Coach, there are a lot of new bodies out there.
Are any of those guys just kind of
starting to stand out?
I mean, it's early.
We're only three practices in to start singling guys out.
I think a lot of the guys that are new for us
were also here in the spring too, which is great.
We have a lot of mid-year guys, so it's not their first time
going through it, so that part is nice,
and there are some new guys up front on the defensive line
that are, you know, just learning and getting going,
so I'm very pleased where we're at,
but, you know, it's still very early,
first day of shoulder pads today.
What do you see in [Indistinct]?
Yeah, those guys are doing really well.
I mean, number one, they stand just physically.
They play very physical.
They're great at the point of attack,
and, you know, they take pride in that.
Like, that's an identity for them,
and so they're going to continue
to keep getting better and learning technique.
Coach Joyner does an excellent job with those guys, you know,
so we're looking forward to seeing them
just continue to progress.
We spoke with [Indistinct] yesterday,
and he mentioned that there's a different energy.
Do you kind of feel that? Do things feel, like, different?
Yeah, I mean, I suppose every team, when they start camp,
you probably have some energy
knowing because it's the start of it.
It's like, okay, where are you at a week or two into it?
But with our guys, it's been pretty consistent
since the off-season began with that energy,
and so, you know, our defense has done a good job of that.
We've put a lot of time into that
and talking about that and credit to our players.
They've really responded.
We've seen Kyle [Indistinct] out there
[Indistinct].
Do you have an extra position [Indistinct]?
Not an exact date.
We're trying to be very smart with them and make sure,
you know, we're trying to keep moving forward
and not have any setbacks,
so it's kind of a day-to-day thing.
He's getting much better.
To his credit, he's working like crazy,
does everything asked of him, the train-your-own-weight room,
everything, and so that's a day-to-day discussion
of where we're at with him and what the next day would be.
What are your expectations for Chance in the position?
Yeah, we're counting on him.
He's, you know, a smart football player.
He's able to play more than one spot
as you've seen out there already,
and, you know, Chance is a good football player.
He has a lot of experience.
He's played a lot of football though not here
as previous places he's played,
and so, you know, he's really good for our room,
and, you know, we're going to keep moving spots
until we find and figure out what the best combination
of everyone out there is.
D.J., what about your early thoughts on Cedric Johnson?
Yeah, you know, Ced has done a really good job.
He's had a great off-season, really, really, you know,
changed his body and doing well,
and there's several of those guys up front.
We have great competition up front now, which is awesome.
I think, you know, having competition at a spot
is everything as a coach because,
you know, that's, like, the motivation.
You can really focus on technique and fundamentals
and what's going on as a coach
when you have a competitive room.
You know, I really feel like we have,
and Ced is definitely one of those guys.
What are your thoughts on Jake Springer?
You know, Jake, again, very smart player,
has a lot of experience,
although he didn't play with us last year,
he has played a lot of football,
and, you know, we're counting on him
to do quite a bit for us.
I think when you look out there really at a lot of spots,
most guys are playing multiple spots right now.
Our job as coaches, I feel,
is to find our best combination of 11 guys
and then what the, you know,
the runnings after that of guys that are rotating and playing,
and so, in order to do that, I think, early in camp,
it's good to see guys in different spots
and just get a feel for, you know, what they can do.
Lane said yesterday he wanted to see Sam Williams.
How do you make that happen?
I think, you know, first and foremost,
the position he's playing now and what he's doing,
we're making that consistent for him too.
I think, you know, he's been a guy throughout his career
that has probably bounced around and played multiple spots,
which, to him, we got him honed in on one thing right now
and after it, and I think that's helped him.
He can always focus on what he's got to do
because when he is doing that, he's pretty darn good.
You talked to a lot of your guys.
And individually, they seem like they have their dander up
about their mission to turn this around.
[Indistinct]
Did you sense that from those guys...
[Indistinct]
Absolutely.
Our guys, I think,
more important than what they're saying or thinking,
it's they're showing it in their actions.
Their actions have said that since,
you know, back in February until now, so that's the deal.
We just got to keep it going and go, keep stacking days
and put it out on the field.
Will the number of veterans you have on defense
change your approach at all [Indistinct]
Does it make it easier at all?
No, I mean, that's more my position individually
based than as a whole.
I think it's good for our guys to be second year in a system.
I mean, that's important for a lot of the guys.
We're, you know, a lot of familiarity with calls
and, you know, terminology and all that.
I think, you know, they can probably speak to that more,
how that's helping them, but for us,
that's a, you know, individually based decision.
I see you're shuffling a lot of guys in and out constantly.
Talk about opportunity for these guys [Indistinct].
Yeah, I mean, we are always about,
your actions speak so loud,
we can't hear what you're saying,
and we're going to give you that opportunity.
I think the way Coach Kiffin designs practice is awesome.
There's a lot of reps out there.
There's guys moving at all times.
We don't have a lot of standing around at our practice,
which is great, and we film it all,
and it's all evaluated. It's all graded.
It's all watched, talked about,
and so, I mean, there can't possibly be a guy
on that roster from A to Z that could say, you know,
"I'm not getting an opportunity."
They're getting opportunities, so that's what it's all about.
[Indistinct] yesterday from a coaching perspective.
Do you use last year's results as motivation at all,
or do you turn the page [Indistinct]?
Yeah, we don't talk about the last year.
I think that, for me, that's always been the case,
and, I mean, I think it's be where your feet are
and focus on today and we got to do.
I think anyone that was in that room understands,
you know, good or bad can hurt you.
If you focus on last year, good or bad can,
you know, have an adverse effect on you,
so it's about, what are we doing now?
What are we doing lately?
That's the sport we play.
Lane brings up last year,
and last year was certainly and unorthodox [Indistinct].
At the end of last year, that defense
started to play better, certainly looked like it.
Is there anything left over from that
that they got better towards the end of the season
that you're bringing forward into having
an improved [Indistinct]?
Yeah, I mean, definitely.
There were some things as we got...
I can't remember what bye week it was now.
We had, like, eight bye weeks, it feels like, last year,
so at one point, one of those byes,
like, we just kind of narrowed down.
We moved some guys to different spots, and we did...
We started playing better.
We had a better feel for who we were and what we needed to be,
and so, you know, certainly there's things that'll...
concepts and fundamentals that'll carry over from that
into what we're doing right now.