Transcribed by Bill Seals
Opening comments:
“We’re anxious to get to the football season aspect of things. I thought our team had a really good fall camp and I’m proud of the growth our football team has made. Now in comes a tremendous challenge for our football program. You look at our opponent and film and really watch the last two years of their product, and it’s certainly been built over time, but it’s a product we can hope we can get our program to. It’s a sustained culture that’s competing for championships. You’re getting a really confident and a team that’s got some excellent football players coming back. All three starting linebackers come back and have sat the tone for their program the last couple years. Obviously, the quarterback on the offensive side is back. I’ve got a great deal of respect for South Dakota State. It’s a great opponent for us to kick-start the season.”
On how good true freshman Mike Rose is:
“We’re going to find out probably pretty soon. The reality of the position he plays and for a freshman to be able to compete right now says a lot about how good maybe he is early in his career. His explosiveness, understanding of the position and his intelligence on top of it. You couple all that together and see him having the ability to learn and grow really fast in our system. I’m really impressed with Michael. He’s had a really good fall camp. To say he really came out of nowhere, I don’t know if that’s fair. We all had really good expectations for him, but to be where he’s at so soon and competing for playing time and a factor for us, that’s been really impressive.”
On utilizing more of the running back options beyond David Montgomery:
“The reality of it is, if you look at our team a year ago, there were two guys that we have great confidence in in Johnie Lang and Kene Nwangwu. They weren’t available to us with injuries. Now we get two guys back that have health. They’re also earning the right to play. The position at running back, we’re fortunate because we’ve also got Mike Warren who’s had great success. I thought Sheldon Croney really saved us at the end of the year by stepping in and playing great football. Then he had a tremendous spring and fall camp. You really feel confident in that group as a whole. I know there’s only one football, but the reality of it is, those guys are earning the right to play.”
On team having a better handle on what it takes to succeed:
“You have to know who you are and I think we’re becoming more and more of a student of understanding our formula for success. Our formula for success is never going to be the team that’s going to go out there and score 80 points. That’s not our niche. Our niche is we have to win in the margins and be efficient in terms of situational football. We have to do the little things really well if we’re going to compete and sustain success.
“What a year ago did was at least made those speeches and talks about why those are important…it made them relevant. We were able to go back and see what we do well and what we don’t do well in those areas and how do we improve. Now we go into games and you can almost point those statistics and areas out to our kids and really pinpoint what the plan is for success.”
On defensive lineman Ray Lima quietly making a big impact on team:
“One of the things that I really appreciate it about Ray…I don’t know whether you say he’s overlooked or undervalued, what he always will bring to the table is his humility. That allows him to blend into the scene and you never see how important he is until he’s not there. That’s in our locker room and on our practice field. It’s on game day. If you ask every player in our program, with him being voted captain, and ask every coach in our program, they all have a great understanding of his value.”
On how much the two returning linebackers were boosted by having Joel Lanning around in 2017:
“We’re really fortunate to have two guys in that room that really benefited from the humility, character and work ethic of Joel, and that’s Willie and Marcel. Marcel is a guy with an infectious personality. Like David on offense a year ago, he was a sparkplug for our football team on defense. He plays the game the right way, is one of our hardest workers and has an electric personality in our locker room. Everybody flocks to Marcel. Willie is a guy that’s continuing to grow as a football player and he learned a lot.
“That team sees how one of the best players acts and carries himself and then it sits in where you’ve got actual visual evidence of this is how you carry yourself and this is how you act. That’s what gives us the best chance to have success. Jake Hummel and O’Rien Vance are two more guys that were fortunate to have Joel Lanning around.”
On the development of the tight end position in his three seasons on the job:
“For the first time since we’ve been here, we feel really confident about the tight end position. We knew there were really good players there a year ago, but they are so much like offensive linemen in that people really want to get those tight ends on the field. The reality of it is, that position is like the offensive line. There’s such a physicality to that position. You want the growth and development to happen. Now you see Chase (Allen) at 255 pounds, Charlie Kolar at 260 pounds and Dylan Soehner at 282 pounds. They’re maturing. Not only do they give you flexibility in the pass game, but in the run game they allow the offensive line to create gaps and help you do some things we really haven’t had the ability to do.
“Another guy we shouldn’t overlook is Sam Seonbuchner and what he’s meant to our football program and team. He has been physically mature enough over the last few years to help us. When we play good football, he has certainly been a key asset to it.”
On his thoughts of SDSU head coach John Stiegelmeier, who has been there for 22 seasons:
“I’ve said this so much about watching the Kansas State program from afar…our society doesn’t allow this to happen. We’re such a knee-jerk reaction society. Those legendary coaches that have said they’re going to build something and stay and do it the right way…those are hard to find and are almost dinosaurs these days in our profession. Here’s the result. It’s what you get at Kansas State and South Dakota State. You get tradition, consistency and expectations. Those things don’t die and it’s not cyclical. It just continues to grow and get better.
“It’s one of the things that I have such a respect for, coming from a program like that as a collegiate player. Coach Kehres was that same type of coach that ushered in that same type of success. I appreciate it because that’s what I grew up with and what I know. He defined a culture and set that culture. It’s the same thing the coach is doing at South Dakota State.”
On how the program tackled early challenges last year to achieve big things:
“For us, certainly the Akron game and really the first five games of the season ushered in adversity. We’re defined by adversity and once adversity hits, it’s going to happen it’s just a matter of when that’s coming for this year’s team, that’s what is special about college football. You deal with a lot of kids. Every program has 125-130 players. You’ve got a million different things that can happen and they can come a million different ways. The teams that thrive and have the ability to achieve and reach their full potential are the ones that can overcome adversity. How you respond to that adversity is defining of what you become.”
