Speaker 1: Yeah, so this is kind of a transition week for us.
Speaker 1: It's week four. Early in the week, we did some
Speaker 1: just you know, we call it generic practice where we're
Speaker 1: just working against ourselves, and then we start to work
Speaker 1: into some game week prep. You know, you got a
Speaker 1: lot of new faces. Yet part of this is just
Speaker 1: training them to the ways that we do things, you know,
Speaker 1: whether it's meeting during the game week or how we
Speaker 1: practice during the game week. You get these high school
Speaker 1: players in they've really never been on the scout team,
Speaker 1: you know, teach them, you know, how we run our
Speaker 1: scout teams, how they read a card, the intensity of
Speaker 1: the effort, the speed, the pace that we want. So
Speaker 1: still just a lot of educational stuff and it we
Speaker 1: get we get a jump on our first game in
Speaker 1: terms of some of the game plan stuff. So this
Speaker 1: is always an interesting week.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: Today it's you know, the first practice of the week.
Speaker 1: Intensity kind of not the first practice the day, but
Speaker 1: the first practice working on your next opponent. The intensity
Speaker 1: goes down a little bit because there's a lot of
Speaker 1: learning and tomorrow it will be better. And that wasn't
Speaker 1: bad at all. They work, but it's it was a
Speaker 1: transitional day for us. So we'll go tomorrow. Uh, we'll
Speaker 1: go Thursday, Friday, we'll have a Mott game. They'll get
Speaker 1: a couple of days off that they need to rest
Speaker 1: and recover, and then we'll come back in and and
Speaker 1: get going in earnest for the for the first game
Speaker 1: on the thirtieth.
Speaker 3: Can the players kind of sense the light at the
Speaker 3: end of the tunnel getting ready to.
Speaker 2: Play someone else? I hope not.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's not what I want him to be doing.
Speaker 1: There is no light at the end of the tunnel.
Speaker 2: You know. We don't even look at the season that way.
Speaker 1: I mean, there's just you gotta just put your head
Speaker 1: down and grind every day, you know, And so we
Speaker 1: don't we actually talk opposite that. We tell him there
Speaker 1: is no light at the end of the t the
Speaker 1: end of the tunnel, so just keep digging.
Speaker 3: Which was a h press. You've never seen her. I
Speaker 3: don't obviously Sky they're coming back, was big. But the guys.
Speaker 1: Around him, Uh, Ty Bowman. Ty Bowman's a really good
Speaker 1: football player. He's fought through some injuries, he's fought through
Speaker 1: some discomfort. He's shown up big Ramelo before he you know,
Speaker 1: got hurt and he'll be okay, He'll be back. Ramelo
Speaker 1: was doing some really good things. He's physical, he's a
Speaker 1: really really good blocker. He's a great slot receiver. Schamar
Speaker 1: has done some really good things. You know, he's got
Speaker 1: that speed to break away. Terence Smith has done some
Speaker 1: good things. Chris Parker's done some good things. John Nyder
Speaker 1: has been a little dinged up. But you notice when
Speaker 1: he's out here because you know, he he just doesn't
Speaker 1: drop the ball. He catches everything. Kaya Johnson, the freshman
Speaker 1: has the last couple of weeks, we've really kind of
Speaker 1: pushed him. He's got he's got speed, he can run,
Speaker 1: you know. So now it's just a matter of comprehending
Speaker 1: what it takes to play at this level and understanding
Speaker 1: our system.
Speaker 2: But I like that room.
Speaker 3: What is it that Shamar he needs to work on
Speaker 3: in particular too.
Speaker 1: I think just consistency of catching the ball and being
Speaker 1: able to lower his body, lower his center of gravity
Speaker 1: and get in and out of breaks. You know, because
Speaker 1: he's a six foot three, two hundred and eighteen pound
Speaker 1: guy that can run, and sometimes when you're that side,
Speaker 1: it's size, it's not easy to just lower your center
Speaker 1: of gravity and slow the momentum and redirect and gain
Speaker 1: momentum and accelerate. So those are the two things he
Speaker 1: needs to work on. But he's he's a hard work
Speaker 1: or he's a great kid.
Speaker 2: Uh. He loves to work, he loves to practice.
Speaker 1: I think he had a little bit of a breakthrough today.
Speaker 1: Quite frankly, you know, he's had a couple of days
Speaker 1: where I think he's kind of maybe ah I he
Speaker 1: he called it just kind of in his head a
Speaker 1: little bit too much, and we talked about it during practice,
Speaker 1: and and I saw him really elevate his game in
Speaker 1: the second half of practice.
Speaker 4: Jim, some you mentioned Nier and some of the the
Speaker 4: in state guys that you've gotten Knighter Harper, Uh.
