The summer allows football coaches and early peek at what their teams could look like in the fall. It also opens opportunities for new players to impress once camp opens.
For Princeton, a program that’s built from the ground up, that’s never been more important.
The Tigers utilized their summer period in June to build on the last two campaigns, both of which ended in playoff berths. While it’s difficult to get everybody together in the summer with vacations and camps overlapping for over 40 kids, Princeton coach Chris Pedigo feels good about what his team has been able to accomplish, hammering down the fine details of a detail-oriented offense even with several moving parts.
“We like to throw the football so we try to make sure we have our fundamental basics in the passing game in during the summer,” Princeton head coach Chris Pedigo said. “We actually had everything we wanted in the first week and we just tried to perfect the craft. We have a lot of young guys and then some seasoned guys that are sprinkled in so it’s been a little bit of a balance to make sure we get everybody on the same page. Depth charts aren’t set right now. They’re set in August but we’ve got guys competing. I think we had a good three-week period. Some guys that are going to play a lot of snaps for us were out of town so it gave some younger guys a chance at some reps.”
While the summer presented the most consistent period Pedigo’s had his team on the field together since November, it’s not the only way he’s evaluated offseason progress. Getting the program to this point, past a pair of one-win seasons, required a blueprint that’s sustainable and tracks throughout the offseason – weight room and conditioning attendance.
“Everything starts for us in the weight room,”Pedigo said. “We’ve not taken any time away from the weight room and conditioning because it’s our No. 1 priority. We’ve identified some guys through the weight room and using the practice sessions, some young guys that are going to be able to step up and give us some minutes. The biggest thing they have to understand is it takes reps. You can’t come in here and be a big-time star without repetitions, especially with what we do.”
Now Pedigo plans on executing the next phase of his program-building plan which is more inclusive of the younger kids on his roster. It’s easier for younger players to grow impatient with their playing time or sitting on the sideline and while watching and learning is beneficial it’s hard to substitute in-game reps.
Reinforcing one of his core tenants, retention, the sixth-year head coach has decided to add a freshman team and schedule to the program this season in addition to the varsity and JV programs already in place.
“We still have a lot of work,” Pedigo said. “Getting new guys out is a good thing but retention is one of our biggest things. We’ve had big freshman classes the last two years and the numbers are not the same as when they come in. We’re starting the freshman season this year for the first time in awhile. We’re going to play a five-game schedule to first give those young guys and opportunity to play, second give us the opportunity to develop more players and third it lets them get out there to compete. Our numbers have been in the 40s or 50s and we think we’ll be a mid-50s team which is good. But I always tell my guys we can only play with 11 of them. We have a lot of guys working their tails off.”