CONWAY, Ark. – Central Arkansas football is officially under way, with day one of Fall Camp now in the books. The Bears practiced for three hours under the morning sun, but fought through with good energy and attitude.
 
"I think we attacked at a high rate of speed, effort was good, a lot of retention from spring and summer. I think that's what you're looking for as a coach, not having to coach a lot of x's and o's, details," Head coach Nathan Brown said afterwards. "I'm very pleased with the way we attacked, it's hot out here. I don't care if you start at 8 in the morning or 3 in the afternoon, it's July, it's going to be warm."
 
The Bears have 20 days of practice in preparation for the fall opener against Missouri, and spent the first morning moving well and setting the bar high.
 
"We practiced well, now we have to get in the film room, focus in walk-throughs, we want to see that improvement from day one to day two," Brown added.
 
One of the bigger stories entering the season is the quarterback battle; with the departure of Will McElvain, the Bears have an exciting quarterback room with a lot of potential outcomes. Incumbent backup Austin Myers took first team reps on Wednesday, with Middle Tennessee transfer Luther Richesson taking snaps with the second team.
 
"Honestly, Austin, Luther, Caleb Koger, those are kind of the three right now. Jack Patterson, redshirt freshman, he's going to be a good player here, but I didn't think we made great decisions today," Brown said of the quarterback room. "I've got high expectations for that room, obviously being in that room fulltime now, calling plays, I've got a vested interest in what each day holds. We'll improve though, we're just a little green, but every guy in that room has talent."
 
Coach Brown is taking over play calling duties this season, with the departure of offensive coordinator Ken Collums, and says he is excited about the added intensity with the new responsibilities.
 
"I'm feeling the head coaching duties, obviously. But a little more intense with the day to day operations, practice scripts, everything's going through my lips, my lens now. That's not to pat myself on the back, we've got a great offensive coaching staff that have bought into our scheme," Brown continued. "But yeah, definitely more intense for me, and that's great, it feels good to do it. We've had a lot of success here, I've run the offense before, and I'm looking forward to the opportunity with these guys.
 
The media also spoke with junior quarterback Austin Myers after practice, evaluating where the Vilonia native felt after the first day in helmets.
 
"It's different (without McElvain), but we've got a really good quarterback room, a lot of guys competing for that job, and that breeds success when you've got guys behind you that are pushing you to get better. I've never felt better throwing the ball, this summer was great," Myers added. "Competition breeds success, I don't want guys behind me that just give me the job, I want them to push me to be better every day. If you have that at every position, you're going to have a successful football team.
 
"When you get to hear from the head guy directly, that's different. He's in every meeting we have, and he played here, he was a great quarterback at UCA, so for him to come full circle to calling plays again, it gives us a lot of encouragement," Myers said of the playcalling. "To see how the offense has worked in the past when he was offensive coordinator, the success they've had, that's really awesome, we can do something special."
 
The Bears will continue camp for the next three weeks, adding in a couple of scrimmages to get a full sense of where the team is heading into the season. The first full scrimmage is set for August 9^th.