Speaker 2: Teddy Williams. I should have mentioned Jackson.
Speaker 4: Sorry, but I mean, but those guys have really made
Speaker 4: uh found a niche on special teams in these last
Speaker 4: couple of years. Maybe now is there's more of an
Speaker 4: opportunity of offense. Well what what what have you seen
Speaker 4: from those guys since they've been here in terms of
Speaker 4: their determination to the contribute.
Speaker 1: Well, a ton of determination to contribute, a ton of grit.
Speaker 1: They're they're loyal, it's very important to them. To play
Speaker 1: in their home state for this university, and you see
Speaker 1: it in the way they prepare every day.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: You talk about Teddy and Jackson and they're just very dependable.
Speaker 1: And I think Jason's gonna go from being a a
Speaker 1: special teams guy who I should have mentioned him when
Speaker 1: I talked about the receivers to a guy that's gonna
Speaker 1: contribute in games for us. You know, they become very
Speaker 1: very trustworthy to us. And you know you can add in,
Speaker 1: you know what Cam's become and when Victor's become and
Speaker 1: some other guys. And so it's fun to watch those guys,
Speaker 1: you know, have some success or be on the prespice
Speaker 1: of success.
Speaker 2: In in their home state. You know, it's got to
Speaker 2: feel good.
Speaker 4: And they do the dirty working.
Speaker 1: There was a leading tech yeah uh, he was our
Speaker 1: special Player of the Year last year.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean there was a high school quarterback who Now
Speaker 1: I used him as as an example this morning to
Speaker 1: the Scout team players that haven't done this before. I so,
Speaker 1: you know, John Nyder came here a couple of years ago.
Speaker 2: He was a high school quarterback.
Speaker 1: I said, But the Scout team defense or the the
Speaker 1: first and second team defensive players going against him in
Speaker 1: and practice every day. Just kept saying, my god, this
Speaker 1: guy he just catches everything. As we moved him the receiver,
Speaker 1: he found his way to the field. Then he found
Speaker 1: his way to a scholarship.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: So it just says a lot about him and it's
Speaker 1: a great example of what you know, these young guys
Speaker 1: have to try to aspire to.
Speaker 3: So there's more clarity at quarterback than there has been
Speaker 3: the last couple of years at this point in camp.
Speaker 1: Is that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean there's you know, there's clarity. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 2: we like all our guys.
Speaker 1: I mean I I think that all four of those
Speaker 1: guys add something. It's nice to have depth, you know,
Speaker 1: knock on wood. You know, we've gone three years where
Speaker 1: we haven't been able to get out of a season
Speaker 1: with that having a quarterback injury. So, uh, I think
Speaker 1: we're more set up if that happens. Hopefully it doesn't happen, though.
Speaker 3: How about your line played the boys on up.
Speaker 2: Front both sides of the football.
Speaker 1: Well, you know, a lot of new guys, but they've
Speaker 1: done well. You know, Ben Morowski's played a lot of football.
Speaker 1: He's just been injured. He's been able to still stay
Speaker 1: healthy this camp. West Hose played a lot of football
Speaker 1: f here and it else elsewhere. So when you have
Speaker 1: that guy in the middle that a lot of the
Speaker 1: communication flows through, you can have that cohesiveness you need
Speaker 1: in the offensive line. I like the way Carson has played.
Speaker 1: You know, Carson's got a lot of snaps here as well.
Speaker 1: I think bringing in ty Chan from Notre Dame, you know,
Speaker 1: he's fitting at the right guard spot and he's done
Speaker 1: really well. Kyle Jurgen's played a lot last year. He's
Speaker 1: playing at left guard. And then I think we've got
Speaker 1: a lot of a lot of depth. You know, it's
Speaker 1: not necessarily proven, but what we've seen out here is encouraging.
Speaker 3: You mentioned some guys have been dinged up, you know,
Speaker 3: just usual camp stuff. Is the expectation that everyone's available CCSU.
Speaker 2: Uh that's the hope. Yeah, I don't know, Yeah, that's
Speaker 2: the hope. I mean it.
Speaker 1: I I we're trending towards, you know, most everybody being
Speaker 1: available right now.
Speaker 2: It's just a you know, it's important.
Speaker 1: That we still get great practice in we maintain the
Speaker 1: level of physicality.
Speaker 2: Uh, but we.
Speaker 1: Work hard to stay healthy, you know, and one of
Speaker 1: the ways you do that is you stay on your
Speaker 1: feet and you're still physical. You know, guys get on
Speaker 1: the ground to get hurt. So just I think our
Speaker 1: teams learned how to practice hard, tough, physical.
Speaker 2: Fast, and still kind of take care of each other.
Speaker 2: That's what I feel at least.
Speaker 3: Are you happy with the progress of camp the goals
Speaker 3: you said?
