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00:00 >> You know, let me know.
00:01 >> [LAUGH] >> Four days in,
00:03 thoughts on how the linebackers are performing four days in front of the-
00:05 >> Well, I think we're continuing to
00:06 improve.
00:07 I mean, we definitely, I think, made strides throughout the spring.
00:11 You're learning a new defense.
00:12 And it's a different group of guys.
00:15 There's been some transition and changes.
00:17 Some guys that we've picked up that are brand new,
00:20 like Keith Brown trying to learn stuff.
00:22 And then some guys in Exit, which as part of the college football scene today.
00:26 So what you gotta do is just keep training, keep learning, and
00:30 keep working with the guys that are here.
00:32 I think right now, they are doing well.
00:34 Now, are we anywhere near where we need to be?
00:36 No, we've still got quite a ways to go.
00:38 But things are looking better and better every single day.
00:42 You see I'm having a little bit more confidence on a day to day basis.
00:45 And I think especially at that position with as much as you've got to do on
00:49 the back end and be able to help in the passing game.
00:52 And then when that thing hits, you've gotta go strike it.
00:54 So your mentality is constantly being contradicted and
01:00 you gotta be able to figure it out very quick.
01:01 So playing with confidence and not being scared to make a mistake is huge.
01:05 And I think that right now we're getting better at that every day.
01:09 And I've heard Coach Brom say it many times,
01:11 we're throwing a lot of stuff at you right now.
01:14 And we'll dial it back eventually.
01:15 So I mean, it is, every day you're trying to review what you did the day before.
01:19 And you're trying to install what we're doing today.
01:21 So that keeps it moving, keeps it interesting, no doubt about it.
01:25 But I believe that the guys are starting to do some good things and
01:29 we'll continue to get better as we go.
01:31 >> Speaking about those additions, what does someone like Keith Brown add to this
01:35 defense in that linebacker room with all the experience that he came with over
01:38 at Oregon?
01:39 >> Well, one thing that's been really nice about Keith, and
01:41 he is a good football player, obviously.
01:43 But the first day I met with him, I don't know when it was,
01:47 weeks ago, months ago, when it was, when he got here.
01:50 He walks in and he's got an iPad.
01:52 And I've never seen anybody take so many notes in my life.
01:54 So we talk about those things, but he does it every day.
01:57 And that wasn't, when we walked out, I was talking to the coach,
02:00 I'm like, well, I hope that wasn't just day one where he's trying to be impressive.
02:02 It's not, he's every day been doing that.
02:04 And I think in the time I've been doing it right now,
02:07 the entire room is doing a really good job of that.
02:10 Because anything that's going on in there, they're constantly either on their iPad
02:15 and/or they've got install sheets and all that good stuff.
02:17 They're fixing it, they're changing it.
02:19 Hey, what did we do wrong yesterday?
02:20 And constantly the defensive staff, of course, if something's not working,
02:23 we're gonna try to make it better for the players.
02:25 So something may be tweaked and they're on it immediately.
02:27 They're not just sitting there unattended or whatever.
02:30 But Keith is really good at that.
02:32 He's a really smart guy and has done a good job with that.
02:35 And I don't wanna say it as in the other guys are feeding off of that,
02:39 because I think they were also doing a good job with that as well.
02:42 So that makes it really nice though when you've got guys that are not just gonna
02:46 say, "Hey, I'm talented, I don't need all this.
02:49 I'm talented, I definitely need all this."
02:51 Because everybody I'm going against is just as talented.
02:53 But it's been good.
02:54 He's a smart young man that to me, I think he loves the game.
02:58 So that makes it good, really good.
02:59 - Those guys-- - What are some of the--
03:00 - Go ahead.
03:01 - What are some of the biggest adjustments they have to make versus what they were
03:05 used to doing last year?
03:07 With the system change?
03:09 - Well, that's a good question.
03:10 I mean, a lot of stuff coverage-wise is similar.
03:14 Probably the biggest adjustment is going to be verbiage and then what it's called.
03:19 Some of our coverages that were...
03:22 Our cover five now was cover six from before, okay?
03:26 So learning the new terminology, learning what this did mean and what it means now,
03:31 some of that type of stuff is definitely a change, something that you gotta study
03:36 and you gotta work at.
03:37 Now, a guy like guys that just got here, that didn't have anything to do with last
03:41 year's defense.
03:43 But we've got a lot of stuff where it's single gap fits, we're trying to get those
03:48 guys downhill right now.
03:49 And then we've got some stuff where they're tracking and they gotta work flat.
03:51 So for them, just learning, "Hey, which defenses am I reacting in this style of
03:55 play and which defenses am I reacting this way?"
03:58 That way we keep the offense on their toes.
04:00 But I don't know if it's so much about transitioning from what we did last year
04:06 as it is just...
04:07 And that's part of it, learning a whole new defense, which that is kind of what
04:11 you're saying with your question.
04:12 But just continue to install...
04:15 We've gone through that every year, I've never been anywhere.
