Aztecs clock in, kick off fall camp with renewed focus and purpose

When San Diego State football players jog out onto the practice field, as they did Wednesday morning to open fall camp, they tap an old green clock held up by a staffer.

It is a relic from an era when factory workers placed physical cards into a slot for a timestamp when they clocked in and out for their shifts.

Written on the clock are motivational phrases, like “Blue collar nasty,” “Work, works!” and “Punch the Clock!”

Jeff Sobol, SDSU’s head of football performance, found the clock on eBay. It has been present at everything the team has done since Day 1 of winter workouts in January.

And there it was again on Day 1 of fall camp.

“Wanted it to be something that they can do to clear whatever they have going on and make it time to work and get better,” Sobol said. “True clock-in mentality. Don’t clock in if you’re not ready to work.”

There are those who would arch an eyebrow at the clock, which could be considered gimmicky to some.

Whatever it takes to be more mindful — more “intentional” as SDSU coach Sean Lewis says — following a 3-9 season that concluded with six straight losses.

The disappointing finish — Lewis has called it embarrassing — led the coach to alter the acronym on the second half of the “AztecFAST” moniker.

FAST originally stood for Fun, accountable, smart and tough. The “F” now stands for “focused.”

Why the change?

“When we have better focus, we’re going to win,” Lewis said, “and winning is fun.”

Added the coach: “When we say, ‘focus,’ that one word tells a whole story. … It’s the depth and direction of your time, effort and energy. So where is your time, where is your effort, where is your energy going? Where is it pointing to? How deep are you willing to go so that we don’t just know things at a surface level.”

The focus since January has featured three phases — winter strength and conditioning, spring practice and then summer conditioning.

Phase 4 began Wednesday morning, with the focus on football.

“It’s Christmas morning — let’s go play,” said Lewis, who noted, “It’s easy to have good energy on the first day. Guys came around, flew around. There were some explosive plays offensively. Turnovers defensively. A ton that we need to clean up, but install is as heavy as it’s ever been on our first day because of the access that we had to the guys over the summer.

“There wasn’t a ton of mental errors, just some things we need to refine from a technique standpoint for better consistency and execution.”

An impressive debut could be due in part to more offseason continuity. A year ago, Lewis juggled staff hires, transfer portal comings and goings and a hundred other tasks in the days and weeks after being hired to replace Brady Hoke.

“The bond of the team is a lot closer than last year,” said SDSU kicker Gabe Plascencia, voted preseason Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Year. “I feel like a lot more guys are bought in than last year. Guys are ready to go out there and win for the City of San Diego, not just win for themselves.”

The Aztecs lost games to Central Michigan, Washington State and New Mexico by a combined nine points.

SDSU junior edge rusher Trey White, voted preseason Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year, is among those who believe a more close-knit team will turn around the outcome of close games.

“We’ve done more things outside of football to get to know each other,” White said. “I feel like that focus and intent is there because you’re trying to fight for your brother and you care more for that brother now that you know him and know what he’s been through. …

“The intent and energy that we brought today, I felt like everyone was excited to be out here. Everybody was intentional in what they were doing. They paid more attention to detail. There were less mistakes out there on Day 1, which is good. We’ve got a lot to work on still, but I’m excited to see what happens.”

When he gazes out on the field, Lewis sees what he calls “a great collection of talent.” There is the matter now of molding the talent into a team, a team that needs to learn how to win.

“We’re in this really cool moment of the season where all eyes are on us after we’ve been working quietly in the dark for a very, very long time,” Lewis said. “But for the next 24 days, until we break camp, we get to exponentially get better because we get to kind of sequester ourselves in this football bubble and really get good at our craft.”

Notable

SDSU will have 18 practices over the next three weeks of fall camp before moving into “Game Week” mode on Aug. 23. That’s actually a Saturday rather than a Monday, the schedule moved up two days to align with the Aztecs opening the season on a Thursday, Aug. 28, against Stony Brook at Snapdragon Stadium.

• Redshirt freshman wide receiver Heath McRee walked into the football office at the start of the week and announced he was quitting the team. McRee, out of Texas’ Westlake High School, was not listed on the preseason two-deep. He did not appear in a game last season.

• Senior transfer wide receiver Myles Kitt-Denton (Northwestern State), listed as a first-team slot receiver, went down during practice and there was some concern among observers when he was carted off. Turns out he was cramping and should be fine. Running back Jordin Thomas, a true freshman from Tracy’s Lincoln High School, tweaked his right ankle, but looked to walk it off after getting the ankle wrapped by a trainer.

• Senior safety Jatavious Magee and redshirt freshman safety Prince Williams have moved to cornerback.