FLORENCE, Ala. (July 26, 2024) – The temperatures were cool, but the water was hot.
 
The University of North Alabama football program officially opened fall camp on Friday morning at the Bill Jones Athletic Complex. With cloud cover blocking the sun, temperatures remained in the 70s throughout the first day of practice.
 
Second year head coach Brent Dearmon instituted a new mantra for the 2024 season this past offseason — "212" — which represents the boiling point of water. One degree below that number prevents boiling. The Lions brought that energy today, as 120 players took the field for the first official practice in helmets.
 
"It's like being a kid and seeing the presents under the tree," Dearmon told media members, equating the first practice feeling to Christmas Eve. "It's a really exciting day, and then you realize you're in just helmets — so it's 'kind of' football. It's a little bit more than just 7-on-7s in the summer, but we'll put some pads on pretty quickly. I thought the guys performed well today and had some good energy. Now we just need to repeat it and do it the second day."
 
The Lions returned the majority of their contributors from last season, including 44 lettermen and 18 starters — seven on offense, eight on defense and three on special teams. A high number of newcomers also took the field for the first time.
 
Dearmon singled out a few players for their performance at practice this morning, the first of which was redshirt senior safety Gregory Reddick who enters his second season.
 
"It feels good to be back out here," said Reddick. "There's a different type of feeling out here because everyone is willing to be out here. They want to be out here, and they want to win. Everybody wants to win."
 
Coach Dearmon, Reddick, senior defensive lineman Kam'ron Green, redshirt senior wide receiver Kobe Warden and redshirt senior kicker Sam Contorno were all made available to the media after practice, a process which started for the student-athletes around 6 a.m.
 
"We've been getting up early all summer long, and for most of us, that's probably been all of our lives except for a few months out of the year," said Warden, who enters his fifth season at UNA. "There might be a few guys dragging around that you have to pick them up, but besides that, the energy stays up and stays high."
 
The Lions are back in action Saturday morning at the Bill Jones Athletic Complex. Fall camp will continue through Monday, August 19 and lead into the first week of practice.
 
UNA opens the 2024 season at the FCS Kickoff on Week 0 against Southeast Missouri at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN at 6 p.m. and will be the first primetime college football game on ESPN this season.
 
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.