NATCHITOCHES – The first early wake-up call of spring camp did not dampen the energy as Northwestern State fopened spring practice Tuesday morning.
 
"It felt good to be back out here," McCorkle said. "I think everybody was excited to come out here and go to work. The guys had good energy. This was our first day going to the morning practice model and I think we're really going to like it. Think the guys looked good. They showed up to work. It was sharp."
 
The shift to a morning practice schedule is a first for the Demons under McCorkle, and while there will be some adjusting to be made for some, redshirt junior tight end Joseph Moreland, who has experience with early practices in his career, likes the move.
 
"It's definitely a little bit harder waking up, but I prefer a morning practice," Moreland said. "You get the rest of the day to eat and hydrate and more things. Instead of preparing for practice we get to recover from practice go through meetings and watch film to get ready for the next one."
 
Getting back on the field with helmets and shoulder pads was a welcome feeling for Moreland.
 
"It's been a couple of months without football so it was nice to get out here and run some routes with the boys and get into those team periods," Moreland said. "Love being out here and getting to throw the ball around again."
 
As expected on the first day of practice, there were some tightening of the screws that needs to be done, but easy to accomplish with the energy and effort the Demons showed on day one.
 
"I feel like we did a phenomenal job and had phenomenal effort," graduate defensive lineman Tyler Lewis said. "Obviously some things we have to clean up once we look at the film, but everybody was raring to go, excited, juiced up and ready to play football. I'm excited to see what's to come."
 
Moreland echoed those thoughts from the offensive side of the ball.
 
"We had a couple of those first-day mistakes that will easily get patched up, but our effort was great and the energy was there," Moreland said. "The biggest thing is going to be bringing that same energy every day. Our bodies today probably felt the best they're going to feel all spring ball."
 
The addition of 20 transfers, the majority of which coming on the defensive side has not only added depth to several position groups, but competition within them for spots on the depth chart.
 
"I see a lot of hungry guys and guys that are ready to work," Lewis said. "They're out here working and ready to take some spots from people. That's what we need. We need competition and everybody working as hard as they can so come season we have people fresh and ready to go with no drop off."
 
Beyond the first-day energy and effort on the field, McCorkle was most pleased with the arrangement of the coaching staff, seeing immediate impact on day one.
 
"One thing that I really like going into spring is our staff," McCorkle said. "I think we've done some things there that will really bolster our team and help ourselves out. We're all in this together and some of our self-scout and adjustments we've made have put us in a position to help our players better. You could see some of that come to life today."
 
Maurice Stewart has moved from the offensive side to coach cornerbacks, while new assistant Darren Jackson II will focus on safeties. Tyson Wachenheim remains NSU's special teams coordinator but will also coach the receivers. 
 
The Demons also added graduate assistant Luke Handy on defense and volunteer assistant Alex Light, a former player for McCorkle during his time at Richmond, to help with the offensive line.
 
"Day one always has that good juice because everybody is excited to get going but we have to back it up with a good Thursday and Friday before the break," McCorkle said. 
 
NSU will practice on Thursday and Friday to close the first week before the university's Spring/Easter Break from March 30 through April 4.