Summer important for Wildcat football’s preparation for fall

The Enterprise football team starts its summer workouts June 12, and EHS football coach David Faulkner has a threefold goal for the Wildcats.

“Our number one goal is to continue player development, to keep getting reps and improve players in terms of being able to perform skills and being able to perform in our scheme,” he said. “The second thing is we want to continue improving our physical conditioning, working on our speed and our strength. The third thing is we want to continue to install and add to our schemes we started installing in the spring.”

The additions EHS plans to undertake mean the summer is an important time for young Wildcats who will adapt to the varsity level.

“I think this is a very important time for young players,” Faulkner said. “There’s still a lot to do in the weight room. There’s still a lot of work to do in terns of developing their fundamentals and skill level. We don’t have 100 percent of our playbook in on either side of the ball so it’s going to be a really big time for all players, but especially the younger players.”

The veterans in Faulkner’s program also have to get ready to step into new roles made available by graduation.

“We lost a tremendous amount of experience, especially on the defensive side of the ball,” he said. “It’s going to be a critical time this summer in order to have these guys ready to go by the fall.”

The Wildcats have a 7-on-7 scheduled in Hoover next month as well as organized team activities during the summer.

Last year’s 10-2 team provided this year’s Wildcats with a blueprint for preparation which their coach hopes they will mirror as they begin to get ready for a new season.

“I think they’ve got to develop a sense of urgency in terms of how important each day is,” Faulkner said. “Last year, from our senior leadership, we had a very mature, businesslike group. Our senior group this year needs to be a lot like that in terms of their leadership. They need to come in, demonstrate and be the example of what it is we need to do each day in order to improve.”