Coach Singletary running training camp in Texas
SAN ANTONIO — The unknown has a way of making even the steadiest hand at least a little nervous.
The Memphis Express – one of eight teams that make up the Alliance of American Football, a new professional league set to kick off its inaugural season in February – are learning few are immune to the butterflies that accompany a venture like this one.
Led by Hall of Famer Mike Singletary, whose only other head coaching experience came with the San Francisco 49ers over parts of three seasons (2008-10), the Express converged on San Antonio in early January for training camp where they will spend the next threeplus weeks. Since their arrival, the players’ days and nights have been spent getting acquainted – both with one another as well as the coaching staff and its system – getting in shape and getting set to make the AAF a lasting, viable avenue for NFL hopefuls.
Right now, no one knows what to expect. But Memphis is embracing it.
“The whole thing’s gonna be a process,” Express quarterback Christian Hackenberg said. “We’ve got a bunch of guys that have come from all over the place. We’re installing an offense. I mean, we had a mini camp (in December), but just since then we’ve added eight new receivers and tight ends.
“So this whole thing is going to be a bit of a process and we understand that.”
On Jan. 7, Memphis spent more than two hours on the football field at Cornerstone Christian, where former LSU receiver Abram Booty is currently the head coach. The practice session mirrored most: stretching, a brief walkthrough, position drills, 7-on-7s, a full team period followed by an hour’s worth of weight lifting. Hackenberg (a secondround draft pick of the New York Jets in 2016), former LSU standout and Titans starter (pre-marcus Mariota) Zach Mettenberger, Troy Cook (Ut-martin) and Brandon Silvers (Troy) make up the quarterback group, which headlines the 76 players invited to camp. That number will be pared down to 55 before the season gets under way on Feb. 10, when the Express travels to face the Birmingham Iron at 1 p.m. in the season opener for both teams.
The Express brought four running backs — Kenny Hilliard (son of former New Orleans Saints pro bowler Dalton Hilliard), Rajion Neal (Tennessee), Antonio Andrews (WKU) and Terrance Magee (LSU) — to camp. The 27-yearold Hilliard, who played with Mettenberger and Magee at LSU, spent time in the Houston Texans and Washington Redskins organizations. Since being waived by the Redskins, he has spent the past nine months preparing for whatever opportunity to continue his career came next.
“I’m glad to be back playing the game I love and desire,” Hilliard said. “So far, the league’s been great. I like the way they’re doing things. They’re treating us just like the NFL.”
That sense of optimism has been common among the majority of players and coaches since training camp began.
“The energy’s been great,” Singletary said. “The attitude’s been great.”
But the legendary Chicago Bears linebacker isn’t ignoring that there’s acres of uncharted territory ahead for everyone involved. Which is part of the reason he’s pushing the Express as hard as he is so early in camp.
“Of course, for coaches, they’re never learning fast enough,” he said. “We’re working our tails off to hurry up and install everything and make sure they’ve got it. We’re putting an extra load on the guys this week (because) I want to try and find out which guys are courageous enough to do what we need them to do.
“We know it’s tough. We know we’re adding an extra burden on them. But every training camp in America is hurried. We just need to know at the end of this week and have a pretty good feel for, ‘This guy can help us. This guy can’t.’ Or, ‘we might need to replace this or that.’ That’s what we want this week.”