We were able to talk with Kingsbury, Stockton, Baylen Brown, and Fehoko after practice today.
Kliff Kingsbury
-Will the scrimmage be structured similar to what you had in Midland?
“I think it will be similar. We will try to structure it to get the reps and the situations the way we want them. We will have a red zone period, we will have a coming out period, we want to get good work in and try to play as many people as we can at the same time.”
-Kliff made some interesting comments in regards to the backup QB and Shimonek’s status.
“He will play a bunch. We’ve got him a bunch of reps in the spring with the 1s just to get him ready in case something happened, and he has handled it well.”
-Kliff said that he expects Dylan Cantrell to play. The lack of playing so far has been cautionary only, but Dylan has been full-go for the past couple weeks, and Kliff expects him to play.
-Who are you looking forward to seeing on the defensive line?
“All of them. When you go to the line of scrimmage and start picking up the tempo, that is when you see who pushes through, who keeps their technique tight and sticks to their fundamentals. I will keep an eye on all those guys and who sticks to their technique as we up the tempo.”
-Kliff’s goals for the spring game are to play a lot of guys, get a lot of situational reps, keep the game clean, and stay healthy coming out.
-How pleased are you with the team’s performance this spring heading into the fall?
“Very pleased. We started off the spring having youth and having guys competing and it has been a breath of fresh air. Guys are fighting every day for spots which is fun and exciting to see as a coach.”
-Kingsbury adds a couple more names to the list of guys that have really caught his attention this spring.
“KeKe Coutee has really stood out to me on the offensive side of the ball and Broderick Washington has been big on the defensive line. He was an offensive lineman predominately in high school but has really stepped up and made big strides this spring. We are excited about his progress.”
-According to Kingsbury, quarterback seems to be the only clear cut spot on the roster right now with many position battles still taking place. A couple guys may be penciled in as starters, but Kingsbury is excited to have these battles carry over to the fall.
-How often do you practice basic things with Pat like letting a play go or blowing a play dead if there isn’t anything there?
“Those are things we always focus on every practice. I know when he gets in front of a crowd that he wants to put on a show and make some big plays. His mentality is that way, so we’ve been telling him that if it is there, take it. If it is not, check it down. We will keep things vanilla when we operate. We just want him to protect the ball and operate smoothly.”
-Kingsbury had nothing but good things to say about Tony Morales and Baylen Brown. Both have done good things this spring, been very solid, and have taken on big roles as leaders on the o-line. He is encouraged by the way Morales and Brown are playing.
-Last question asked to Kliff was about satellite camps and this was his response:
“There’s positives and negatives to any decision being made. It was getting out of control with some of the lines that were being crossed and things that were being done. For us, now, it shows us how interested these kids really are. When they get here, they get to see our campus and see what we are all about. We have to be creative with finding ways to get them here with our location, obviously. We have to be great in spring recruiting and get good evaluations because we are only going to get one look at them most likely. We have so many guys in the state who can play, we don’t mind having camps in the state. Obviously, if you are more centrally located it will be easier. Like I said, we have to be great on evals in the spring and be creative in ways to get kids up here to see our campus.”
Baylen Brown
-What’s it been like making the transition from a senior-laden OL group to a younger OL group?
“It’s a little different. With the seniors, you don’t have to worry about much because they know what they are doing but now, we have different leaders on the offensive line teaching the young guys. They will learn and be seniors too, eventually.”
-When asked about specific OL, Brown mentioned Tony Morales, Paul Stawarz, and Cody Wheeler as guys who have stood out to him.
-Outside of Brown and Morales, no other guys have solidified spots yet. Everybody has been moving around a lot this spring, so the battles across the line will probably move into the fall.
-Have you seen Tony take steps forward?
“Having a guy like him around, when healthy, is huge. He is coming in and leading the offense at center and has been doing well. He’s been improving every practice and will be solid in the fall.”
-Is the young talent encouraging?
“I mean Tony got some work in last year, Murphy is coming back, a lot of the freshmen got reps with the 2s last fall which was a big help for them. They came in and worked hard which will pay dividends come the fall.”
-What’s it like blocking for a guy like Pat?
“You never know. You never know where he is, so you never let a block go because you never know if he is scrambling or if the ball is already gone. I never know what he is doing back there half the time. It is fun, he makes plays, so it makes it interesting.”
Justin Stockton
-How have you seen Corey Dauphine develop his skills?
“He is great. He’s a big back, with lots of speed, and is not afraid to lower his shoulder and truck someone.”
-What’s it been like with the new Strength and Conditioning coaches this spring?
“It’s been great. Coach Whitt and his staff, it is a great staff. I have just now realized that it is hard to run correctly. There are a lot of mechanics and things that need to be fixed and once you get all those mechanics down, you will run a lot faster and get better and it will decrease injuries.”
-Here’s something that will make everybody happy to see:
Do you feel like you’ve gotten faster?
“Oh yeah. I feel like I’ve gotten faster but most importantly I’ve gotten more flexible.”
