Ithaca football returns to practice

Last week, Ithaca College football returned to practice under new protocols. The fall season was, of course, canceled due to COVID-19, and the team wasn’t even able to practice with Ithaca’s decision to shift to remote learning last fall.

There are no games on the schedule for now, but the Bombers are looking to make up for lost time on the practice field. Head coach Dan Swanstrom can feel the excitement from his players.

“We’re really, really excited,” Swanstrom said. “It feels like it’s been way too long. There’s a lot of energy within the team. It’s made things a lot better since we decided to come back and have made that commitment. I’ll tell you what, there’s a little more energy when I wake up in the morning over this past month.”

What the team can do is limited due to protocols, and Swanstrom has made his adjustments. He described his plan for the team this year.

“For the first few weeks, it’ll be just kind of a build-up with running and conditioning and some position drills,” he said. “We won’t even think about crossing over within 6 feet of the physical distance as we practice and train. We just want to take things very slow. We want to get used to the protocols and what it takes for us to practice. We want to do everything we can to make sure that we stay together for this whole semester.”

Prior to his time as the head coach of Ithaca College, Swanstrom was the quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Pennsylvania. He’ll be using that Division I experience to craft his plan for the entirety of the spring.

“I’m very confident about playing next fall,” he said. “I do feel very confident. So, a lot of my focus is building this team for the fall of 2021. If we do get the opportunity to play teams, it will be in a limited capacity, and it wouldn’t be like we’re going to be playing a full season. It’d be cherry-picking a game here, a game there. To me, it would just be like a true Division I spring. In a Division I spring, you get 15 practices and the spring game.”

Swanstrom and the Bombers coaching staff did not let the downtime go to waste. They put a considerable amount of effort into building the teams of the future.

“We spent more time recruiting than we ever had,” he said. “We were more national than we’ve ever been. Our staff has worked very hard to bring recruits to the table. We’ve recruited differently than we ever have, certainly with what we’re able to do and what we can do. But as a staff, we’ve had more time to focus on recruiting.”

Swanstrom also discussed how he improved as a coach during the extended period of time away from the field, which sparked changes that would not have come otherwise.

“I’ve gotten a lot better technology,” Swanstrom said. “That would be the biggest takeaway for me is just how we’ve used technology in recruiting and staying connected with our team. It was something that we weren’t forced to do before. Zoom has allowed me to consistently meet with our players. The ability to use that technology to meet with families and recruits. The ability for us to engage and interact would probably be the biggest takeaway.”

Another thing that changed for Swanstrom during the COVID-19 pandemic is his strategy of how he recruits players to Ithaca College. Rather than just selling players on the football team, he’s learned more about the school itself and the other benefits Ithaca has to offer to student-athletes.

“We learned more and more about the deeper value of the school that we work at, and how to present that to families and the students that we’re recruiting to Ithaca,” Swanstrom said. “We have a deeper understanding of everything that’s offered at Ithaca College. We’ve helped foster and develop relationships across campus as we have volunteers all over campus. Anything we could do to help our school through these just uncharted times.”

The last season for Ithaca football was one to remember. While they were unable to win the Liberty League Conference, players were able to experience what it’s like to play in an NFL stadium. Whether or not they are able to get a game in this spring, all eyes are focused on this fall for the Bombers.