MISSION – The first day of class at Mission Veterans High School is just over a month away. But already, football coach David Gilpin is in his office preparing for the upcoming season.

And it’s not just him.

Assistant coaches are also in the building, doing their part to help the program.

“We’ll have coaches meetings,” said Gilpin. “Some of it is with me where we’re talking general football. Some of it is defensive side of the ball. Some of it is offensive side of the ball. Some of it is meeting with our sub varsity coaches. We’ll be running a football camp coming up on August 30th.”

Coach Gilpin and his staff have been on campus since last Thursday. They’ve been staying busy making phone calls to athletes’ parents, coming up with a practice schedule for preseason camp, and also have been sizing athletes for equipment.

During the offseason, the Patriots had 218 helmets reconditioned by Riddell.

All this and more to get ready for football.

“There’s not enough hours in the day to get done what we have to do as a football staff in preparation for the season,” said Gilpin.

One new wrinkle for this season is a change for freshman football.

All freshman teams will begin practice August 6th regardless of whether or not their programs had spring football.

For the Patriots, that means their freshman team will have a whole week to practice before everyone else hits the field.

“Looking forward to getting a little better look at our freshman than we normally do,” said Gilpin. “Normally, we’re out there on the game field, they’re on the practice field, and we’re not getting much of an opportunity to see them those first two or three weeks. This allows us as a varsity staff to evaluate a little better.”

For Gilpin and many other coaches, it’s a long wait this time of the year.

“While it seems like it’s never going to get here, I know it’s right around the corner,” said Gilpin. “I’m chomping at the bit to get going. August 13th can’t get here fast enough, I’ll tell you that.”