MALDEN -- There's a new man in charge at The Swamp but not much has changed.
For the first time in 13 seasons, Kevin Collier conducted his first official week of preseason practice at the program's helm.
Collier, who has been the Green Wave's defensive coordinator since stepping down as head coach in 20004, moved into his old role with a sense of comfort.
"There's not been a lot of change because the guys already know what we expect," Collier said. "We just try to mix practice up, keep it up tempo and moving all the time. We want things to be high-intensity and high-speed like it always has been."
Malden's opening week was not about getting back into a football mindset. The Green Wave have been in that mode since Trinity Catholic ended their season in the MSHSAA Class 2 quarterfinals last season.
One of the most successful teams in Class 2 over the last five years, Collier spent the entire summer preparing Malden for another run.
Malden is 69-15 since 2010 and returns 16 starters.
"Because we've already had our 20 contact days and a lot of the guys are back on both sides, a lot of our stuff was already installed," Collier said. "It's been a lot of going over things, adding new things and there was conditioning involved. We try to knock that out while working on football within our drills."
Practice was business as usual even with a partially new coaching staff. Players got acquainted with new offensive coordinator Charlie Vickery, who joins the Green Wave after 20 seasons at Chaffee.
"We got out of the first week what you always want to get out of the first week," Collier said. "We think the kids have practiced hard, they've been enthusiastic. The other coaches are making sure we get off to a good start and the kids are settling in."
Malden wrapped up the week with its annual Green and Gold game Friday and will spend the upcoming week preparing for a jamboree at Portageville High School. The Green Wave will play Portageville, Charleston and Doniphan's junior varsity team beginning at 6:30 p.m. Friday, August 11.
Malden, the three-time defending SEMO Conference East champion, opens the regular season on the road against New Madrid Central at 7 p.m. on Friday, August 18.