Hilltoppers Begin 2018 Fall Camp, Host Media Day

Press Conference: HC Sanford, WR Jackson, DL Lewis

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — With four weeks until Week 1 of the 2018 WKU Football season, the Hilltoppers hit the practice field on Thursday for Day 1 of Fall Camp. With his second year as head coach on the horizon, Mike Sanford addressed the media in the afternoon, along with upperclassmen wide receiver Lucky Jackson and defensive lineman Julien Lewis.

"It's been a long offseason and every single one of us was just waiting for the opportunity to get back on the field," Sanford said. "I feel really good about where the team is at and we're really excited to be on the field for the next 28 days leading up to Wisconsin.

"It's Day 1 and we have a lot of young players, a lot of players at new positions," he continued. "I really did feel that defensively there's a lot of depth, experience, juice and belief, and that showed up today. Offensively we started slow, but we finished much better as practice went on and created explosive plays, both in the run game and the pass game."

When asked about the comparison between last year and this one, Lewis noted that he expects a familiarity with the schemes and terminology to pay dividends in the upcoming month.

"It's the second year in this system, so we know it better," Lewis said. "First year in that new system, it's different for everybody, but second year that's when you see a lot of change and all the experience come out. Players are more experienced so we can teach the other guys certain things to make sure everybody knows what they're doing."

Part of Year 2 for Sanford was tweaking the Fall Camp schedule, along with new Director of Football Strength and Conditioning Jason Veltkamp, to be more focused on recovery from day to day.

"We put together a practice plan that puts us in a position to be fresh and healthy going into our first game," Sanford said. "Coach Veltkamp is one of the foremost leaders in the field of strength and conditioning as it relates to recovery. The best gift that we can give this team is being fresh and healthy going into Week 1, and it's important that we get that done."

On the offensive side of the ball, departed seniors like quarterback Mike White, tight end Deon Yelder and wide receiver Nacarius Fant have left vacancies - or opportunities - for the current Hilltoppers to fill. With the help of player-run practices over the summer, Jackson feels like he and his teammates have made important strides in that regard.

"We put in a lot of work this summer, and if we keep our chemistry and things like that, we can only get better," Jackson said. We still have all camp to go, so it's only up from here. Everybody has the ambition to get better, we come out and compete every day. Iron sharpens iron and we make the man next to us better."

With a long way to go before the opening kick in Madison, Wisconsin, many positions will be up for grabs through the month of August. That - in Sanford's mind - makes for an exciting month, considering there is so much talent, determination and depth in the locker room.

"I think we're as talented and athletic from top to bottom of the roster as I've been around at the Group of Five level," he said. "It's going to be a dead sprint for us as a coaching staff to get these guys together as a cohesive unit to go out and attack this season. How fast we can get them ready to play and then cut them loose, it's going to have a lot to do with our success."

Players Mentioned

Nacarius Fant

Lucky Jackson

Julien Lewis

Mike White

Deon Yelder

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