MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (August 28, 2018) – West Virginia University football coach Dana Holgorsen addressed members of the media on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, at the Milan Puskar Center Team Room.
Opening Statement
Okay, let’s talk a little Tennessee. This game, the anticipation of this, has been lingering for quite some time – I’d put it around five years. But we really haven’t talked as far as the actual game itself, so we’ll talk about that as far as what we see in our opponent and all that. Obviously, they’re a storied program that has won a national championship and SEC championships. We understand that it’s a historic program, and I have a lot of respect for Phil Fulmer, and I know he’s back in the mix of things there as their athletic director, and I’ve followed Jeremy Pruitt’s coaching career for quite some time. He has worked himself up the ranks; I admire that. I have a soft spot for what I think of coaches, guys that work their way up in the high school ranks and college ranks and all that, and he’s accomplished a whole lot of stuff. So, I have a lot of respect for him, and what he’s done.
If you look at what we think they’re going to do, we can sit here and guess all we want. The truth of the matter is we really don’t know what they’re going to do. We’re aware of all of their coaches and where they’ve been; we’ve accumulated video on everywhere; we’ve watched their spring game, which, really, probably doesn’t mean a whole lot. We watched some of their games from last year to see what their personnel is like. They’re big and fast and strong, and I imagine they’re a little bit more motivated to play for a new coaching staff than they were toward the end of last year.
There are a lot of unknowns. We’re expecting them to be very multiple on offense; we don’t know which quarterback they are going to go with. What they ask them to do, I would imagine, is pretty similar whether it’s No. 2 (Jarrett Guarantano), the guy that they had last year, or the transfer from Stanford (Keller Chryst). We’ll look at that and figure it out. They’re going to have three or four backs that they’re going to want to hand the ball to a lot, a lot of tight ends, fullbacks. They have a big, experienced offensive line, guys that have a lot of playing time with them, and their receiving corps looks awful good to me as far as what their stature is; their production level is good. (Marquez) Callaway is a really good kid, 6-2, 200, made a bunch of plays for them last year. The (Jauan) Jennings kid looks good as well; he was hurt most of last year, but two years ago, he was incredibly productive. They have dudes on offense; it’s going to be a challenge. I’m glad we have such great continuity on defense with our coaching staff to be able to adjust to what they do. Good coaches make adjustments quick in game one, and we’re going to have to get a feel for what they’re doing and communicate it with our coaching staff and make adjustments on top of that.
Defensively, it’s a little more clear-cut as far as what they’re going to do. Obviously, Jeremy has been (defensive coordinator) at some pretty special places over the last five years, going back to what they did at Florida State, those couple years at Georgia and then the last couple years at Alabama. I’ve been watching a lot of Alabama video, in addition to those other places as well. That’s all we can go on; we went back and looked at their personnel from last year. Especially in their front is where they have a lot of guys coming back. They all look good; they have a bunch of big kids inside that can hold gaps and edge guys that all look like they’re 6-5, 250 and can pin their ears and come upfield. They have an experienced linebacking corps, experienced safety corps. They have some moving parts at corner, but once again, what are they going to do? There are always questions with that, but we have confidence in (assistant coach – offensive coordinator/quarterbacks) Jake (Spavital) and (assistant coach – offensive line) Coach (Joe) Wick (Wickline) to communicate early on as far as what they’re seeing from a front perspective and a coverage perspective and make adjustments on top of that.
Special teams, it’s another deal where it’s moving parts. Coach Pruitt, obviously, is probably going to have a hand in that as well, but bringing in Charles Kelly from Florida State, who took over for him as the defensive coordinator at Florida State for the last four years, was their special teams guy in 2013 when they won their national championship. We’ve been looking at that; I have a hard time looking at video from six years ago, but we’ve done our due diligence with that, and we’ll try to figure out early on with what they’re going to do.
