W.S. Neal’s football players were back on the field this week — with about 50 new players trying out the turf.

Head coach Kevin Jordan said he is pleased to see so many new athletes interested in football. With 25 returning players, about 75 students have been participating in spring drills.

“It’s going well so far,” he said. “I’m excited to have a large number of kids who haven’t played for us. I think it will help develop some competition at positions where we haven’t had any in the past couple of years. Depth has been an issue, so that is a priority for us this spring.”

Neal will host a spring inter-squad scrimmage on Friday, May 21, Jordan said. Athletes have been working out already, he said.

“These kids have worked extremely hard in the weight room during the off-season,” Jordan said. “We started conditioning earlier than usual also. So I think we are in better shape for spring than in the past. That allows us to really push the kids mentally and physically.”

Neal players have been training in shorts this week but will put on pads next week. “We’ll see how some of the new kids respond to that,” Jordan said. “I’m very excited about the direction this spring. We’ll continue to work fundamentals, protecting the football and being more physical on both sides of the ball. We have a long way to go, but that is to be expected this time of year.”

W.S. Neal was 2-8 in the 2009 season.