The first official practice is in the books for Coyote football and four weeks from Friday, the team will begin the 2021 fall season with a Big 12 foe in Kansas.
 
With nearly the entire player roster back from last season, including all but one starter, Thursday's day one practice probably felt as familiar as any before it. But not so for new defensive line coach Corey Brown, the only newcomer to coach Bob Nielson's full-time staff. Brown was at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, last year, but before that served four seasons at Miami University in Ohio and then two campaigns at Rutgers in New Jersey.
 
Brown's new unit at USD includes veterans DeValon Whitcomb and Jackson Coker along with sophomores Micah Roane, Ethan Burson and Brendan Webb. Brown has spent the summer getting to know the players and vice versa, but Thursday was a new step in that process of familiarity.
 
"I've been looking forward to this all summer," said Brown. "The work these guys have put in throughout the summer has laid a really good foundation, so when we came out here today, it wasn't a day one kind of start. We got a chance to add on to what guys did this summer and they were ready to take the coaching and apply it to their game."
 
Brown offered an open and honest assessment of practice afterwards, saying there are a lot of plays to be made. In typical Bob Nielson fashion, the focus early on is going to be fundamentals. But the learning curve for new terminology and perhaps a new approach will be shortened with a veteran roster and that means younger players can come along quicker.
 
On a personal level, Brown has completed a physical move to Vermillion in recent weeks and is joined by his wife, Susan, and 3-year old son, Blaze. Brown also has two daughters, Erin and Kayla.
 
"The biggest thing for me was getting my family situated with a little man and my wife being here," said Brown. "But when they weren't here this summer, just being around the guys was huge because they're not seeing my face for the first time and we could spend some time together."
 
Iowa Connection: Brown is the third former Iowa Hawkeye football player to join Nielson's staff in as many years and all are featured on the defensive side. Brown was a defensive tackle for the Hawks from 1995-99. Abdul Hodge played linebacker from 2002-05. Miles Taylor was a safety from 2014-17.

Coach Nielson's Thoughts: "The word is normal. It felt like the first day of fall camp. We had a little heat, which is nice. Guys were excited to get going and certainly a good day of practice.
"Our goal in preseason is pretty simple. You want to come off the field a better football team than you went on it every day. Certainly, we're thinking about that opening game at Kansas here in roughly four weeks and at the same time the steps that you take to improve and to get to be a team that can be the best possible football team on opening game is by improving every day in practice."