It has been a busy and intense offseason for the Alpena High School football program.

Head Coach Aaron Sims has one year under his belt with the Wildcats and throughout the offseason, Sims has done his best to make sure his team would be ready to take the next step forward this year.

Since Alpena’s 2016 finale, Sims has been counting down the days until the Wildcats opening game against Escanaba in 18 days.

The intensity and confidence built throughout the offseason was on full display in Alpena’s first day of practice.

“It feels really good to be out here. It’s been a long countdown as far as getting to this point and I feel like it’s a relief to get her tot his point because we have been working on it for so long and I feel like the kids feel that way as well,” Sims said. “It feels nice to get out here and knock off some of the rust. We had a few camps a couple weeks ago so it’s not like we’re starting from scratch and that’s the big thing with this group right now, this is the first time in a long time where they don’t have re-learn a bunch of stuff and that’s good.”

The first few days, the team is simply working on the basics. Everything that may be skipped over fast throughout the first days of non-contact drills is not as the team hits on all of the little things from alignments, proper tackling and other basic fundamentals.

“I’ve like what I’ve seen all summer. We are much more athletic than we were last year. We have a lot more confidence and that’s a big thing. I don’t want to say there’s a swagger about us because we haven’t earned that yet and the confidence does need to translate on the field Friday nights, but it is definitely a good start,” Sims said. “We talk a lot more and it’s good to see the guys do that. It’s easy to see that there has been a lot of time invested into making ourselves better individually and as a whole. The kids know that they are faster and stronger than they were last year and they are all feeling good.”

The hard work in the offseason along with the talent that Alpena has coming back has the Wildcats excited to get the new season underway. The first day of practice also marked the first time in five years that they began an August practice with a second year head coach. For the first time in a long time, the Wildcats have some stability along with a growing confidence that could possibly lead to success.

“We put in a lot of time, went all over to different camps and our attitudes have changed and that is a very telling thing for us. We are getting rid of some of the bad habits that we had from last season and that’s also a good thing,” Sims said. “I’m happy with where we are on the first day. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done from now until our first game, but I think we are all confident heading in and that’s nice to see.”

Jonny Zawacki can be reached via email at jzawacki@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5690.