ladies' football clinic

on july 21st, mom, robyn, and i attended the mississippi state ladies' football clinic (see video recap here). mom and i had been once before a few years ago, but this was robyn's first time. we had such a great time! it was a full day of mississippi state football (with a few other more girly things sprinkled throughout)-- the day started off in the palmerio center for check-in. there was plenty to keep us occupied between the egg bowl trophy, 2011 egg bowl on the big screen, a line of football players signing autograhs, and finally ending with a picture with coach mullen himself.

mom and me with coach mullen, robyn and me with the golden egg, mom and me with megan mullen

football players signing autographs, msu football coaching staff, msu football coaching staff wives, msu football players

the first part of the day included talks from coach knox (running backs) about offense and from coach smith (cornerbacks) about defense. their talks included powerpoint slides and game tapes. football players modeled the uniforms, and we even had a fashion show featuring game day attire. hayes from the flower company (who also did the flowers for my wedding) showed us how to make tailgating centerpieces. and there were lots of giveaways- see, not all football! a football official explained a little about what the referees do during the game, and the coach balis (strength) gave us a rundown on how the players get into the best shape. my favorite part was Q&A with the coaches' wives.  

coach knox going over how we beat TSUN at the egg bowl

after a great lunch, we hit the indoor practice fields for some football drills. coach balis warmed us up before we rotated through seven 8-minute drills. coach hevesy taught us how to get into a three-point stance. coach mirando taught us the proper way to catch a football. coach mullen taught us how to be a quarterback and throw the football. coach wilson taught us how to block. coach knox taught us how to carry the football. coach collins taught us how to tackle. coach smith taught us how to cause fumbles. i'm really sad i don't have any pictures from this part of the day, but, as you can imagine, it was a very hands-on part of the day!

coach koenning took us on a bus tour of campus and walked us through the facilities, locker room, msu players in the nfl, lobby of templeton athletic academic center. 

after we toured the buildings, the bus dropped us off at the junction to experience what game day is like for the football players. we were greeted with cowbells and high fives at the dawg walk before we headed into the locker rooms. coach mullen gave us a rundown on what the pre-game routine and then did it with us!

dawg walk, locker room, "bulldog creed" that every player touches before heading out on to the field

they corralled us all right outside of the locker room, played a pre-game video on the jumbotron above us, and then dan led us out through the smoke! it was pretty cool to see what the players see right before the game!

 we had such a great time seeing some behind the scenes action! nothing better to get us pumped for football season! go dawgs!