On general perceptions from the second major scrimmage of camp:
I tell you what, it was a good day for us. Number one, no injuries, which was huge. Number two, I thought both sides of the ball there was a lot of production. And I’ll be honest with you, a lot of reps to those guys that we were trying to find out about. Where do they sit in the pecking order; what’s the depth chart look like? A lot of special teams, live special teams reps. So we got a lot out of today. I thought both sides of the ball really showed up in some great situational work. And then both sides of the ball did some great things in some drive-it work. So really I’m happy with what we got out of today.
On having the depth chart finalized after reviewing scrimmage film:
Well, at least for right now. I think we’ve had a lot of guys that have been out with some, whether it’s sickness or injury. Again, the only sustained long-term injuries are the guys we know about. But it will be nice to be complete and I think the one thing that we’ll know on Sunday is we’ll be back to almost, as close to a hundred percent as you’re going to be, at least from a health standpoint. I still think there’s some movement that could happen within this next week in terms of depth chart. But I think we’ve got a really good idea of where we’re at and I think this will really help us tonight, evaluating this video. And I said, we’ll probably come out with as close to what we think a depth chart would look like going into the first game; probably something this weekend for us.
On how much the updated depth chart will change from the pre-camp version:
Oh yeah, I think it will be different. But that’s a lot of new faces here, too, that maybe weren’t here and even fair to put together a depth chart before you go it. I think for a lot of it it’s just the evaluation. And to be honest that can even change in three weeks. I think that’s still the development of some of these young guys in our program and how do they fit into what we’re doing; can they still continue to challenge some of these older guys that are playing? It’s going to be really interesting for us and I don’t think our evaluation can stop here probably for the three or four weeks into the season. Just because so many new faces, so many new guys and a football team that we’ve got to continue to evaluate as we go.
On media wanting the new depth chart if he will release it:
I knew you would; I knew you would. Maybe the fake Matt Campbell will send it your way.
On any players that have come on strong since first scrimmage:
Guys that I knew were good players. Dondre Daley continues to play really well for us. Those young tailbacks continue to play really, really well. Both guys had really special days today. Defensively, I think Evrett Edwards continues to show up and do some really good things for us. Willie Harvey, it was great to have Willie back. Willie was out with the flu and whatever the heck was going around, so he missed some days and really got some quality reps this week, continues to play well. Mitch Meyers, Mitchell, continues to play really well for us. To be honest with you it’s amazing what he’s doing for our football team right now and really kind of how he’s skyrocketed up the depth chart, to be honest with you. Even though we kind of thought we knew what we were getting out of Mitchell, to see where he’s at right now I think’s a huge positive. Vernell Trent coming back has certainly looked good, and Tuck (Demond Tucker), both those guys have really kind of gained some momentum. Especially with, not where they’re at, just kind of what they’re overcoming; injury, sickness. So this was a good week for us. This was a really good week for us to get some of those guys back and be able to see what more whole do we look like as a football team. And I’m sure there’s other names as we get into it. Deshaunte Jones had another great night tonight. So some guys that continue to play well for us.
On Mitchell Meyers’ prospects for playing in the first game:
Oh yeah. He may start. Right now I think that’s the thing that he’s battling for is, will he be the starter in the first game? Will he play? For sure. Will he start is another question right now for us.
On the pass rush looking better in the second scrimmage:
We did. And that was a little bit of a concern, and a little bit of concern obviously with without Vernell last week and without Tuck last week really getting live reps in the scrimmage. So when you put those two back in the game I think all of the sudden now you’ve got a little bit more of, do we have to always blitz you to create a rush? I think that’s our challenge as we continue to develop defensively, is, you’ve got to affect the quarterback. Game one, we play a great quarterback. It’s kind of that way really early in the season and we play good quarterbacks in this conference. We know that. So how do we affect the quarterback? Do you have pass rushers that can do it and be able to play coverage behind it or do you always have to blitz everybody to be able to get home? So I think that was our challenge this week, to kind of see what we have, how do we do it, how do we package it when we want to do it? I think we made some really good strides and we’ve still got, believe me, we’ve still got a lot of work to do. We’re not a finished product and this coming week will really help us again with full strength and full health. Where are we as we kind of enter that first football game.
On the timetable for turning to full prep for Northern Iowa:
Somewhere midway through next week we’ll start to take some of that time and start to evaluate them. For us, we kind of get into almost a game-like schedule even this week. It’s nice to not have our first game this week where we get a week to adjust to school starting. I guess I’m old enough now to know how that is. It’s effective. It’s just another element that you throw in to 18-to-22-year-olds. So I think we’ll still be able to get a little bit of Northern Iowa but also do a little bit of what’s Iowa State? And we still have to, there’s kind of a fine line of going to fast to Northern Iowa without correcting what we are and what we need to get better in. But if you know me, we still go good-on-good even as we go through the season. So you know, game speed and game reps are really quality for us during the week.
