Cullowhee, N.C. – Greeted by overcast but muggy conditions, Western Carolina football hit the gridiron for the first official practice session of the 2025 preseason on Wednesday morning, on campus at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field. Practice concluded underneath brilliant sunshine with temperatures on the artificial surface rising throughout the split morning workouts adding to the on-field sauna of early preseason practice.
 
"It was a good day," said Western Carolina head football coach Kerwin Bell, who embarks on his fifth season at the helm in Cullowhee. "We came out here (on the first day) with a good attitude to go get better and a mindset to not miss out on today's opportunity to practice. And overall, I think that we did that."
 
Following Wednesday's workout, Bell stressed the importance of summer access and workouts for his student-athletes, which made Wednesday's first day of practice run more smoothly and efficiently.
 
"We got a lot done this summer – June and July were really good months for us. We went through the installation of our offense, defense, and some special teams," said Bell. "It felt good today coming out where the majority of our roster has gotten the concepts of our base systems, and that's good to see. I thought overall, it was a good, efficient practice for the first one."
 
For a second straight season, Bell and his coaching staff added an early preseason wrinkle. The team is essentially divided into two squads working out with staggered practice times through the first few days of fall camp. One squad, which opened on the turf first thing on Wednesday morning, consists of most of the returning players, while the second unit is made up of mostly newcomers to Cullowhee.
 
After the returners unit hit the field first thing on Wednesday morning, they were joined by the second unit around the midpoint of the squad's first team workout, with the middle sessions including various special teams drills. After completing its two-hour session, the returners hit the showers, while the coaches continued to work more closely with the newcomers.
 
"With these two helmet days, you just want to get a lot of reps, especially for your young kids. You want to see them – you've watched them on film, you've recruited them, some new portal guys. We just want to get those guys a lot of reps early over our first two days. Get them acclimated and allow us to get our eyes on them in smaller groups and in person," Bell said.
 
Across the field, WCU saw numerous players step up into various roles during the practice session as the preseason shakedown began. Six quarterbacks split reps on the day with Taron Dickens and Jordan Martin-Durham seeing much of the work early, while four QBs – redshirt sophomore Bennett Judy, redshirt freshman Isaac Lee, transfer junior Jack Benson, and true freshman Ian Grissom – finished the practice in the session with the newcomers. All told, 55 of the over 100 dressed out on Wednesday morning were not a part of the program in the 2024 season.
 
The schedule for the remainder of the day includes mandatory check-ins at the on-campus dining hall, treatments with the WCU Sports Medicine staff, and afternoon meetings that include film breakdowns of the morning practice.
   
Western Carolina continues its preseason practice on Thursday morning with another 8:30 a.m. start time as the newcomers will hit the turf first to be joined by the returners in a flip of Wednesday's schedule. A reminder that WCU's preseason football practices are open to the public. It is respectfully requested, though, that spectators observe from the stadium seating area and avoid being either on the field or on the sidelines for safety. Also, please be aware of the construction fencing around the West side of the stadium, which will limit access points as construction on the Western Skybox and Whitmire West projects continues this summer and into the fall season. Practice times are subject to change.

Western Carolina opens the season at home, under the lights on Labor Day Weekend against Gardner-Webb on Saturday, Aug. 30. It's the first season-opening home game for the Catamounts since 2021 in Kerwin Bell's first season in Cullowhee, which also represented WCU's most recent night game at Whitmire Stadium.
 
Season tickets for all six home games, along with single-game tickets and gameday parking for each of WCU's home dates, are currently on sale through the Catamount Athletics Ticket Office on the first floor of the Ramsey Center, by phone at (828) 227-2401, or online at CatamountSports.com/BuyTickets.
 
2025 Catamount Football Preseason Practice Schedule:
Thurs., July 31 – Practice #2 – 8:30 am – 11:00 am (helmets only)
Fri., Aug. 1 – Practice #3 – 8:30 am – 11:00 am (uppers)
Sat., Aug. 2 – Practice #4 – 8:30 am – 11:00 am (uppers)
Sun., Aug. 3 – No Practice (Off Day – Film)
Mon., Aug. 4 – Practice #5 – 8:30 am – 11:00 am (uppers)
Tues., Aug. 5 – Practice #6 – 8:30 am – 11:00 am (full pads)
Wed., Aug. 6 – Practice #7 – 8:30 am – 11:00 am (uppers)
Thurs., Aug. 7 – No Practice (Off Day – Film)
Fri., Aug. 8 – Practice #8 – 8:30 am – 11:00 am (uppers)
Sat., Aug. 9 – Practice #9 – 9:00 am – 11:00 am (scrimmage, full pads)
Sun., Aug. 10 – Team Photo Day – 2 pm; Practice #10 – 3 pm – 5 pm (helmets only)
Mon., Aug. 11 – Practice #11 – 8:30 am – 11:00 am (full pads)
Tues., Aug. 12 – Practice #12 – 8:30 am – 11:00 am (uppers)
Wed., Aug. 13 – Practice #13 – 8:30 am – 11:00 am (full pads)
Thurs., Aug. 14 – No Practice (Off Day – Film)
Fri., Aug. 15 – Practice #14 – 8:30 am – 11:00 am (helmets only)
Fri., Aug. 15 – WCU Freshman Student Convocation
Sat., Aug. 16 – Practice #15 – 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm (scrimmage, full – student day)
Sun., Aug 17 – Athletics Welcome Back Event at Catamount Soccer – 12:30 pm
Sun. Aug. 17 – Catamount Football Team Building Event – 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Mon., Aug. 18 – First Day of Classes at WCU – No Practice (Off-Day)
Tues., Aug. 19 – Begins in-season practice schedule – 4:30 pm
 
Keep track of everything related to Catamount football and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (FB.com/CatamountSports, FB.com/WesternCarolinaFootball), Twitter (@catamounts, @CatamountsFB), and Instagram (wcu_catamounts, catamountsfb).
 
Important Dates in Catamount Athletics & Catamount Football:
Thurs., July 31 – Catamount Volleyball begins 2025 practice
Tues., Aug. 5 – Catamount Soccer vs. Charleston Southern (Exhibition), 4 p.m.
Fri., Aug. 8 – Catamount Soccer vs. Queens University (Exhibition) – 6 p.m.
Thurs., Aug. 14 – Catamount Football Ladies Night – Whitmire Stadium – 5 p.m.
Thurs., Aug. 14 – Catamount Soccer vs. Appalachian State (Season Opener) – 6 p.m.
Sun., Aug. 17 – Catamount Soccer vs. High Point – 1 p.m.
Fri., Aug. 22 – Catamount Volleyball vs. UNC Pembroke (Exhibition) – 6 p.m.
Sat., Aug. 30 – Catamount Football vs. Gardner-Webb – 6 p.m. (Postgame Fireworks)
Sun., Aug. 31 – Catamount Soccer vs. Tennessee (First Bank Beach Night) – 6 p.m.
Tues., Sept. 9 – Catamount Volleyball vs. UNC Asheville (First Bank Beach Night) – 6 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 12 – The Bob Waters Memorial Golf Tournament – Sequoyah National in Cherokee, N.C.
Sat., Sept. 13 – Catamount Football vs. Elon – 2:30 p.m. (White Out Whitmire! Wear White!)