Football's First Moving Day Has Arrived

TROY, Ala. – Troy's campus will be a bustle of activity Saturday, with students moving into their dorm rooms in advance of Wednesday's opening day of classes. A few hundred yards away inside Veterans Memorial Stadium, Troy Football will be having its own version of "Moving Day" as the Trojans scrimmage for the first time in training camp.

"Tomorrow is a movement day," head coach Jon Sumrall said. "Tomorrow is the first time we put the ball down, and all we do is scrimmage and go live. I tell guys all the time they determine the depth chart; we don't as coaches. They determine it by how they play, and tomorrow will be a moving day for a lot of guys."

While no starting job is locked into place and competition breeds success, established veterans such as Gunner Watson, Kimani Vidal, Reddy Steward, will hear their number called some on Saturday, but it's more of an audition for others who will make their Troy debuts in three weeks.

"I am most excited about some guys who maybe are in competition to be the next guy up," Sumrall said. "I'm excited to see some of these young guys who have a chance to be solid contributors to this year's team who aren't household names yet. I'm interested to see Don Callis, MJ (Johnson) and Jordan Lovett and some of those young guys go out – Deshaun Batiste, who has a really good camp so far – I cannot wait to see them cut it loose and go play the game."

From a position group standpoint, Sumrall will have his eyes on the offensive line where the Trojans are having to replace three starters in Austin Stidham, Jake Andrews and Deandre Butler, who combined to start 122 games in their careers.

"I want to see who on the o-line wants to start," Sumrall said. "I've said it all training camp, I think we've got more people that are capable than we did a year ago, but I want to know who wants to be the one, who is going to take ownership of being a starter and playing the game the way it's meant to be played all of the time."

TTP
To The Promise Land is where sixth-year quarterback Gunnar Watson took the Trojans last year as he earned Sun Belt Championship Game MVP honors after throwing for 318 yards and three touchdowns in Troy's blowout victory over Coastal Carolina.

Watson went into the offseason poised to change his body and mind for the 2023 season, and the early returns are off the charts. During the spring gauntlet workouts, Watson was beating skill players weekly and not because of their lack of production, but rather his increased athletic ability.

"He's been a stud," Sumrall said. "He has absolutely owned being a leader, leading himself and also impacting everyone else the right way. I'm fired up about what he's doing; he's playing and preparing and practicing like a guy who came back for his sixth year and is a little bit on a mission; I'm really thrilled about the direction he's headed."

Watch List Additions
A pair of Trojans earned watch list nods this week, with junior running back Kimani Vidal landing on the Doak Walker Watch List (nation's top running back) and Reddy Steward earning a spot on the Thorpe Award Watch List (nation's top defensive back).

Troy University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Jake Andrews

Deshaun Batiste

Deandre Butler

Don Callis

Jordan Lovett

Reddy Steward

Austin Stidham

Kimani Vidal

Gunnar Watson

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