Opening comments ...
"Second day here in full pads, I feel like the guys have transitioned well into pads. We've had pretty physical practices, start to put some situational work in for the guys. I would say competitively it's been a lot of back and forth between the offense and the defense. I think there's some impressive things going on in terms of retention and putting in systems and schemes. I think you see some pretty good carryover with the guys, guys that are obviously spending some time outside of our allotted hours on their own working on it, which is what you have to do. Twenty hours a week is not enough to be a elite college football player. Guys have got to do these little extra things. Certainly not perfect, but I see more out here that are certainly doing that and you can see the results of that as we kind of build quickly. Excited about the way we're practicing. I think some guys are rising up and really doing some really good things. We've been lucky to stay pretty healthy up to this point and been able to keep the majority of our guys on the field, which has made for a lot of quality wor, so that's where we're at."
How complex is your offensive install and how far along do you feel with it?
"We kind of have our base system that we believe in that no matter where we're at, no matter what our skill sets are that's going to be part of what we do. So we're kind of in the middle of that right now. I think based on how our guys have picked it up we're maybe a little bit further along than I maybe thought we would be right now. So doing some nice things there. Then so much of it will be tailoring it to our skill sets here and what we have both on this current roster, what we have coming in in the future. So that'll come a little bit later on, but I think as far as install we're a little ahead. The guys have done a nice job picking it up so far."
Does that next phase start in fall camp or can the guys get a jump start on that in spring?
"I think even through spring we'll get a feel as coaches for some of the things that we feel like are going to be strengths of our offense, how to feature certain players, certain position groups and start to mold that in the back half of spring."
What have you seen from the offensive line so far?
"I like our group, I do. I think experience is a tough thing to beat up there, and we've got a couple of guys, obviously several that you all are very aware of that are really good players that I think have picked up our stuff very fast that are good leaders. And I think more than anything those guys are motivated to play some of the best ball of their career. Brett, Andrew, Dedich, some of those guys that have played a lot of snaps around here. A lot of good conversations with them leading up to this point about what we need to do to become an elite offensive line here. I think those guys individually have taken some big steps physically, mentally and have done a nice job leading that group. I think we've got a first unit that is doing some nice things, and that will obviously, that will change as guys rise and guys fall off and through the natural competition, but the first unit did a lot of good things. We've got a lot of guys on the second unit that are really pushing for some time. We're going to have to continue to add some depth, some quality depth as we go through. But I think based on what we like to do schematically and what these guys do well I think it's a pretty good fit."
Is there a lot they have to learn schematically with the new system?
"There is. There is. And it's not just new system. You may have run outside zone in the past, but running outside zone for one team and one coach and one system and another one can be different. So there's different ways of seeing a defense, different ways you're going to attack certain schemes, there's certainly some things schematically that we do different that these guys haven't done before, but they're picking up on it quick. I think more learning to play with the mentality that we want to play with, learning to see a defense with the vantage point that we do has been the bigger part of it. And it's progressing."
Some of those OL have had four OL coaches during their time here. How much of a challenge is that?
"I think that experience is good. It's not like these guys haven't been coached well. I don't want that to, that's always the deal -- new staff comes in and everybody's going to say how horrible the people were before and then the next one's are the greatest ever. And the reality is none of that's true. They've been coached well before. We've been able to take a lot of the things that they've learned before and continued to push and advance that. I have not seen it become a detriment. These guys understood there was going to be some differences. They've accepted it. They've had change before and you could tell, they were able to transition pretty quickly."
What are some areas where you still need to add a lot of depth?
"Everywhere, really. I mean, when you still have double-digit spots open there's going to be a lot of changes after spring ball, there just is. To flip it around, I don't know that there's any position that we would say, nah, we wouldn't take another guy there. And we've got some talented rooms. We've got some rooms that can be good players, but to be a championship group you've got to have some really good players across the board. You've got to have some quality depth, you've got to have quality competition. You've got to be able to rotate some guys and the quality on the field not go down. You've got to be able to withstand injuries -- all those things that great teams do. So I like kind of the core of what we have now. We have way more out here that we like than we don't like. But there's still a lot of roster work to be done."
Have the numbers at OL and RB made it harder this spring?
"You just do what you do. I think we're trying not to focus on anything that we don't have right now. We're kind of locked in on the things that we do have, what we are able to do and we've got plenty of guys out here to get a lot of quality work and we've done that up this point.
