It is getting to be that time of the year again. Football season.

Well, not quite. But for the Simpson College football team, the Storm are taking every opportunity it gets to prepare for next season in the fall — even with this crummy Iowa weather.

The squad has begun spring football practices. The team is constantly in the weight room and performing routines per position group. Each position is just getting reps in during these practices, polishing their techniques and proper mechanics.

Junior quarterback Taylor Nelson said that the workouts have been going great.

“With the weather being the way it is, we have been having to practice inside,” Nelson said. “This has limited us to what we can do, but we are still getting our practices in and making them productive.”

The Storm have a new saying going into next season called, “Big team, little me,” where the players are focusing more on the team and not just the individual.

Nelson said because of this saying installed in their brains, the Storm are improving and getting better daily.

“What’s great about this team is we have never become complacent,” Nelson said. “We have always strived to be better and do our best no matter the situation, and that is why I believe we have become such a close group because we all want to be great.”

Despite losing a very talented group of senior players who contributed much on the gridiron, new faces will look to be replaced and fill the voids set before them. Of those seniors, the Storm lost two great, talented athletes in first team all-conference wide-receiver Taylor Rogers and first-team IIAC and academic All-American in Mark Cronin.

Junior running back Michael Chia said that the Storm need to have people step up in order to fill those big shoes.

“Those two players are guys you can’t really replace, but fill in those positions with other players,” Chia said. “Mark and Taylor are incredible players, they were incredible athletes and were incredible teammates, but I know that there are several guys vying for time at those spots and hopefully should fill in their roles very well.”

Nelson added that the Storm will miss their presence on the gridiron and in the locker room, but it is time for others to step up and fill in to keep the team moving in the right direction.

“An awesome thing about great football programs is that they have other players step up when great players leave,” Nelson said.

Both Nelson and Chia enter their final season in the Simpson red and god.

Speaking on behalf the two seniors final season, Nelson said that he is very excited for his last season, but at the same time it is bittersweet.

“This one will probably mean a little more than the other seasons,” Nelson said. “I feel we have a good team with high expectations , finishing second in the conference last year and knowing we have a good shot at winning conference this coming fall.”