VIDEOS: LSU Week Football Media Availability

Coach Will Muschamp addressed reporters on a Zoom call Tuesday, as the Gamecocks prepare to face LSU on Saturday in Baton Rouge, La. Players Collin Hill, Adam Prentice, Brad Johnson, Jazston Turnetine, John Dixon and Deshaun Fenwick also spoke.

COACH MUSCHAMP TRANSCRIPT

– We’re looking forward to going to Baton Rouge Saturday night against the very good LSU team, got a lot of respect for the team, and obviously the program having worked there before. Ed’s done an outstanding job winning the national championship last year. Did a fantastic job with that football team and they’re very explosive offensively this year. Myles Brennan’s already thrown for 11 touchdown passes in three games. They’re spreading the field and making you defend 53 yards wide and 110 deep, 120 deep, excuse me. So they make you to defend the entire field, create a lot of space plays with some really good players, create some tempo and some look back and some different things to change the tempo of the game. But a lot of talented guys, offensively. Defensively, I think the world of Bo Pelini. I think he’s an outstanding defensive coordinator. One of the best defensive guys I’ve been around. Two really good corners in Stingley and Ricks, are both guys you see as coverage ability that they have. They’re really big inside up front, hard to move up front. So we’ll have our work cut out for us. They got really good team speed on special teams and some very good specialists. They’ve always been good in the return game, so we got our work cut out for us. I thought we had a good start today, this morning, and we need to clean some things up tomorrow, and have another good work day, and have a good Thursday and a good walkthrough on Friday. And we head to Baton Rouge, and I’ll open up for any questions.

– [Reporter] Hey Will, I know that their starting quarterback Brennan is questionable, and I guess what is kind of the challenge in the process of preparing for potentially up to three different guys, with sort of slightly different skill sets?

– Well, I think that there’s a lot of similarities in all of them. They’re big guys, both Finley and Max Johnson are guys we’re familiar with, we’ve watched all of their high school tape. So we’re very familiar with, both guys are extremely talented. Both guys can really spin it, they both have athleticism to extend plays and create some things in the run game, which they somewhat do with Brennan as best they can. So again, they’ve been very successful in what they do. They’ll identify the things that are really good for those guys and what they feel comfortable with. And then you’ve got to adjust in the game to what they’re doing. So those are all things that will factor into our game plan, as far as whether… Who’s up at the quarterback position, and we’ll make the decisions from there as far as what we need to take in the game to be successful, whether it’s Myles Brennan at quarterback, or one of the two freshmen, or both. And we’ll make those adjustments on game day.

– [Reporter] Do you guys try to ferret out any information about who will probably go during the week, or do you just kind of prepare for all them and go from there?

– You got to be prepared for everything. You can’t put all your eggs in one basket and hope it happens. So you’ve got to be prepared for for whatever may happen on game day. And we always talk in terms of even in situations where you know who the starter’s going to be, you got to prepare, “Who is the backup and what is his situation? Is he a guy with legs?” So we always have those conversations in preparation for a team because of how critical that position is and how it effects how you call a game.

– [Reporter] Hey coach, when you look back on at that win on Saturday, I think maybe one of the main differences was the ability to not abandon the run early and stick with it. So how nice was that for you to see the effectiveness of, keep running the ball, keep running the ball. And I guess from a play caller’s perspective, does it take maybe some time to develop the patience to keep at it when things maybe aren’t necessarily going your way?

– You know, Mike, and I said this in the post game, I think that Mike Bobo’s always been somebody that’s going to stick to the run, whether it’s been successful or not, make adjustments in the run game, based on the front you’re getting. Make adjustments based on where we feel like we can run the ball and be most successful doing that. And I feel like as a play caller, Mike has always been that way. And he’s always a guy that’s willing to run the ball on third down, willing to do the things we’ve got to do to stay on the field as far as those things are concerned. That’s one of the things to me that makes him a really good play caller. Because a lot of guys abandon the run once it doesn’t work, and it becomes a one-dimensional game. And when it’s a one-dimensional game, you’re playing into the defense’s hands. So there’s no question that that’s a… I think a talent of Mike’s, to be able to stay with the run when we need to, and be able to make the adjustments in the run game, which I really go back to the Vanderbilt game. I go back to the first week against Tennessee. The second half we ran the ball much better. And then Saturday against Auburn, we ran the ball much better. Our yards per carry, I think it was upwards of six or seven yards in the third quarter per carry. And of course, we don’t get the erase of the 90 yarder in the second series of the game. We’re talking about a different run game in the first half. So, is what it is.

