Russell Cook points to Monday as the real start to the football season but the El Reno High School head coach is pleased with the first three days of fall drills.

“We got about 45 kids out and they are working hard overall. As a coaching staff we were pleased. They all came out with great attitudes and flying around excited football season's here,” said Cook.

Monday is when El Reno will don full pads and hold its first contact drills. Football-playing schools are under a new directive from the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association this season, having to spend five consecutive days in just shorts, pads and helmets.

“It's for getting used to the weather. We've been going out and doing conditioning and doing drills and getting them used to helmets and getting them strapped back up and going,” said Cook.

To battle the 100-degree heat, El Reno has been team-lifting for an hour starting at 6 p.m. Players then run through individual and team drills for two hours.

“I think the kids have picked up what we're trying to put in that's new. Everything that's been installed over the last three years is still our bread-and-butter, but we've been trying to add a new wrinkle in here and there.

“I think the kids have been picking it up well,” said Cook.

Cook added the players are just glad to be back on the field after a month's hiatus after summer on-field workouts ended.

“I think the kids are excited to be out here and getting to play football and being back on the field. We've treated this as a learning period to make sure we can get the new wrinkles in before we get into pads.

“That way we don't have to work on fundamentals as much, we can go fly around and actually get to hit each other those first couple days,” said Cook.