WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ-  The twenty-fifth season of Monmouth University Football officially began today when the Hawks started up with practice one on Thursday afternoon.

With the finishing touches being put on the brand new Monmouth Stadium in the background, redshirt junior Kenji Bahar (Baltimore, NJ/Calvert Hall) led the Monmouth offense onto the field.
 
PRACTICE #1 SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE
- MonmouthHawks.com Photo Gallery
- Monmouth Football Facebook Page – Video Interview with Coach Callahan and Kenji Bahar
-Twitter (@MUHAWKSFB) Sites & Sounds of Day One video
-Instagram (@MUHAWKSFB) Photo Gallery + Instagram Story
-Snapchat (MUHAWKS) A look into today's practice

2017 Season Notes

• Monmouth returns eight starters on offense and six starters on defense
• The Hawks return all five starters on the offensive line
• The Monmouth secondary returns every starter and is comprised of seven players entering their final year of eligibility
• At last night's team meeting, Head Coach Kevin Callahan announced that seniors Mike Basile (Brick, NJ) and Alex Thompson (Lawnside, NJ) will serve as captains this season who may be supplemented with game captains
• Basile was named Preseason All-American by STATS Inc earlier this week
• Callahan, who has coached every second of Monmouth football, is the fourth longest tenured coach in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS)

Quotes

Coach Kevin Callahan on the first day of practice
"It was a great first day out here, I really like the energy that the guys have brought to the field. There seemed to be a tremendous amount carry over from what we did in spring practice and what they worked on all summer. The guy's really showed a lot of hustle and movement here. There is always going to be mistakes in the first day and some communication issues that you need to iron out but for the most part I thought it was very good, very positive."

Coach Kevin Callahan on the play of the freshmen players
"For the younger guys it's their first experience played college football. There is a lot going through their head right now, we've installed quite a bit on both sides of the ball and there's some confusion and chaos at the times out here. Their effort and athleticism is obvious and I know they are going to do very well."

Callahan on practicing out in front of the stadium as construction nears completion
"There's a lot of excitement to be out here practicing in front of the stadium in an almost finished state. The general structure is finished and they are just doing some detail work and I think that excites all the guys knowing that in exactly a month will be opening up to the season in this stadium."

Redshirt Junior Quarterback Kenji Bahar on today's practice
"First day was great. It was the first day so obviously there were some mistakes but the intensity was there by both defense and offense. Guys were running around making plays, it was great."
 
Bahar on working during the summer with some of the offense
"Me and the receivers and the tight ends got together and ran routes on air. We had a transfer and a couple young guys coming in so that definitely helped the young guys with signals. The first day we were right on it with signals so not everyone was all over the place."

EXTERNAL MEDIA LINKS
Kessler Stadium Nears Completion as Monmouth Football Opens Training Camp - Asbury Park Press

UP NEXT
Monmouth is back on the field tomorrow at 3 PM for the second practice of 2017.
Follow Monmouth Football on twitter and Instagram @MUHawksFB