{"id":10071,"date":"2026-04-18T14:22:52","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T14:22:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/18\/brown-football-takes-advantage-of-new-field-house-for-spring-practice-the-providence-journal\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T14:22:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T14:22:52","slug":"brown-football-takes-advantage-of-new-field-house-for-spring-practice-the-providence-journal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/18\/brown-football-takes-advantage-of-new-field-house-for-spring-practice-the-providence-journal\/","title":{"rendered":"Brown football takes advantage of new field house for spring practice – The Providence Journal"},"content":{"rendered":"

PROVIDENCE \u2013 The threat of rain Friday afternoon prompted James Perry to exercise\u00a0an option\u00a0he\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0enjoy at this time last year.\u00a0
Brown<\/a>\u2019s football coach shifted his program\u2019s penultimate spring practice indoors to the gleaming Penner Field House, the 76,000 square foot facility which officially opened its doors in January.\u00a0
The Bears ran offensive and defensive drills, scrimmaged against one another and topped things off with some work on special teams during the two-hour session. Players sped across the\u00a0green turf in white or black practice jerseys and black shorts while quarterbacks wore their usual red tops. A host of high school recruits and their parents watched from along the sideline, a space fronting two workout areas and a reception desk on the\u00a0higher\u00a0of the two floors.\u00a0
\u201cWe\u2019re very, very lucky,\u201d Perry said. \u201cNot just the staff \u2013 the kids, myself, everybody.\u00a0We\u2019re\u00a0so appreciative to be able to do this.\u201d\u00a0
Brown is coming off a 5-5 season overall that included a Governor\u2019s Cup victory against the University of Rhode Island<\/a>. The Bears also took out Bryant to claim the unofficial title of state champions and captured their final two Ivy League matchups with Columbia and Dartmouth. The Big Green are the only other school in the conference that currently enjoys a permanent indoor facility \u2013 Cornell is\u00a0in the process of constructing\u00a0one on its upstate New York campus.\u00a0
\u201cThe first thing I notice is they\u2019re better,\u201d Perry said. \u201cThe improvement \u2013 we have data that we track that shows\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0getting better because of this place. Just watching on the field,\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0so far along with what we call skill acquisition.\u201d\u00a0
Brown is hoping to develop\u00a0its next team that can top the .500 mark in conference play. That\u00a0hasn\u2019t\u00a0happened since former coach Phil Estes went 4-3 in 2012, the last of six straight winning seasons in the league\u00a0and one of his 12 after taking over in 1998. Perry starred\u00a0at\u00a0quarterback for Estes the next year, leading the Bears to a 9-1 overall mark and one of their four conference championships.\u00a0
\u201cThey\u2019re competing for reps,\u201d Perry said. \u201cBut really, what\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0watching is leadership\u00a0emerge\u00a0and\u00a0watching\u00a0how hungry they are to become the new leader in 2026.\u00a0We lost some\u00a0really great\u00a0ones.\u201d\u00a0
James Murphy threw for just\u00a0shy\u00a0of\u00a02,800 yards\u00a0in 10 games last season and is back under center as a senior. Eli Jones\u00a0worked alongside\u00a0him at\u00a0running back with Matt Childs (right foot) in a walking boot. Brown should have depth in the backfield with the bulk of its top rushers from last\u00a0season set\u00a0to return.\u00a0
Wide receiver Trevor Foley and tight end Levi\u00a0Linowes\u00a0received the bulk of the targets from Murphy and backup quarterback Will\u00a0Curid. East Providence native Xavier Hazard flashed on the perimeter at times after settling in as a\u00a0freshman\u00a0last year.\u00a0\u00a0
The Bears will be looking for playmakers on defense and\u00a0featured\u00a0the senior\u00a0duo of\u00a0Max Malo and Stefano Montella at linebacker. Miles Brophy closed second on the team in tackles last year and is back \u2013\u00a0he’s\u00a0added punt returner to his potential responsibilities.\u00a0Defensive end Jack Middleton and linebacker Tommy Dunn were among the team leaders in tackles for loss and return as upperclassmen.\u00a0
\u201cI think the kids are strong, so that helps,\u201d Perry said. \u201cThey\u2019re\u00a0fit and\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0able to practice in a way that\u00a0maybe six\u00a0years ago we\u00a0couldn\u2019t, so that helps. We try to do some things that promote that.\u201d\u00a0
Brown shares the facility with other varsity teams on campus and some intramural sports. Lines have been painted for lacrosse and soccer, and the baseball and softball teams\u00a0got a head start on the spring by beginning winter workouts inside. The Bears will be back at Brown Stadium in a few short months\u00a0\u2013 they host Harvard in the home and league opener\u00a0on\u00a0Sept. 26.\u00a0
\u201cWatching that is the best part of my job,\u201d Perry said. \u201cThese two hours are the best part.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0a fun group.\u201d\u00a0
bkoch@providencejournal.com<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>
On X: @BillKoch25\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PROVIDENCE \u2013 The threat of rain Friday afternoon prompted James Perry to exercise\u00a0an option\u00a0he\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0enjoy at this time last year.\u00a0Brown\u2019s football coach shifted his program\u2019s penultimate spring practice indoors to the gleaming Penner Field House, the 76,000 square foot facility which officially opened its doors in January.\u00a0The Bears ran offensive and defensive drills, scrimmaged against one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10071","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}