What needs to be done to provide Caleb Williams more protection?
"We gotta finish blocks better. We missed one blitz early, then after that, we were in the right place. It’s something we’ve done very well, very well up to this point. Both our backs and tight ends, when the offense has called for them to be in protection have done a really nice job. It’s been a strength through three games. We didn’t do a good job of it. Thought our fundamentals – i don’t know if lax is the right word – but didn’t focus in enough oon the fundamentals whatever it is. But our fundamentals that were strong in the first three games in pass protection were not there against Oregon State. It’s been made very clear to those position groups that we expect a lot more, and I’d expect we take a big step forward this week."
Caleb was not made available after the game or yesterday despite reporters being told he would be, it gives the impression he's avoiding talking after a bad performance, was this your decision and what is his mindset this week? (For the record, I personally do not see what the big deal is -- he's not the Secretary of Homeland Security, nor is he mandated to talk to us.)
"We gave him a break after the game. Brought a couple different people in there. We’ve made him as available as any player in the country probably in our time here. He’s done a lot of different media obligations and I think has honestly went above and beyond the normal call of a college athlete. Yesterday, had a couple of things going on, so didn’t do it. But that won’t affect his media availability going forward. He’s had a good week. He’s practiced well, very engaged with his teammates. Business as usual."
What has been your evaluation of Solomon Tuliaupupu, who you recruited while at Oklahoma?
"Kind of a strange turn of events from being in his house with Tim Kish who was our linebackers coach at the time, coming and seeing the family, having a great visit with him. Love the kid, love the family when we came out here. Obviously chose to stay here, and you knew he was a real talented player. I remember hearing something through the years of some of the injury trouble that he had faced. I was interested to see, like, where he’d be at physically and then maybe more importantly, where he’d be at mentally when we came in. You go through that much, you never know exactly how a guy is going to handle it. From our first meeting, I honestly, I tested him pretty early when I first got here, I basically gave him, like every out possible to leave the program. I was like, ‘Alright, this guy has been through all of this. The only way he’s going to have a shot with all that we’re changing and all he’s been through, he’s got to be, like, dying to be here, right? His motivation level has to be 100 out of 100 or this won’t work. So I gave him every out. I just constantly – and he was calling me. He was just insistent that this was the right move. I talked to Bruce over at Mater Dei a little bit about him, and Bruce really – Coach Rollinson, really kind of stuck his neck out for him a little bit or really stood on the table for him. And it was like, at the end, this kid, we’ll see how his body holds up. But you can’t question his determination, how bad not only he wants to play football, but play football at USC. I was like, ‘Alright, we can work with that.’ So I called him up and told, ‘Yep,’ we’re gonna keep you. We’re gonna give you a shot. You have to go prove it this spring or after the spring we have to find something different. And he’s been awesome. His motivation level has been off the charts. He’s been a great teammate. I think the position change has really been a great thing for him. I’m as proud of him as anyone on our roster right now. It’s pretty cool to see him making an impact for us."
What was the process with Alex Grinch and Brian Odom to decide that Eric Gentry would be a middle linebacker?
"I think we got him here, got to see his skill set a little bit, and I think as time went on you just, we talked a lot about it from an offensive perspective of if a guy like that is in the middle of the defense, his length is so unique for that position, right? You think of typically like a long outside linebacker. That's not anything new. But those Mike linebackers are, even in the NFL you look, they're in the 5-11 to 6-2 range. He's rare in that. I know we just constantly talk, especially in this day and age with all the RPOs and play-action stuff over the middle, that his length was, not wasted but why waste it on half the field when we could potentially have him involved in both sides of the field and patrolling the middle. That was the No. 1 reason because Shane had a really good spring at Mike and one of those guys can rotate. It wasn't necessarily a question of production, it was just trying to get our pieces in the right place and Shane's transitioned well to Will and obviously we've seen some of the results of that. So it was a good sign on those guys' part, our part of putting them there, but the credit is he's gone in there and made the plays. And Shane and Ralen and those guys have been able to transition and play well off of him."
Are there any obstacles to Eric that come from his length?
"Yeah, good question. I think, why aren't there many 6-6 linebackers, that's the question, right? One, God didn't put many 6-6 people on the planet, and then two, it's a question of leverage, right? Because it is such a physical position and it's almost like at times like a really tall offensive tackle can have when he's trying to block you. Some of these guys that 6-8 or 6-9 and just abnormally tall for their position, that's great pass pro and length and all that but when they have to come off and try to drive block somebody sometimes that's not the easiest. But Eric kind of counters that with, one, he's a very physical player and his ability to bend and really kind of explode out of his hips shows up physically where you get the length but you don't feel like you're losing on the leverage and physicality side. So he's done a nice job kind of counteracting that. Now, you'd imagine throughout his career he'll continue to put on a few pounds obviously as he goes on and that will be a goal throughout this season and as we continue on. But physically he's really held up. As effective as he's been dropping in the middle in zone coverage, there's a couple times a game he goes up and spills the you know what out of a fullback, which is pretty cool. So he's playing the position well."
