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The Dog Days of Summer mean Football Practices Begin
It’s almost here! The sizzling outdoor temperatures also signal that your favorite college football team is starting practices for the fall season.
August is just days away. The start of the 2025 college football season is only one month away, too.
Did you know that “The Dog Days of Summer” are between July 3 and August 11?
It’s unfortunate that Fido should be forever linked to this blast furnace portion of the year.
The astronomical truth is that the dog star (Sirius) becomes the brightest star in the night sky during mid-summer. The word Sirius is Greek means “scorching”.
Yep. Those ancient Greeks definitely got that right!
Every former football player remembers this time of year
Can you imagine actually being excited to put on several pounds of pads, equipment, and an oppressively hot helmet to go outside and practice football at the break of dawn or just before sunset?
Football players around the country – youth, high school, college, and professional – have been dreaming about this day for the past seven months or more.
Until…
A few hours of football practice in the hot summer sun start to remind some players that they should have lost those extra pounds during the winter and spring. Carrying around any extra weight into August football practices comes at a very sweaty price.
The 2002 movie “The Junction Boys” chronicled how brutally hot summer football practices can be. That 1954 Texas A&M football team was coached by Paul “Bear” Bryant.
Only 39 of his 100 Texas Aggies football players remained on the team after ten days of practicing in the heat at this shade-less, desolate practice site near Junction, Texas.
My overactive brain thinks about that movie when I (reluctantly) trudge outside for an hour or so of mowing the yard in the intense summer sun and oppressive heat and humidity.
Soft? Who me?
Things will get better for a few of last year’s worst college football teams, right? Let’s start with Kent State
Kent State University is located just southeast of Cleveland. The Golden Flashes from the Mid-American Conference went 0-12 in 2024.
They were the only major college FBS team in the country to go winless last season.
Kent State fired head football coach Kenni Burns in April after a school investigation revealed “dishonesty in the performance of duties.” He was 1-23 during his two seasons as the team’s head coach.
Assistant coach Mark Carney will lead Kent State this season in 2025. He is hoping to end a 21-game losing streak in Week #1.
Kent State’s season opener comes against the FCS (small college) Merrimack Warriors from Massachusetts. Merrimack finished 5-6 last season.
The Golden Flashes’ last victory came nearly two years ago on September 16, 2023 against another FCS opponent – Central Connecticut.
The 2025 Kent State football team wants to end this lengthy losing streak in the season opener at home on Saturday, August 30.
Don’t be surprised if visiting Merrimack utilizes nearly every trick play in their playbook attempting to keep Kent State winless!
Florida State’s new quarterback is going to learn the hard way in Game #1
Another major college football team trying to quickly turn things around is located in Tallahassee, Florida.
The Florida State Seminoles went from a sterling 13-1 record in 2023 to a lowly 2-10 in 2024.
I can’t remember any major college football program which fell so far, so fast in just one year.
Head coach Mike Norvell was named the national college football “Coach of the Year” in 2023. His 2024 team was given a top-10 preseason ranking in major polls. Expectations were sky high for FSU in 2024.
Oops!
The only wins for Florida State in 2024 came against California (a 14-9 home field squeaker) and the Seminoles’ homecoming victory against FCS member Charleston Southern.
Last season’s FSU offense only scored 20 or more points in just two games (one of those came against Charleston Southern). The Seminoles defense allowed an average of 28 points per game over the 12-game season.
This year’s 2025 Florida State team will feature a rather cocky transfer quarterback from Boston College named Thomas Castellanos. The former BC QB has already made one very big mistake before playing his first football game for the Seminoles.
Florida State’s August 30th home season opener comes against the University of Alabama.
“I’ve dreamed about playing against Alabama,” bragged transfer Florida State quarterback Thomas Castellanos recently. “They don’t have Nick Saban to save them. I just don’t see them stopping me.”
