Transcribed by Bill Seals
On if the staff used the down time to try to become even more multiple:
“The one thing that we haven’t maybe done as much as the perception would be is that we’ve put in all these different things. What we’ve really tried to do is one week we’ve called different things and it shows complexity and multiplicity. That’s things that we want to do and have the ability to do. We’re still a creature of ‘we play best when we know what we’re doing’. Us as coaches have been together a long time and we like to draw things up because we love the scheming part of things. But at the end of it, what’s allowed our defense to play really well is the foundation of knowing who they are, knowing where they’re aligned and assigned, and once the ball is snapped playing fast. Coach (Jon) Heacock and our defensive staff have done a great job of finding that right balance of scheming things up and also getting back to the foundations and basics of who we are.”
On what stands out to him about Texas Tech’s offense:
“There’s a lot of things offensively that stick out. Both big receivers on the outside are having a really great year for them. The quarterback aspect of it, no matter who has been in there, he’s given those receivers a real opportunity to catch big plays. (Kliff Kingsbury) went with a couple young offensive linemen a year ago and now they’ve grown into a veteran offensive line. That’s a group that’s played really well for them, especially in some critical moments. It’s a complete offense that’s very confident in who they are and what they’re doing.”
On the growth of interior defensive lineman Jamahl Johnson:
“Jamahl has had great growth in our program, dating back to the bowl game last year where he had such a profound effect on that football game. That was kind of his breakout game in his career here. All he’s done since that point is really skyrocket in this program. Academically, he had his best semester ever this spring. He’s matured in a lot of ways on and off the field. We think he’s really highly talented and a guy that’s really allowed us to have a great complement to Ray (Lima). He’s different than Ray in a lot of ways. His speed off the ball and twitch give us a different factor in there sometimes. Jamahl has had a great year for us. Nothing surprised me about his play last Saturday. I thought he did a phenomenal job. I think we’re all really confident with what he can do for us and can continue to do for us.”
On what he’s seen of the Texas Tech defense:
“There are some similarities, not so much in structure to what we do, but in terms of philosophy. They’re very multiple in what they’re doing. Defensively, I want to say 10 starters are back from last year’s defense. When we played against that defense a year ago, we came away really impressed with what we went against. The physical linebackers can really run and the defensive line, a lot of guys have played and understand where they’re supposed to fit. Another year into it, you have some great multiplicity to what they’re doing. They can pressure you. They can come from every angle. They can play their base defense and really force you to drive the football. It’s a great challenge for our offense in a lot of ways.”
On Texas Tech being strong in different situations:
“You look at them…they get off the field on third down. You look at their red-zone defense, third down efficiency and at the success their offense has had in the red zone. Look at their turnover margin. All of those areas, you see they’ve made great improvements. They’re a confident football team and they’re doing all the little things it takes to be successful. It will be a great challenge for us.”
On the breakthroughs from young defensive backs Datrone Young and Anthony Johnson:
“Both guys have really fit into that role that you’ve heard me talk so many times…make me play you. Datrone had a great spring. Everybody in our program has been really impressed with how he went about his work. He’s very confident and a really good man coverage guy. He has great physicality on top of those things. Those are hard things to find. He had a great fall camp and really earned the right to play early on.
“Anthony, on the other hand, jumped out to us this summer. Getting here in the summer portion of things and early in fall camp, you saw he had some talented traits that we haven’t had yet at corner with the length, size and ability to run. He’s really grown. His transition came through special teams. He showed up for us the first couple weeks and then really started to flourish with his opportunities on defense.
“I’m really confident in both those guys. They’re different than Brian (Peavy) and D’Andre (Payne), but both have some similarities to what those two bring to the table mentally. That’s why they’ve been able to get onto the field in critical moments. I see both of them continuing to play for us. How we mix and match that whole secondary piece is constantly in talk. We sit down after practice and talk about how those guys fit in and where. Especially with Lawrence (White) being healthy again and ready to get himself back on the football field.”
On the emergence of tight end Charlie Kolar:
“Very similar to Datrone, it’s make me play you. He’s a guy that in fall camp, if you would have watched us practice, you left thinking that guy has a chance to be really special. In the first couple weeks, Chase (Allen) was playing as good as any tight end out there. Charlie was step for step right with Chase. We felt really confident. Nobody wants to see a guy get injured as Chase did, but we at least felt confident that until Chase gets back, we have a guy that can go in there and replicate what you want that tight end position to do for us. We ask them to flex out, catch passes, line up in the backfield at times, and Charlie can do all of those things for us. We think his future is really bright and he’ll continue to be a good player and eventually a focal point to what we try to do offensively.”
On if he had to coach Brock Purdy in a different way than Kyle Kempt, given he had success so early in career:
“I don’t really. If you recruit the right kids, you don’t have to worry about those things. It’s communication. That’s why Brock is playing at a young age, because he can handle it. Fame is a loose term. He’s played two football games. Sometimes in Ames, Iowa, we grant everybody fame with success early. We talk about those things and go back to work. Luckily, Brock has great parents who have laid a great foundation in him. He had a similar experience in high school, having to play early and enjoying a lot of success early in his career. That’s allowed him to have success here. We don’t overcoach those things other than just communication.”
On the status of four suspended freshmen players:
“They are back. They’ve been back for a while. They went through the protocol of what needed to happen. Those guys have been back on the practice field a couple weeks ago."
