South Kitsap football players are in full pads this week and new coach Eric Canton’s early impression is favorable.

“I am very impressed with the athleticism,” he said.

The only change in the Wolves’ coaching staff at this point involves Canton replacing D.J. Sigurdson, who resigned after 15 seasons to move into administration at the high school. Canton said he will retain all of Sigurdson’s assistants, but that does not mean all will be the same.

“There’s a lot of new terminology,” he said, adding that South will continue to use the same I-formation offense and 4-3 defense that it has used for years. “The kids are just trying to piece things together right now.”

Spring practices run through Thursday. At that point, the Wolves will transition into summer workouts, which begin June 25. Unlike Sigurdson, who traditionally took his teams to camp at Eastern Washington University, Canton’s squad will not leave Port Orchard this summer.

He believes that has a few potential benefits. Canton, a 1986 South graduate who also played basketball and baseball for the Wolves, wants to encourage his athletes to play multiple sports. By staying at home, he said players will have the ability to work out with other programs at the school.

“I’m going to promote multi-sport athletes as much as possible,” Canton said. “The benefits I took from that are enormous.”

He said each player paid about $500 to camp at Eastern. Canton said each player will spend one-fifth of that amount to use the facilities at the school.

With the exception of July 4, players will use the weight room and practice on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays through July 31.