In his 11th season as Lampasas High School’s head football coach, Troy Rogers said he rarely has seen a better first day of practice than the one he watched Monday.
After a busy offseason, the Badgers were ready to kick off the new season with conditioning tests before hitting the field to install new offensive and defensive schemes.
Although it has been a strong start, Rogers knows players and coaches need to remain hungry.
“It was one of the better first days we had with retention and guys understanding,” Rogers said. “If you look at yesterday [Monday] and what it is going to look like in two months – completely different. But on the first day, I was pleased with how guys retained information and bounced around.”
With only five returning starters last season, this year the Badgers are bringing back six on each side of the ball. Despite having more experience, Rogers emphasized that coaches still have to integrate younger offensive weapons at running back and wide receiver.
Through the offseason, the Badgers have been able to build chemistry in these skill positions. LHS took full advantage of its time allowed by UIL for sports-specific practice and also honed skills in 7-on-7 play. Although those practices take place without pads and contact, Rogers knows it was time well spent.
“It’s all T-shirt and shorts, but you are getting a lot of quality reps,” he said. “To me, we use it as a lot of individual technique stuff. So it’s coaches getting to coach their positions, not a lot of team, so you are getting to coach those guys up on the intricacies of their position.”
The Badgers opened camp with conditioning tests for sophomores, juniors and seniors that consisted of 16 110-yard runs, requiring skill players to complete them in 16 seconds and linemen in 22 seconds.
In the early days of practice, conditioning is a strong focus for Rogers. Having an offense capable of pushing the tempo and a defense rallying to the football will be keys to this season’s success. Conditioning will remain a focus until the start of school, the coach noted.
Even when the Badgers aren’t getting extra sprints in, the practice pace always remains the same: full speed.
“We want practices to be way harder and faster than games,” Rogers said. “We want that brain to slow down in games and be like, ‘OK, I actually have time in between plays.’ Where right now, we are like ‘Go, go, go, go,’ so they have to communicate and talk with each other.”
After four days of no contact, the Badgers are popping pads for the first time today. Rogers said he still has a few things to figure out before a scrimmage next Friday at home against Legacy Ranch at 6:30 p.m. The head coach said no position is set in stone, with every job remaining open for the taking.
“We have position charts; we don’t have depth charts,” he said. “We are putting guys into the position they can best help us.
“It is really hard, especially some of those positions – you don’t know what your depth is until you put pads on,” Rogers said. “A lot of guys can look good in the weight room and run really fast, but football is a different beast. You have to be able to do it with pads on.”
As the competition for playing time continues, the Badgers are united under this year’s motto: HEART – an acronym for hustle, effort, attitude, resilience and team. The slogan was chosen by players during the team’s annual “Badger Maker” boot camp in the spring.
After the camp, players elected their leadership council heading into the 2026 season. It consists of Jonathan Bowling, Cayhil Isom, Brody Hilgenberg, Tripp Stinnett, Maxx Osburn and Brayden Crook – all seniors.
If the Badgers are to improve on last season’s 9-3 record, upperclassmen pushing their peers will be key.
“We lean on those guys. I am big on player-led teams,” Rogers said. “We really try to put it on those guys to lead and do those things.”