On if the staff used the down time to try to become even more multiple:
“The one thing that we haven’t maybe done as much as the perception would be is that we’ve put in all these different things. What we’ve really tried to do is one week we’ve called different things and it shows complexity and multiplicity. That’s things that we want to do and have the ability to do. We’re still a creature of ‘we play best when we know what we’re doing’. Us as coaches have been together a long time and we like to draw things up because we love the scheming part of things. But at the end of it, what’s allowed our defense to play really well is the foundation of knowing who they are, knowing where they’re aligned and assigned, and once the ball is snapped playing fast. Coach (Jon) Heacock and our defensive staff have done a great job of finding that right balance of scheming things up and also getting back to the foundations and basics of who we are.”
On what stands out to him about Texas Tech’s offense:
“There’s a lot of things offensively that stick out. Both big receivers on the outside are having a really great year for them. The quarterback aspect of it, no matter who has been in there, he’s given those receivers a real opportunity to catch big plays. (Kliff Kingsbury) went with a couple young offensive linemen a year ago and now they’ve grown into a veteran offensive line. That’s a group that’s played really well for them, especially in some critical moments. It’s a complete offense that’s very confident in who they are and what they’re doing.”
On the growth of interior defensive lineman Jamahl Johnson:
“Jamahl has had great growth in our program, dating back to the bowl game last year where he had such a profound effect on that football game. That was kind of his breakout game in his career here. All he’s done since that point is really skyrocket in this program. Academically, he had his best semester ever this spring. He’s matured in a lot of ways on and off the field. We think he’s really highly talented and a guy that’s really allowed us to have a great complement to Ray (Lima). He’s different than Ray in a lot of ways. His speed off the ball and twitch give us a different factor in there sometimes. Jamahl has had a great year for us. Nothing surprised me about his play last Saturday. I thought he did a phenomenal job. I think we’re all really confident with what he can do for us and can continue to do for us.”
On what he’s seen of the Texas Tech defense:
“There are some similarities, not so much in structure to what we do, but in terms of philosophy. They’re very multiple in what they’re doing. Defensively, I want to say 10 starters are back from last year’s defense. When we played against that defense a year ago, we came away really impressed with what we went against. The physical linebackers can really run and the defensive line, a lot of guys have played and understand where they’re supposed to fit. Another year into it, you have some great multiplicity to what they’re doing. They can pressure you. They can come from every angle. They can play their base defense and really force you to drive the football. It’s a great challenge for our offense in a lot of ways.”
On Texas Tech being strong in different situations:
“You look at them…they get off the field on third down. You look at their red-zone defense, third down efficiency and at the success their offense has had in the red zone. Look at their turnover margin. All of those areas, you see they’ve made great improvements. They’re a confident football team and they’re doing all the little things it takes to be successful. It will be a great challenge for us.”
On the breakthroughs from young defensive backs Datrone Young and Anthony Johnson:
“Both guys have really fit into that role that you’ve heard me talk so many times…make me play you. Datrone had a great spring. Everybody in our program has been really impressed with how he went about his work. He’s very confident and a really good man coverage guy. He has great physicality on top of those things. Those are hard things to find. He had a great fall camp and really earned the right to play early on.
“Anthony, on the other hand, jumped out to us this summer. Getting here in the summer portion of things and early in fall camp, you saw he had some talented traits that we haven’t had yet at corner with the length, size and ability to run. He’s really grown. His transition came through special teams. He showed up for us the first couple weeks and then really started to flourish with his opportunities on defense.
“I’m really confident in both those guys. They’re different than Brian (Peavy) and D’Andre (Payne), but both have some similarities to what those two bring to the table mentally. That’s why they’ve been able to get onto the field in critical moments. I see both of them continuing to play for us. How we mix and match that whole secondary piece is constantly in talk. We sit down after practice and talk about how those guys fit in and where. Especially with Lawrence (White) being healthy again and ready to get himself back on the football field.”
On the emergence of tight end Charlie Kolar:
“Very similar to Datrone, it’s make me play you. He’s a guy that in fall camp, if you would have watched us practice, you left thinking that guy has a chance to be really special. In the first couple weeks, Chase (Allen) was playing as good as any tight end out there. Charlie was step for step right with Chase. We felt really confident. Nobody wants to see a guy get injured as Chase did, but we at least felt confident that until Chase gets back, we have a guy that can go in there and replicate what you want that tight end position to do for us. We ask them to flex out, catch passes, line up in the backfield at times, and Charlie can do all of those things for us. We think his future is really bright and he’ll continue to be a good player and eventually a focal point to what we try to do offensively.”
On if he had to coach Brock Purdy in a different way than Kyle Kempt, given he had success so early in career:
“I don’t really. If you recruit the right kids, you don’t have to worry about those things. It’s communication. That’s why Brock is playing at a young age, because he can handle it. Fame is a loose term. He’s played two football games. Sometimes in Ames, Iowa, we grant everybody fame with success early. We talk about those things and go back to work. Luckily, Brock has great parents who have laid a great foundation in him. He had a similar experience in high school, having to play early and enjoying a lot of success early in his career. That’s allowed him to have success here. We don’t overcoach those things other than just communication.”
On the status of four suspended freshmen players:
“They are back. They’ve been back for a while. They went through the protocol of what needed to happen. Those guys have been back on the practice field a couple weeks ago."