– [Reporter] Hey Will, Deshaun Fenwick told us that after two wins the guys seem more dialed in, is this what you’re seeing at practice? And after two weeks of winning, does it make it easier for you and your assistants to teach and get your points across? Or do you have to raise your level of intensity to make sure that the guys, they remain focused on how important it is now to stay at this level?

– Well, I meet with our leadership group every Tuesday morning and talk to them about the week. Talk to them about the expectation, talk to them about how our staff and myself perceive this, the game we’re heading into. I thought we had a really good talk this morning. And I think that group, in my opinion, has done the best job since I’ve been here as far as handling the team, and managing the football team, and carrying the message. And we’ve had to do less as a staff, as far as those things are concerned, of the expectation in the locker room between each player, and each team member, of the expectation of every day, and what is going to be expected of a Tuesday practice, and a Wednesday practice, and a Thursday practice. Because it really all goes back to your preparation. You win games on Saturday because of how you prepare throughout the week. And that’s what we got to understand. And I think this team understands that. I don’t know that our guys weren’t any dialed in when we were 0-2 than we are 2-2. I think that our guys have had a good focus for the most part. I think every team has guys that are really dialed in all the time and focused. And I think they’ve got guys, that a small percentage, that need to make sure that we’re getting them dialed in and getting them focused. And it’s your job as a coach positionally on each side of the ball and as a head coach to understand those guys you’ve got to dial in. And so I’ve got a pretty good idea of that on our football team as well. But I’ve been very pleased with the leadership of this team and how they’ve handled a very difficult offseason, as we’re still going through a pandemic here, and how they’re managing our football team as peers.

– [Reporter] Last year around this time, you guys obviously beat Georgia, and then ended the season 1-5. Injuries obviously played a little bit of part of that. Have you seen anything different this year around after beating a ranked team with six games left to play? And how do you avoid maybe the let down you guys experienced after that Georgia game?

– Well, I think that, I’ve seen a team from this year from game one to game four, that’s improved every week. And I would say that in all three phases. I think that after the Georgia game offensively, we didn’t make much improvement at all. And we lost confidence, which affects your entire team, not just your offense. But that’s what I’ve seen, that this team continues to improve. This team continues to practice the right way. That wasn’t always the case last year, to be honest. And so from that standpoint that’s been very pleased, but I also think, Colin, it goes back to the leadership of the team. This has been a team… It’s handled how we practice and the expectation of what we need to do to prepare in order to be successful on Saturday. And I think this team has handled that pretty well. We’ll see, as we continue to move forward.

– [Reporter] Will, obviously Deshaun has had some pretty good runs in backup of Kevin so far this year. When you guys are looking at the play on the field, are there certain plays or situations where you say, “I want Harris in there,” or “I want Fenwick in there?”

– I’ll leave that up to the offensive staff, and Coach Bobo and Coach Kitchings. I do think that both runners are similar from the standpoint of the way they’re running right now. I mean, they’re getting behind their pads. They’re very difficult guys… They’re creating a lot of yards after contact. They’re running through contact very well. So right now, I mean, I think our staff feels very comfortable with where they are, but as far as game day is concerned, I allow, as I say, it’s up to Coach Bobo and Coach Kitchings, and who they feel comfortable with at the time.

– [Reporter] Will, you mentioned it with Rick, and I know after the game you mentioned it to your players about Tuesday. You know, we won the game on Tuesday, we won the game on Wednesday, that helped us for Saturday’s game. But your players talked about how they just feel like they’ve been more locked in after these wins on Tuesday practices. What can you say that’s just different in terms of how those practices have been these last couple weeks in comparison to how the season started?