Opening comments:
“We’re anxious to get to the football season aspect of things. I thought our team had a really good fall camp and I’m proud of the growth our football team has made. Now in comes a tremendous challenge for our football program. You look at our opponent and film and really watch the last two years of their product, and it’s certainly been built over time, but it’s a product we can hope we can get our program to. It’s a sustained culture that’s competing for championships. You’re getting a really confident and a team that’s got some excellent football players coming back. All three starting linebackers come back and have sat the tone for their program the last couple years. Obviously, the quarterback on the offensive side is back. I’ve got a great deal of respect for South Dakota State. It’s a great opponent for us to kick-start the season.”
On how good true freshman Mike Rose is:
“We’re going to find out probably pretty soon. The reality of the position he plays and for a freshman to be able to compete right now says a lot about how good maybe he is early in his career. His explosiveness, understanding of the position and his intelligence on top of it. You couple all that together and see him having the ability to learn and grow really fast in our system. I’m really impressed with Michael. He’s had a really good fall camp. To say he really came out of nowhere, I don’t know if that’s fair. We all had really good expectations for him, but to be where he’s at so soon and competing for playing time and a factor for us, that’s been really impressive.”
On utilizing more of the running back options beyond David Montgomery:
“The reality of it is, if you look at our team a year ago, there were two guys that we have great confidence in in Johnie Lang and Kene Nwangwu. They weren’t available to us with injuries. Now we get two guys back that have health. They’re also earning the right to play. The position at running back, we’re fortunate because we’ve also got Mike Warren who’s had great success. I thought Sheldon Croney really saved us at the end of the year by stepping in and playing great football. Then he had a tremendous spring and fall camp. You really feel confident in that group as a whole. I know there’s only one football, but the reality of it is, those guys are earning the right to play.”
On team having a better handle on what it takes to succeed:
“You have to know who you are and I think we’re becoming more and more of a student of understanding our formula for success. Our formula for success is never going to be the team that’s going to go out there and score 80 points. That’s not our niche. Our niche is we have to win in the margins and be efficient in terms of situational football. We have to do the little things really well if we’re going to compete and sustain success.
“What a year ago did was at least made those speeches and talks about why those are important…it made them relevant. We were able to go back and see what we do well and what we don’t do well in those areas and how do we improve. Now we go into games and you can almost point those statistics and areas out to our kids and really pinpoint what the plan is for success.”
On defensive lineman Ray Lima quietly making a big impact on team:
“One of the things that I really appreciate it about Ray…I don’t know whether you say he’s overlooked or undervalued, what he always will bring to the table is his humility. That allows him to blend into the scene and you never see how important he is until he’s not there. That’s in our locker room and on our practice field. It’s on game day. If you ask every player in our program, with him being voted captain, and ask every coach in our program, they all have a great understanding of his value.”
On how much the two returning linebackers were boosted by having Joel Lanning around in 2017:
“We’re really fortunate to have two guys in that room that really benefited from the humility, character and work ethic of Joel, and that’s Willie and Marcel. Marcel is a guy with an infectious personality. Like David on offense a year ago, he was a sparkplug for our football team on defense. He plays the game the right way, is one of our hardest workers and has an electric personality in our locker room. Everybody flocks to Marcel. Willie is a guy that’s continuing to grow as a football player and he learned a lot.
“That team sees how one of the best players acts and carries himself and then it sits in where you’ve got actual visual evidence of this is how you carry yourself and this is how you act. That’s what gives us the best chance to have success. Jake Hummel and O’Rien Vance are two more guys that were fortunate to have Joel Lanning around.”
On the development of the tight end position in his three seasons on the job:
“For the first time since we’ve been here, we feel really confident about the tight end position. We knew there were really good players there a year ago, but they are so much like offensive linemen in that people really want to get those tight ends on the field. The reality of it is, that position is like the offensive line. There’s such a physicality to that position. You want the growth and development to happen. Now you see Chase (Allen) at 255 pounds, Charlie Kolar at 260 pounds and Dylan Soehner at 282 pounds. They’re maturing. Not only do they give you flexibility in the pass game, but in the run game they allow the offensive line to create gaps and help you do some things we really haven’t had the ability to do.
“Another guy we shouldn’t overlook is Sam Seonbuchner and what he’s meant to our football program and team. He has been physically mature enough over the last few years to help us. When we play good football, he has certainly been a key asset to it.”
On his thoughts of SDSU head coach John Stiegelmeier, who has been there for 22 seasons:
“I’ve said this so much about watching the Kansas State program from afar…our society doesn’t allow this to happen. We’re such a knee-jerk reaction society. Those legendary coaches that have said they’re going to build something and stay and do it the right way…those are hard to find and are almost dinosaurs these days in our profession. Here’s the result. It’s what you get at Kansas State and South Dakota State. You get tradition, consistency and expectations. Those things don’t die and it’s not cyclical. It just continues to grow and get better.
“It’s one of the things that I have such a respect for, coming from a program like that as a collegiate player. Coach Kehres was that same type of coach that ushered in that same type of success. I appreciate it because that’s what I grew up with and what I know. He defined a culture and set that culture. It’s the same thing the coach is doing at South Dakota State.”
On how the program tackled early challenges last year to achieve big things:
“For us, certainly the Akron game and really the first five games of the season ushered in adversity. We’re defined by adversity and once adversity hits, it’s going to happen it’s just a matter of when that’s coming for this year’s team, that’s what is special about college football. You deal with a lot of kids. Every program has 125-130 players. You’ve got a million different things that can happen and they can come a million different ways. The teams that thrive and have the ability to achieve and reach their full potential are the ones that can overcome adversity. How you respond to that adversity is defining of what you become.”
