“Our kids know what we’re doing, how we want to do it, the sense of urgency we want to have, and what we expect in practice,” said Burnett, whose team went 12-2 last year and reached the regional final and is 22-5 in the last two campaigns overall. “They’re going out and fulfilling the goals we have for them, so I couldn’t ask for a better day.”

“I thought our kids had a phenomenal attitude and they came out with a desire to work,” Burnett said. “The worst part of practice is the end when you have to start that conditioning and get back in the shape you need to play on Friday nights. But other than that our kids pushed through it. I thought it was a great day.”

Entering his seventh season as the head coach at his alma mater, and with last year’s coaching staff remaining virtually intact, the Lions were off and running Monday at a quicker pace than even Burnett anticipated.

“We already had a team session on offense, we had a screen session on offense where we threw those for a certain amount of time, and then we moved up and down the field with a couple of run plays and multiple pass plays,” Burnett said. “For our kids to already understand what’s going on is big. This time of the year we’re usually teaching routes and concepts and trying to coordinate that with the play and getting kids to remember them.”

Burnett continued, “Our kids’ retention is great. Offensively I thought we had a great day, and defensively same thing. We’re out there running pass hull with the defense and it doesn’t matter if it’s the ones or the twos or whoever’s left, they understand the coverage. We ran one coverage today and we went through it. We had linebackers working on fits and pulls and understanding their roles, and the defensive line was doing the same thing. But we also worked on stunt packages that we would never be able to do right now, that’s almost two weeks down the road. So we’re far along and rolling now.”

The Lions will don full pads for the first time Friday, but there’s plenty Burnett still wants to see between now and that point.

“Bodies are going to start getting sore, and usually Wednesday is the worst day the first week because bodies become extremely sore and tired and you break down a little bit,” Burnett said. “I want to see the attitude and mentality they come out here with every morning. We’re out here for two hours, so what are you going to do with that two hours worth of time? Are you going to get better at the position you play and become a master of craft? You have to become mentally focused and strong to overcome the fatigue you’re facing with your body, but also get yourself to understand you can press thorough it and build the mental toughness we feel like we need to have to be successful. We’re right where we want to be skill-wise in the fact that they understand what they’re supposed to do, we just have to work on the technique to become better at it.”

The Lions will hold the maroon and white scrimmage at 10 a.m. Saturday at Gordon Wood Stadium, then host Argyle Liberty Christian Friday, Aug. 16 in their first scrimmage and visit Alvarado Thursday, Aug. 22 in their final action before the Friday, Aug. 30 regular season at home against Abilene Wylie.