– Well, I felt like our best Tuesday practice was the Tuesday of Vanderbilt, coming off 0-2. One of the better practices we’ve had since I’ve been here in the season, just as far as the emotion of practice, the juice, the energy, the focus. So I don’t know. And I’m glad our players feel that way. That’s great. Winning is contagious and that helps everything. But I really feel like over a four week period that we’ve had pretty good preparation. We haven’t had any just bad practice, where I just didn’t feel comfortable leaving the practice field and where we were, and that things weren’t correctable as far as the focus and things were concerned. So again, I want to credit our players for that. They’ve done a really good job. And I think that goes back to your leadership, of an expectation of what a Tuesday practice around here should look like, and a Wednesday practice, and as you continue to move forward.

– [Reporter] Will, how well does a fullback have to play to be named offensive player of the week in 2020?

– We’re probably one of the few places in the country that that happens. I think as much as anything, you got to be 100% on your blocks. You got to be able to finish. I think Adam missed one block in I want to say 28 to 32 snaps, something like that, I’m not positive, I don’t have the snap sheet in front of me, and didn’t miss it. I mean, he just didn’t clean it up as well as he should have. But very dependable. Catches the ball out of the backfield. Huge factor for us on special teams. He’s in our punt shield. He and Keir really handled that extremely well. He’s covering kicks for us, and just really has brought a lot to our football team. A tremendous work ethic as far as how he practices and how he goes about his business the right way. But a great example for our young players, and especially for the young running backs in that room, of how to work, and how he goes about his business. But he was very clean the other night on the things we asked him to do. We felt like his role going into that game was going to be very important, as far as creating some edges in the run game for us, and doing some other things. Dirty work things that I don’t know that a lot of guys like to do. We’re very proud of his performance, and his role will continue to increase on our team.

– [Reporter] Do you remember when you were playing, were there specific fullbacks that you hated to play?

– Harold Morrow. Harold Morrow at Auburn. And then, we had a guy at Georgia named Mack Strong. Back then it was an eight man front. I was a strong safety. They wouldn’t let me play in the middle of the field. I could only play the flat because I wasn’t athletic enough to get in the middle field. My shoulders are damaged to this day because of Mack Strong at practice. We had a guy named Garrison Hearst was the tailback, and our tall sweep was our number one play. And I had to take on Mack Strong in every single inside drill that we had at Georgia for the five years I was there, and then Mack was only there for three out of those five, but both shoulders, I’m going to end up having to have surgery on both of them because of Mack Strong. He played at the Seattle Seahawks for… I don’t know, I know it was more than 10 years. 12, 14 years. Blocked for Shaun Alexander from Alabama in the NFL. Probably be the best fullback I’ve ever been around. Unbelievable person. From Columbus, Georgia, played at Brookstone High School. But those would be the two… Opponent wise, Harold Morrow at Auburn. And off the top of my head, Chris Bilkie was a good player down at Florida. If I keep thinking through, I could probably name a couple more. But Mack Strong is the best fullback I’ve been around.

– [Reporter] Is there anything about Adam that reminds you of Mack?

– Toughness. Toughness. I mean, toughness. And Adam’s two engineering master’s degree, and Mack was off the charts smart as well. So both guys, extremely intelligent guys, but toughness and grit, both of those guys have that.

– [Reporter] Coach, what does a win against a ranked opponent do to the confidence of your team? And then, how does that help as you guys prepare to going into this game this week?

– Well, I think that anytime… Winning helps the attitude of your football team, but winning also coats and soothes things that maybe you got to correct. And that’s our job as coaches to recognize the things we’ve still got to improve on. And there’s a lot of things on this team as well, that winning sometimes covers up those things, and we think it’s okay and it’s really not okay. So we’ve got to continue to work, continue to improve and get better in all three phases. But there’s no question that it’ll help bring confidence to your team. And I think you’ve also, this day and age have to have some sort of gratification of the work that you’re putting in. And that’s what winning does. It justifies the work that we put in on a Tuesday, on a Wednesday, on a Thursday, and a walkthrough on a Friday. The attention and focus to detail that you have to have, and the players start understanding that’s what it’s going to take. So that helps reinforce how we do things.

