HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana football team will begin its preparations for the 2019 season when fall camp opens on Wednesday.
 
The Lions will practice daily beginning Wednesday at 9 a.m. All practices during fall camp, which runs through Aug. 20, will be at 9 a.m. with the exception of Sunday practices, which will be held at 3:30 p.m.
 
Southeastern features a solid veteran corps, but with nearly 40 newcomers on the 2019 roster entering their first fall camp in Hammond, Lion second-year head coach Frank Scelfo and his staff will have lots of new talent to acclimate to the program's expectations.
 
"We've spent a lot of time this offseason developing a positive culture within our program and we want to see that show during fall camp," Scelfo commented. "We're looking for consistency across the board. We can't have a really good day followed by a really bad day. We want the effort and execution to be steady and consistent day in and day out. We're excited about where we are from a depth standpoint and we're expecting a high level of competition at every position."
 
On the offensive side, quarterback Chason Virgil returns after he led the Southland with 3,034 passing yards as a junior and heads into his senior season with a wealth of receiving weapons at his disposal, led by All-Southland returners Juwan Petit-Frere and Bransen Schwebel, as well as veterans CJ Turner, Austin Mitchell and Lorenzo Nunez.
 
The Lion offense will also benefit from a renewed rushing attack led by Devonte Williams and Marcus Cooper. Returning starters Pat Allen, Drew Jones and Rendon Miles-Character are the leaders of the Southeastern offense.
 
Senior defensive end Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund, who led SLU with 10 tackles for loss and six sacks as a junior, is one of two All-Southland returners on a young Lion defense, along with senior safety Xavier Lewis, who finished with 66 tackles, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries in his debut season in Hammond. Ferlando Jordan, Dejion Lynch, Tre' Spann, Fred Brown, Ronald Cherry III, Tainano Gailua and Mike Mason, among others, are the other most experienced defenders returning in 2019.
 
Adeyemi-Berglund and Lewis lead a veteran corps that will be surrounded by many new faces on their side of the ball, including new defensive coordinator Lance Guidry, most recently the head coach at league foe McNeese.
 
Southeastern season ticket holders are invited to the annual Season Ticket Party on Aug. 17 at 11 a.m. in the Victory Club. The event is open to SLU Football season ticket holders only.
 
The Lions open the 2019 campaign at home, hosting Jacksonville State on Thursday, Aug. 29 at 7 p.m. in Strawberry Stadium.
 
2019 Fall Camp Schedule
Wednesday, July 31 – 9 a.m.
Thursday, August 1 – 9 a.m.
Friday, August 2 – 9 a.m.
Saturday, August 3 – 9 a.m.
Sunday, August 4 – 3:30 p.m.
Monday, August 5 – 9 a.m.
Tuesday, August 6 – 9 a.m.
Wednesday, August 7 – 9 a.m.
Thursday, August 8 – 9 a.m.
Friday, August 9 – 9 a.m.
Saturday, August 10 – 9 a.m.
Sunday, August 11 – 3:30 p.m.
Monday, August 12 – 9 a.m.
Tuesday, August 13 – 9 a.m.
Wednesday, August 14 – 9 a.m.
Thursday, August 15 – 9 a.m.
Friday, August 16 – 9 a.m.
Saturday, August 17 – 9 a.m. / 11 a.m. – Season Ticket Party
Sunday, August 18 – 3:30 p.m.
Monday, August 19 – 9 a.m.
Tuesday, August 20 – 9 a.m.
Saturday, August 24 – 1 p.m. – Media Day
 
SEASON TICKETS
For season ticket information, please contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.LionSports.net/tickets.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Football, follow @SLUFootball and @Coach_Scelfo on Twitter, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.
 
TOUCHDOWN CLUB/S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the football program are encouraged to join the Touchdown Club. Lion football alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
 
All membership fees and donations to both the Touchdown Club and S Club (football) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern football program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
 
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics instituted a clear bag policy for all ticketed events, effective with the start of the 2018 football season. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/clear.