NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State football team got an unscheduled day off Monday, with new head coach Brad Laird opting to allow his players to focus soley on their academic pursuits during the first day of the fall semester on campus.
 
A scheduled afternoon practice was scrapped so the Demons could get rolling toward extending the string of academic success in recent years, with a steadily-rising NCAA Academic Progress Rate that two years ago led the Southland Conference, and a team grade point average almost at the 3.0 mark.
 
"That's the most important thing for us today, making sure we're squared away, being where we're supposed to be, and kicking off the academic year the right way," said Laird. "We'll wrap up the day with an academic meeting after supper, then get back into football Tuesday."
 
NSU will stage a 4 p.m. workout Tuesday, then go through the paces of a mock game, with no tackling or purposeful contact, at 6 o'clock Wednesday evening in Turpin Stadium.
 
"We'll cover all the different situations, the organizational part, special teams getting on and off the field," said Laird. "We'll then really get going on Texas A&M on Thursday and Friday before we take the day off Saturday. Sunday, we'll have what would be our normal Tuesday game week practice and get on the track toward gameday."
 
The Demons kick off the season Thursday, Aug. 30, in a 7:30 contest at College Station carried on the SEC Network.
 
While the team went through academic meetings Sunday afternoon, the coaches also briefly reviewed film of Saturday's second intrasquad game of preseason camp.
 
"There were a lot of positives, and of course, plenty we need to improve upon," said Laird. "We saw a lot of progress in all three phases from the first game on the previous Saturday to last Saturday. We covered different situations that will probably come up this season, and that was good for us."
 
Laird said the team's depth chart is rounding into form. Improvements noted in Saturday's competition were led by three position groups, he said.
 
"The safeties made a jump during the past week. The running backs ran hard, and you saw some explosive plays in the running game, which starts up front with the offensive line," said Laird.
 
NSU's depth chart will likely be touched upon by Laird Thursday when he is the featured speaker at the annual Walk On's Independence Bowl/NSU Kickoff Luncheon in Shreveport at Superior's Steakhouse at the corner of Line Avenue and Pierremont Road.