The McNeese State football team announced its schedule for fall camp Monday morning, providing yet another sign that football season is right around the corner. Players will report Tuesday, Aug. 1, before they begin practice on Aug. 2 at 9 a.m. 

This year the Cowboys will practice in the mornings in an effort to maximize the amount of time to make a practice up if weather intervenes. 

McNeese head coach Lance Guidry said that with two-a-days now disallowed, practice time during the camp is as valuable as ever. 

“We’re going to go in the mornings, that way if we get rained out in the mornings we can go in the evenings,” Guidry said. “Last year we had problems with lightning delays in the evening.

“You can’t do two-a-days at all anymore, so if you miss a night practice you can’t come back the next day and double up. So we’re going to take to chances at it everyday.”

A notable change in this year’s procedure is that all practices are closed to the public. The Cowboys will hold two scrimmages during the camp in which fans and media will be able to watch the Cowboys. 

The first will take place at 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12, at Cowboy Stadium, and the second will be a week later at 9:45 a.m. Aug. 19 on the A.I. Ratcliff Practice Fields. 

McNeese sports information director and assistant athletics director Matthew Bonnette cited a couple of reasons why the program decided to ban public attendance from future practices.

“Safety is our number one issue, especially out at the practice field,” Bonnette said. “There are no barriers keeping fans off the sideline, and we ran into some issues during spring ball with some fans getting really close to the field. We don’t have the resources to put up a barricade.” 

Bonnette also pointed to social media and the program’s inability to regulate what information leaves practice as a primary reason for the fan ban. 

“Social media is something you have to worry about,” he said. “Someone might come in and not think they’re doing any harm by shooting video on the sideline and posting it. Now we have to worry about if someone is getting some of our plays or schemes.”

Bonnette did not rule out the possibility of Guidry relaxing this rule as the season progressed. As for now, fans will not be allowed to attend practice for the foreseeable future.