You can be sure that those extremely cocky and very immature comments made by the new Florida State quarterback have become locker room motivation for Alabama’s defensive players.
Florida State will get a chance to redeem itself (after a likely 0-1 start) one week later as FCS member East Texas A&M rolls into Tallahassee for a payday game.
Southern Miss hired the Marshall University football coach who quit and cost his former school a bowl game trip
The 2024 Independence Bowl in Shreveport was excited to have 11-2 Army coming to town. The other bowl bid went to 10-3 Marshall University of the Sunbelt Conference.
That was the announced match-up. It lasted just one week.
Marshall’s head football coach Charles Huff (a former assistant for Nick Saban) abruptly resigned and accepted the top job at Sunbelt rival Southern Miss in Hattiesburg.
At least 18 football players loyal to Coach Huff quickly hit the NCAA’s transfer portal, left Marshall, and have rejoined their coach in southern Mississippi.
Don’t you just love these new transfer rules?
Marshall University then told the Independence Bowl that they lacked enough scholarship athletes to field a competitive team less than two weeks prior to the game vs. Army.
The Sunbelt Conference fined Marshall $100,000 for backing out of the Independence Bowl game with Army.
Nearby Louisiana Tech (5-7) was permitted to take Marshall’s place and save the 2024 I-Bowl game from an embarrassing cancellation.
Coach Charles Huff’s new employer at Southern Miss went a miserable 1-13 in 2024.
The team’s only win last season came over FCS member Southeastern Louisiana in Week #2.
The Golden Eagles of Southern Miss should consider changing their 2025 team nickname to the Thundering Eagles or, perhaps, the Golden Herd.
That’s because a significant number of Marshall University transfer players like quarterback Braylon Braxton and his favorite receiver, Chuck Montgomery, will be in the starting line-up for Southern Miss beginning August 30.
Southern Miss will not have an easy schedule in 2025 – regardless of how many Marshall transfers hit the field. The good news is that the first three games of the new season will be played at home.
The SEC’s Mississippi State Bulldogs visit Hattiesburg on August 30 for a season-opening intrastate battle. Perennial SWAC power Jackson State (12-2 last season) makes a short 100-mile journey south on US Highway 49 for a Week #2 encounter on September 6.
Sunbelt rival Appalachian State travels to Southern Miss for a game on Saturday, September 13.
Several other teams are hoping for better days in 2025
Purdue – The Boilermakers went 0-9 in the Big Ten last season and finished with a woeful 1-11 record.
Purdue gets off to a relatively easy start in 2025 hosting home games with Ball State followed by FCS member Southern Illinois. The storm clouds then start rolling in as the Big Ten schedule looks more ominous for the Boilermakers.
Tulsa – The Golden Hurricane struggled in the American Athletic Conference (1-7) and 3-9 overall in 2024.
Florida Atlantic – Ditto
Oklahoma State – No one expected the Cowboys to limp into the Stillwater Corral with an 0-9 mark in the Big 12 and 3-9 record overall.
Longtime head coach Mike Gundy is entering Year #21 with the Pokes. His team must improve this season in order to remain the team’s head coach in Year #22.
Nevada – The Wolfpack also went 0-Conference schedule in 2024. They are opening the 2025 season with a road trip to play Big Ten power Penn State. Who came up with that lousy scheduling idea?
Mississippi State – The Bulldogs (2-10 overall) were the SEC’s only team to go winless 0-8 in league play during 2024.
Mississippi State’s SEC schedule in 2025 will feature the same eight teams which beat them last season.
October begins with a visit from Tennessee. The Bulldogs then hit the road for games at Texas A&M and Florida, home for Texas, at Arkansas, hosting Georgia, at Missouri, and the annual Egg Bowl home game with arch rival Ole Miss.
Mississippi State football fans should try to get their money’s worth ringing those noisy cowbells early in the season. October and November are going to be brutal.
The post The Dog Days of Summer mean Football Practices Begin appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.
