Training Camp Notebook: 3/27/26 - Competition

The Washington Wolfpack have been in camp for four days now. Coach JR Wells couldn’t be happier with how well “training” is going. Don’t say the word “practice” around Coach, that’ll cost you 10 pushups. These men are training to play tough-nosed football in the AF1. Coach Wells is setting a tone of strength and toughness. On Thursday, the team was working on special teams and running one-on-one drills. Coach Wells is blown away by the work ethic of the team he has assembled and loves how they make everything a competition. 

Competition, Competition, competition

Completion was the theme Coach Wells kept going back to during our conversation on Friday. For questions like “what do you like about what you’ve seen?” “Competition” was the answer. What does training look like on Friday? “It’s all competition.” Coach was getting fired up for the Oklahoma Drills on Friday and how much fun they were going to have with this competitive bunch. One on one’s have been a big focus the last few days, again centered around competition. Having the players go head-to-head really drives up, well, you guessed it, the competition. Now that the pads are on, “it’s really open up and let’s see what you’ve got.” Coach Wells continued, “man we’ve got some hidden talent in here, I’m telling you, it’s looking crazy out here.” 

Defense and culture 

The conversation with JR shifted to the defensive side of the ball, and as JR tends to do, he got very excited. “I’m beyond thankful for coach Dee Milly (Defensive Coordinator Delvin Myles) saying yes to coming over here to the Wolfpack.” “He’s been able to gravitate to the culture and what we’ve been building out here, the standard.” Wells continued on about Myles and how well the team is rallying around and embracing him. 

The defense the Wolfpack is building will be a key part of the team's success this year. It starts with the leadership of a seasoned veteran like Byron Edwards, helping his teammates understand the defensive scheme and alignment. “He’s been in the championship round back-to-back seasons.” Coach Wells called out many players and their great performances through camp thus far, including, Mike Badejo who is “out of this world talented.” “The defense looks solid.” “We’ve got an NFL guy in Javier Edwards that is a monster at the nose.” 

Coach Wells says that type of experience in the locker room is a tremendous help. Having guys who have NFL experience and played for big names at big schools is “powerful.” It’s all about continuing to build the culture and the standard Wells wants Washington to be at. “I just can’t wait to get on the field to show it.” Coach Wells said, with the AF1 season inching closer, he’s excited to show Wolfpack fans the product he’ll be putting on the field this season.