Under the five-day acclimatization period at the NCAA level, the Stanford football team was restricted to the following:

“It’s a good way to work our way in to the football, and I like it, too,” Stanford coach David Shaw said after Day 1 of a three-week training camp that began Monday in preparation for the Sept. 5 season opener at Northwestern. “Because the first couple of days, you don’t have pads on, so you have to move your feet and you gotta stay off the ground. You have to play with leverage and not just run into people, so it forces you to use proper technique. So I love these first couple of days for that.”

The coaching staff and certain players were made available after both practices without pads. It was hard for Shaw to say if anyone stood out in such a limited format, but at least he credited Shannon Turley, the director of sports performance, and his staff for helping the players look in great shape.

Shaw also noticed attention to detail, high effort and the right mindset.

“No foolishness, guys not worried about anything other than getting their jobs done, communicating, working well together,” he said. “And we talked about this last night, about working hard and working together, and we’re going to get what we earn throughout this season.”

As far as emotion and intensity goes, Shaw feels it’s the job of the players to supply such intangibles.

“I’m not in charge of enthusiasm,” he said. “That’s our guys, and if you have a passion for this game, you should show it. Guys like Ronnie Harris and Kevin Anderson and Kevin Hogan and Remound Wright and Barry J. Sanders. Our running backs have done a great job of up-tempo. Christian McCaffrey just being excited and getting guys going. It’s Day 1, but the energy is there.”