Here is the first of two installments of the complete transcript of tight ends coach Alex Golesh with reporters. Golesh has the tight ends as well as the F receivers.
It's no surprise that the plan would be for the tight ends to be more involved and more productive after catching a grand total of six passes combined last year. That's from the Captain Obvious department as few tight end corps have been less productive than ISU's in recent years. But it's really wide open in terms of who gets the playing time and who gets the most opportunities as a receiver. Lots for Golesh and OC Tom Manning to sort through between now and September and on through the season.
On the F receiver position:
I think without pads it’s really hard to say. I’ve told those guys hey just relax, be patient here for a second, cause it’s hard to bang those guys around. Move guys and be able to be lead blockers and be able to run some flat routes and some intermediate short routes. I think a lot of what we see out of the F position will be determined by what those guys can do: Cole (Anderson) and Sam Harms, and Justin Chandler’s playing both right now. We’re trying to cross train. We really want to cross train anybody that can play to be able to play both. But I think once we get some pads on and continue to install, once we get through ten days, eleven days, and now start to figure out what do we actually want to do with those guys. How do they fit the scheme and how does the scheme fit them? I think it’s probably a little bit early to tell. We have grand ideas of what we want to do but I think it’s just got to fit their skill set. I told Cole Anderson today, I have no idea what you can do in terms of putting your hat on somebody. He hasn’t done anything in a year in terms of football. So I think it will be interesting to see him. Shoot, even Bo Bonacci’s been in there scrapping around. Sam Harms, he only practiced what, five or six times in the spring. It’s really hard to say. And like I said, Justin Chandler’s a guy that can do both. Cliff Fernandez, when we put some pads on, I want to see what he looks like after six months with Rudy as far as putting his hat on somebody and being a physical, violent presence.
On Justin Chandler’s development:
I think Justin is probably a lot smarter than maybe I even gave him credit for in terms of football smarts. He’s so much more versed now in what we want to do. That’s understanding the grand scheme. I think tight end in this offense is a little bit tough initially because you’ve got to understand where you fit in the run game, in the pass game, in everything you do. I think he’s come along really, really well. Like I said, I want to see us put some pads on and once the whole playbook is in there, see how he responds. I think Coach Manning’s done a great job of, let’s take it slow, let’s make sure these guys understand the concepts so we can let them compete full speed. I think sometimes as coaches we want to get everything in because we want to see what the total body of work is. I think what Coach Manning’s done is, with the help of the whole staff, everybody slow it down. Let’s put in one at a time, two at a time, whether it’s run, pass, play action, whatever, trick plays, it doesn’t matter. Let’s put in one at a time, let’s master it, then move on. Joel’s started five, six games at quarterback – he’s got to feel comfortable. Those other quarterbacks, Zeb (Noland), Jacob (Park), those guys have got to feel comfortable. So we’ve really taken it slow. Like I said it’s a little bit hard to say this early. But so far, I’ve been really, really pleased with Justin.
On how Chandler’s size will help him at tight end and F receiver:
Big kid; big kid. I think it helps him drastically in the run game. I think in the pass game we’ve worked to get his cardio up and get a little bit of that weight off to become more of a factor in the pass game. At the end of the day, you want as big of a guy as you can get that can run and be physical.
On transfer receiver Marchie Murdock, who Golesh knew from both being at Illinois:
Obviously I was on that side of the ball with him. I was involved in recruiting him. We always had a really, really good relationship. I was the special teams coordinator there and so he was kind of my go to special teams guy. We built a really, really close bond through recruiting; built a close bond through him playing on special teams. And we talked a lot. When I was leaving, why I left at the time, a lot of similar probably reasons why he decided to graduate and move on and kind of start fresh and new. But he obviously made the decision early because he had graduate. He reached out to us and said this is what I want to do and obviously for him it helped having some familiar faces with me, and two of our strength coaches that I was with at Illinois at one time. I think it was really neat for him to at least have a familiar face, somebody he knows he can lean on and trust. But he quickly built a really good relationship with Coach Gas (Brian Gasser).
