FAYETTEVILLE — Once upon a time, Arkansas native and then-Texas A&M head coach Paul “Bear” Bryant used to put his Aggies players - known as the Junction Boys - through off-campus practices that lasted from dawn to dusk in sweltering temperatures.
There were no NCAA regulations preventing it, so there was no thought of heatstroke or concussions – only getting your team as mentally and physically prepared as it could be for the season.
It’s quite different these days as player safety concerns resulted in the NCAA banning two-a-day practices on the field back before 2017 preseason camps began.