Question for people who have played or coached college football.

Bielema went more toward easy practices this season until the last few weeks I think and then changed things up. He did for a game a couple weeks ago anyways. I think he used to go hard at the end of the week before this season.

IMO conditioning is key more than contact. It's a fine line really. When I was 18-22 I didn't need a ton of rest.

Played didn't coach.

I'd say summer conditioning is important and changing things up during the season like giving the team a day off after a tough game.

You need a balance. Have to work on sound fundamental tackling, blocking, etc as a team. That requires contact.

You also need to avoid contact as much as possible to avoid injuries. Non-contact periods of practice can include conditioning drills, working with just shells on, and always fundamentals.

Finding the balance between the two is key. Too much of anything will leave the team sluggish and too little will make them look like A&M's defense.

In the end, the goal is to have your players instinctively do their job without hesitation and with as little mistakes as possible. Practice schedules often change mid-season based on what the team needs at that moment.

Practices arent nearly as difficult as they were in the early to mid 1960s when most coaches made players run drills and then run more....there wasnt no horseshite rules about the hours you could practice either.

The tough survived.