They may not have been greeted with San Diego weather, but on Tuesday the Fleet were finally home.
On a rainy afternoon at San Diego Mesa College, the city's brand new football team got to work. Head coach Mike Martz put his squad through about two hours of practice - their first in San Diego since leaving for a league-wide training camp in January.
"I think this league has a lot of talent in it, I really do," Martz said.
It has been a special experience for the San Diego native. Martz grew up here, and spoke about sneaking into Balboa Stadium as a kid. But the longtime NFL coach hasn't patrolled the sidelines in his hometown since the 1970s.
But he admitted Tuesday, this gig hasn't always been a dream.
"There were migraine headache days," Martz said of their first two weeks of camp. "I just wondered 'why am I doing this'. But then all of a sudden the clouds parted, the sun came out and it was beautiful music. All of a sudden they were doing more things right than they were doing wrong and they started rolling pretty good. That's a good feeling."
Martz said they will keep things pretty simple in their week one visit to San Antonio, and plan on adding to the playbook each week.
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He also said he has liked what he's seen from projected starting quarterback Michael Bercovici, who previously spent time in Chargers training camp.
The Fleet will play four of their first six games at SDCCU Stadium. After visiting the Commanders Saturday, they will host Atlanta February 17th.
"It should be a good product," former SDSU tight end Gavin Escobar said. "I'm excited for everyone to see it."