I tell you what, it was a good day for us. Number one, no injuries, which was huge. Number two, I thought both sides of the ball there was a lot of production. And I’ll be honest with you, a lot of reps to those guys that we were trying to find out about. Where do they sit in the pecking order; what’s the depth chart look like? A lot of special teams, live special teams reps. So we got a lot out of today. I thought both sides of the ball really showed up in some great situational work. And then both sides of the ball did some great things in some drive-it work. So really I’m happy with what we got out of today.
On having the depth chart finalized after reviewing scrimmage film:
Well, at least for right now. I think we’ve had a lot of guys that have been out with some, whether it’s sickness or injury. Again, the only sustained long-term injuries are the guys we know about. But it will be nice to be complete and I think the one thing that we’ll know on Sunday is we’ll be back to almost, as close to a hundred percent as you’re going to be, at least from a health standpoint. I still think there’s some movement that could happen within this next week in terms of depth chart. But I think we’ve got a really good idea of where we’re at and I think this will really help us tonight, evaluating this video. And I said, we’ll probably come out with as close to what we think a depth chart would look like going into the first game; probably something this weekend for us.
On how much the updated depth chart will change from the pre-camp version:
Oh yeah, I think it will be different. But that’s a lot of new faces here, too, that maybe weren’t here and even fair to put together a depth chart before you go it. I think for a lot of it it’s just the evaluation. And to be honest that can even change in three weeks. I think that’s still the development of some of these young guys in our program and how do they fit into what we’re doing; can they still continue to challenge some of these older guys that are playing? It’s going to be really interesting for us and I don’t think our evaluation can stop here probably for the three or four weeks into the season. Just because so many new faces, so many new guys and a football team that we’ve got to continue to evaluate as we go.
On media wanting the new depth chart if he will release it:
I knew you would; I knew you would. Maybe the fake Matt Campbell will send it your way.
On any players that have come on strong since first scrimmage:
Guys that I knew were good players. Dondre Daley continues to play really well for us. Those young tailbacks continue to play really, really well. Both guys had really special days today. Defensively, I think Evrett Edwards continues to show up and do some really good things for us. Willie Harvey, it was great to have Willie back. Willie was out with the flu and whatever the heck was going around, so he missed some days and really got some quality reps this week, continues to play well. Mitch Meyers, Mitchell, continues to play really well for us. To be honest with you it’s amazing what he’s doing for our football team right now and really kind of how he’s skyrocketed up the depth chart, to be honest with you. Even though we kind of thought we knew what we were getting out of Mitchell, to see where he’s at right now I think’s a huge positive. Vernell Trent coming back has certainly looked good, and Tuck (Demond Tucker), both those guys have really kind of gained some momentum. Especially with, not where they’re at, just kind of what they’re overcoming; injury, sickness. So this was a good week for us. This was a really good week for us to get some of those guys back and be able to see what more whole do we look like as a football team. And I’m sure there’s other names as we get into it. Deshaunte Jones had another great night tonight. So some guys that continue to play well for us.
On Mitchell Meyers’ prospects for playing in the first game:
Oh yeah. He may start. Right now I think that’s the thing that he’s battling for is, will he be the starter in the first game? Will he play? For sure. Will he start is another question right now for us.
On the pass rush looking better in the second scrimmage:
We did. And that was a little bit of a concern, and a little bit of concern obviously with without Vernell last week and without Tuck last week really getting live reps in the scrimmage. So when you put those two back in the game I think all of the sudden now you’ve got a little bit more of, do we have to always blitz you to create a rush? I think that’s our challenge as we continue to develop defensively, is, you’ve got to affect the quarterback. Game one, we play a great quarterback. It’s kind of that way really early in the season and we play good quarterbacks in this conference. We know that. So how do we affect the quarterback? Do you have pass rushers that can do it and be able to play coverage behind it or do you always have to blitz everybody to be able to get home? So I think that was our challenge this week, to kind of see what we have, how do we do it, how do we package it when we want to do it? I think we made some really good strides and we’ve still got, believe me, we’ve still got a lot of work to do. We’re not a finished product and this coming week will really help us again with full strength and full health. Where are we as we kind of enter that first football game.
On the timetable for turning to full prep for Northern Iowa:
Somewhere midway through next week we’ll start to take some of that time and start to evaluate them. For us, we kind of get into almost a game-like schedule even this week. It’s nice to not have our first game this week where we get a week to adjust to school starting. I guess I’m old enough now to know how that is. It’s effective. It’s just another element that you throw in to 18-to-22-year-olds. So I think we’ll still be able to get a little bit of Northern Iowa but also do a little bit of what’s Iowa State? And we still have to, there’s kind of a fine line of going to fast to Northern Iowa without correcting what we are and what we need to get better in. But if you know me, we still go good-on-good even as we go through the season. So you know, game speed and game reps are really quality for us during the week.