It’s always game one, this more than others in recent past as far as how quick can we make adjustments with what they do. They’re going to probably have to make a few adjustments with what we do as well; that’s just what game ones are about.
On if players can become overloaded by the game plan
There’s only so much time in the day; we’ve been restricted to four hours per day and 20 hours per week for the last 2 ½ weeks. So, that’s not a whole lot of time, but we have, we’ve shown them some stuff. As a coaching staff, we’ve probably prepared for this one more than I have in recent memory. You can’t prepare for everything. Game one is always about ‘let’s worry about us as much as we possibly can.’ Then, we need to communicate on the sidelines early in the game as far as what their plan of attack is.
On how the analysts were used in preparation for the Tennessee game
It’s the same thing, really. Just do all the research and put all the stuff on these scouting reports that we got. We’ve had a lot of time as a coaching staff to take that information and digest it for game one. Where those guys, in my opinion, are really going to make a big difference is in two things: one, getting us onto the next game quickly, so that’ll really kick in on Sunday. When we’re in here on Sunday, we’ll watch our game from Saturday, we’ll meet and then we have to quickly flip the switch and move on to the next one. In year’s past, I’d be up here until midnight watching previous videos, trying to figure out which ones we’re going to break down. All that stuff is already going to be done. And then, the self-scouting aspect to it as well; they’ll keep a tally on what we’re doing offensively and what we’re doing defensively and in the kicking game as well, and then to figure out what our tendencies are before it’s too late, so to speak. Game one, coaches get bored and do stuff all summer. But moving forward, quick turnarounds are where it’s probably a little more important.
On the importance of winning the first game
I don’t even think that way, honestly. You can say, ‘Well, this one is a big game.” They’re all big games, and I know from a media perspective, and probably from a fanbase perspective, some are more important than others. It’s not how you approach it when it’s your job and when it’s your livelihood. Every game is important, and you need to try to win every one of them, regardless of the magnitude of it, where it’s at, who it’s against. I just really, honestly, can’t comment on that based on the fact it doesn’t register very much.
On how familiar he is with some of Tennessee’s players based off recruiting
Not a ton, some. I think we looked at their roster and there were about 10 that we actively recruited. Some of the recruiting guys that are in here can say, ‘Well, according to my notes, you guys offered 60 percent of their players.’ Well, they probably offered 60 percent of our players, too, but they only recruited two of them. Offering them and recruiting them are two different things. We actively recruited about 10 of them, about the same as Virginia Tech last year for whatever reason that is.
On how he assesses the defense going into the first game
I mean, I like where they’re at; you have to play that first game before you come up with any determining factors whatsoever. I think we have good leadership, (redshirt junior linebacker) David Long (Jr.) and (redshirt senior safety) Dravon (Askew-) Henry are strong leaders. And then we have some older guys that we’ve inserted in with grad transfers and junior-college guys that bring some maturity as well. I think we’re a tighter defense. (Associate head coach –
defensive coordinator/linebackers Tony) Gibby (Gibson) likes coaching these guys a lot. That gives you a chance to be successful. Now, you have to line up, and play well and stay healthy and continue to improve as well. So, I like where we’re at right now. I’m just as anxious as anybody else to go out there and see us play live. We’ll get a chance to do that here in about five days.
On how the team’s graduate transfers are working out
Good. They’re both listed as starters right now. I think that answers that question. What I like about those two guys, and again, I haven’t seen either one of those two kids play in a game, so I have an opinion that I’ve reserved the right to change it once I see them this Saturday, but what I like about those guys is just they’re happy kids, they’re great teammates, they run around the building and they like people and talk to people. They’re mentoring younger kids, and they’re leading them the right way. All that is very positive, it has made us better on defense. They’ve both played in big games, so I think they’re both going to play their tail off. I can’t wait to watch it on Saturday.
