Andalusia football coach Brian Seymore said Friday he has been “very, very pleased” with how the first week of fall practice has turned out.

“I don’t know if that’s experience because there are so many things out there, like the heat can be an issue, and the outside distractions and every thing that’s going on,” he said. “Our kids have been really focused, and have great attitudes. I like the work ethic they’re showing. They’re coming up, and working through the heat.

“It’s like they know what we’re doing,” he said. “They understand the schemes, and how practice is going to run. Knock on wood, it’s been four positive days of football.”

Battling the intense August heat, the Bulldogs spent Monday through Wednesday in shorts and jerseys, which Seymore said has been that way throughout the summer. the team switched to full pads at Thursday’s practice.

The Bulldogs will start their regular season on the road in Ozark against Carroll on Aug. 27.

He said during practice, each position splits up, and goes through drills to make each player better.

At practice, Seymore said he has noticed the defense seems to be responding well to the new coaches on the staff.

“Our biggest off-season thing we were concerned about was our defense,” he said. “With the addition of coach (Ernie) Ragland (defensive line), coach (Matt) Johnson (linebackers) and coach (Will) Kammack (defensive backs). They’ve hit really along with coach (Marshall) Locke .

“They’ve really meshed together well,” he said.”I’ve really seen a good attitude from our defensive players — running through the football and being aggressive. Like I said, it’s a good thing to see, a lot of chemistry between the coaching staff and the players.”

Seymore said, also, the offense is clicking on all cylinders.

“We’ve got some depth,” he said. “With four returning starters on the offensive line. The quarterbacks that are healthy — Adam (Zelensky), Deion (Akins) and C.P. (Rogers).

“They’ve got an understanding of what we want to accomplish,” he said. “I’ve been really happy with the tempo at practice. We told our kids if we can practice two hard hours at full speed, then we’ll get out of here. Our kids have responded and stepped up to the challenge.”