Since the second week of June, Andalusia coach Brian Seymore and his team have gotten up at the crack of dawn to participate in the annual summer workout program.

Monday through Thursday, players work in three different groups, with each group working on different aspects of the game at 40 minutes apiece.

“Basically what we do is 40-minute increments,” Seymore said. “We do 40 minutes in the weight room and then everybody will rotate to 40 minutes of conditioning drills — running and biometrics.

“Then, the last 40 minutes are for individual position work,” he said. “We do Mondays and Wednesdays as offensive days and Tuesdays and Thursdays as defensive days.”

Seymore said the individual workout time is a good way for the players to get ready for the upcoming 7-on-7 tournaments.

“(Tuesday) we worked on some pursuit drills and some live 7-on-7 work,” he said. “It works a lot better.”

Last year, the team held workouts in the afternoon and did not have the whole team working out at the same time.

Seymore said that that is the main difference this year.

“The basic difference between this year and last year is that you can get all your kids at one time,” Seymore said. “I think it builds a lot of character and accountability getting up that early in the morning on a consistent basis. I really like it and it’s probably the best thing I’ve done as far as working out and getting the whole team there in developing their chemistry.”

Seymore added the younger players that will fill the roles of last year’s graduating seniors have “grasped” the different plays on both sides of the ball so far.

“The summer’s gone real well,” he said. “There’s no doubt. We lost 16 seniors. We’ve got a lot of young kids taking a lot of repetitions. It’s worked real well for us because our young kids have gotten a grasp for the offense and defense.”

In addition to the players, Seymore said his coaching staff has appreciated the new summer routine.

Thursday marks the end of the third week of the summer workouts. Seymore said there will be four more weeks of workouts this month.

“We completely stop the workouts the first week in August,” he said. “We’re starting school (Aug. 10) and we may get some two-a-days in and work on special teams in the mornings.”

Seymore said the summer is a good time for the team to get prepared for the fall because the team will not fall behind.

“If you’re not doing it, you’re just getting behind,” he said. “Football is a year-round sport now. If you’re not playing another sport, then you better be lifting weights, conditioning and getting any advantage you can get on our opponents. It’s vital for success.”

Seymore said since starting each day so early in the morning has been so successful, he’s seen a lot more “team chemistry” and “competition” for positions.

“Coach Dodd Hawthorne gave it up and coach Marshall Locke has stepped in and he’s done a tremendous job,” Seymore said. “Offensively, coach (Marcus) Taylor has done a real good job. I’ve been really happy with the way our coaches have meshed with our kids.

“Going at six in the morning has helped develop team chemistry,” he said. “That’s the main thing, being able to have your kids all at one time.”