DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman hit the Daytona Municipal Stadium turf at full speed at its first preseason practice Monday night.

"We're not a team that wants to start slow," said Head Coach Terry Sims, who admits he wanted the Wildcats to perform at a high level early. "We started practice fast … there was a lot of retention from spring and the new guys are picking up things from meetings and doing a great job of executing."

Sims liked the effort of the Wildcats, who are returning to action after opting out of the 2020 season, as they concluded an opening day that started with early morning beach workouts.

 "We don't coach effort," Sims said. "We don't have a problem with guys running on or off the field. The guys came out and did a great job executing."

Bethune-Cookman opens the 2021 season September 4 at Texas-El Paso.