On playing multiple quarterbacks this season:
In two years, we’ve played a million quarterbacks. Do I want to do that? I don’t know. But we’ll do whatever is best for the football team to be successful. It just so happens in my opinion, I really think that room is as good as it’s been since I’ve been here. We’d be naïve not to talk about Brock Purdy. There’s a kid that’s also come in and flashed and done really good things. But for those freshmen, until they get under the lights and they perform and the pressure and all those things that come with it, we’re talking hypotheticals. Zeb (Noland) has proven that he can play at this level and win games. And obviously Kyle (Kempt) has proven that he can do that. So I think we’ll see how camp goes. We’ll see where our football team is. Ultimately it’s my job to make sure the right guys are on the field to give us the best opportunity to be successful.
On Brayden Narveson being the starting placekicker as a freshman:
I feel really confident that having our freshman here through the spring, Brayden (Narveson), being able to get quality reps (was a good thing). And then obviously Chris’ (Francis) improvement that he’s made. If you really look at Chris’ entire career, the improvement that Chris has made, has been really impressive. Probably the best kickoff guy in the conference a year ago. He’s got just a great leg. Now can he harness that and have the consistency you want from your placekicker. And then obviously the young guy, can he handle being a freshman thrust into that situation. So I think to be honest with you, it’s one of the biggest battles I really see going into fall camp. Because I know how critical the success of that position is to our football team.
On having more versatile and flexible players on offense:
You guys have heard me talk about this, too. I think we’re just starting to get to where we want to be offensively in terms of an evolution of an offense. A lot of that was kind of the cards we were dealt early on where now we’ve been able to recruit tight ends where you’ve got flexibility there. And now those guys are redshirt sophomores who are developed and look like tight ends and being able to do what you want them to do. The backfield position, if we can stay healthy and have more than a couple of guys there that can have multiple skill sets, that’s big for us. The receiver positions. Multiple offensive linemen rather than just five guys, hoping that you can. It gives you some flexibility. It’s getting us a lot closer to where we want to be and I’ve always seen offensive football as that: a lot of what we’re doing on the defensive side, having the ability to do that on offense.
On utilizing new rule for limited play of true freshmen without using up year of eligibility:
For me, the freshmen piece of it, if we were coming in year one, I think if you even look at our trends, year one I want to say we played eight true freshmen that first year we were here. Now knock on wood, those eight true freshmen all ended up becoming good players and did a really good job as true freshmen. But our record also indicated we played eight true freshmen at times. My hope is that our football program is not at that point where we have to play eight true freshmen. Last year was a little bit less. I think that’s how it goes. Now this new rule I think puts you in a mindset of, when do you play those true freshmen? I’ve said this to every recruit that I’ve recruited and I’ve said this at every first team meeting that I’ve ever had is, I would rather play you too late than too early. That’s for the benefit of our team and that’s for the benefit of you. You have to show and prove that you are ready to go help our team be successful, rather than just the opportunity to put you into a football game and potentially burn your redshirt. That’s not good for you and that’s not good for the health of our football program. So I think it’s not so much the year, it’s where we’re at in our football program. We’ll be cautious with how we use those freshmen, especially early in the season. If we can benefit because we’re able to develop those freshmen through September and October and maybe by the month of November some of those guys are capable of coming in and helping us down the stretch run, do I think that’s huge? Yes. Do I think a year ago O’Rien Vance and Johnnie Lang and some of those guys maybe could have helped us down the stretch run? Yeah, maybe they could have and could have helped us with, you’ve got Joel Lanning playing so many snaps and you’ve got some of those seniors who played a tremendous amount of football, just cause of lack of depth where we were, we didn’t have the ability to help those guys out. So I think it’s definitely a rule that’s going to enhance strategically how you think about those freshmen but something I think we can certainly benefit from through development rather than just saying, hey we’re going to play you early and see if you stick.
On the team’s overall health going into camp:
We’re in great shape. I said this, the only guy that is even a little bit limited right now is Carson Epps coming off that surgery from the end, late last football season. But other than that we’re at 100 percent going into fall camp. Which is certainly a credit there, and I would have said this after our first practice, to Rudy Wade and our strength staff and what those guys did this summer. Mark Coberley and our athletic training staff. I thought we had a great plan this summer. I thought the execution of that plan was outstanding and then obviously the credit to our kids for doing a great job taking care of themselves. I think we’re in really good shape that way.