Speaker 2: I'm happy?
Speaker 1: Uh, I mean I'm pleased, not satisfied. I love the
Speaker 1: way they're working, and I think that their intent on
Speaker 1: getting you know, uh to a certain point where you know,
Speaker 1: we can go out on Saturdays and compete with anybody.
Speaker 1: You know, I feel that that team that's important to
Speaker 1: this team to do that.
Speaker 5: Are you able to tell about your defense?
Speaker 2: Yet?
Speaker 5: Where do you have to get in a real game
Speaker 5: to understand that they've learned the cohesion necessary for well?
Speaker 1: I think I think it's gonna take a game, I
Speaker 1: really do, you know. I'd like to be able to
Speaker 1: sit here and say, yeah, I know what they're all about,
Speaker 1: but there's so many new guys that I don't you know,
Speaker 1: and games always reveal things, both you know, positive and
Speaker 1: negative things you have to work on. So I would say, Mike,
Speaker 1: we need to we need to play a game. You
Speaker 1: know where it's the intensity and you're seeing unscattered looks
Speaker 1: that you have to adjust to, and the communication is
Speaker 1: so important and you're you know, you're tackling guys that
Speaker 1: have different color jerseys and helmets on. Then you do
Speaker 1: it which is you know, you're not in the locker
Speaker 1: room next year, in the weight room and the meal
Speaker 1: room every day. So there's just a different level intensity.
Speaker 1: And so let's see how we.
Speaker 5: React behind Louis and Alex at tight end.
Speaker 2: Who else should we know about?
Speaker 5: What's the scouting report on the depth behind those two guys?
Speaker 1: Well tight end and you know we kind of we
Speaker 1: we play with really two different tight end type bodies.
Speaker 1: So you got you got Alex and notter are are
Speaker 1: tight ends. And then like our our fs, you know,
Speaker 1: kind of move guys. You've got lou You've got Juice,
Speaker 1: You've got uh, you know, a guy like Michael Burton,
Speaker 1: Xavier Watson, and then you've got the tweeners like Dom Toy.
Speaker 2: You can kind of do bowl.
Speaker 1: We have a really heavy and deep tight end room
Speaker 1: and we're gonna utilize.
Speaker 2: All those guys.
Speaker 1: They all bring something a little bit different to the
Speaker 1: game and being creative and the way we use them,
Speaker 1: use them is really important because it creates problems for
Speaker 1: the defense. You know, I think tight ends are matchup problems.
Speaker 1: So we have a lot of good ones.
Speaker 5: Are you able to see the influence of your new
Speaker 5: QB coach yet Price Tracy.
Speaker 2: And what is uh?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean he's you know, he's been some really
Speaker 1: good places with some really good people, you know. I
Speaker 1: mean he's been at Notre Dame, he's been at Alabama,
Speaker 1: he's been at Georgia, He's been around winning programs and
Speaker 1: uh uh he is an really intense guy that this
Speaker 1: is very important too. And he's very detailed, He's very demanding.
Speaker 1: He knows what he's talking about. He brings good conceptual
Speaker 1: ideas to our scheme. Uh I I I he keeps
Speaker 1: he holds the players to a high level of accountability.
Speaker 1: And yet I think they really they really like him,
Speaker 1: you know, cause they know they can trust him. But
Speaker 1: now I'm I'm I'm really happy that that he's a
Speaker 1: part of this staff.
Speaker 3: Any good players and last year you actually had a
Speaker 3: ton of experience and a lot of depth on the
Speaker 3: d line. He gets to able to rotate guys in
Speaker 3: anything like that. Do you see enough this year that
Speaker 3: maybe that could happen again, that these guys can hold
Speaker 3: up to that standard.
Speaker 2: I hope.
Speaker 1: So it's kind of like, you know, to same answers
Speaker 1: Mike's questions.
Speaker 2: Like we'll see, you know, we'll see as we.
Speaker 1: Go, but you know, you'd expect guys like like, uh,
Speaker 1: Matt Hoffman, I think you guys are talking to him,
Speaker 1: but Brian or.
Speaker 2: Cleto troll.
Speaker 1: You know, it's like time for those guys to take
Speaker 1: that step from kind of some late game action into
Speaker 1: some real action. And if they can do that, then
Speaker 1: I think we've got a nice group there, you know,
Speaker 1: cause I think we've got some good starters and some
Speaker 1: guys that are proven, but some of those unproven guys
Speaker 1: on game day have to take a step up. And
Speaker 1: the indications are from what we've seen.
Speaker 2: In practice, is they're ready to do that, but they
Speaker 2: got to go do it.
Speaker 1: On the field against an opponent that's not wearing the
Speaker 1: same helmet as them. Appreciate you