The sounds of football filled the field at Ron Joyce Stadium at McMaster University as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats held their first full day of rookie and quarterback camp.

The camp was first under new head coach Scott Milanovich who took over the role from Orlondo Steinauer in December after the team announced the Ticats legend would focus on his role as president of football operations.

Milanovich, a 3-time Grey Cup winning coach is tasked with ending the CFL’s longest active Grey Cup drought with the Cats last lifting the CFL’s ultimate prize in 1999.

Second year quarterback Taylor Powell was front and centre today with Bo-Levi Mitchell seen in a walking boot for the second day in a row.

While Milanovich believes Mitchell will be ready in time for the first full on-field workout on Monday he also has a lot of confidence in Powell being ready to step up.

“As far as im concerned, he had a lot of starts last year, and he’s a cagey seasoned vet, and so i’m going to expect perfection from him, knowing it’s unattainable but I’m going to push him to better in everything he does.”

Meanwhile the Ticats were dealt a bit of a surprise just after rookie camp started when big free agent acquisition Jordan Williams announced his intention to retire from football.

The 29-year-old national linebacker was traded to Hamilton in January after spending last season with the Argonauts and was the first overall pick in the 2020 draft.

Milanovich called the news unfortunate but says the team is prepared to move on without him.

Ticats will kick off their full training camp Sunday at 11 a.m. at Ron Joyce Stadium.