04:17 Because you got new guys every year that they don't have a clue what the defense
04:20 is when they get there.
04:21 So you're doing the same things every year, trying to teach.
04:24 You're always gonna try to start at the very ground-based zero.
04:28 Now, it's easier when you got guys that have done it for two or three years,
04:30 of course, but you build out from there.
04:33 So we're still doing the same thing, even with guys that were here in the spring.
04:38 We did it during the summer, reinstalled everything, added some stuff to it.
04:41 We're doing it again in the fall, you're reinstalling, adding stuff to it.
04:45 Now, if you think third time around, they're gonna be a lot better at it, and
04:47 they are, they're doing much better.
04:48 >> Those guys kinda just talked about that they appreciate the intensity you
04:51 bring to the table in practices and the intensity that you kinda get out of that.
04:55 I guess, what's your kind of coaching approach with those guys and
04:58 getting that kind of, for lack of a better word, extra rep out of them?
05:01 >> Well, I mean, to me, I just really enjoy the players.
05:04 I really enjoy those guys.
05:05 And it is a really good group.
05:08 The guys you're talking to are great players, but
05:11 that whole group is a lot of fun to be around.
05:13 And they are eager to learn more stuff and then eager to go to work.
05:18 So that makes it a lot easier on me.
05:19 But I don't know, I just started playing football till I was in eighth grade,
05:23 when I figured out, hey, we can knock the ever-living mess out of people.
05:26 I was like, it's fun, just a lot of fun.
05:28 And so ever since then, I'm just like, man, football is a lot of fun.
05:32 So when I get on the field, that's your release every day.
05:35 So being able to have some energy with them, they're an individual,
05:37 I couldn't expect them to be excited if I was asleep.
05:42 And in our meetings or whatever else, it would be really hard to ask them to be
05:46 energetic and care if I was on the other end, not energetic and
05:50 didn't care, if that makes sense.
05:52 >> If you were at App State, you switched from coaching linebackers to DL,
05:56 now you're switching from DL to coaching linebackers again, I guess.
05:59 What were some parallels that you may have noticed when you're switching back to
06:02 that position group and
06:03 maybe something you're bringing along through the time at App State, Coach?
06:05 >> Correct, so I did coach backers for two years there and
06:09 then did coach DL for quite a while.
06:11 But I mean, again, the names of the defenses,
06:16 the names of the coverages and all that stuff is different.
06:19 But when you go back and you look at the drills that we used to use
06:21 multiple years ago, most of it's still relevant.
06:26 I mean, most of the stuff you're doing, as far as being able to feed box and
06:29 be able to drive the coverages and be able to play, seeing receivers and
06:34 counting where's the straight, where's the formation, that type of stuff.
06:39 That is still gonna be the same no matter what defense you're in.
06:42 When I'm getting the different terminology locked in,
06:44 that's the key to it, I think.
06:46 So, but it is good, I mean, I did outside backers at that time.
06:49 But a lot of stuff that the wheel does is, it is as an outside backer.
06:53 Now when he's in the box, he's an inside backer.
06:55 When he's gotta go up and cover down, he's playing an outside backers position.
06:58 So a lot of that stuff is extremely similar and it transitions very well.
07:02 >> What have you seen out of TJ Quinn over fall camp and off season overall?
07:06 Cuz it seems like after having a really good spring,
07:08 some of that momentum has carried over summer and into the start of fall camp.
07:12 >> Yeah, no doubt, TJ, excuse me, TJ had,
07:18 I think a really good spring as far as where he started at and
07:25 then where he ended up in that spring football game.
07:27 And that spring football game kinda opened my eyes to say, all right,
07:31 this guy can be a guy that wouldn't count on a good win on Saturday afternoons,
07:35 a championship game, whatever it happens to be.
07:37 And then I think that gave him a little bit of confidence.
07:41 And then over the summer, you see things in him, you're certain,
07:44 you talk to guys about, hey, we need to work on this, we need to work on being more
07:48 explosive, being able to see things and react quicker.
07:52 And that's gonna come through the film, so whatever it happens to be.
07:54 But he's done a good job of doing that.
07:56 And those little things will help anybody, including him, gain confidence.
08:00 Cuz he's one of, if not our biggest linebacker.
08:04 He shows speed and burst and acceleration.
08:06 So if you got size, if you got speed and burst, and he's definitely a smart young
08:10 man, then all you gotta do is be confident in what you're doing.
08:13 And that comes through knowing what it is, having it memorized, locked in, and
08:18 then you can play fast.
08:19 Cuz if he can play fast, he's a big body that can strike.
08:22 And whether that's in space and coverage, or whether that's in a box,
08:25 or get over a tumbling, pull a guard, either way, he's a physical person.
08:29 So his confidence is the one thing that he has improved vastly on, and
08:34 needs to continue to do so.
08:35 And I think he'll be a great player for us.
08:38 >> Okay, good.
08:40 >> All right. >> Appreciate it.