View all episodes
By SwampSwamiSports.comIt’s almost here! The sizzling outdoor temperatures also signal that your favorite college football team is starting practices for the fall season.
August is just days away. The start of the 2025 college football season is only one month away, too.
Did you know that “The Dog Days of Summer” are between July 3 and August 11?
It’s unfortunate that Fido should be forever linked to this blast furnace portion of the year.
The astronomical truth is that the dog star (Sirius) becomes the brightest star in the night sky during mid-summer. The word Sirius is Greek means “scorching”.
Yep. Those ancient Greeks definitely got that right!
Every former football player remembers this time of year
Can you imagine actually being excited to put on several pounds of pads, equipment, and an oppressively hot helmet to go outside and practice football at the break of dawn or just before sunset?
Football players around the country – youth, high school, college, and professional – have been dreaming about this day for the past seven months or more.
Until…
A few hours of football practice in the hot summer sun start to remind some players that they should have lost those extra pounds during the winter and spring. Carrying around any extra weight into August football practices comes at a very sweaty price.
The 2002 movie “The Junction Boys” chronicled how brutally hot summer football practices can be. That 1954 Texas A&M football team was coached by Paul “Bear” Bryant.
Only 39 of his 100 Texas Aggies football players remained on the team after ten days of practicing in the heat at this shade-less, desolate practice site near Junction, Texas.
My overactive brain thinks about that movie when I (reluctantly) trudge outside for an hour or so of mowing the yard in the intense summer sun and oppressive heat and humidity.
Soft? Who me?
Things will get better for a few of last year’s worst college football teams, right? Let’s start with Kent State
Kent State University is located just southeast of Cleveland. The Golden Flashes from the Mid-American Conference went 0-12 in 2024.
They were the only major college FBS team in the country to go winless last season.
Kent State fired head football coach Kenni Burns in April after a school investigation revealed “dishonesty in the performance of duties.” He was 1-23 during his two seasons as the team’s head coach.
Assistant coach Mark Carney will lead Kent State this season in 2025. He is hoping to end a 21-game losing streak in Week #1.
Kent State’s season opener comes against the FCS (small college) Merrimack Warriors from Massachusetts. Merrimack finished 5-6 last season.
The Golden Flashes’ last victory came nearly two years ago on September 16, 2023 against another FCS opponent – Central Connecticut.
The 2025 Kent State football team wants to end this lengthy losing streak in the season opener at home on Saturday, August 30.
Don’t be surprised if visiting Merrimack utilizes nearly every trick play in their playbook attempting to keep Kent State winless!
Florida State’s new quarterback is going to learn the hard way in Game #1
Another major college football team trying to quickly turn things around is located in Tallahassee, Florida.
The Florida State Seminoles went from a sterling 13-1 record in 2023 to a lowly 2-10 in 2024.
I can’t remember any major college football program which fell so far, so fast in just one year.
Head coach Mike Norvell was named the national college football “Coach of the Year” in 2023. His 2024 team was given a top-10 preseason ranking in major polls. Expectations were sky high for FSU in 2024.
Oops!
The only wins for Florida State in 2024 came against California (a 14-9 home field squeaker) and the Seminoles’ homecoming victory against FCS member Charleston Southern.
Last season’s FSU offense only scored 20 or more points in just two games (one of those came against Charleston Southern). The Seminoles defense allowed an average of 28 points per game over the 12-game season.
This year’s 2025 Florida State team will feature a rather cocky transfer quarterback from Boston College named Thomas Castellanos. The former BC QB has already made one very big mistake before playing his first football game for the Seminoles.
Florida State’s August 30th home season opener comes against the University of Alabama.
“I’ve dreamed about playing against Alabama,” bragged transfer Florida State quarterback Thomas Castellanos recently. “They don’t have Nick Saban to save them. I just don’t see them stopping me.”
