DC CLANCY PENDERGAST
--How he feels when he defense performs well in practice
“I like to see the energy out there, we’re an accountability driven defense. So when guys make plays and feed off of each other, it’s good to see. They were playing with a lot of intensity out there.”
--If he loved what he saw Tuesday
“Obviously there were some guys that made some plays out there and there were some mistakes we have to correct. But like I said, overall, I liked their attention to detail and they were really playing together and you can tell they had a good summer working together in the player-run practices and in the meetings they’ve had by themselves. We’re starting off maybe further ahead than we’ve had in the past.”
--On which younger guys who have caught his eye
“I think upfront, having Marlon (Tuipulotu) back, he’s a little bit of a difference maker up front. Jay Tufele has been very disruptive for two practices in a row. Caleb Tremblay, the junior college transfer, I think he’s going to be able to give us some quality minutes based on his skill set and the way he shows and what he’s been picking up with his technique and the defense upfront. Obviously outside Hunter Echols has done a good job and Kana’i (Mauga) has really come on. He’s a slippery guy playing on the outside. In the secondary, I think Greg Johnson at corner has really shown some flashes. Jonathan Lockett has done a good job, he’s obviously a guy that’s been battling through injury around here but coming back for his fifth year, he’s done a nice job. And Olaijah Griffin has caught my eye. And Isaiah Pola-Mao.
--On Jay Tufele
“I think his maturation process, adjusting to the college life and the college game, what his schedule is like. He’s one of those players that wants to appease everyone that’s trying to teach him something. We gave him a handful of things that he needed to work on and said try to zero in on these things and don’t try to do everything. Just try to take baby steps. I’ve seen a big growth in him from spring ball until now.”
--On the safety position opposite Marvell Tell
“It’s a group that’s very deep and talented. It’s kind of a rollercoaster right now. There’s been really nobody that’s put themselves in that position, consistently enough in practice based on what we grade them in in practice. So it’s been kind of a revolving door and it’ll continue to be that way. We hope to get that thing settled within the next week so Marvell has somebody he can work with for the last couple weeks before the opener.”
--On what Pola-Mao showed with the first team on Tuesday
“He’s one of those roller coaster guys too but his roller coaster was up in the walk through and then it was up and down in the practice here in practice. He’s never really played. He redshirted last year so we don’t have any full time experience, game reps wise and how he’s going to be on game day. But he seems to have a lot of focus and attention to detail. He just has to continue to be a little bit more consistent. And all those guys playing at that safety position, they all kind of fall in that same boat. But there’s a lot of promise there with whoever plays there. And I think whoever does play there with Marvell, you’ll see a couple guys playing , it won just be one guy. As you saw, Matt Lopes played a lot last year and the year before, as you remember with Marvell, he rotated in with Chris Hawkins. We’ll roll some safeties through there.”
--On his impressions of Isaiah Langley
“Isaiah has been a little more consistent. I think he’s another guy that we’ve earmarked some technique things when we look at his play over the last two years, things that he needs to get better at . We’ve addressed that, really with everybody, but some things he needs to work on and I see he’s locked in and focusing on those things so far. It hasn’t been as consistent as I like but it’s better than it was.”
--On Iman Marshall
“There’s a big focus out of Iman. This is his last year. He’s coming in here being a 3 and a half to 4 year starter at corner in the Pac-12 so he’s played a lot of ball. He has an NFL skill set, he’s a big, long, physical corner. And there’s parts of his game that he needs to get better at and he’s demonstrated the leadership that you’d expect out of a fourth year starter in this defense and I expect him to continue to get better the more we get reps out here.”
--On whether Jordan Iosefa can play any of the four linebacker spots
(Pendergast nods agreeingly)"He’s really talented from a skill set wise, where obviously you saw last year he started games for us last year outside and he started both positions inside. He knows the defense as well as anyone in the whole crew and he gives us a lot of flexibility from a depth standpoint. But when we open up against UNLV, he’ll be one of our eleven starters somewhere. I don’t know exactly where and he’s been thrust to go inside with Cam’s hamstring. But you could tell Jordan the night before the game that he has to play MIKE. He doesn’t have to practice it for three weeks. He’ll be fine. So I think you’ll see when Cam comes back, he’ll move outside. but these are good reps for him s\inside because as a staff, we had a plan for him during camp where we wanted to eventually get him in there. it just happened sooner than we expected and unfortunately because of an injury.”
--If Iosefa could switch positions during the game
“I don’t like guys to rep a position during the week that they’re not going to play on Saturday and everything. So whatever he reps that week, that’s what he would play on Saturday.”
--On Ajene Harris
“He’s one of my favorite players. Like I said, he’s a gym rat kid and like I said, he loves to play the game. He’s always asking questions, it’s really, really super important to him. It’s good for the rest of the young guys to bring them along. He does everything right, drill work, film work, on the field. he’s going to do exactly what you ask him to do and then some. He’s had a good camp so far and for him to be, really a two-and-a-half year starter coming into this next season, I expect him to make some progress as well. he’s a guy who knows what his limitations are try to that into a strength for him.”
