With Jaylin Smith, is the plan to leave him at corner or still work him around a bunch?
“Um, he’s a piece that gives us some versatility. We’ve worked him at some different positions throughout camp, and spring. Feel like he’s got the ability to help us at different places. Certainly, it’s been his emergence at corner, I think, has been a really positive thing for us so far. But, yeah, I think he’s one of those pieces. And we have a few in the secondary right now that we feel like give us some options, so I would imagine that you’ll see all of ‘em in place at various times throughout the year.”
With Ja’Kobi Lane, how have you seen him find himself this last year?
“Yeah, he’s really an intriguing story. I mean, really just how he ended up here, just has a unique background. But one of those guys we kinda found in recruiting, and really just, it was hard not to just, really fall in love with the kid and in terms of just his energy and his kinda just, joy for life. He’s a big personality, he’s just kinda always fun to be around, and so. And having guys in the program like that are important. It’s – these things are always, there’s a little bit of a grind to it, obviously. A lot of time, all that, involved. When you got people that are high-energy people that everybody enjoys being around, and just, they affect the mood of the group, the energy level of the group so much. They’re just, they’re very valuable. And so, I think Ja’Kobi’s, I think, handled it well, handled the first year well, both on and off the field. Did a great job academically, really settled in, obviously was able to help us there at the end of last year. And so, I think there was a lot of momentum and confidence for him, personally, and for us with him coming off of that. And he’s worked hard. He’s worked hard on his craft. It was good to get some bright moments at the end, but obviously doing it on a consistent basis week-in and week-out will be a good new challenge for him, and I believe that he’s ready for it.”
How much have you interacted with or crossed paths with Brian Kelly?
“Yeah, no, ton of respect for him. He’s obviously done a great job everywhere he’s been, he’s been a really good program-builder, he’s had success at different levels. So, I think he’s done a great job. Somebody I’ve admired for a long time. We did, we talked about a job when I was at East Carolina. We had a meeting about a job when he was at Notre Dame. That was kinda my first real experience with him, and I was super impressed at the time. It was cool, just being a young coach at that point and getting a chance to meet him, spend some time with him, so that was really a positive experience. And then, yeah, our paths have crossed at times, kinda here and there over the different years. We’ve had some mutual friends, some people that have either worked with myself and with Brian that we know very well. So, I’d never worked with him, I haven’t spent a lot of just, individual time with him, but yeah, I felt like I had a pretty good idea of who he is, and obviously a tremendous coach.”
What does it say about Bear Alexander that he hasn't locked in a starting spot?
"I think the “or” is it’s Week 1. There’s a long ways to go. Everybody, no matter what happens Sunday, every single year, everybody wants to write the narrative of, well, what happens Game 1, this is what the whole season is going to be like on all accounts, and it’s not going to be that way. They both had strong camps. Very different situations. Obviously Bear was injured, missed the entire spring, missed a few points of fall camp, but is now fully healthy and gaining momentum. Gavin has been super impressive coming in, learning the system quickly. You see the experience of a guy who has played a whole lot of ball. Even for Bear, you know, Bear, we’ve got to remind people, he played sparingly his true freshman year at Georgia. He played for us here Year 1 and then missed all of spring. Bear is still very young on the football field. Bear has still got a long ways to go. He’s definitely getting better fast, no question about it. The last few weeks especially you felt him really gain some momentum, adjusting to the new system and all we’re doing new defensively. His progress has been very positive as well, and I’m sure you’re going to see a pretty steady dose of both those guys."
How have Easton Mascarenas-Arnold, Mason Cobb and Eric Gentry meshed together?
"They kind of have complementary personalities. It’s three older guys that have all played a decent amount of ball at this point. They’re all in this new system together, and they’re all very hungry. I see them both on and off the field just push one another. I see them push and challenge one another in a positive and competitive way, and I also see them kind of uplift each other, and when you watch the way those guys interact, if you didn’t know any better, you’d think these guys have been teammates for three or four years. It kind of has that feel to it. So, been pleased with that group. That’s a group we really need to step up and play well for us. Right there at the jump, we’ve got three experienced players. But they have to be able to coexist and work together, and I think so far Coach Entz has done a really nice job with that room and their comradery, something that really stood out not even at fall camp. That’s something to me that stood out early on, from the beginning of offseason, spring ball, and it’s just grown from there."
How has Ja'Kobi Lane adjusted to being in such a deep and competitive WR room?
"I think most receivers go through that. Most of the guys that USC is going to recruit were the No. 1 options on their high school teams. All of a sudden you get to a place like this and there’s going to be some other good players in the room. So, yeah, I think Ja'Kobi, we’ve pushed him certainly to continue to grow and mature, but we’ve tried not to take away the youthful energy and all that he has because it is so positive. I can think of a handful of other guys in my career that had that sort of vibe about them, and I think the worst you can do as a coach is extinguish that. You don’t want that. It’s a gift. It helps him play better. It’s good for the rest of the team. But he’s also had to learn as he grows that there’s a time and place, when kind of how, when is it time to lock in and be ready to go and when can you bring a lot of energy that helps uplift everybody in a positive way that’s going to help them play better and help us play better on the field. I think that piece has been a learning experience. But the thing I respect about Ja'Kobi is he’s always open to coaching. He’s open to when we sit down and talk about these things, you see him make a conscious effort to work on them. And he’s done that ever since high school. There was a lto of trust in just getting him here coming out of high school. There were a lot of things where he had to grow and continue to progress, and he’s lived up to his word every step of the way. And he’s continued to do so in his time at SC."
