Baton Rouge - The Terrence Graves era at Southern University has begun. The Jaguars beginning fall camp practices on Friday under the lights of A.W. Mumford Stadium.

Graves chose to hold practice at night during fall camp to avoid the dangerous heat in the area, but also to prepare his team for what's to come during the season. 

"The entire country is in a heat advisory, so my dad always used to say 'use wisdom.' We're using wisdom. I've done this at places that I've coached before. Also, the first part of the season we play at night. We want to get those guys acclimated to playing at night," Graves said.

Southern is preparing for a lot of changes this season with a new offensive coordinator, a four way quarterback battle and a new culture in the program. However, some are not getting on the Jaguar bandwagon.

The Jags were picked to finish fourth in the SWAC West in preseason polls. They trail behind Alcorn St., Prairie View A&M and Grambling in that order.

Coach Graves does not think those preseason predictions will waiver his team in any way. 

"It's not where you start. It's where you finish. I told them, if they need it for motivation, that's fine, but you know that's a preseason. I mean, some guys whatever method they use to get those guys fired up. I think our guys are more concerned about being champions than where we're picked in the preseason. I just want these guys to get better and retain what we did in the spring and over the summer and every day. Like I told him last night, I want to stack great practices, after great practices, after great practices so that's what we're looking for," Graves said.

Southern will practice for most of the month of August leading up to their season opener on Aug 31 in Lake Charles against McNeese. That game is at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.