Cal Poly football players stretch their arms during the first day of the 2022 Fall Camp on Wednesday at Doerr Family Field.
Photo by: Photo by Eyasu Betwos
Cal Poly Football Well Conditioned for Opening of 2022 Fall Camp
8/3/2022 3:48:00 PM | Football
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Day One of the 2022 Fall Camp at Cal Poly is in the books and third-year Mustang head football coach Beau Baldwin is noticing a big difference.
His squad performed seven months of offseason conditioning for the first time in three years, including Spring Camp in March, and held a Spring Game for the first time since 2019 as well.
"That's where everything is done -- from January to July," Baldwin said prior to Spring Camp and reiterated last week. "That's what makes me very excited, thinking about how much we have grown and jumped from where we were."
On the first day of Fall Camp at Doerr Family Field, Baldwin and his coaching staff saw the results of the last seven months of work in the weight room and elsewhere.
"You're always going to strive for perfection, there's always more to do, but where we are today is 100 percent different than where we were," said Baldwin. "I shouldn't say 100 percent, but we're vastly different from where we were a year ago.
Jake Woods catches a pass on first day of Fall Camp."That's a tribute to what our players did in the offseason, both mentally and physically, and it's also a tribute to the schedule that we were afforded in this past offseason than what we had before," Baldwin added.
"You can see for the first first time where the guys have stayed consistent, they haven't been shut down (due to the pandemic), the guys who have been here three years finally having a spring ball ... they hadn't been able to build that foundation they need to be successful."
Attire is limited to shorts and helmets for the first two days of practice. Shoulder pads will be added Friday, with full pads to be worn on the sixth day of practice next week.
Baldwin said his work since January has been much more enjoyable than in the first 25 months of his employment at Cal Poly
"It's just been fun. I've had the most fun coaching here in these last seven months and I will continue to because we're finally able to do the consistent stuff that is so important," said Baldwin, hired in December 2019 as Cal Poly's 17th head coach in program history.
Wednesday's two-hour practice session featured 41 veterans off last year's roster along with 22 players who were true freshmen and played in at least one game but no more than four, preserving their redshirt year.
Also on the field were five transfers from four-year schools, two community college transfers, 13 redshirts or squad members who did not play at all in 2021 and 28 newcomers from the high school ranks.
The roster includes more than 30 players wearing Mustang green, white and black jerseys for the first time, but also five new assistant coaches.
Former Mustang defensive back Asa Jackson is coaching the cornerbacks, Robbie Rouse comes from Fresno State to coach the running backs), former Pittsburgh standout wide receiver LaTef Grim was hired to coach the wide receivers), former Northern Arizona linebacker Jake Casteel will coach the Mustang defensive ends and Everrette Thompson, defensive line coach at Northern Arizona the last three seasons, will perform defensive quality control duties.
"Some of them will be learning on the run, but they're picking up things well, while a couple of them have been here long enough that we've been able to get ahead," Baldwin said. "Several of them pick up on things quickly and they care about what they are doing here.
"Plenty of places around the country have turnover," Baldwin added. "You just have to do a good job teaching the newcomers. I also have to give credit to the coaches who have been here and their ability to teach the newcomers because you're not only teaching players, you first have to teach the incoming coaches and then you go out and teach the players.
"Our coaches have done a great job of making sure that everyone is on the same page."
The 19-session Fall Camp continues through August 24. All practices are scheduled for 9 a.m. at Doerr Family Field with the exception of two scrimmages set for August 17 and 24 on the new artificial turf inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium, also at 9 a.m. Preparations for the nationally televised (FS1) season opener Sept. 1 at Fresno State begin August 26.
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