--How he feels when he defense performs well in practice
“I like to see the energy out there, we’re an accountability driven defense. So when guys make plays and feed off of each other, it’s good to see. They were playing with a lot of intensity out there.”
--If he loved what he saw Tuesday
“Obviously there were some guys that made some plays out there and there were some mistakes we have to correct. But like I said, overall, I liked their attention to detail and they were really playing together and you can tell they had a good summer working together in the player-run practices and in the meetings they’ve had by themselves. We’re starting off maybe further ahead than we’ve had in the past.”
--On which younger guys who have caught his eye
“I think upfront, having Marlon (Tuipulotu) back, he’s a little bit of a difference maker up front. Jay Tufele has been very disruptive for two practices in a row. Caleb Tremblay, the junior college transfer, I think he’s going to be able to give us some quality minutes based on his skill set and the way he shows and what he’s been picking up with his technique and the defense upfront. Obviously outside Hunter Echols has done a good job and Kana’i (Mauga) has really come on. He’s a slippery guy playing on the outside. In the secondary, I think Greg Johnson at corner has really shown some flashes. Jonathan Lockett has done a good job, he’s obviously a guy that’s been battling through injury around here but coming back for his fifth year, he’s done a nice job. And Olaijah Griffin has caught my eye. And Isaiah Pola-Mao.
--On Jay Tufele
“I think his maturation process, adjusting to the college life and the college game, what his schedule is like. He’s one of those players that wants to appease everyone that’s trying to teach him something. We gave him a handful of things that he needed to work on and said try to zero in on these things and don’t try to do everything. Just try to take baby steps. I’ve seen a big growth in him from spring ball until now.”
--On the safety position opposite Marvell Tell
“It’s a group that’s very deep and talented. It’s kind of a rollercoaster right now. There’s been really nobody that’s put themselves in that position, consistently enough in practice based on what we grade them in in practice. So it’s been kind of a revolving door and it’ll continue to be that way. We hope to get that thing settled within the next week so Marvell has somebody he can work with for the last couple weeks before the opener.”
--On what Pola-Mao showed with the first team on Tuesday
“He’s one of those roller coaster guys too but his roller coaster was up in the walk through and then it was up and down in the practice here in practice. He’s never really played. He redshirted last year so we don’t have any full time experience, game reps wise and how he’s going to be on game day. But he seems to have a lot of focus and attention to detail. He just has to continue to be a little bit more consistent. And all those guys playing at that safety position, they all kind of fall in that same boat. But there’s a lot of promise there with whoever plays there. And I think whoever does play there with Marvell, you’ll see a couple guys playing , it won just be one guy. As you saw, Matt Lopes played a lot last year and the year before, as you remember with Marvell, he rotated in with Chris Hawkins. We’ll roll some safeties through there.”
--On his impressions of Isaiah Langley
“Isaiah has been a little more consistent. I think he’s another guy that we’ve earmarked some technique things when we look at his play over the last two years, things that he needs to get better at . We’ve addressed that, really with everybody, but some things he needs to work on and I see he’s locked in and focusing on those things so far. It hasn’t been as consistent as I like but it’s better than it was.”
--On Iman Marshall
“There’s a big focus out of Iman. This is his last year. He’s coming in here being a 3 and a half to 4 year starter at corner in the Pac-12 so he’s played a lot of ball. He has an NFL skill set, he’s a big, long, physical corner. And there’s parts of his game that he needs to get better at and he’s demonstrated the leadership that you’d expect out of a fourth year starter in this defense and I expect him to continue to get better the more we get reps out here.”
--On whether Jordan Iosefa can play any of the four linebacker spots
(Pendergast nods agreeingly)"He’s really talented from a skill set wise, where obviously you saw last year he started games for us last year outside and he started both positions inside. He knows the defense as well as anyone in the whole crew and he gives us a lot of flexibility from a depth standpoint. But when we open up against UNLV, he’ll be one of our eleven starters somewhere. I don’t know exactly where and he’s been thrust to go inside with Cam’s hamstring. But you could tell Jordan the night before the game that he has to play MIKE. He doesn’t have to practice it for three weeks. He’ll be fine. So I think you’ll see when Cam comes back, he’ll move outside. but these are good reps for him s\inside because as a staff, we had a plan for him during camp where we wanted to eventually get him in there. it just happened sooner than we expected and unfortunately because of an injury.”
--If Iosefa could switch positions during the game
“I don’t like guys to rep a position during the week that they’re not going to play on Saturday and everything. So whatever he reps that week, that’s what he would play on Saturday.”
--On Ajene Harris
“He’s one of my favorite players. Like I said, he’s a gym rat kid and like I said, he loves to play the game. He’s always asking questions, it’s really, really super important to him. It’s good for the rest of the young guys to bring them along. He does everything right, drill work, film work, on the field. he’s going to do exactly what you ask him to do and then some. He’s had a good camp so far and for him to be, really a two-and-a-half year starter coming into this next season, I expect him to make some progress as well. he’s a guy who knows what his limitations are try to that into a strength for him.”
