Arkansas Tech University welcomed 140 candidates for its 2012 football team to the first full day of fall camp on Wednesday, Aug. 8.
Head coach Steve Mullins has planned a preseason schedule that runs through Tuesday, Aug. 21, and includes a pair of full-scale scrimmages.
This will be Mullins’ 16th season as Arkansas Tech head football coach. He is the longest-tenured college head football coach in Arkansas and he has led the Wonder Boys to more victories (91) than any other head football coach in school history.
“We are pleased with our numbers and the enthusiasm that is present among our student-athletes,” said Mullins. “Our football team grew and improved during spring practice. We must continue that development both as individuals and as a team during preseason camp. Our coaches and our young men are prepared to put in the hard work necessary to achieve that goal.”
Newcomers to the Arkansas Tech football program have been on campus since Monday. They spent the first part of the week meeting with their coaches, filling out paperwork, learning about Tech traditions and gaining familiarity with campus.
The first full-squad activity of the 2012 season took place on Wednesday afternoon when the veterans joined the newcomers for a team meeting.
After physicals and conditioning tests for returnees on Wednesday evening, the team is prepared to take to the practice field for the first time in helmets, T-shirts and shorts at 6:45 a.m. Thursday.
The Wonder Boys will don half-pads for the first time when they practice on Saturday morning, and the first workout in full pads will occur on Monday, Aug. 13.
The first major scrimmage of fall camp is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 18, at Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field. A second scrimmage will follow at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 21. Both intrasquad scrimmages will be open to the public.
Classes for the fall semester will begin on Wednesday, Aug. 22, at which point the Wonder Boys will begin their regular weekly schedule in preparations for their season opener.
The 98th season of Arkansas Tech football will begin on Saturday, Sept. 1, when the Wonder Boys host Bacone College (Okla.) for a 6 p.m. non-conference game at Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field.
The game will mark the debut of the new synthetic turf that was installed at the stadium this summer.
Arkansas Tech has earned 526 all-time victories, which is 10th-most in NCAA Division II football history. The Wonder Boys qualified for the NCAA Division II Playoffs in 1999, 2004 and 2009.
Click here to learn more about Arkansas Tech football.
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