Head Coach Bill Stewart
Quinton Andrews had two big picks and really played well today so that
was fun to watch. Between he, Eain Smith and Nate Sowers, heck, I don’t
know who is going to play back there in the safety spot.
Courtney Stuart, Robert Sands, and Sidney Glover, there is just great
competition there. Our safety spot is going to be a pleasant surprise
for replacing four starters, and that’s good.
Corner wise, Ellis Lankster continues to step up as does Kent
Richardson. I think Brandon Hogan did some nice things today again. So
that was good.
The linebackers were very active today. Our defensive line and our
offensive line got after it today and that was good to see.
On the 3rd and 4 and 3rd and 7 situations, I didn’t think our defense
was as sharp, because we had had five-straight 3rd and two plays, and
the blue shirts stoned the offense four straight times. That’s good for
the blue shirts but not good for the white shirts. The defense comes
downhill, and they come after it. That was really good to see.
At the end of the day, we did a fast paced, two series drill and the
offense was really clicking. That was good to see after a sluggish
beginning, when they were one for five.
I thought the offensive line did a good job at pass protection today,
and the defense was not blitzing as much. They were playing more zone
and trying twists but nonetheless, the offensive line pass protected
very well. I was just very disappointed at 3rd and 2. We have to work on
that. It’s hard when you don’t have full pads, so tomorrow when we have
full pads, we’ll bang around a little bit.
On offense
Jarrett Brown had a nice day, and Patrick White had another good day.
We got Coley (White) some reps and that was good. Alric Arnett and
Dorrell Jalloh both made some big plays, and Jock Sanders made some
impressive catches. Noel (Devine) ran the ball very hard, very smooth
and that was very exciting.
Zach Hulce really stepped up to the plate today, and he really made
some nice plays. So maybe day four, today, it’s starting to gel. Will
Johnson had some nice plays again coming out of the back field so that
was nice to see
Ryan Clarke came from class, and he banged it out a couple times. He is
a big man, and he is too big right now. He’s about 25 pounds overweight,
but I was very impressed with his effort and his enthusiasm and the way
he hits it. He is rolling his hips and knocking people around and that
was nice to see. He also doesn’t catch the ball bad for a big man.
On special teams
Pat McAfee just knocked the cover off the ball. Today was really fun
because we were really going after each other. Pat is really in a zone,
and he is just kicking the lights out.
Punting went much better today and that was good today. Yesterday we
repeated punt, period three, because it wasn’t good yesterday so period
25 was punt. Today we didn’t have to repeat so that was very good. I
didn’t tell you that yesterday, because I wanted to see how they did
today.
Kickoff return yesterday, period No. 12, we repeated as period No. 26,
because that wasn’t good. Today’s kickoff period was like clockwork. We
have to smooth some things out, but it’s still the first week. I’m very
excited about what our special teams can do. I just don’t want to over
kick Pat in practice. We have nice schemes, and we have very dangerous
return men.
Ellis Lankster continues to look good. Eddie Davis has smooth hands and
Brandon Hogan has smooth hands. Even Quinton Andrews, who always seems
to be in the dog house, has smooth hands. We have some punt returners,
and I’m excited about that.
We’re going to go back to the kickoff return we used when Shawn Terry
was here, and I’m going to let you go and look that up. Our opponents
can look that up, so I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.
On D.J. Thomas
D.J. Thomas came today from Hargrave, and we’re waiting on the Clearing
House approval, and we don’t think that is going to be a problem. We’re
pleased about that. He is a corner slot, and he is a 10.6 guy-he can
fly. He is a defensive corner, from Ashland, Virginia.
On Pat Liebig
I haven’t heard about Patrick Liebig but no news is good news.
On the camp schedule
Today was the last day of instillation, and tomorrow we are just going
to practice. We’re going to let them play football tomorrow. Once we see
where we are, who can do what-give a guy a wrinkle here a wrinkle
there-we’re going to try to get these young talented guys in the fray,
into the plan, we will see what they can do. Then we’ll come back and
straighten out the plan.
On when the final 44 will be set
To be fair to the young men, we’ll go through all this week, have a
scrimmage. Then next Wednesday we’ll have another scrimmage, and after
that scrimmage, we’re going to have our squad ready to go, pretty much,
our top 44. Then we will have two weeks for Villanova.
On Brandon Hogan
Right now, he has taken like a duck to water and that really tickles
me. If he can do that, he’ll play.
Wes Lyons and Bradley Starks had some muscle beach today. They had
individual private workout. They are a little nicked up. We need to keep
their cardio up. It’s not a punishment; we just have to keep their
cardio up.
Running Backs Coach Chris Beatty
On the potential of Terrence Kearns
He gives us a bigger back, and he is a physical presence that obviously
Noel doesn’t have. We don’t have a guy like him on the roster as far as
that kind of size and speed. He can give us a change of pace, and he’s a
short yardage guy potentially. He has a long way to go work wise but he
has a chance.
On the possibility of Mark Rodgers at the slot position
I think Mark is going to do fine. He’s getting better everyday, and
he’s picking things up. We dumped a lot of stuff on him the first
three or four days, so he has a lot on his plate. His head is spinning a
little bit, but he definitely has some speed and has flexibility as far
as making people miss. He is going to give us some depth. I think he has
a chance to be good. I hope he’s good enough by August 30th and not
August 30th of next year.
On a player to fill the No. 2 spot behind Noel Devine
We have a way to go. Those guys have a lot to learn, because it’s a
different level. Whether its junior college or a prep school, it’s still
tough. Right now we’re even. I think Zach had a good day today. We
definitely saw some flashes of what we thought he could do. I would like
someone to step up in the next week or so and jump ahead of the group so
he can get the majority of the reps.
When you split all those reps, it makes it that much harder to learn.
We would like to identify who it’s going to be so he can get the
majority of the reps, and we can start getting him ready for Villanova.
We will give the position to the second best guy who can play every
down. When we get short yardage, then we’ll figure out what we want
then. If you look at last year and as good as Steve (Slaton) was coming
in, without Noel, you might have been in a little bit of trouble last
year so it’s the same thing. You have to have someone who can step in
and can get 10 or 12 carries a game. We have to find out who that is. I
think he’s on the roster, but we’re just not sure who he is right now.
On Jock Sanders
If I had to pick a No. 2 today, it would be Jock Sanders. He doesn’t
get any reps in practice, because I know what he can do. He is a super
smart kid. If something happened today, Jock would be No. 2, and I would
but him back there in a heartbeat. I’d like Terrence or Zach step up and
be the guy where Jock doesn’t have to get the carries. I’d like Jock to
get carries because we want him to, not because we need him to.
On last year’s plays vs. this years featuring Noel Devine
I’m not one to sit back and say because of your stature, you can’t do
something. You want to be smart. You don’t want Noel playing through the
middle 25 times a game, so we’re going to be smart and figure out what
he does best and what gives him the best chance for success.
