LAKE CHARLES – The 2023 McNeese Cowboys opened up fall camp on Wednesday morning, battling against a record heat-wave that has positioned itself over the region the last few days and the days to come.
 
But even with the heat mashing down, the Cowboys had a pep in their step on day one and showed up much bigger, faster and stronger than teams of years past.
 
McNeese will continue in shorts and helmets on Thursday morning before slipping on the shoulder pads for the first time on Friday.
 
Quoting second-year head coach Gary Goff: "It was day one. A lot of excitement. A lot of nervous excitement. We weren't sharp in a lot of areas but some things we can tighten up, nothing major. I loved the energy as we took the field. But I think Mother Nature leaned on us pretty hard today but we'll get the guys hydrated and pick them back up, but overall, a pretty good day for the first day."
 
All eyes will be on the quarterback competition during camp between newcomers Nate Glantz and Tre Simmons. Simmons won the rights to run with the first team unit on Wednesday in an unexpected way.
 
"That was decided by those two (Simmons and Glantz) playing paper-rock-scissors," laughed Goff. "Both of those young men have had a really good summer. They both have developed as a leader. We'll have a great competition all camp."
 
Goff said they expect to give the two QBs the same amount of reps but wants the quarterback who is with the ones to start the day, continue with that group the entire practice.
 
A total of 57 new players put on the gold helmets for the first time, but despite half the squad being new to McNeese, Goff is more comfortable now than the prior year with the personnel he's leading.
 
"I feel more comfortable and at-ease with the team," he said. "I feel like they trust us, they trust what we're doing. They trust the process and starting to trust each other. We didn't have that a year ago. It's so hard to have when coming in with a brand new staff, looking at 85 percent of the team that you didn't sign. You just don't have that trust and trust takes a while to develop. I feel like we have that with this team right now. It's a lot of fun coming out here knowing that, even if I'm getting on them hard, they know where it's coming from and they know why. We can walk off the field and speak the same language and we know that we got each other's backs."