Bethune Cookman football kicked off its new era earlier this week as it returned to football camp for the first time under head coach Raymond Woodie Jr.
The Bethune Cookman football alumnus has his work cut out for him as he takes over a program that has won just two games in each of the last two seasons and has experienced heavy turnover since the end of last season.
“Our focus right now is on improving every day, working together, fast, smart and physical,” Woodie said. “And it’s on developing a winning mindset. I’m excited to see this team grow and come together more and more each time we come out onto the practice field.”
That appears to be happening early on in camp.
“That was a better practice today. We’re off to a good start, but we have a long way to go,” Woodie said after Day Two. “Today was better than yesterday, and that’s what you like to see. You want to make sure the next day is better than the last and keep improving. Already, we’re deeper than we were in the spring, and that’s a huge bonus for us.”
Both units of the ball have their kinks to work out from last season. The offense averaged 23.55 points per game, accumulating 365.9 yards per game. The defense gave up over 39 points per game to opponents as it allowed 411.6 yards per game.
That was under the final season of Terry Sims’ tenure. Obviously, Woodie is looking to turn the corner as his first season approaches.
“It feels good out here. The guys are finally starting to believe in what the coaching staff is preaching and teaching,” he said. “They see why we’ve been saying that we want to play fast and aggressively. It’s good to see them buy-in.”