Clovis football practice begins

CLOVIS — A good name for Monday morning's football practice would be "Purple Rain" because of the wet weather and Clovis' predominant team color.

Actually, "first day of practice" should do just fine. It's a simple, ordinary phrase, but it means a lot to the Clovis football team.

Every weight the players lifted, every mile they jogged over the past several months, was with thoughts of July 31 — the first day for Clovis to get out there, start practicing, start preparing for the 2017 season. Finally getting that chance had players and coaches feeling like little kids on their birthday. Especially new head coach Cal Fullerton, who's decades away from being a little kid, two of them removed from attending Clovis High School.

"Way exciting," Fullerton said Monday on the sparkling new turf at Leon Williams Stadium, where practice had just concluded. "It was kind of a dream come true waking up this morning. ... Just getting to come out here, kids getting their helmets and stuff like that, (there's) a lot of excitement around here for sure. ... You kind of look forward to (the first day of practice) as soon as you lose that last game of the year, and we've been working hard all off-season, all summer. To finally get to put the helmet on and actually start the season today was a big deal for all the kids and the coaches."

"It's amazing," senior center and captain Stevin Lindsey said. "This weather is beautiful, the rain. ... Last night I stayed up to probably around eleven. I was just laying in my bed for like an hour, just getting all hyped for (practice). I had a smile on my face, ready to go."

With one day complete, no surprises so far. "Everything we've been told was going to happen, happened," said senior Brandt Davis, last year's back-up quarterback who will take over as the starter this season.

The players returning from last year's 8-4 team should be quite familiar with Fullerton, who most recently served as co-offensive coordinator with legendary head coach Eric Roanhaus. After his 39 seasons, state-record 343 wins and 10 state championships put an indelible stamp on New Mexico high school football history, Roanhaus stepped down last December, opening the door for one of his former quarterbacks to take control.

"I don't look at it as stepping into his shoes," Fullerton said, "because I don't think there's anyone in this whole world that could step into his shoes and do what he's done for not only this football program, but for this town and the state of New Mexico in football. Just the things he's done and the wins he's had, the people's lives he's changed in a positive way, that's second to none. So you come in and you hope to be half the person he is."

Because of that respect Fullerton has for Roanhaus, because of his experience playing for and coaching with his former mentor, Fullerton's emotions on Monday were a bit mixed.

"It is kind of strange," he said. "The strangest thing is coming out here and Coach Roanhaus not being here. He was here and walked the sidelines and coached for so long, it's just something you really get used to. And him not being here was a little different this morning, obviously. But for the kids, it doesn't matter who's here, as long as they've got orders and direction and you've got something for them to do, then it's not that big of a deal for them."