Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Football Holds First Spring Practice Under Joe Susan
3/27/2010 8:00:00 AM | Football
March 27, 2010
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell football program entered a new era on Saturday when the first practice with Joe Susan as the head coach took place at a sunny Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Despite the sun, crisp, fall-like conditions greeted the team and the new coaching staff as they conducted the first of 15 spring sessions.
The high-energy practice was run very efficiently with no wasted time or effort. Much of the scripted workout featured position drills working on the basic skills.
"It felt really good to get out here," mentioned Susan, who was officially named Bucknell's head coach on Jan. 27. "Having been an assistant, where there is always something to do next, I found myself thinking `Do I have to sprint to the next station?' I was able to spend time with both the offense and defense. We are getting to know the (guys) on the team and are building trust between the coaching staff and the players."
Susan was heavily involved in many of the drills, including an early special teams segment where he lined up on defense. At one point, as he jogged from one drill to the next, a smiling Susan said "There is no place I'd rather be."
While Saturday's practice was Susan's first as Bucknell's head coach, it was also the first at Bucknell for six members of his eight-person assistant coaching staff.
"We are developing chemistry," mentioned Susan about the coaching staff. "I am getting to know the coaches. I already know both coordinators, and Mike O'Connor and Matt Borich are both guys I know, while Chad Rogosheske knows me because he is coaching the offensive line, a position group I coached for 20 years as an assistant."
Susan, who often says "the ball is the program", focused on that statement throughout practice, incorporating a number of drills that keyed on not fumbling and corralling loose balls. He also stressed the importance of running to the next task, meaning Bison players were sprinting from one station to the next, and even off the field at the conclusion of the two-hour practice.
Bucknell will take the field again Sunday from 2-4 p.m., but Susan is really looking forward to Tuesday's practice when the team will don pads for the first time.
