Yesterday was the beginning of 2015 football for the Georgia Southern Eagles with its first spring practice, and it couldn’t have been a better day to start.

The practice started with warm-up drills and the fundamentals. Then, things got a little more intense when head coach Willie Fritz showed up. The second he came out on the field, the players immediately showed more intensity.

“I thought it was great. Last year, this would have been our tenth practice. Today, I didn’t have to explain everything to everybody. Right now, I’d say 90 percent of our team understands what we are looking for, and it’s a lot easier to get work done,” Fritz said.

Fritz could be heard from the opposite field yelling ‘be louder’ and ‘more communication.’ The coaches seemed to really want to showcase the players ability to work efficiently while executing technique.

Quarterbacks Kevin Ellison, Favian Upshaw and Monteo Garrett all looked strong during play run throughs and individual drills. While they were perfecting the pass, coaches worked for quite some time with players on the holding position of the ball.

Holding the ball ‘high and tight’ was said over and over by coaches to players. Players were pushed hard to work out off-season kinks and simple mistakes.

Fritz made his way to every part of the field. He spent quite a lot of time with the defense working on tackles and rolls. But, he wants improvements from all players.

“Offensively, we need to throw the ball better than last year. Defensively, we need to get more take aways. Kicking game wise, we need to be a much better return team, as well as, get better in punting,” Fritz said.

Spring practice for the Eagles will continue until April 18 when they have their Blue and White spring game.

Cesar Perez contributed to this article.