You can be sure that those extremely cocky and very immature comments made by the new Florida State quarterback have become locker room motivation for Alabama’s defensive players.
Florida State will get a chance to redeem itself (after a likely 0-1 start) one week later as FCS member East Texas A&M rolls into Tallahassee for a payday game.
Southern Miss hired the Marshall University football coach who quit and cost his former school a bowl game trip
The 2024 Independence Bowl in Shreveport was excited to have 11-2 Army coming to town. The other bowl bid went to 10-3 Marshall University of the Sunbelt Conference.
That was the announced match-up. It lasted just one week.
Marshall’s head football coach Charles Huff (a former assistant for Nick Saban) abruptly resigned and accepted the top job at Sunbelt rival Southern Miss in Hattiesburg.
At least 18 football players loyal to Coach Huff quickly hit the NCAA’s transfer portal, left Marshall, and have rejoined their coach in southern Mississippi.
Don’t you just love these new transfer rules?
Marshall University then told the Independence Bowl that they lacked enough scholarship athletes to field a competitive team less than two weeks prior to the game vs. Army.
The Sunbelt Conference fined Marshall $100,000 for backing out of the Independence Bowl game with Army.
Nearby Louisiana Tech (5-7) was permitted to take Marshall’s place and save the 2024 I-Bowl game from an embarrassing cancellation.
Coach Charles Huff’s new employer at Southern Miss went a miserable 1-13 in 2024.
The team’s only win last season came over FCS member Southeastern Louisiana in Week #2.
The Golden Eagles of Southern Miss should consider changing their 2025 team nickname to the Thundering Eagles or, perhaps, the Golden Herd.
That’s because a significant number of Marshall University transfer players like quarterback Braylon Braxton and his favorite receiver, Chuck Montgomery, will be in the starting line-up for Southern Miss beginning August 30.
Southern Miss will not have an easy schedule in 2025 – regardless of how many Marshall transfers hit the field. The good news is that the first three games of the new season will be played at home.
The SEC’s Mississippi State Bulldogs visit Hattiesburg on August 30 for a season-opening intrastate battle. Perennial SWAC power Jackson State (12-2 last season) makes a short 100-mile journey south on US Highway 49 for a Week #2 encounter on September 6.
Sunbelt rival Appalachian State travels to Southern Miss for a game on Saturday, September 13.
Several other teams are hoping for better days in 2025
Purdue – The Boilermakers went 0-9 in the Big Ten last season and finished with a woeful 1-11 record.
Purdue gets off to a relatively easy start in 2025 hosting home games with Ball State followed by FCS member Southern Illinois. The storm clouds then start rolling in as the Big Ten schedule looks more ominous for the Boilermakers.
Tulsa – The Golden Hurricane struggled in the American Athletic Conference (1-7) and 3-9 overall in 2024.
Florida Atlantic – Ditto
Oklahoma State – No one expected the Cowboys to limp into the Stillwater Corral with an 0-9 mark in the Big 12 and 3-9 record overall.
Longtime head coach Mike Gundy is entering Year #21 with the Pokes. His team must improve this season in order to remain the team’s head coach in Year #22.
Nevada – The Wolfpack also went 0-Conference schedule in 2024. They are opening the 2025 season with a road trip to play Big Ten power Penn State. Who came up with that lousy scheduling idea?
Mississippi State – The Bulldogs (2-10 overall) were the SEC’s only team to go winless 0-8 in league play during 2024.
Mississippi State’s SEC schedule in 2025 will feature the same eight teams which beat them last season.
October begins with a visit from Tennessee. The Bulldogs then hit the road for games at Texas A&M and Florida, home for Texas, at Arkansas, hosting Georgia, at Missouri, and the annual Egg Bowl home game with arch rival Ole Miss.
Mississippi State football fans should try to get their money’s worth ringing those noisy cowbells early in the season. October and November are going to be brutal.
The post The Dog Days of Summer mean Football Practices Begin appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.