Despite a 5-6 record last season, the NAU football team is confident, not cocky heading into its 2010 season.

"We've got a swagger with this group," Lumberjacks coach Jerome Souers said. "You might not expect to see (that) coming off of last year. I like their confidence.

"If there's a different perception I have of this group, it's that."

There's plenty of reason for the Jacks' change of attitude.

They return All-American quarterback Michael Herrick and a defense that has more depth than any other unit Souers has seen in his career at NAU.

Herrick's confidence, in particular, showed on Tuesday's first day of fall practice.

The senior quarterback was zipping balls to his receivers all over the field. No matter where he threw it -- into tight coverage, on long pass patterns down the sideline or even when his receivers had to fight for the ball in mid-air -- the Valencia, Calif., native was on target.

Even with mostly a new set of starting receivers to throw to, Herrick feels he's already better prepared heading into the new season than he did last August after spending the summer months getting more accustomed to his teammates.

"I'm just a little further along and feel more comfortable," the quarterback said. "I felt really good about practice."

Almost every day this summer, Herrick was out on the field slinging the ball around.

"Offensively and defensively we were in sync on all cylinders," Herrick said. "For the first day, what we were doing was pretty exciting to see."

On defense, the unit welcomed back several players who were granted medical redshirts last season. Although he participated in spring drills, senior linebacker Cody Dowd was happy to be that much closer to the Jacks' opener after the first day of practice. He, too, spent the summer working out nearly every day in anticipation of getting back onto the field.

Dowd, fellow linebacker Anthony Llanos, and defensive linemen Kyle Rath, Kainoa Pe'a and Michael Battisti all spent the majority of the 2009 season watching from the sideline.

"It's good to be back out here, finally," Dowd said. "Everybody's getting back into it and flying around. It's good to get everybody back out here."

Battisti sat out the first practice with a minor knee injury. Souers said it was nothing significant and the senior defensive end should be fine.

But other than some of Herrick's precision passing, there wasn't a whole lot of action.

Mostly, it's a matter of getting everyone, particularly the newcomers, adjusted to the process of how the Jacks go about practicing.

"There's not much we can do other than get lined up and move around," Souers said. "It's just a slow period of getting them back into the rhythm of the game."

Jacob May can be reached at jmay@azdailysun.com or 556-2257.