On development of Matt Leo and Kamilo Tongamoa:
I think just looking at those guys - we all would say - boy there’s talent there. They pass the look test of it. Matt’s a name that just like Johnnie and just like talking about O’Rien, at the end of last season, you would have said, Man if we could have played Matt Leo in November and December, that could have really added some depth to our defensive front. He would have been ready to play. So I’m really optimistic about Matt. I think that’s a really good interesting race, him and Enyi, that field defensive end spot. Those are two guys that have very similar traits and similar opportunity. Kamilo, which is intriguing, he’s in the best shape of his life. He’s lost 25 pounds since he’s been here and now he’s a full year in our training facility and training program. He gives us position flexibility. I think Kamilo’s athletic enough that he can go on the outside at times and he can line up at defensive end. Yet he’s also skilled enough and powerful enough to come inside and be able to play that three-technique. Or if we’re in a four-man front, that four I. So both those guys we’re counting on. Both those guys have done a great job this summer. And both guys I think certainly can provide depth and even have the opportunity to, if they have a great camp, challenge for a starting spot somewhere down the line.
On Kene Nwangwu’s return from injury:
Two years ago we saw speed and speed makes a difference. I think any time you have a guy that when he gets his hands on the football can take it the distance, that’s huge. And Kene gave us some of those sparks his freshman year. I think just getting him back, Kene is beloved, our football team loves Kene. And he’s got kind of an energy about himself that’s unique and I think our kids feed off of him. So to be able to have him back, A number one as the kick returner, and then B how do you incorporate him offensively into what you’re trying to do schematically. I certainly think that’s great for our football team. We just want to see Kene continue to be healthy. I think he certainly gives us a spark to our football program.
On who will replace Trever Ryen at primary punt returner:
I asked that question of our staff day one coming back. There’s a lot of guys that have done it. (D’Andre) Payne has done that before for us. He’s done that in games at times when Trever was dinged up late last season, he went back there and did that a little bit. Brian Peavy’s certainly been campaigning for the entire summer to be the punt returner so we’ll kind of see what we do with that. Deshaunte (Jones) is a guy that has the ability to do that. Some of these freshmen have been great punt returners in high school. That’s going to kind of be an open competition and that’ll be something that will really play itself out there. But we’ve been spoiled with obviously the success Trever had in our program and then be able to put Allen (Lazard) back there in game situations just to field the football. Both those guys did a great job for us and we’re going to see who’s the next guys to do it.
On defensive identity and confidence:
We found an identity as the season went on last year. That took about a year and four games for us to kind of anchor in to what is our identity on the defensive side of the football. I think being able to create an identity, having the ability to get better as the season went on, I think there’s a lot of confidence in that room right now. The neat thing for us now is, can we get better? We’ve only played this defense for seven games or six games. I think the flexibility and the variations that we have, I think you can only see us really settling in and being confident in what our guys do. I think confidence is the key to success, especially on the defensive side of the football today.
In two years, we’ve played a million quarterbacks. Do I want to do that? I don’t know. But we’ll do whatever is best for the football team to be successful. It just so happens in my opinion, I really think that room is as good as it’s been since I’ve been here. We’d be naïve not to talk about Brock Purdy. There’s a kid that’s also come in and flashed and done really good things. But for those freshmen, until they get under the lights and they perform and the pressure and all those things that come with it, we’re talking hypotheticals. Zeb (Noland) has proven that he can play at this level and win games. And obviously Kyle (Kempt) has proven that he can do that. So I think we’ll see how camp goes. We’ll see where our football team is. Ultimately it’s my job to make sure the right guys are on the field to give us the best opportunity to be successful.
On Brayden Narveson being the starting placekicker as a freshman:
I feel really confident that having our freshman here through the spring, Brayden (Narveson), being able to get quality reps (was a good thing). And then obviously Chris’ (Francis) improvement that he’s made. If you really look at Chris’ entire career, the improvement that Chris has made, has been really impressive. Probably the best kickoff guy in the conference a year ago. He’s got just a great leg. Now can he harness that and have the consistency you want from your placekicker. And then obviously the young guy, can he handle being a freshman thrust into that situation. So I think to be honest with you, it’s one of the biggest battles I really see going into fall camp. Because I know how critical the success of that position is to our football team.
On having more versatile and flexible players on offense:
You guys have heard me talk about this, too. I think we’re just starting to get to where we want to be offensively in terms of an evolution of an offense. A lot of that was kind of the cards we were dealt early on where now we’ve been able to recruit tight ends where you’ve got flexibility there. And now those guys are redshirt sophomores who are developed and look like tight ends and being able to do what you want them to do. The backfield position, if we can stay healthy and have more than a couple of guys there that can have multiple skill sets, that’s big for us. The receiver positions. Multiple offensive linemen rather than just five guys, hoping that you can. It gives you some flexibility. It’s getting us a lot closer to where we want to be and I’ve always seen offensive football as that: a lot of what we’re doing on the defensive side, having the ability to do that on offense.
