5 practices in 5 hours

A fresh start.

Every football team gets one right now.

The anticipation for a new season to begin makes this one of my favorite times of the year.

I’ve always looked forward to visiting as many high school practices as possible before the season-opening games because you can learn a lot about a program in that time.

Last Saturday, I decided to make the most of my time and visit five teams in a span of five hours. It’s my version of running a hurry-up offense since there was little room for error in executing this.

Below is a timeline chronicling my morning as I made the rounds in Green Bay to visit the practices of Southwest, Notre Dame, East, West and Preble.

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Green Bay Southwest

7:14 a.m.

A Gehl skidsteer, Caterpillar backhoe and cement truck greet me as I pull into Southwest, which is undergoing landscaping and the repaving of its parking lot.

An impressive piece of machinery rolled in seven minutes later.

It was a rebuilt 1972 Chevrolet pickup truck. The owner parked it in the first row at the portion of the parking lot that had already been completed.

The sunrise made the truck’s orange paint job really shine, much like the Trojans did last season in advancing to the WIAA Division 2 state semifinals.

Southwest has to replace a lot of key parts from that team, but returns some familiar ones as well.

One of those being Robbie Miller, who is the right guard and the owner of the ’72 Chevy, which the 6-foot, 225-pounder parked far away from any other vehicle in the lot to protect it from a potential door dent.

Miller and fellow senior Isaac Klarkowski, a first team all-Fox River Classic Conference center, are responsible for protecting University of South Dakota recruit Nick Howard again this year.

Following a stretching and warm-up period, Southwest’s no-huddle offense led by Howard was humming at 8:11 a.m. when it began a scrimmage period.

Co-head coach Pat Wallace, who just got finished downing a Monster energy drink, watched the unit move up and down the turf at Dahlin Family Stadium while executing personnel changes on the fly that can be best described as organized chaos.

On the opposite side of the field was co-head coach Tim Birr, who looked like a duck on water as calmly oversaw things but no doubt was plotting what he was going to stress in the defensive period.

Green Bay Notre Dame

8:34 a.m.

A plane could be seen and heard overhead upon my arrival at Ted Fritsch Field.

The distinct popping of shoulder pads, however, was far more prevalent as the Tritons set to take flight following a third straight year of advancing to at least the WIAA Division 3 state semifinals.

Water thermoses of various sizes and shapes dotted the southwest portion of the steaming turf as the Notre Dame players went through tackling drills. On the southeast side, is a single dandelion that has popped up between the track and turf.

The Tritons are always one of the best tackling teams in the area. That’s a credit to the attention to detail their coaches make in preseason drills, which greatly helps weed out any improper techniques.

The players are split into five groups, consisting of a mixture of experience and youth.

Two stations are set up along the south goal line. Two more run the length of the Notre Dame sideline, while the other is at midfield on the opposite side, where the shadows are shrinking from the trees atop the hill as the sun continues to rise into the clear sky.

Mike Rader, who is entering his second season as head coach, positions himself in the center of the drills so he can easily view and interact with each one.

One of the stations along the goal line consisted of two assistant coaches rolling a padded “donut” that players would tackle.

Chris Nowak, the son of longtime Notre Dame head coach John Nowak, was one of the assistants manning the station.

Following the completion of the drills, Nowak continued his preseason game of trying to roll the donuts from the goal line back to the sideline in a perfect line to land between a pile of pads.

The first assistant coach’s attempt went wide left.

Nowak then released his and it slowly made its way to the center of the pile before falling. A perfect strike, prompting him to raise his arms in celebration.

Constantly competing, just like Nowak’s father would want at Notre Dame’s practice.

Green Bay East

9:26 a.m.

There are a few piles of bricks, wheelbarrows and a saw sitting outside the fence by City Stadium.

Although the historic venue got a facelift last year with new turf and a track, there is still construction going on there.

It’s being done by Shaun Behrend, Green Bay East’s new head coach.

Behrend was previously the head coach at Grafton. He is wearing a wristband with notes over a long-sleeve shirt. It’s the red with the black shadow of Bucky Badger on the back.

Much like the outline on the back of his shirt, Behrend’s demeanor during practice gives you an idea of how he wants to shape the Red Devils.

The intensity in his voice carries well past the East River. It even seemed to set a flock of geese in motion in a nearby field.

Back on the turf, players are kept on the move going from drill to drill. One thing is for sure, Behrend has their attention.

That’s a good start to building a strong foundation.

Green Bay West

10:05 a.m.

The smell of hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill fill Del Marcelle Stadium as parents and community members prepare for a picnic following West’s practice.

Given the wide-range adoption of turf fields in the area, it was a bit refreshing to walk through some grass clippings.

John Saharsky kept busy running through them.

The first-year head coach joined his players in sprinting down the field with the kickoff team.

Saharsky has wanted to be the head coach of his own program for a while. His enthusiasm in holding the role for the Wildcats is evident.

The Green Bay Notre Dame alum wants to create a fun atmosphere for his team, and he’s not afraid to poke fun at himself to do so.

At one point during the practice he was yelling out instructions when his voice cracked, prompting Saharsky to point out with a chuckle to his team that he hopes to be done with puberty one day.

By relating to his players – whether voluntarily or involuntarily at times – Saharsky seems to be on the right track to making a strong connection with them.

Green Bay Preble

10:51 a.m.

It’s an uphill battle to get to Preble’s practice.

The Hornets possess one of the more unique practice areas you’ll see.

Located behind the fieldhouse, Preble goes through preseason drills on two fields.

One is located up a rather steep hill.

The second one is positioned, you guessed it, atop another steep hill.

It’s a fitting setting for a program trying to take the next level after making seven consecutive playoffs appearances and coming away with only one postseason victory.

Dustin Gresen takes over the reigns as head coach after previously serving as the team’s defensive coordinator.

The former St. Norbert College defensive back is stressing speed and quickness to not just his players, but the team managers as well.

There was an assembly line of water bottles being filled throughout the latter portion of practice, which took place in temperatures in the upper 80s on a day where you could wear the humidity like a second set of shoulder pads.

At the conclusion of Preble’s practice shortly before noon, I could take a big sigh knowing I accomplished my mission for the day – five teams in five hours.