On if there’s been a difference in recruiting in the Charlotte area recently
A little bit; it’s a regret that I have that I didn’t do it earlier. We’ve been in North Carolina, we have North Carolina guys, but we haven’t really focused on North Carolina. It was probably a little bit of an oversight on my aspect of it. There’s only so many places you can go, and we’re in a unique recruiting area to where we have to go a lot of places. We’ve moved into there, (assistant coach – offensive coordinator/quarterbacks) Jake (Spavital) is recruiting it, (assistant coach – defensive line) Bruce Tall is recruiting it. We have a presence. Typically, it takes a few years. I see our recruiting presence in Georgia, one, (assistant coach – cornerbacks) Doug Belk is doing a good job, but you’re recruiting guys right now to play in that opener against Florida State, which is what two years from now? But you’re recruiting guys now to play in that game, so that’s one of my regrets, which, obviously, everyone has regrets on everything, but if we could have sold this game to Charlotte kids three years ago, it probably would have made a little bit bigger of an impact. With that said, there’s a lot of interest in West Virginia. I’m thrilled about our fanbase being able to take part in this, 31, 32,000 WVU alumni are in the Charlotte area. I’ve been down there a bunch. I’ve developed a lot of friendships down there, and I’ve met a ton of West Virginia people. It’s big; this is a big weekend for West Virginia University, and West Virginia in general, in Charlotte. The interest will continue to grow, and I just think we’re getting started there.
On if offensive adjustments are tougher than defensive adjustments during an opener
I think it’s the same based on our continuity. We’ve been together for five years on defense now. It’s year two with (assistant coach – offensive coordinator/quarterbacks) Jake (Spavital), but obviously it goes farther back than that. The (offensive) line is in a better place because it’s year two with (assistant coach – offensive line Joe) Wick (Wickline). But from a coaching staff perpsective, myself and Jake and Wick and (assistant coach – tight ends/fullbacks Dan) Gerberry has been around here for three years now and (assistant coach – wide receivers Tyron) Carrier, obviously, that goes back a long ways, so the continuity there is pretty good. I don’t think, based on the situation, I don’t think it’s one more than the other.
On who he is most looking forward to seeing on Saturday
I’m anxious to see it with (redshirt senior quarterback) Will (Grier). If I’m anxious to see it with him, then I’m probably anxious to see it with everybody. There are things that even veteran guys, whether it’s individual performance or how they coach on the sidelines, or the feedback we’re getting from them in the box, or what the new schemes actually look like, or the camaraderie and jelling of the specific units, I’m anxious to see all of it. I can’t say it’s more in one phase or one player than any of the other ones. I’m anxious to see all of it.
On if he has any advantage on having prior head-coaching experience entering Saturday’s game and if there’s a difference between having an offensive or defensive background
I don’t think what side you’re on really matters. There’s nothing more valuable than on-the-job training when it comes to head coaches. I believe in that. I think Jeremy (Pruitt) is a fantastic football coach, and I’m only going to comment on my experiences. There are things that I learned that first game, there are things that I learned from last year’s first game being in a little bit of a different role. I don’t know, that young kid in Oklahoma (Lincoln Riley) adjusted pretty quickly. I’m anxious for this game one; I think I’m anxious to see if I’ve improved. And not just in-game decisions, but just like the whole managing the game and sideline presence and adjusting to new rules. I’m anxious to evaluate me. I do believe there’s no greater lesson learned than just on-the-job training.
On the differences in opponents from Week 1 to Week 2
I don’t view it that way. I don’t believe in that, I don’t believe in tune-ups. We play 11 Power Five schools. I don’t believe in taking any games off. We just don’t approach it that way. You just can’t because if you do anything differently, then players and coaches are going to recognize that. If you send any message like that, then that’s how you get your butt beat – I don’t care who you play.
On redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Josh Sills’ growth
If you’re counting on anybody that young, then they have a chance to be a decent player. (Redshirt junior offensive lineman) Colton (McKivitz) was that guy, (redshirt senior offensive lineman) Yodny (Cajuste) was that guy, Josh was that guy last year. Colton was much better year two, Yodny was much better, so we’re expecting Josh to be better as well. Redshirt freshmen offensive linemen, it’s just rare that they play. He was big enough and physical enough to be able to do that last year. The mental aspect of it was what he struggled with all year. I think he’s past that. I hope he’s past that. Everything, just the game of football – holding up physically, to preparation, to understanding the calls, to the mental aspect of it in-game, handling combat, the list just goes on and on. When you’re a year older, it’s just a lot easier.
On if junior-college transfers are viewed like freshmen early in the season
It can be all of the above. I think it’s like 30 percent of our 72 travel kids that we’ll be taking have not traveled. That’s why mock game was important last week, and we showed them how it’s going to be. The mock game was just like it is; it’s a fake game. But they saw how things flowed, so that should give them a little bit of comfort as far as how things are going to be. Again, there’s nothing like on-the-job training. The (junior college) kids that are a little bit older have played in some bigger games, but nothing like this. We’ll keep our eye on all those young guys and see how they’re handling things.
On how redshirt sophomore wide receiver T.J. Simmons is fitting in
He’s in the rotation. Obviously, he’ll play. He’s played in these games; he did that as a true freshman for Alabama. I would expect him to handle this very easily and play a lot of snaps for us.
On if redshirt sophomore wide receiver T.J. Simmons is on any special teams’ units
He does. He’ll be on punt return and kickoff return. If you’re a starter, you’re probably going to be on one, on rare occasion two. But if you’re a pretty quality backup, then you should expect to be on two-to-four of them. He’s done a good job on that; he’s physical. He brings some physicality to that receiving corps, which is what I feel like they need.
On if redshirt sophomore wide receiver T.J. Simmons can match the production of Ka’Raun White
I would think so. (Junior wide receiver) Marcus Simms has had a really good camp, so we’ll move (senior wide receiver) David (Sills V) around a little bit like we always have; he can handle all that. I’m anxious to watch T.J. I know what Marcus can do. I’m anxious to watch T.J., and that will dictate where we’re going with David at times as well.
On transfers from high-profile programs
We’ve turned down plenty of kids that have played at those programs, the high-profile programs, I guess is what you’re saying. My biggest thing is to figure out why they want to transfer and if you have a need for that. But we have, we’ve had success with it. (Redshirt sophomore tight end/fullback) Jovani Haskins coming from Miami is going to see playing time, (redshirt sophomore quarterback) Jack Allison is our backup. Hopefully he either does or doesn’t see playing time. Obviously, (redshirt senior quarterback) Will (Grier) coming in from Florida, (redshirt senior defensive lineman) Kenny (Bigelow Jr.) USC, (redshirt senior defensive lineman) Jabril (Robinson) Clemson, those are all good programs. They were all highly recruited guys out of high school, and there’s been a lot of others that we haven’t taken because we didn’t like their reasoning for transferring. I was comfortable with each of those guys on their reasoning for transferring, and that’s why we took them, and I think that’s why they’re all in position to help us and have success.
On referring to Tennessee as the ‘or’ game
I think Tony (Caridi) put those words in my mouth. Somebody told me the Tennessee people are mad at me because I said that, but I put that on Tony. They could have put ‘or’ on every single one of them, it wouldn’t have changed my outlook on looking at that depth chart. Isn’t that what I said to you guys basically from the first day I got here? You can have this depth chart if you want to, but you might as well assume there’s an ‘or’ everywhere, because that’s a constant work-in-progress. That was not unexpected whatsoever, and it didn’t make me look at that depth chart any differently. It affects nothing. It absolutely affects nothing.
On who will start at running back
I don’t know yet; we have a week of practice, honestly. A couple of the ‘or’ that I put on there were really, honestly, in fairness to our players that are actually competing for those jobs. If I’m Coach (Jeremy) Pruitt, I’m probably answering that and believing the same thing. They probably have a lot of position battles going on that they’re still trying to figure out who is starting. That bothers you guys way more than it bothers us.
