LU Football starts spring training Tuesday

BEAUMONT – Lamar University’s football team will open spring training Tuesday, some six weeks later than it did last year on Feb. 7.

Coach Ray Woodard’s Cardinals, who are coming off a 4-7 campaign in 2011, will conduct 4 p.m. practices on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday next week. After that, the Cardinals will go to a Monday through Thursday practice schedule, unless later altered by weather conditions.

Most of the spring workouts will be held in Provost Umphrey Stadium, although some may be held at the adjacent Vernon Glass Field of Champions practice facility. The Cardinals will conclude spring training with the playing of the annual Red-White Spring Game, tentatively set for Tuesday, April 17 in Provost Umphrey Stadium.

“I’m excited about getting spring training started with our new coaches under tow,” said Woodard, who has compiled a 9-13 record in the two seasons since Lamar restarted its football program in 2010. “I’m looking forward to seeing how the new coaches relate to our returning players and how the players react to the new coaches.”

Earlier this month, Woodard announced the additions of former NFL All-Pro player Bill Bradley, former Lamar offensive coordinator Larry Kueck and former Trinity High School athletic director and head football coach Chuck Langston to his Cardinal staff. Bradley, who starred at the University of Texas before going on to the Philadelphia Eagles, will be the Cardinals’ defensive coordinator, while Kueck, who has coached at Marshall University, SMU, Southern Mississippi and the University of Mississippi as well at Lamar, will be an offensive assistant, and Langston, a Beaumont West Brook graduate and four-year letterman at center for Oklahoma University, will serve as director of football operations.

“We have a number of starters coming back on both sides of the ball, and we’re excited about seeing how all of the pieces fall together in preparation for this next season,” said Woodard. “Hopefully, a lot of questions will be answered between Tuesday’s first practice and the playing of the spring game.”

Among the quality players departed from the 2011 Cardinals are wide receivers J.J. Hayes and Marcus Jackson, quarterback Andre Bevil, offensive lineman Cameron Epple and linebackers Asim Hicks and Darby Jackson.

Lamar will open its 2012 football schedule on Sept. 1 with a road game at former rival Louisiana-Lafayette, now a member of the Sun Belt Conference. Woodard’s Cardinals will face a second Football Bowl Subdivision school when they travel to Honolulu, Hawaii to play a Sept. 15 game against the University of Hawaii.

The Cardinals’ home opener in 16,000-seat Provost Umphrey Stadium is set for Sept. 8 against Prairie View A&M University. Their Southland Conference opener will be in Beaumont against Southeastern Louisiana University on Sept. 29, and their 2012 Homecoming Game will be against McMurry University on Oct. 13.

For season ticket information, call the Lamar ticket office at (409) 880-1715.