"Second day here in full pads, I feel like the guys have transitioned well into pads. We've had pretty physical practices, start to put some situational work in for the guys. I would say competitively it's been a lot of back and forth between the offense and the defense. I think there's some impressive things going on in terms of retention and putting in systems and schemes. I think you see some pretty good carryover with the guys, guys that are obviously spending some time outside of our allotted hours on their own working on it, which is what you have to do. Twenty hours a week is not enough to be a elite college football player. Guys have got to do these little extra things. Certainly not perfect, but I see more out here that are certainly doing that and you can see the results of that as we kind of build quickly. Excited about the way we're practicing. I think some guys are rising up and really doing some really good things. We've been lucky to stay pretty healthy up to this point and been able to keep the majority of our guys on the field, which has made for a lot of quality wor, so that's where we're at."
How complex is your offensive install and how far along do you feel with it?
"We kind of have our base system that we believe in that no matter where we're at, no matter what our skill sets are that's going to be part of what we do. So we're kind of in the middle of that right now. I think based on how our guys have picked it up we're maybe a little bit further along than I maybe thought we would be right now. So doing some nice things there. Then so much of it will be tailoring it to our skill sets here and what we have both on this current roster, what we have coming in in the future. So that'll come a little bit later on, but I think as far as install we're a little ahead. The guys have done a nice job picking it up so far."
Does that next phase start in fall camp or can the guys get a jump start on that in spring?
"I think even through spring we'll get a feel as coaches for some of the things that we feel like are going to be strengths of our offense, how to feature certain players, certain position groups and start to mold that in the back half of spring."
What have you seen from the offensive line so far?
"I like our group, I do. I think experience is a tough thing to beat up there, and we've got a couple of guys, obviously several that you all are very aware of that are really good players that I think have picked up our stuff very fast that are good leaders. And I think more than anything those guys are motivated to play some of the best ball of their career. Brett, Andrew, Dedich, some of those guys that have played a lot of snaps around here. A lot of good conversations with them leading up to this point about what we need to do to become an elite offensive line here. I think those guys individually have taken some big steps physically, mentally and have done a nice job leading that group. I think we've got a first unit that is doing some nice things, and that will obviously, that will change as guys rise and guys fall off and through the natural competition, but the first unit did a lot of good things. We've got a lot of guys on the second unit that are really pushing for some time. We're going to have to continue to add some depth, some quality depth as we go through. But I think based on what we like to do schematically and what these guys do well I think it's a pretty good fit."
Is there a lot they have to learn schematically with the new system?
"There is. There is. And it's not just new system. You may have run outside zone in the past, but running outside zone for one team and one coach and one system and another one can be different. So there's different ways of seeing a defense, different ways you're going to attack certain schemes, there's certainly some things schematically that we do different that these guys haven't done before, but they're picking up on it quick. I think more learning to play with the mentality that we want to play with, learning to see a defense with the vantage point that we do has been the bigger part of it. And it's progressing."
Some of those OL have had four OL coaches during their time here. How much of a challenge is that?
"I think that experience is good. It's not like these guys haven't been coached well. I don't want that to, that's always the deal -- new staff comes in and everybody's going to say how horrible the people were before and then the next one's are the greatest ever. And the reality is none of that's true. They've been coached well before. We've been able to take a lot of the things that they've learned before and continued to push and advance that. I have not seen it become a detriment. These guys understood there was going to be some differences. They've accepted it. They've had change before and you could tell, they were able to transition pretty quickly."
What are some areas where you still need to add a lot of depth?
"Everywhere, really. I mean, when you still have double-digit spots open there's going to be a lot of changes after spring ball, there just is. To flip it around, I don't know that there's any position that we would say, nah, we wouldn't take another guy there. And we've got some talented rooms. We've got some rooms that can be good players, but to be a championship group you've got to have some really good players across the board. You've got to have some quality depth, you've got to have quality competition. You've got to be able to rotate some guys and the quality on the field not go down. You've got to be able to withstand injuries -- all those things that great teams do. So I like kind of the core of what we have now. We have way more out here that we like than we don't like. But there's still a lot of roster work to be done."
Have the numbers at OL and RB made it harder this spring?
"You just do what you do. I think we're trying not to focus on anything that we don't have right now. We're kind of locked in on the things that we do have, what we are able to do and we've got plenty of guys out here to get a lot of quality work and we've done that up this point.
