March 5, 2002

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - As day five of Samford's spring football drills concluded, Head Football Coach Bill Gray decided that his Bulldogs did not need to miss any more practice time.

Limited by the weather as drills began last week, the Bulldogs had to scrap a scheduled scrimmage last Saturday and now plan for one later in the week. Gray has been pleased with his team's effort and attitude toward their hard work, but says the Bulldogs have a long way to go in execution.

"You can certainly tell that we haven't done this since November," said Gray on Tuesday. "We have seen some progress from some that we weren't sure of, and the players seems to be enjoying themselves in practice. One of our goals is to be a more aggressive football team, so we've worked on that a good bit in the first few days. Right now everything is simplified as we get back into things at full speed."

The Bulldogs are scheduled to practice three more times this week, with a scrimmage possible for Friday or Saturday.