 footballs, but I have 100 tennis balls,” the assistant coach said.
8:40
In what’s been an offensive focused practice so far, it’s finally time for defenders to shine. Well, sort of.
If you’re not on the starting offensive line, Siegel says, grab a pad and go on defense. Reilly and the starters need bodies to go against. They still can’t hit each other, so the thud of hands slamming into pads fills the field. This is the closest they’ll get to full contact for another few days.
8:58
More sprints. Although Siegel stresses this one isn’t a punishment. First days are for installing plays, but they’re also for conditioning.
It’s getting hotter. The mugginess is starting to take its toll. After a few runs up and down the field, there’s another water break. This is the longest. Players rest on pads and lean on the brick fieldhouse wall as coaches remind them to breathe correctly — in the nose and out the mouth. Players tapping out to take breathers are as intertwined with summer practices as forgetting equipment at home. Perseverance is paramount, like it will be in the regular season.
9:08
Girls soccer and field hockey are off the stadium turf field, so football claims it. They break into more positional work — offensive linemen maneuvering dummies, the varsity skill positions installing route combinations and the JV offense doing the same on the other end. “You gotta pick it up, that’s not enough intensity,” one coach tells a varsity offensive lineman. “We have to find another level than where we’re at right now,” Siegel chimes in.
Six players are now in the air conditioned fieldhouse with water. “It’s crazy,” one assistant coach says after ushering in players as they drop out of drills. Water is the most precious commodity out here, and some seemingly aren’t consuming enough. This is practice for good eating and drinking habits, too.
“I ain’t have no water,” Jones jokes. “We toughed it out!”
“You talking about the jungles of Vietnam?” Gaubatz quips back.
9:33
The varsity skill position coaches ask the JV squad to move down another 10 yards. “We have a big arm down here,” they explain. Moore shows them why, floating a 25-yard high-arcing pass down the right sideline over the shoulder and into the hands of a receiver. Then he showed off his mobility, rolling out to his left and ripping a cross-body pass from the 25 yard line to the opposing 40.
“We’re confident in him,” Siegel said after practice. “The expectation is for the position to evolve to fit his skillset. I think he’s a little bit of a better runner than Patrick was. That facilitates the job being done differently.”
Then 7-on-7, the players’ favorite portion of practice, begins. It’s time for the starting offense to prove what it learned against a real defense — still no contact, but at least defenders who go for pass breakups.
Moore’s first pass sails incomplete. His second is hauled in with an acrobatic grab over two defenders that elicits a collective “great grab” from the others. Like the thuds of hands on pads earlier in the morning, the sounds of footballs smacking against hands echo off the empty bleachers.
On one of the final plays of 7-on-7, a defender swats a could-be interception to the ground to coaches’ dismay.
“You don’t want your name in the paper, son?” one coach remarks.
“That could’ve ended the game, man!” Jones says.
10:27
The final whistle sounds and players kneel around coaches. “Every day needs to be a step forward,” Siegel says as a goodbye message before explaining how to clean up the field on the way out. And they have a new breakdown chant: “Dogs on me, dogs on three. One, two, three, dogs!”
The field is cleaned, pads are put away and stray water bottles are claimed. Now it’s time to leave the field the same way they entered it, marching in two lines with captains at the front. They’ll be back here at the same time tomorrow. They start wearing shoulder pads Friday, have their first scrimmage next week and their first regular game three weeks from now.
Cooler autumn Friday nights are ahead. They must get through the blistering summer sun first.
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