*****I will have Fehoko's quotes up later this evening. *******
Kliff Kingsbury
-Will the scrimmage be structured similar to what you had in Midland?
“I think it will be similar. We will try to structure it to get the reps and the situations the way we want them. We will have a red zone period, we will have a coming out period, we want to get good work in and try to play as many people as we can at the same time.”
-Kliff made some interesting comments in regards to the backup QB and Shimonek’s status.
“He will play a bunch. We’ve got him a bunch of reps in the spring with the 1s just to get him ready in case something happened, and he has handled it well.”
-Kliff said that he expects Dylan Cantrell to play. The lack of playing so far has been cautionary only, but Dylan has been full-go for the past couple weeks, and Kliff expects him to play.
-Who are you looking forward to seeing on the defensive line?
“All of them. When you go to the line of scrimmage and start picking up the tempo, that is when you see who pushes through, who keeps their technique tight and sticks to their fundamentals. I will keep an eye on all those guys and who sticks to their technique as we up the tempo.”
-Kliff’s goals for the spring game are to play a lot of guys, get a lot of situational reps, keep the game clean, and stay healthy coming out.
-How pleased are you with the team’s performance this spring heading into the fall?
“Very pleased. We started off the spring having youth and having guys competing and it has been a breath of fresh air. Guys are fighting every day for spots which is fun and exciting to see as a coach.”
-Kingsbury adds a couple more names to the list of guys that have really caught his attention this spring.
“KeKe Coutee has really stood out to me on the offensive side of the ball and Broderick Washington has been big on the defensive line. He was an offensive lineman predominately in high school but has really stepped up and made big strides this spring. We are excited about his progress.”
-According to Kingsbury, quarterback seems to be the only clear cut spot on the roster right now with many position battles still taking place. A couple guys may be penciled in as starters, but Kingsbury is excited to have these battles carry over to the fall.
-How often do you practice basic things with Pat like letting a play go or blowing a play dead if there isn’t anything there?
“Those are things we always focus on every practice. I know when he gets in front of a crowd that he wants to put on a show and make some big plays. His mentality is that way, so we’ve been telling him that if it is there, take it. If it is not, check it down. We will keep things vanilla when we operate. We just want him to protect the ball and operate smoothly.”
-Kingsbury had nothing but good things to say about Tony Morales and Baylen Brown. Both have done good things this spring, been very solid, and have taken on big roles as leaders on the o-line. He is encouraged by the way Morales and Brown are playing.
-Last question asked to Kliff was about satellite camps and this was his response:
“There’s positives and negatives to any decision being made. It was getting out of control with some of the lines that were being crossed and things that were being done. For us, now, it shows us how interested these kids really are. When they get here, they get to see our campus and see what we are all about. We have to be creative with finding ways to get them here with our location, obviously. We have to be great in spring recruiting and get good evaluations because we are only going to get one look at them most likely. We have so many guys in the state who can play, we don’t mind having camps in the state. Obviously, if you are more centrally located it will be easier. Like I said, we have to be great on evals in the spring and be creative in ways to get kids up here to see our campus.”
Baylen Brown
-What’s it been like making the transition from a senior-laden OL group to a younger OL group?
“It’s a little different. With the seniors, you don’t have to worry about much because they know what they are doing but now, we have different leaders on the offensive line teaching the young guys. They will learn and be seniors too, eventually.”
-When asked about specific OL, Brown mentioned Tony Morales, Paul Stawarz, and Cody Wheeler as guys who have stood out to him.
-Outside of Brown and Morales, no other guys have solidified spots yet. Everybody has been moving around a lot this spring, so the battles across the line will probably move into the fall.
-Have you seen Tony take steps forward?
“Having a guy like him around, when healthy, is huge. He is coming in and leading the offense at center and has been doing well. He’s been improving every practice and will be solid in the fall.”
-Is the young talent encouraging?
“I mean Tony got some work in last year, Murphy is coming back, a lot of the freshmen got reps with the 2s last fall which was a big help for them. They came in and worked hard which will pay dividends come the fall.”
-What’s it like blocking for a guy like Pat?
“You never know. You never know where he is, so you never let a block go because you never know if he is scrambling or if the ball is already gone. I never know what he is doing back there half the time. It is fun, he makes plays, so it makes it interesting.”
Justin Stockton
-How have you seen Corey Dauphine develop his skills?
“He is great. He’s a big back, with lots of speed, and is not afraid to lower his shoulder and truck someone.”
-What’s it been like with the new Strength and Conditioning coaches this spring?
“It’s been great. Coach Whitt and his staff, it is a great staff. I have just now realized that it is hard to run correctly. There are a lot of mechanics and things that need to be fixed and once you get all those mechanics down, you will run a lot faster and get better and it will decrease injuries.”
-Here’s something that will make everybody happy to see:
Do you feel like you’ve gotten faster?
“Oh yeah. I feel like I’ve gotten faster but most importantly I’ve gotten more flexible.”
*****I will have Fehoko's quotes up later this evening. *******
