RUSTON – Year four of the Sonny Cumbie era kicked off Thursday morning as the Bulldogs held their first 2025 fall camp practice on the grass fields inside the Jim Mize Track and Field Complex.

Cumbie stated that this team is prepared from a strength standpoint and from a chemistry standpoint heading into fall camp. He gave credit to head strength coach Dave Scholz for doing a phenomenal job with the guys in the spring and summer. 

"What I saw today was a prepared football team," relayed Cumbie to the media after practice. " Even though you have some anxious moments before a game or practice, maybe you have some excitement, maybe you have some jitters that maybe won't be there tomorrow, or maybe they will be, I think our football team was very well prepared and that's a credit to our coaches." 

"I'm excited for this football team, I'm excited about this season because of the players A, the talent level of our players and the chemistry and camaraderie that we have in this team."



Center Landon Nelson on the new offense: "We have been out there all summer practicing with the new offense and getting more comfortable with it as we go," stated Nelson. "As far as the identity goes, coach Franklin has done a great job of establishing the fact of what we are going to do and how we are going to do it. We are going to be real detailed and we always have a long ways to go, but we are going to go a long way." 



Linebacker Kolbe Fields on coach Olson's "take it mindset" and how it's approached by the team: "You approach it with everything," said Fields. "You go to the meeting and you try to take something away from the meeting, you go on the field and you try to take the football, you walk in the classroom, you try to take the classroom. It's just a mentality, whatever we go into we are trying to win and take it. We do not want anything given to us, if we gave to go out and get it, we will do what we have to do."