"We gotta finish blocks better. We missed one blitz early, then after that, we were in the right place. It’s something we’ve done very well, very well up to this point. Both our backs and tight ends, when the offense has called for them to be in protection have done a really nice job. It’s been a strength through three games. We didn’t do a good job of it. Thought our fundamentals – i don’t know if lax is the right word – but didn’t focus in enough oon the fundamentals whatever it is. But our fundamentals that were strong in the first three games in pass protection were not there against Oregon State. It’s been made very clear to those position groups that we expect a lot more, and I’d expect we take a big step forward this week."
Caleb was not made available after the game or yesterday despite reporters being told he would be, it gives the impression he's avoiding talking after a bad performance, was this your decision and what is his mindset this week? (For the record, I personally do not see what the big deal is -- he's not the Secretary of Homeland Security, nor is he mandated to talk to us.)
"We gave him a break after the game. Brought a couple different people in there. We’ve made him as available as any player in the country probably in our time here. He’s done a lot of different media obligations and I think has honestly went above and beyond the normal call of a college athlete. Yesterday, had a couple of things going on, so didn’t do it. But that won’t affect his media availability going forward. He’s had a good week. He’s practiced well, very engaged with his teammates. Business as usual."
What has been your evaluation of Solomon Tuliaupupu, who you recruited while at Oklahoma?
"Kind of a strange turn of events from being in his house with Tim Kish who was our linebackers coach at the time, coming and seeing the family, having a great visit with him. Love the kid, love the family when we came out here. Obviously chose to stay here, and you knew he was a real talented player. I remember hearing something through the years of some of the injury trouble that he had faced. I was interested to see, like, where he’d be at physically and then maybe more importantly, where he’d be at mentally when we came in. You go through that much, you never know exactly how a guy is going to handle it. From our first meeting, I honestly, I tested him pretty early when I first got here, I basically gave him, like every out possible to leave the program. I was like, ‘Alright, this guy has been through all of this. The only way he’s going to have a shot with all that we’re changing and all he’s been through, he’s got to be, like, dying to be here, right? His motivation level has to be 100 out of 100 or this won’t work. So I gave him every out. I just constantly – and he was calling me. He was just insistent that this was the right move. I talked to Bruce over at Mater Dei a little bit about him, and Bruce really – Coach Rollinson, really kind of stuck his neck out for him a little bit or really stood on the table for him. And it was like, at the end, this kid, we’ll see how his body holds up. But you can’t question his determination, how bad not only he wants to play football, but play football at USC. I was like, ‘Alright, we can work with that.’ So I called him up and told, ‘Yep,’ we’re gonna keep you. We’re gonna give you a shot. You have to go prove it this spring or after the spring we have to find something different. And he’s been awesome. His motivation level has been off the charts. He’s been a great teammate. I think the position change has really been a great thing for him. I’m as proud of him as anyone on our roster right now. It’s pretty cool to see him making an impact for us."
What was the process with Alex Grinch and Brian Odom to decide that Eric Gentry would be a middle linebacker?
"I think we got him here, got to see his skill set a little bit, and I think as time went on you just, we talked a lot about it from an offensive perspective of if a guy like that is in the middle of the defense, his length is so unique for that position, right? You think of typically like a long outside linebacker. That's not anything new. But those Mike linebackers are, even in the NFL you look, they're in the 5-11 to 6-2 range. He's rare in that. I know we just constantly talk, especially in this day and age with all the RPOs and play-action stuff over the middle, that his length was, not wasted but why waste it on half the field when we could potentially have him involved in both sides of the field and patrolling the middle. That was the No. 1 reason because Shane had a really good spring at Mike and one of those guys can rotate. It wasn't necessarily a question of production, it was just trying to get our pieces in the right place and Shane's transitioned well to Will and obviously we've seen some of the results of that. So it was a good sign on those guys' part, our part of putting them there, but the credit is he's gone in there and made the plays. And Shane and Ralen and those guys have been able to transition and play well off of him."
Are there any obstacles to Eric that come from his length?
"Yeah, good question. I think, why aren't there many 6-6 linebackers, that's the question, right? One, God didn't put many 6-6 people on the planet, and then two, it's a question of leverage, right? Because it is such a physical position and it's almost like at times like a really tall offensive tackle can have when he's trying to block you. Some of these guys that 6-8 or 6-9 and just abnormally tall for their position, that's great pass pro and length and all that but when they have to come off and try to drive block somebody sometimes that's not the easiest. But Eric kind of counters that with, one, he's a very physical player and his ability to bend and really kind of explode out of his hips shows up physically where you get the length but you don't feel like you're losing on the leverage and physicality side. So he's done a nice job kind of counteracting that. Now, you'd imagine throughout his career he'll continue to put on a few pounds obviously as he goes on and that will be a goal throughout this season and as we continue on. But physically he's really held up. As effective as he's been dropping in the middle in zone coverage, there's a couple times a game he goes up and spills the you know what out of a fullback, which is pretty cool. So he's playing the position well."
