Trojans coach upbeat about new season

Though his Trojans have only had a couple of practices under their belts, head coach Steve Nygaard has already witnessed a huge transformation with some of his players.

Nygaard, 30, in his fifth year overall as head coach, feels very optimistic that this year's team will improve on its 4-5 record from the 2001 season.

"We've had voluntary workouts since July 8, and a few of our guys have really beefed up, Nygaard said.

"Mandatory practice sessions just started on the 15th (August)."

Nygaard, who schedules practice from 7 a.m. until noon, does it for a couple of reasons. "First of all, it really helps out the parents. They only have to worry about transporting their children to practice once a day instead of twice. Also we try to beat the heat as much as possible.

"The first thing we need to concentrate on is fundamentals. Once we learn fundamentals, the rest will take care of itself. As usual, the offense is ahead of the defense," Nygaard said.

"We have a lot of kids still fighting for a starting position. There are only a few starting spots that are filled, that's why practice is so important."

Though practice is important, Nygaard also stresses weight lifting.

"We try and lift four times a week during the summer and twice a week during the season. It not only helps us with our strength, but it also helps us with our endurance," Nygaard said.

"The one thing that concerns me with our team is injuries. We're not a very deep team at all. We lost 18 seniors from last year's team and we're thin at a couple of positions," Nygaard said.

"We're going to be better than most people think, he said. We'll be ready. Everyone is very excited."

Nygaard, who has six assistant coaches, realizes he only has a few weeks to get his team ready for the first game of the season.

"We have the Jamboree in Tonopah on Saturday. We'll be scrimmaging with Tonopah and Yerrington. The Jamboree allows each team to run 20 offensive and defensive plays with the offense starting at the opponent's 40 yard line," Nygaard said.

"The team can't wait. This will give our coaching staff a chance to evaluate some of our players in different situations," he said.

"Our first game is on Aug. 30, so this gives our team a chance to run some of our plays against real competition," he added.


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