When preparing for a new season, no detail is too small.
With so many nuances and elements in football, the possible situations are endless. Defense taking the field with the possession starting 12 yards away from the end zone. Personnel groupings and substitutions in short-yardage offense. Predicting the right down, distance, and situation to run a special play.
Sometimes, it's just gameday itself, and that was the main focus for the two-time defending Southwestern Athletic Conference Champion Jackson State Tigers during Saturday's football practice at the Walter Payton Center.
Head Coach
T.C. Taylor began practice with his team going through pre-game and halftime routines in advance of next week's season-opener against South Carolina State in the Cricket MEAC-SWAC Challenge Kickoff at 6:30 p.m. CT in Atlanta on ABC.
In preparing for today's workout, Taylor and the Tigers took the field like gameday prior to getting down to business. Beginning with special teams and moving through until all position groups were on the field, to stretching, to pre-game play sequences before leaving the field, to post-halftime stretching routines, Jackson State went through the details to what it will execute in and round the game itself.
"Today's was definitely gameday ops - how the pregame is going to be, how we're going to come out of the locker room, what groups would be first and in what order," Taylor said. "All we asked for was a big focus from our team, and they did that. These guys were locked in. We didn't have a lot of missed assignments, so I'm very pleased with the focus we came out with today."
Now only seven days and counting to gameday and game time, Taylor believes and knows his team is ready for next Saturday night while continuing to sharpen preparation.
"We're ready to play," Taylor said. "The hay is in the barn, as some of the old school coaches used to say, but we still have another week of work. We're just going to continue to sharpen our tools, have our coaches continue to game plan, continue to get the team ready to play, and get them locked in. I told them tomorrow is game week. We start to get our minds ready for game week, and before you know we'll be getting on the plane travelling. Â We want to take advantage of the days, and we're not going to rush so we can do just that."
That focus of preparation comes from the top and starts with Taylor, the former JSU great as he prepares to lead his alma mater as head coach for the first time.
"I just have to stay even keeled," Taylor said. "If I'm talking to these players and coaches about focus, it has to be a focus with me as well. It's situational football, and I want to give this football team every opportunity to win next week. They're going to do their part as far as flying around and playing with energy. It's up to me to make sure we're kicking when we need to kick, going for it when we need to go for it, and taking shots when we need to. I want their 'A' game, and I need to be on my 'A' game as well."
