Cal Poly football team kicks off spring camp for the first time in three years

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- The Cal Poly football team kicked off its first spring camp in three years Thursday morning, signaling a return to a normal off-season practice schedule.

"We really haven't had a true spring ball first practice going back to when we first got here," said head coach Beau Baldwin. "It's exciting for not just players, and players always get excited, but us as coaches, being here for as long as we have without that foundational spring ball piece."

Baldwin was hired in December 2019, right before the COVID-19 pandemic started, so this marks the first time he's had the chance to coach the Mustangs in a spring camp.

"There's a long way to go, and we know that, but I do feel like in the last two-and-a-half months leading up to this day one, we have taken a lot of huge steps and done a lot of things done towards the foundation that needs to be set," said Baldwin. "I just know that wherever we were last fall, we're going to be different, each play, each quarter, each rep, we are going to be different and we're going to be different in a good way."

For nearly three hours, players went through light workouts under a cool, partly cloudy sky.

After a tough last couple of years, everyone in the program was all smiles during the practice session, eager to begin a what hopefully will be a successful season.

"It's been great to get our here," said sixth-year senior receiver Michael Roth. "Really excited to be out here with the guys. It's been a long road coming. I've seen it come a long way and I'm excited to get hopefully to kind of start this winning tradition that we can give these guys. I think we're excited about the trajectory. We're excited about the energy. We've got the players here to make this things and we're just ready for the season."