On utilizing new rule for limited play of true freshmen without using up year of eligibility:
For me, the freshmen piece of it, if we were coming in year one, I think if you even look at our trends, year one I want to say we played eight true freshmen that first year we were here. Now knock on wood, those eight true freshmen all ended up becoming good players and did a really good job as true freshmen. But our record also indicated we played eight true freshmen at times. My hope is that our football program is not at that point where we have to play eight true freshmen. Last year was a little bit less. I think that’s how it goes. Now this new rule I think puts you in a mindset of, when do you play those true freshmen? I’ve said this to every recruit that I’ve recruited and I’ve said this at every first team meeting that I’ve ever had is, I would rather play you too late than too early. That’s for the benefit of our team and that’s for the benefit of you. You have to show and prove that you are ready to go help our team be successful, rather than just the opportunity to put you into a football game and potentially burn your redshirt. That’s not good for you and that’s not good for the health of our football program. So I think it’s not so much the year, it’s where we’re at in our football program. We’ll be cautious with how we use those freshmen, especially early in the season. If we can benefit because we’re able to develop those freshmen through September and October and maybe by the month of November some of those guys are capable of coming in and helping us down the stretch run, do I think that’s huge? Yes. Do I think a year ago O’Rien Vance and Johnnie Lang and some of those guys maybe could have helped us down the stretch run? Yeah, maybe they could have and could have helped us with, you’ve got Joel Lanning playing so many snaps and you’ve got some of those seniors who played a tremendous amount of football, just cause of lack of depth where we were, we didn’t have the ability to help those guys out. So I think it’s definitely a rule that’s going to enhance strategically how you think about those freshmen but something I think we can certainly benefit from through development rather than just saying, hey we’re going to play you early and see if you stick.
On the team’s overall health going into camp:
We’re in great shape. I said this, the only guy that is even a little bit limited right now is Carson Epps coming off that surgery from the end, late last football season. But other than that we’re at 100 percent going into fall camp. Which is certainly a credit there, and I would have said this after our first practice, to Rudy Wade and our strength staff and what those guys did this summer. Mark Coberley and our athletic training staff. I thought we had a great plan this summer. I thought the execution of that plan was outstanding and then obviously the credit to our kids for doing a great job taking care of themselves. I think we’re in really good shape that way.
On development of Matt Leo and Kamilo Tongamoa:
I think just looking at those guys - we all would say - boy there’s talent there. They pass the look test of it. Matt’s a name that just like Johnnie and just like talking about O’Rien, at the end of last season, you would have said, Man if we could have played Matt Leo in November and December, that could have really added some depth to our defensive front. He would have been ready to play. So I’m really optimistic about Matt. I think that’s a really good interesting race, him and Enyi, that field defensive end spot. Those are two guys that have very similar traits and similar opportunity. Kamilo, which is intriguing, he’s in the best shape of his life. He’s lost 25 pounds since he’s been here and now he’s a full year in our training facility and training program. He gives us position flexibility. I think Kamilo’s athletic enough that he can go on the outside at times and he can line up at defensive end. Yet he’s also skilled enough and powerful enough to come inside and be able to play that three-technique. Or if we’re in a four-man front, that four I. So both those guys we’re counting on. Both those guys have done a great job this summer. And both guys I think certainly can provide depth and even have the opportunity to, if they have a great camp, challenge for a starting spot somewhere down the line.
On Kene Nwangwu’s return from injury:
Two years ago we saw speed and speed makes a difference. I think any time you have a guy that when he gets his hands on the football can take it the distance, that’s huge. And Kene gave us some of those sparks his freshman year. I think just getting him back, Kene is beloved, our football team loves Kene. And he’s got kind of an energy about himself that’s unique and I think our kids feed off of him. So to be able to have him back, A number one as the kick returner, and then B how do you incorporate him offensively into what you’re trying to do schematically. I certainly think that’s great for our football team. We just want to see Kene continue to be healthy. I think he certainly gives us a spark to our football program.
On who will replace Trever Ryen at primary punt returner:
I asked that question of our staff day one coming back. There’s a lot of guys that have done it. (D’Andre) Payne has done that before for us. He’s done that in games at times when Trever was dinged up late last season, he went back there and did that a little bit. Brian Peavy’s certainly been campaigning for the entire summer to be the punt returner so we’ll kind of see what we do with that. Deshaunte (Jones) is a guy that has the ability to do that. Some of these freshmen have been great punt returners in high school. That’s going to kind of be an open competition and that’ll be something that will really play itself out there. But we’ve been spoiled with obviously the success Trever had in our program and then be able to put Allen (Lazard) back there in game situations just to field the football. Both those guys did a great job for us and we’re going to see who’s the next guys to do it.
On defensive identity and confidence:
We found an identity as the season went on last year. That took about a year and four games for us to kind of anchor in to what is our identity on the defensive side of the football. I think being able to create an identity, having the ability to get better as the season went on, I think there’s a lot of confidence in that room right now. The neat thing for us now is, can we get better? We’ve only played this defense for seven games or six games. I think the flexibility and the variations that we have, I think you can only see us really settling in and being confident in what our guys do. I think confidence is the key to success, especially on the defensive side of the football today.