Opening Statement
Okay, let’s talk a little Tennessee. This game, the anticipation of this, has been lingering for quite some time – I’d put it around five years. But we really haven’t talked as far as the actual game itself, so we’ll talk about that as far as what we see in our opponent and all that. Obviously, they’re a storied program that has won a national championship and SEC championships. We understand that it’s a historic program, and I have a lot of respect for Phil Fulmer, and I know he’s back in the mix of things there as their athletic director, and I’ve followed Jeremy Pruitt’s coaching career for quite some time. He has worked himself up the ranks; I admire that. I have a soft spot for what I think of coaches, guys that work their way up in the high school ranks and college ranks and all that, and he’s accomplished a whole lot of stuff. So, I have a lot of respect for him, and what he’s done.
If you look at what we think they’re going to do, we can sit here and guess all we want. The truth of the matter is we really don’t know what they’re going to do. We’re aware of all of their coaches and where they’ve been; we’ve accumulated video on everywhere; we’ve watched their spring game, which, really, probably doesn’t mean a whole lot. We watched some of their games from last year to see what their personnel is like. They’re big and fast and strong, and I imagine they’re a little bit more motivated to play for a new coaching staff than they were toward the end of last year.
There are a lot of unknowns. We’re expecting them to be very multiple on offense; we don’t know which quarterback they are going to go with. What they ask them to do, I would imagine, is pretty similar whether it’s No. 2 (Jarrett Guarantano), the guy that they had last year, or the transfer from Stanford (Keller Chryst). We’ll look at that and figure it out. They’re going to have three or four backs that they’re going to want to hand the ball to a lot, a lot of tight ends, fullbacks. They have a big, experienced offensive line, guys that have a lot of playing time with them, and their receiving corps looks awful good to me as far as what their stature is; their production level is good. (Marquez) Callaway is a really good kid, 6-2, 200, made a bunch of plays for them last year. The (Jauan) Jennings kid looks good as well; he was hurt most of last year, but two years ago, he was incredibly productive. They have dudes on offense; it’s going to be a challenge. I’m glad we have such great continuity on defense with our coaching staff to be able to adjust to what they do. Good coaches make adjustments quick in game one, and we’re going to have to get a feel for what they’re doing and communicate it with our coaching staff and make adjustments on top of that.
Defensively, it’s a little more clear-cut as far as what they’re going to do. Obviously, Jeremy has been (defensive coordinator) at some pretty special places over the last five years, going back to what they did at Florida State, those couple years at Georgia and then the last couple years at Alabama. I’ve been watching a lot of Alabama video, in addition to those other places as well. That’s all we can go on; we went back and looked at their personnel from last year. Especially in their front is where they have a lot of guys coming back. They all look good; they have a bunch of big kids inside that can hold gaps and edge guys that all look like they’re 6-5, 250 and can pin their ears and come upfield. They have an experienced linebacking corps, experienced safety corps. They have some moving parts at corner, but once again, what are they going to do? There are always questions with that, but we have confidence in (assistant coach – offensive coordinator/quarterbacks) Jake (Spavital) and (assistant coach – offensive line) Coach (Joe) Wick (Wickline) to communicate early on as far as what they’re seeing from a front perspective and a coverage perspective and make adjustments on top of that.
Special teams, it’s another deal where it’s moving parts. Coach Pruitt, obviously, is probably going to have a hand in that as well, but bringing in Charles Kelly from Florida State, who took over for him as the defensive coordinator at Florida State for the last four years, was their special teams guy in 2013 when they won their national championship. We’ve been looking at that; I have a hard time looking at video from six years ago, but we’ve done our due diligence with that, and we’ll try to figure out early on with what they’re going to do.
It’s always game one, this more than others in recent past as far as how quick can we make adjustments with what they do. They’re going to probably have to make a few adjustments with what we do as well; that’s just what game ones are about.
