Inside Acera Insurance Training Camp: T-Birds begin methodical, focussed week

The UBC Thunderbirds Football program is coming in hot – quite literally – as the Acera Insurance Training Camp enters it's third full day.

With temperatures hovering in the high 20s to start the week, hydration has been as key as anything as the dozens of new recruits have now officially joined the returning veteran T-Birds and coaches with the 2025 Canada West season quickly approaching.

"Right now we're just trying to get the guys moving at full speed, learning how to adapt with their bodies, trying to get a little stiffness and soreness out," said UBC head coach, Blake Nill, heading into his 11th season at Point Grey. "Wednesday is our first day in pads and that will be the real start to training camp and from then on it's full go for three and a half months."

Monday was the first real look on the field for the T-Birds' coaching staff with their full complement of players. While taking the field is a new experience for the 33 members of this year's rookie class, it's also a first for key members of staff, including new Offensive Coordinator, Khari Jones.

"The coaches have to work together, they have to learn the intricacies of one another," said Nill. "The personalities of one another, it's a big group of 15-plus coaches. Having this opportunity to work together will only help us when the games really start to matter at the end of the year."

Coaches aside, one member of the T-Birds has been at UBC longer than any other – returning fifth-year receiver, Edgerrin Williams-Hernandez.

"It's been really good so far," said the Hamilton, Ontario native. "It's been a while since I've been on the field so just to be back with my teammates and coaches, it's a good feeling."

Following back-to-back seasons of 400-plus yards receiving, injuries plagued Williams-Hernandez who was forced to miss the entire 2024 campaign.

"I'm just trying to finish strong. It has been a long road but even with all the trials and tribulations it's helped build me to the player I am today. We got a great group of guys and we're ready to rock and roll."

The veteran is excited to not only be healthy and ready to go to start the season, but to be a part of Jones' new look offence.

"It's been really good, it's very exciting, I was just telling him how excited I am to see what this year has for us. I feel the receiving corps and the offence is really getting behind him. He's on the same page we are and keeps us teaching us day by day. It's only been two days but the future's looking promising."

The football season is a three-and-a-half month battle, culminating in the Vanier Cup. Falling just short in 2023, the T-Birds failed to get to last season's Hardy Cup Final. Heading into 2025, there's certainly redemption on the minds of many.

"Everyone's goal is to win a Vanier, but if we can just go week by week and keep building I think that's what's really going to set us apart," Williams-Hernandez continued. "We got some young guys that are coming in and coach is giving them a chance to start and see what they can do. The standard just has to be high at all times."

The 2025 Acera Insurance Training Camp continues through August 22 while the T-Birds head to Saskatoon for a pre-season game against the Huskies on August 20.