During the college football offseason, each team is allowed time to have organized workouts and practices. In Ohio during the early spring months, holding these practices can be difficult due to the weather. However, when you have a state-of-the-art professional facility right down the road it can make it much easier.  

The Baldwin Wallace football team has the luxury of being neighbors with an NFL team, the Cleveland Browns. Instead of holding their practices outside in the early morning on Tuesdays and Thursdays, BW has been granted access to use the Browns indoor facility in the afternoons.  

Head Coach Jim Hilvert praised the team’s relationship with the Browns.   

“It’s great to not only use this for our team but to be able to create a good relationship with the Browns,” Hilvert said.   

Hilvert also said that being able to practice in the facility brings a different type of excitement and convenience to spring football.  

Junior linebacker Jack Barnett spoke highly of the opportunity to practice in a professional environment.  

“Not only is it cool to be able to practice where the pros do but it’s also much better than being out in the cold at six in the morning,” Barnett said.  

The team has been able to practice at the Browns facility in the past, but due to the pandemic it has not been allowed for spring ball since 2019.  

For the most part, none of the players on the team had practiced in the Browns facility before the spring. First-year defensive lineman Landon Hare said that eventually, the novelty of the opportunity wears off.   

“It’s definitely something that is once in a lifetime, but after a while you get used to it and you see it as just another football field.”  

The Yellow Jacket football team, which ended the 2022 season with a 7-3 record, still must go through the rest of spring football and summer workouts and practices before the season gets underway. BW will open its season at George Finne Stadium on Sept. 2 against Mount St. Joseph University.