Lincoln stated at the top that he wasn't going to take any Bear Alexander questions. Here was the full transcript:
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Opening comments ...
"All right, good morning, everybody. I know you all saw the surprising news from yesterday. Not going to be taking any of those internal matters and discussing. Not going to take any questions on the subject. We’re fired up for the guys that we have that are playing. Excited about our Big Ten home opener against a really good Wisconsin team. And we’ll be excited to discuss that with you all today. With that, I’ll take questions."
What's it going to be like coaching against Alex Grinch, a guy who knows your offense so well?
"Personally, it’ll be good to see him. It’ll certainly be unique being on opposite sidelines, with all the good times and great memories we had together, all the years working together. I’ve been a part of this before, where you have guys on previous staffs. I’ve even coached against my brother before. Yeah, we’ll see how the game unfolds. They’ve obviously – Coach Grinch has a good familiarity with what we’ve done. But I still think the game comes down to players and who executes the best on Saturday afternoon. I think we’ve prepared hard, but we know it’ll be a good challenge going against defense that he’s obviously a part of. "
Going against Tackett Curtis, what have you seen from his development there and why did it not work out here?
"Tackett, CJ, yeah, in this age of college football – had one of my former players at Utah State – you kind of get used to that now. I’m happy for those guys that are getting an opportunity at other schools, including Tackett and C.J. at Wisconsin. Two great kids. I wish them the best. I wish them a lot of success, other than on Saturday. No ill will, no bad blood with any of them, man. Want them to go and do well. They’re great kids, they’ve got great families. And yeah, I wish them the best. I’ll always be keeping up with them."
How do you evaluate the play of the four sophomore receivers so far?
"You know me, I don’t love to get into these big-picture evaluations. They’ve all made some really productive plays for us. They’ve all had some opportunities where I think they could be even better. They have been impactful. I think our blocking has been, has been solid. We can be better at something – we’ve got to get more dominant at blocking on the perimeter. It’s certainly a big part of our offense and opens up so many more things. So you know, they’re all young guys that are talented guys as we know. They’re making some really good plays, but we need them to continue to progress like the rest of our roster needs to as well, and I think they will based on what I’ve seen."
Jide Abasiri is listed second team on the new depth chart -- how has he progressed and what impact can he make?
"He’s progressed a lot. Just every day, you see the guy improving. You see him understanding the game, understanding what we’re trying to do defensively. He’s been able to get a good mix of reps, both with our defense and also a handful of scout team reps every day, which is more quality reps against the older, top offensive linemen, so yeah, just, he’s one of those guys if he stays healthy, keeps a good attitude, he kind of has that feel where it’s just a matter of time. Because the kid is very talented. He’s a hard worker. He really seems like he wants to get this done – he’s just progressing really quickly. It wouldn’t surprise me if he works himself into an opportunity to help this football team this year, and regardless, he’s got a very bright future."
D'Anton talked about his first impressions about Eric Gentry's potential, what were the first discussions you two had about him?
"I tried to early on get those guys acclimated with the personnel as I saw it in terms of what I thought these guys could do, and tried to at least give our defensive coaches a starting piece on how these guys could be effective and how they would fit into our defense going forward. Yeah, I think the conversations around Eric were that I think he has a chance to be a really unique piece for us. It's a very unique skill set -- his ability to move, to cover, to be physical, to blitz, with that frame, you just don't find that very often. And when he's rolling, the thing that really makes us special is he does have a, he's a passionate player. He plays the game with an edge and a passion that's fun to see. Our coaches have done a good job of harnessing that. I think Eric has done a good job of learning the system and really buying in -- yeah, he played to a high level last week against Michigan. And it's been a good fit between him -- him and Coach Lynn and Coach Entz has been a good fit. Coach Entz being his position coach, and I think Coach Lynn having a good feel for how to use him, and then obviously the key point is Eric being able to handle it all well, which he's done a really good job of up to this point."