On what kind of player Murdock is going to be for Iowa State:
I think it will be interesting to judge him probably in about 15 practices. He didn’t go through spring ball so he’s been working out on his own with a trainer and all that. He didn’t have the benefit of the summer. He took four classes this summer to graduate so he didn’t have the benefit of the summer with Coach Wade in our system with these workouts. So I think it’s going to take him some time. It’s not a secret, but guys can’t play full speed if they don’t know what they’re doing. So for him it’s going to take a second to figure out what he’s doing so he can play full speed. And then I think you’ll get a true evaluation on him. But he’s a tough young man that can run. He’s played college football in the Big Ten for three years. He’s started a handful of games there. He started the first six games last year, was productive, got slowed down by an injury there for a little bit. But was probably one of our best special teams players there. And one of our better players on offense, like I said, until he got banged up. So I think it will be interesting for him to get some stability and really go through this process. How fast he gets on the field, I think, will be determined by how fast he can learn. So probably in ten days you’ll get a better idea of where he is.
On Fernandez’ ability and skill set:
He had a really good day yesterday. He brings an athletic body that can run and move. Another guy that can play on the ball, off the ball. I think after we put the pads on I’ll be able to get a feel for, will he start where he finished last year, or last spring. Because he finished the spring with a different mindset. He figured out how to play. He had never been attached, never put his hand down on the ground. I think sometimes with junior college guys, us as coaches just like everybody else think, man, here’s an immediate help guy. Well those guys played at a different level, still have got to develop, have got to get in a good strength program. He’s never eaten three meals a day, ever, snacks and protein shakes. Never been in a weight program where somebody’s on him constantly. So I think what he’s done with his body in six months, and Coach Wade has been incredibly happy with him, is really neat to see. We brought Cliff here to play; we brought Cliff here to start. But like I said, we brought all those guys in. I tell them every day, you can’t do it, this guy will. If this guy won’t do it, that guy will. It’s a neat situatiob for Cliff because there’s not a single guy in that room that’s ever started. There’s one guy in that room that’s ever played tight end. So for him it’s a wide open deal and so far he’s done a good job taking advantage of it.
It's no surprise that the plan would be for the tight ends to be more involved and more productive after catching a grand total of six passes combined last year. That's from the Captain Obvious department as few tight end corps have been less productive than ISU's in recent years. But it's really wide open in terms of who gets the playing time and who gets the most opportunities as a receiver. Lots for Golesh and OC Tom Manning to sort through between now and September and on through the season.
On the F receiver position:
I think without pads it’s really hard to say. I’ve told those guys hey just relax, be patient here for a second, cause it’s hard to bang those guys around. Move guys and be able to be lead blockers and be able to run some flat routes and some intermediate short routes. I think a lot of what we see out of the F position will be determined by what those guys can do: Cole (Anderson) and Sam Harms, and Justin Chandler’s playing both right now. We’re trying to cross train. We really want to cross train anybody that can play to be able to play both. But I think once we get some pads on and continue to install, once we get through ten days, eleven days, and now start to figure out what do we actually want to do with those guys. How do they fit the scheme and how does the scheme fit them? I think it’s probably a little bit early to tell. We have grand ideas of what we want to do but I think it’s just got to fit their skill set. I told Cole Anderson today, I have no idea what you can do in terms of putting your hat on somebody. He hasn’t done anything in a year in terms of football. So I think it will be interesting to see him. Shoot, even Bo Bonacci’s been in there scrapping around. Sam Harms, he only practiced what, five or six times in the spring. It’s really hard to say. And like I said, Justin Chandler’s a guy that can do both. Cliff Fernandez, when we put some pads on, I want to see what he looks like after six months with Rudy as far as putting his hat on somebody and being a physical, violent presence.
