It’s been a long time coming, but the Nighthawks finally landed at the Kroc Center on Friday morning for their first day of training camp.

It was a perfect day for football in Omaha — sunny with just a touch of fall crispness in the air.

The day started with one-on-ones and small group drills. As a team, the players focused on second-down situations, red zone situations and backed-up situations. They also went over punt coverage and brought the field goal team out onto the field.

There are a lot of new faces on this year’s team, and with the shortened training camp schedule, learning the playbook will be a challenge. Now is the time when veteran leadership is extra valuable.

Veteran safety Stu Schweigert proved he is just the man for that role.

“Stu was great today, directing traffic on defense and getting the newer guys lined up,” said head coach Bart Andrus. “That’s the kind of stuff veteran players just do automatically.”

The energy and enthusiasm on the field was palpable, and camaraderie among the players is growing rapidly.

“Practice today was very fast and very energetic,” Andrus said. “The challenge tomorrow is seeing if we can keep up that energy for the second practice.”