On if players can become overloaded by the game plan
There’s only so much time in the day; we’ve been restricted to four hours per day and 20 hours per week for the last 2 ½ weeks. So, that’s not a whole lot of time, but we have, we’ve shown them some stuff. As a coaching staff, we’ve probably prepared for this one more than I have in recent memory. You can’t prepare for everything. Game one is always about ‘let’s worry about us as much as we possibly can.’ Then, we need to communicate on the sidelines early in the game as far as what their plan of attack is.
On how the analysts were used in preparation for the Tennessee game
It’s the same thing, really. Just do all the research and put all the stuff on these scouting reports that we got. We’ve had a lot of time as a coaching staff to take that information and digest it for game one. Where those guys, in my opinion, are really going to make a big difference is in two things: one, getting us onto the next game quickly, so that’ll really kick in on Sunday. When we’re in here on Sunday, we’ll watch our game from Saturday, we’ll meet and then we have to quickly flip the switch and move on to the next one. In year’s past, I’d be up here until midnight watching previous videos, trying to figure out which ones we’re going to break down. All that stuff is already going to be done. And then, the self-scouting aspect to it as well; they’ll keep a tally on what we’re doing offensively and what we’re doing defensively and in the kicking game as well, and then to figure out what our tendencies are before it’s too late, so to speak. Game one, coaches get bored and do stuff all summer. But moving forward, quick turnarounds are where it’s probably a little more important.
On the importance of winning the first game
I don’t even think that way, honestly. You can say, ‘Well, this one is a big game.” They’re all big games, and I know from a media perspective, and probably from a fanbase perspective, some are more important than others. It’s not how you approach it when it’s your job and when it’s your livelihood. Every game is important, and you need to try to win every one of them, regardless of the magnitude of it, where it’s at, who it’s against. I just really, honestly, can’t comment on that based on the fact it doesn’t register very much.
On how familiar he is with some of Tennessee’s players based off recruiting
Not a ton, some. I think we looked at their roster and there were about 10 that we actively recruited. Some of the recruiting guys that are in here can say, ‘Well, according to my notes, you guys offered 60 percent of their players.’ Well, they probably offered 60 percent of our players, too, but they only recruited two of them. Offering them and recruiting them are two different things. We actively recruited about 10 of them, about the same as Virginia Tech last year for whatever reason that is.
On how he assesses the defense going into the first game
I mean, I like where they’re at; you have to play that first game before you come up with any determining factors whatsoever. I think we have good leadership, (redshirt junior linebacker) David Long (Jr.) and (redshirt senior safety) Dravon (Askew-) Henry are strong leaders. And then we have some older guys that we’ve inserted in with grad transfers and junior-college guys that bring some maturity as well. I think we’re a tighter defense. (Associate head coach –
defensive coordinator/linebackers Tony) Gibby (Gibson) likes coaching these guys a lot. That gives you a chance to be successful. Now, you have to line up, and play well and stay healthy and continue to improve as well. So, I like where we’re at right now. I’m just as anxious as anybody else to go out there and see us play live. We’ll get a chance to do that here in about five days.
On how the team’s graduate transfers are working out
Good. They’re both listed as starters right now. I think that answers that question. What I like about those two guys, and again, I haven’t seen either one of those two kids play in a game, so I have an opinion that I’ve reserved the right to change it once I see them this Saturday, but what I like about those guys is just they’re happy kids, they’re great teammates, they run around the building and they like people and talk to people. They’re mentoring younger kids, and they’re leading them the right way. All that is very positive, it has made us better on defense. They’ve both played in big games, so I think they’re both going to play their tail off. I can’t wait to watch it on Saturday.