On Justin Chandler’s development:
I think Justin is probably a lot smarter than maybe I even gave him credit for in terms of football smarts. He’s so much more versed now in what we want to do. That’s understanding the grand scheme. I think tight end in this offense is a little bit tough initially because you’ve got to understand where you fit in the run game, in the pass game, in everything you do. I think he’s come along really, really well. Like I said, I want to see us put some pads on and once the whole playbook is in there, see how he responds. I think Coach Manning’s done a great job of, let’s take it slow, let’s make sure these guys understand the concepts so we can let them compete full speed. I think sometimes as coaches we want to get everything in because we want to see what the total body of work is. I think what Coach Manning’s done is, with the help of the whole staff, everybody slow it down. Let’s put in one at a time, two at a time, whether it’s run, pass, play action, whatever, trick plays, it doesn’t matter. Let’s put in one at a time, let’s master it, then move on. Joel’s started five, six games at quarterback – he’s got to feel comfortable. Those other quarterbacks, Zeb (Noland), Jacob (Park), those guys have got to feel comfortable. So we’ve really taken it slow. Like I said it’s a little bit hard to say this early. But so far, I’ve been really, really pleased with Justin.
On how Chandler’s size will help him at tight end and F receiver:
Big kid; big kid. I think it helps him drastically in the run game. I think in the pass game we’ve worked to get his cardio up and get a little bit of that weight off to become more of a factor in the pass game. At the end of the day, you want as big of a guy as you can get that can run and be physical.
On transfer receiver Marchie Murdock, who Golesh knew from both being at Illinois:
Obviously I was on that side of the ball with him. I was involved in recruiting him. We always had a really, really good relationship. I was the special teams coordinator there and so he was kind of my go to special teams guy. We built a really, really close bond through recruiting; built a close bond through him playing on special teams. And we talked a lot. When I was leaving, why I left at the time, a lot of similar probably reasons why he decided to graduate and move on and kind of start fresh and new. But he obviously made the decision early because he had graduate. He reached out to us and said this is what I want to do and obviously for him it helped having some familiar faces with me, and two of our strength coaches that I was with at Illinois at one time. I think it was really neat for him to at least have a familiar face, somebody he knows he can lean on and trust. But he quickly built a really good relationship with Coach Gas (Brian Gasser).
On what kind of player Murdock is going to be for Iowa State:
I think it will be interesting to judge him probably in about 15 practices. He didn’t go through spring ball so he’s been working out on his own with a trainer and all that. He didn’t have the benefit of the summer. He took four classes this summer to graduate so he didn’t have the benefit of the summer with Coach Wade in our system with these workouts. So I think it’s going to take him some time. It’s not a secret, but guys can’t play full speed if they don’t know what they’re doing. So for him it’s going to take a second to figure out what he’s doing so he can play full speed. And then I think you’ll get a true evaluation on him. But he’s a tough young man that can run. He’s played college football in the Big Ten for three years. He’s started a handful of games there. He started the first six games last year, was productive, got slowed down by an injury there for a little bit. But was probably one of our best special teams players there. And one of our better players on offense, like I said, until he got banged up. So I think it will be interesting for him to get some stability and really go through this process. How fast he gets on the field, I think, will be determined by how fast he can learn. So probably in ten days you’ll get a better idea of where he is.
On Fernandez’ ability and skill set:
He had a really good day yesterday. He brings an athletic body that can run and move. Another guy that can play on the ball, off the ball. I think after we put the pads on I’ll be able to get a feel for, will he start where he finished last year, or last spring. Because he finished the spring with a different mindset. He figured out how to play. He had never been attached, never put his hand down on the ground. I think sometimes with junior college guys, us as coaches just like everybody else think, man, here’s an immediate help guy. Well those guys played at a different level, still have got to develop, have got to get in a good strength program. He’s never eaten three meals a day, ever, snacks and protein shakes. Never been in a weight program where somebody’s on him constantly. So I think what he’s done with his body in six months, and Coach Wade has been incredibly happy with him, is really neat to see. We brought Cliff here to play; we brought Cliff here to start. But like I said, we brought all those guys in. I tell them every day, you can’t do it, this guy will. If this guy won’t do it, that guy will. It’s a neat situatiob for Cliff because there’s not a single guy in that room that’s ever started. There’s one guy in that room that’s ever played tight end. So for him it’s a wide open deal and so far he’s done a good job taking advantage of it.
