{"id":424911,"date":"2026-08-05T23:20:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T23:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/424911\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T23:20:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T23:20:09","slug":"aztecs-open-football-camp-with-energy-and-enthusiasm-as-pac-12-era-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/424911\/","title":{"rendered":"Aztecs open football camp with energy and enthusiasm as Pac-12 era begins"},"content":{"rendered":"

Day 1 this season of San Diego State\u2019s preseason camp looked very similar to Day 1 last season.<\/p>\n

As SDSU players walked down the steps to the practice fields Wednesday morning, they were greeted by music blaring from a boom box and a staffer holding a green time clock that each player tapped to \u201cclock in.\u201d Written on the clock are motivational phrases, like \u201cBlue collar nasty,\u201d \u201cWork, works!\u201d and \u201cPunch the Clock!\u201d<\/p>\n

The Aztecs moved very intentionally between drills and plays, practicing with a purpose. They even showed a little first-day nastiness, notably when wide receiver Parker Threat and defensive back Yanick Parker gave each other a couple of extra shoves during a 1-on-1 drill.<\/p>\n

\"SDSUSDSU football players work drills during the team\u2019s first practice at San Diego State University on Wednesday, August 5, 2026. (Kristian Carreon \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

Music of various genres played over a big speaker throughout the two-hour practice. Kenny Loggins\u2019 \u201cDanger Zone,\u201d which became a fourth-quarter tradition in last season\u2019s games, was played late in the workout. Practice concluded, as it did last season, with James Brown\u2019s \u201cI Feel Good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole team had great energy,\u201d senior running back Lucky Sutton said afterwards.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s Day 1, and I\u2019m just very excited how we go about camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

How is this year different than last year?<\/p>\n

Well, for one thing, the clock players punch now has a Pac-12 logo on it in place of a Mountain West logo.<\/p>\n

Sutton said the move to the Pac-12 \u201cbrings in new opportunities. Getting to the College Football Playoff. Better competition. Even though it\u2019s primarily guys from the Mountain West, it\u2019s the top guys from the Mountain West. It\u2019s great competition overall.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SanSan Diego State head coach Sean Lewis offers instruction during the team\u2019s first preseason practice. (Kristian Carreon \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

Another difference year over year is that SDSU is coming off a 9-4 season as opposed to the 3-9 record compiled in coach Sean Lewis\u2019 debut with the Aztecs. So how is Day 1 this year after a successful season different than Day 1 last year when the players are still trying to prove themselves?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still trying to prove ourselves,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cThe success of it all, the external noise, it\u2019s all well and good. I\u2019m really proud of what we did, but this team, this year, has got to forge its own identity.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving Day 1 energy and enthusiasm, like, it\u2019s Christmas morning. \u2026 That\u2019s what it feels like this morning. I rolled over at 3 a.m. I didn\u2019t need my alarm. It\u2019s like when I was 6, and my parents are like, \u2018Get your ass back to bed.\u2019 We\u2019re not opening presents until 7.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Lewis said the excitement of a new season accompanied the Aztecs to the field, but there\u2019s no carryover from what was accomplished in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s last year,\u201d he said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than half the roster has turned over. While there are seven returning starters on offense, eight new starters must be identified on defense.<\/p>\n

\"SanSan Diego, California \u2013 SDSU edge rusher Brady Nassar runs a drill during the team\u2019s first practice at San Diego State University on Wednesday, August 5, 2026. (Kristian Carreon \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were flying around today,\u201d senior edge rusher Brady Nassar said. \u201cI think it was faster than last year\u2019s Day 1. \u2026 We\u2019re going to get off the ball fast. We\u2019re going to hit people hard. We\u2019re going to be communicative, and we\u2019re going to take over games as a unit.<\/p>\n

\u201cA key word is explosive. A key word is violent. Things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the more important pieces on that defense is senior linebacker Tano Letuli, who was sidelined last season with a torn ACL. Letuli is nine months removed from knee surgery and back on the field, although he worn a bulky protective brace on his surgically repaired right knee.<\/p>\n

The Cathedral Catholic High School graduate did not get right in the middle of the action the way he will in games. He stood well behind the defense on several plays, repping what he saw well out of harm\u2019s way.<\/p>\n

Letuli is in a situation similar to starting wide receivers Jordan Napier and Jacob Bostick, who also are returning from ACL injuries that required surgery. Napier, who wore a brace on his left knee, and Bostick, who did not wear a brace, were more active participants than Letuli, running routes with the other receivers.<\/p>\n

Lewis said they need to be smart in how the recovering players ramp back up during preseason practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose guys are vets who have accumulated reps, so we\u2019re giving them enough prescribed work that they need to get trained and get ready,\u201d Lewis said, adding. \u201cBut, again, they\u2019ve positioned themselves and accumulated a lot of reps, especially a guy like Tano and a guy like Napier, who\u2019s been here three years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know them. They\u2019ve built up great trust. They\u2019re going to communicate with us. Sports medicine has done a great job. We\u2019ll give them what they need, and part of that is also giving them the rest that they need, so they can be primed and ready for the season to come.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Day 1 this season of San Diego State\u2019s preseason camp looked very similar to Day 1 last season.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424912,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[1327,181,74,76,75,305,127],"class_list":["post-424911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-college-sports","tag-latest-headlines","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-sdsu-aztecs","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}