Football | 7/27/2023 3:32:00 PM
GREENSBORO – The North Carolina A&T Aggies football team will open preseason training camp Monday, July 31, at 9:30 a.m., from the practice field behind the Bryan Fitness & Wellness Building near Truist Stadium. It will be the first preseason training camp for Aggies first-year head coach Vincent Brown after closing out his first spring practice session in March. The Aggies will also prepare for their first season in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Football Conference.
"I thought we were able to lay the foundation for how we want to play this season," said Brown about the spring. "We really focused on our fundamentals, our new terminology, our new language and our new techniques. Obviously, when we lost players to the (transfer) portal, we had some gaps that needed to be filled. Now that we have those transfer portal players here, we are excited about starting training camp to see how different we look from the spring."
A&T is coming off a 7-4 season. The Aggies went 4-1 in their second and final season in the Big South Conference. They played in the de facto Big South championship game at Gardner-Webb in the 2022 season finale with an NCAA Division I-FCS playoff berth on the line between the two teams, but the Runnin' Bulldogs earned the bid by winning 38-17.
The Aggies lost quite a bit from that team through graduation and the transfer portal, including leading rusher Bhayshul Tuten, leading tackler Tyquan King and longtime defensive standout Jacob Roberts, who earned all-conference accolades in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and the Big South before transferring.
But A&T's strength from a year ago – the offensive line – does return mostly intact. Right tackle Tairiq Stewart, center Cesar Minarro and guard Korion Sharpe secured all-conference selections last season from the Big South. Graduate guard Lawrence Lagrone, who has 22 starts as an Aggie, is also back along with tackle Tim Williams, who played 169 snaps last season.
The Aggies also lost starting quarterback Jalen Fowler from a year ago, leading to a four-man competition for the starting position between sophomore Alston Hooker, redshirt freshman Eli Brickhandler, sophomore Zachary Yeager and true freshman Kevin White.
"We have great leadership coming out of our quarterback room from all three returners," said Brown. "They all have leadership qualities; they are all extremely competitive, and they all possess tremendous athleticism. But they are all different in their athleticism in how they run. When you have a quarterback who brings the ability to make plays with his feet, it creates more challenges for the defense.
Our task is to find the one who will be the most consistent in leading the entire offense. That will be the one who will take the reins. But there is no rule that says you have to play one."
Among the returning receivers, the starter will be throwing to are Jamison Warren, Ger-Cari Caldwell, Taymon Cooke and tight end Nicolas Dobson. On the defensive side, the Aggies only return three starters, all from the secondary. But it is a talented secondary that includes preseason All-CAA Football cornerback Karon Prunty and safeties Avarion Cole and Ty Williams, Jr. Defensive end Henry Daniel started four games last season.
"I'm looking forward to putting all the pieces together," said Brown about the opening of preseason camp on July 31. "We have so many new faces coming to camp. You can watch them run around the track or back and forth on the field, but until you put the pads on, you don't know how all the pieces fit. So, putting the pieces together is the most exciting part."
North Carolina A&T is located on the east side of Greensboro, N.C., where many innovative and economic impacts occur for the entire city. North Carolina A&T Athletics embraces the principles of competitive excellence, sportsmanship, diversity, ethical conduct, and amateurism while facilitating the academic objectives of the student-athletes; the department complies with all conference and association rules and regulations and ensures equal opportunity and access for all students and staff who desire to associate with intercollegiate athletics without regard for race, color, national origin, gender, age, disability, or religion.