On if there’s been a difference in recruiting in the Charlotte area recently
A little bit; it’s a regret that I have that I didn’t do it earlier. We’ve been in North Carolina, we have North Carolina guys, but we haven’t really focused on North Carolina. It was probably a little bit of an oversight on my aspect of it. There’s only so many places you can go, and we’re in a unique recruiting area to where we have to go a lot of places. We’ve moved into there, (assistant coach – offensive coordinator/quarterbacks) Jake (Spavital) is recruiting it, (assistant coach – defensive line) Bruce Tall is recruiting it. We have a presence. Typically, it takes a few years. I see our recruiting presence in Georgia, one, (assistant coach – cornerbacks) Doug Belk is doing a good job, but you’re recruiting guys right now to play in that opener against Florida State, which is what two years from now? But you’re recruiting guys now to play in that game, so that’s one of my regrets, which, obviously, everyone has regrets on everything, but if we could have sold this game to Charlotte kids three years ago, it probably would have made a little bit bigger of an impact. With that said, there’s a lot of interest in West Virginia. I’m thrilled about our fanbase being able to take part in this, 31, 32,000 WVU alumni are in the Charlotte area. I’ve been down there a bunch. I’ve developed a lot of friendships down there, and I’ve met a ton of West Virginia people. It’s big; this is a big weekend for West Virginia University, and West Virginia in general, in Charlotte. The interest will continue to grow, and I just think we’re getting started there.
On if offensive adjustments are tougher than defensive adjustments during an opener
I think it’s the same based on our continuity. We’ve been together for five years on defense now. It’s year two with (assistant coach – offensive coordinator/quarterbacks) Jake (Spavital), but obviously it goes farther back than that. The (offensive) line is in a better place because it’s year two with (assistant coach – offensive line Joe) Wick (Wickline). But from a coaching staff perpsective, myself and Jake and Wick and (assistant coach – tight ends/fullbacks Dan) Gerberry has been around here for three years now and (assistant coach – wide receivers Tyron) Carrier, obviously, that goes back a long ways, so the continuity there is pretty good. I don’t think, based on the situation, I don’t think it’s one more than the other.
On who he is most looking forward to seeing on Saturday
I’m anxious to see it with (redshirt senior quarterback) Will (Grier). If I’m anxious to see it with him, then I’m probably anxious to see it with everybody. There are things that even veteran guys, whether it’s individual performance or how they coach on the sidelines, or the feedback we’re getting from them in the box, or what the new schemes actually look like, or the camaraderie and jelling of the specific units, I’m anxious to see all of it. I can’t say it’s more in one phase or one player than any of the other ones. I’m anxious to see all of it.
On if he has any advantage on having prior head-coaching experience entering Saturday’s game and if there’s a difference between having an offensive or defensive background
I don’t think what side you’re on really matters. There’s nothing more valuable than on-the-job training when it comes to head coaches. I believe in that. I think Jeremy (Pruitt) is a fantastic football coach, and I’m only going to comment on my experiences. There are things that I learned that first game, there are things that I learned from last year’s first game being in a little bit of a different role. I don’t know, that young kid in Oklahoma (Lincoln Riley) adjusted pretty quickly. I’m anxious for this game one; I think I’m anxious to see if I’ve improved. And not just in-game decisions, but just like the whole managing the game and sideline presence and adjusting to new rules. I’m anxious to evaluate me. I do believe there’s no greater lesson learned than just on-the-job training.
On the differences in opponents from Week 1 to Week 2
I don’t view it that way. I don’t believe in that, I don’t believe in tune-ups. We play 11 Power Five schools. I don’t believe in taking any games off. We just don’t approach it that way. You just can’t because if you do anything differently, then players and coaches are going to recognize that. If you send any message like that, then that’s how you get your butt beat – I don’t care who you play.
On redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Josh Sills’ growth
If you’re counting on anybody that young, then they have a chance to be a decent player. (Redshirt junior offensive lineman) Colton (McKivitz) was that guy, (redshirt senior offensive lineman) Yodny (Cajuste) was that guy, Josh was that guy last year. Colton was much better year two, Yodny was much better, so we’re expecting Josh to be better as well. Redshirt freshmen offensive linemen, it’s just rare that they play. He was big enough and physical enough to be able to do that last year. The mental aspect of it was what he struggled with all year. I think he’s past that. I hope he’s past that. Everything, just the game of football – holding up physically, to preparation, to understanding the calls, to the mental aspect of it in-game, handling combat, the list just goes on and on. When you’re a year older, it’s just a lot easier.
On if junior-college transfers are viewed like freshmen early in the season
It can be all of the above. I think it’s like 30 percent of our 72 travel kids that we’ll be taking have not traveled. That’s why mock game was important last week, and we showed them how it’s going to be. The mock game was just like it is; it’s a fake game. But they saw how things flowed, so that should give them a little bit of comfort as far as how things are going to be. Again, there’s nothing like on-the-job training. The (junior college) kids that are a little bit older have played in some bigger games, but nothing like this. We’ll keep our eye on all those young guys and see how they’re handling things.
On how redshirt sophomore wide receiver T.J. Simmons is fitting in
He’s in the rotation. Obviously, he’ll play. He’s played in these games; he did that as a true freshman for Alabama. I would expect him to handle this very easily and play a lot of snaps for us.
On if redshirt sophomore wide receiver T.J. Simmons is on any special teams’ units
He does. He’ll be on punt return and kickoff return. If you’re a starter, you’re probably going to be on one, on rare occasion two. But if you’re a pretty quality backup, then you should expect to be on two-to-four of them. He’s done a good job on that; he’s physical. He brings some physicality to that receiving corps, which is what I feel like they need.
On if redshirt sophomore wide receiver T.J. Simmons can match the production of Ka’Raun White
I would think so. (Junior wide receiver) Marcus Simms has had a really good camp, so we’ll move (senior wide receiver) David (Sills V) around a little bit like we always have; he can handle all that. I’m anxious to watch T.J. I know what Marcus can do. I’m anxious to watch T.J., and that will dictate where we’re going with David at times as well.
On transfers from high-profile programs
We’ve turned down plenty of kids that have played at those programs, the high-profile programs, I guess is what you’re saying. My biggest thing is to figure out why they want to transfer and if you have a need for that. But we have, we’ve had success with it. (Redshirt sophomore tight end/fullback) Jovani Haskins coming from Miami is going to see playing time, (redshirt sophomore quarterback) Jack Allison is our backup. Hopefully he either does or doesn’t see playing time. Obviously, (redshirt senior quarterback) Will (Grier) coming in from Florida, (redshirt senior defensive lineman) Kenny (Bigelow Jr.) USC, (redshirt senior defensive lineman) Jabril (Robinson) Clemson, those are all good programs. They were all highly recruited guys out of high school, and there’s been a lot of others that we haven’t taken because we didn’t like their reasoning for transferring. I was comfortable with each of those guys on their reasoning for transferring, and that’s why we took them, and I think that’s why they’re all in position to help us and have success.
On referring to Tennessee as the ‘or’ game
I think Tony (Caridi) put those words in my mouth. Somebody told me the Tennessee people are mad at me because I said that, but I put that on Tony. They could have put ‘or’ on every single one of them, it wouldn’t have changed my outlook on looking at that depth chart. Isn’t that what I said to you guys basically from the first day I got here? You can have this depth chart if you want to, but you might as well assume there’s an ‘or’ everywhere, because that’s a constant work-in-progress. That was not unexpected whatsoever, and it didn’t make me look at that depth chart any differently. It affects nothing. It absolutely affects nothing.
On who will start at running back
I don’t know yet; we have a week of practice, honestly. A couple of the ‘or’ that I put on there were really, honestly, in fairness to our players that are actually competing for those jobs. If I’m Coach (Jeremy) Pruitt, I’m probably answering that and believing the same thing. They probably have a lot of position battles going on that they’re still trying to figure out who is starting. That bothers you guys way more than it bothers us.
