Photo by: Dajah Mincey/Davidson Athletics
Wildcats Open Camp With High Hopes
7/30/2025 4:02:00 PM | Football
The dawning of a new football season arrived with high expectations and some slightly lower temperatures Wednesday morning at Davidson College Stadium with the opening of preseason camp, the first of the Saj Thakkar coaching era.
An offensive lineman's number of 79 degrees at 9 a.m. was welcome on the penultimate day of July and so was the return of football with the season a month away.
"It's an opportunity to get better," quarterback Coulter Cleland said. "It's the first one of many."
After player arrivals in town the day before, the two-hour session in the Wildcats' second-year stadium began the march to the Aug. 30 season opener against Georgetown.
"Overall, it was a really successful day one," Thakkar said afterward. "I think on day one, you're just looking for, one, if guys are coming out with great energy and, two, can they pick up where they left off, can they retain the information from the spring, did they stay in their playbooks and installs over the summer, and that's what we saw today."
With a new staff, new schemes and new terminology in 2025, the preseason began with the basics, including fundamental drills in position groups. The Wildcats will soon shift to situational football — third downs, two-minute drills, red zones and end-of-game scenarios — and setting the depth chart as they head into an Aug. 16 intrasquad scrimmage. From there, the focus turns to game planning for specific opponents.
Wednesday was about starting that process.
"I just want to see effort," said defensive end and captain Mikah Kent. "You make a mistake, go 100 percent. I want to see us helping each other, bringing each other up. I just want to see a lot of togetherness. I think a lot of team bonding is going to help us, the new group, the new coaches. A lot of us still need to learn a lot about each other. That's a good thing to start in fall camp."
Thakkar was pleased to have the full team together for the first time, with the addition of the freshmen and other newcomers completing the roster. And he was encouraged by how the veterans set the tone.
"I think our returners, the guys who were taking a lot of reps in the spring, did a great job today," he said. "They were playing fast, they were playing with their instincts, they weren't thinking much, and that's only going to help the young guys come along, seeing those guys in front of them, how much command they have."
Thakkar has said since his December hiring that he wants his offense to play with tempo, spread the ball around, use the whole field, form a balanced attack and play to the strengths of its skill players. Defensively, he wants to see fundamentals, good tackling and a unit that gets the ball back to its offense.
To get those jobs done, the Wildcats will utilize numerous offensive and defensive packages and sprinkle in a little bit of everything.
"We say that if you can do something well, we want you on the field doing it," said Thakkar. "There are plenty of different personnel packages really on offense, defense and special teams for guys to earn playing time."
Preseason camp runs through Aug. 23 — until the first game week — and Thakkar has three goals for his team between now and then: establish an identity, grow as a team and identify individual roles.
"If we can do those three things, it's a successful camp," he said.
The motto for camp is, "Never make the same mistake twice."
"There's going to be a lot of growing pains," said Thakkar. "But the learning is going to come with the reps."
An offensive lineman's number of 79 degrees at 9 a.m. was welcome on the penultimate day of July and so was the return of football with the season a month away.
"It's an opportunity to get better," quarterback Coulter Cleland said. "It's the first one of many."
After player arrivals in town the day before, the two-hour session in the Wildcats' second-year stadium began the march to the Aug. 30 season opener against Georgetown.
"Overall, it was a really successful day one," Thakkar said afterward. "I think on day one, you're just looking for, one, if guys are coming out with great energy and, two, can they pick up where they left off, can they retain the information from the spring, did they stay in their playbooks and installs over the summer, and that's what we saw today."
With a new staff, new schemes and new terminology in 2025, the preseason began with the basics, including fundamental drills in position groups. The Wildcats will soon shift to situational football — third downs, two-minute drills, red zones and end-of-game scenarios — and setting the depth chart as they head into an Aug. 16 intrasquad scrimmage. From there, the focus turns to game planning for specific opponents.
Wednesday was about starting that process.
"I just want to see effort," said defensive end and captain Mikah Kent. "You make a mistake, go 100 percent. I want to see us helping each other, bringing each other up. I just want to see a lot of togetherness. I think a lot of team bonding is going to help us, the new group, the new coaches. A lot of us still need to learn a lot about each other. That's a good thing to start in fall camp."
Thakkar was pleased to have the full team together for the first time, with the addition of the freshmen and other newcomers completing the roster. And he was encouraged by how the veterans set the tone.
"I think our returners, the guys who were taking a lot of reps in the spring, did a great job today," he said. "They were playing fast, they were playing with their instincts, they weren't thinking much, and that's only going to help the young guys come along, seeing those guys in front of them, how much command they have."
Thakkar has said since his December hiring that he wants his offense to play with tempo, spread the ball around, use the whole field, form a balanced attack and play to the strengths of its skill players. Defensively, he wants to see fundamentals, good tackling and a unit that gets the ball back to its offense.
To get those jobs done, the Wildcats will utilize numerous offensive and defensive packages and sprinkle in a little bit of everything.
"We say that if you can do something well, we want you on the field doing it," said Thakkar. "There are plenty of different personnel packages really on offense, defense and special teams for guys to earn playing time."
Preseason camp runs through Aug. 23 — until the first game week — and Thakkar has three goals for his team between now and then: establish an identity, grow as a team and identify individual roles.
"If we can do those three things, it's a successful camp," he said.
The motto for camp is, "Never make the same mistake twice."
"There's going to be a lot of growing pains," said Thakkar. "But the learning is going to come with the reps."
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