CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Citadel football team begins spring practice Tuesday at the Maybank Triplets Football Practice Field at Willson Field Complex.

The two-time defending Southern Conference champion Bulldogs will hold 15 practices under the direction of head coach Brent Thompson. The Citadel has four practices scheduled for week one and three practices each week after that. The Pepsi Blue-White Spring Game will be held March 17 at 6 p.m. inside Johnson Hagood Stadium. All practices are open to the public, and admission for the spring game is free.

Last season, Coach Thompson authored one of the best seasons in Southern Conference history. He was named the conference's Coach of the Year and finished second in the national Coach of the Year voting after shattering The Citadel's record for wins by a first-year head coach that had stood for 100 years and becoming only the second first-year coach in conference history to lead his team to an 8-0 SoCon record. The Bulldogs started the season with a program-record 10 straight wins, including a single-season school-record six road victories, and produced only the seventh 8-0 conference record in 84 years of SoCon football. The Citadel earned a No. 6 national seed in the FCS Playoffs, making the school's first back-to-back playoff appearances, and hosted a playoff game for the first time in 24 years.

The Citadel returns to the practice field with 39 returning lettermen and 11 starters back from the 2016 squad. The returnees include All-Americans Dee Delaney and Isaiah Pinson, who also won the conference's Jacobs Blocking Award, and 2016 Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year Kailik Williams. In addition to Delaney, Pinson and Williams, the Bulldogs also return all-conference performers Ken Allen, Khafari Buffalo, Jacob Godek and Drew McEntyre, 

For more information on The Citadel football, follow @CitadelFootball or visit CitadelSports.com.

The Citadel 2017 Spring Football Practice Schedule
*subject to change*
Tuesday, Feb. 21 – 4 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 23 – 4 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 24 – 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 25 – 9:30 a.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 28 – 4 p.m.
Thursday, March 2 – 4 p.m.
Saturday, March 4 – 9:30 a.m. (Johnson Hagood Stadium)
Tuesday, March 7 – 4 p.m.
Thursday, March 9 – 4 p.m.
Saturday, March 11 – 9:30 a.m. (Johnson Hagood Stadium)
Tuesday, March 14 – 4 p.m.
Thursday, March 16 – 4 p.m.
Friday, March 17 – 6 p.m. (Spring Game in Johnson Hagood Stadium)
Tuesday, March 21 – 4 p.m.
Thursday, March 23 – 4 p.m.