C.M. Pier smiled as he walked off the Rudder practice field after the Rangers' first day of practice Monday.

"It's night and day," said Pier, the team's second-year coach, as he compared this year's first workouts with the first-ever workouts last season. "We had a good spring and there was a lot of retention today from the spring, so I was happy about that.

"It was the typical first day. Some are dreading it because they know that the end of practice is coming and we do conditioning. We've got to get past that mental aspect, but I was pretty pleased."

Rudder was just one of the many Brazos Valley teams that took part in first workouts Monday, most of which were two-a-day practices. Only the Class 5A schools, Bryan and A&M Consolidated, were unable to begin workouts. Because they held spring drills, the Vikings and Tigers will open their workouts next Monday.

Pier was pleased with the turnout.

"Pretty much everybody showed up," Pier said. "The ones that didn't I knew about.

"We're going to be freshman, JV and varsity and that will be a change, but it will be good. We've got more coaches. To a degree [it was more hectic] but not too much, because we've got more staff."

He was also happy with the pace of the workouts.

"Our biggest goal was tempo," said Pier, snapping his fingers to set the pace. "That's what we set out to do today. You've got to be efficient. You can work all day, but are you really getting anything done? We tried to get quality [repetitions]. We got some things done."

Over a month before it plays its first game, in Cleveland, Pier had his team focused on fast-paced drills as they worked out in shorts, T-shirts and helmets. They also finished their final practice with sprints.

"It was a hard day because we lifted [weights] first," Pier said. "We went through two workouts and conditioning, so the old body is tired. They are maturing and it will get easier on them as the body gets stronger. As the body get stronger, they get more confidence."

But it's just a first step.

"It's just the first day of practice," Pier said with a laugh.

In Bremond, the Tigers had 40 players on the field.

"Workouts went fine, but we are having to rebuild a little bit," said Jerry "Slugger" Hamrick, the Bremond coach. "We have a large junior class but a small group of seniors. With our freshmen and sophomores, we have about 12 or 13."

They are starting a reconstruction effort after reaching the state finals two years ago and losing in the Class A Division II regional round by three points to state finalist Cayuga last year.

"We are changing things, because the kids we have can't always do the same things as the ones we have had in the past," Hamrick said. "We need to find the next group of studs."

The Brenham Cubs, who opted for an extra week of summer workouts over spring drills, started Monday. The District 18-4A favorites start their 12th season under Glen West and held their first-day mile run, required of all players who want to play at the varsity level.

The Cubs were in the state quarterfinals a year ago.

Clinton Smith's Burton Panthers, who earned the first playoff victory in program history in 2008, had 27 players for the first workouts Monday. Smith was impressed with quarterback Bubba Mathis' take-charge attitude, saying he will play a much larger role in the Panthers' offense this year.

"We were a little out of shape and I was hoping we'd be in better shape," Smith said. "The kids surprisingly remembered a lot from past year."

The system's continuity from last season to this year helped.

"Our offensive lineman Taylor Gibson said this was the first time he had been in the same system two years in a row," Smith explained. "Not knowing the offense or defense, they always had to learn something new."

One of Burton's players was hospitalized briefly after collapsing following practice, but he was released after receiving intravenous fluids.

Players may begin workouts in full pads Friday. The initial scrimmages are scheduled for Aug. 15, and the first day games may be played is Aug. 27. Navasota will kick off the Brazos Valley football schedule that night in Lufkin against Henderson.