In weather better suited for water polo, the NIU football team began spring practice Tuesday by diving right into its regular routine.

Although it has been over four months since the Huskies ended their 1986 season with a 34-26 loss to Ohio, they wasted no time in getting down to business. The squad hit the turf in full gear and pulled few punches.

ead Coach Jerry Pettibone said Monday there would be hitting from the start, and there was plenty. But there was also a regular complement of drills. Pettibone was asked if he saw any signs of off-season rust.

“You mean the kind of rust you get on an old car?” Pettibone said. “We’re a well-hulled Huskie machine. There isn’t any rust on us.”

All joking aside, Pettibone said he was pleased with the proceedings of the first day.

“It was a good practice. We did a lot of teaching and a lot of learning. Of course, we were practicing in the rain, but the enthusiasm was high and the players responded well,” he said.

When the team took the field at 3:15 p.m., the skies over Huskie Stadium held the promise of rain. A drizzle began about 30 minutes later, and rain fell steadily after that.

The drills continued without umbrellas. The offense worked on the turf while the defense took to the grass field on the west side of the stadium.

Assistant Coach Pat Ruel, in his new role as offensive line coach, had his troops going through a variety of intricate drills from the beginning. The hitting followed soon after.

At one point, Ruel gave a set of linemen a chance to fire off against teammates standing five yards from the line of scrimmage. He set a few ground rules as he went along to even things up.

“The only thing you cannot do is lower your heads. Lift them up and try to drive them back,” Ruel said to the blockers. When one of the targets asked if they had to just stand and take the hit, Ruel allowed them to take a half-step before impact.

Another innovator was defensive coach Tim McGuire, who got into the spirit of spring by having his players running back and forth, scooping up softballs in an agility drill.

Then there was Mike Sabock, who switched from defensive to offensive back coach in the offseason. Sabock positioned a cage in line with where his running backs would sprint after a handoff. Entanglements were not uncommon in the waist-high cage.

“You’re tearing up the equipment,” Sabock said to Antonio Davis after a collision. “Is it too high for you?”