– [Reporter] Will, is there any concern that your players get caught up in the fact that LSU is 1-2 this year instead of defending national champs, or is that part of that leadership component where maybe you don’t have to worry about those kind of issues, as much as you might’ve had two, three years ago?

– We don’t need to worry about anything. We need to worry about preparing extremely well against a very good LSU team. And I would be shocked if anybody in our locker room feels that way.

– [Reporter] Coach after the… Last Tuesday, Jaycee Horn said the secondary hasn’t played up to their standards. And after this week, obviously Shilo Sanders is making an impact in this game, John Dixon playing the whole game, and with Isy being out, what was your assessment through four games of this secondary, and how excited are you for what they can be at full strength, and executing at full strength?

– Well, again, I think that man down, man up, and I think John Dixon played a really good football game against some really skilled guys. Guys that can really run on the top end, but I thought he kept guys cut off down the field. Jaycee’s production speaks for itself. I mean, at that position is as productive a day that I’ve been around, as far as just a guy that was… Having two interceptions, and the field position they created, and then creating another interception, and obviously the knockdown balls against a very good player. So I thought we did much better job of covering some situations. We’ve got to be more disciplined in our pass rush to keep the passer in the pocket. You look at the last drive, they completed one pass on a 71 yard drive, and it was all quarterbacks legs of… Being able to keep the guy hemmed in the pocket. But I thought the coverage was better. I thought our communication, other than two plays was much better than it’s been. So again, I think we limited. I think we had two explosive passes in the game, maybe three. But I thought we had much better coverage, much tighter coverage in situations. Much more time to knock the ball off people. So that was pleasing. We got to continue to improve because this group’s throwing for 400 a game. Throwing the ball at a very high level to some really good players.

– [Reporter] You mentioned Jaycee’s production being as high as it was that you’ve seen. At any point along the way in your career, have you had a corner who’s trailed a receiver, like you all have with Jaycee and Seth Williams on Saturday? Or is that something that you haven’t really done much over the years?

– No, we match up all the time. A lot of situations when you’re in match up, in a match up situation dictates that maybe the offense doesn’t throw it to a certain person, based on the coverage, based on the progression for the quarterback. But just so happens they targeted their guy, and we had the coverage, but we’ve always matched up.

– [Reporter] Hey Will, a couple of questions. First of all, you mentioned Adam Prentice being a smart guy. How does he stack up with some of the smarter guys you’ve had? Is he top 10%? Top 5%? And also, how do you feel the receivers are coming, outside of Shi, are kind of coming along in getting up to speed as sort of reliable playmakers?

– Well, I mean we have a lot of bright guys on the team. I don’t measure anybody’s IQ, but he is a bright guy. And then, we got to continue to have guys step up at wide out. Xavier’s done some nice things. Josh had a nice catch down on our sideline to turn it up right there to get the ball to the one yard line. Dakereon’s done some nice things. Ger-Cari Caldwell is going to get some more opportunities this week. A guy still coming along for us. But practice is so important, and we’re here on a Tuesday. And especially when you’re dealing with young players, all of a sudden Tuesday’s practice is pretty good. And then Wednesday they hit the wall, and it creates less confidence for the coaching staff, even on a Thursday practice or a Friday walkthrough. So I’m sitting here on Tuesday may say, “Hey, so-and-so’s looking really good,” and then all of a sudden Friday, they have 14 busts in the walkthrough. Well, they’re not going to play. Because if they can’t get the walkthrough right, they’re damn sure ain’t going to get it right on Saturday. So I think sometimes there’s a mixed message being delivered because I say on a Tuesday practice in our plan is for so-and-so to get more snaps, or for so-and-so to do this, or for so-and-so to do that. And then they don’t practice very well. And it’s different I think when it’s an older player and they’ve done it under the lights, they’ve done it on the road, they’ve done it Williams-Brice Stadium. And maybe they had a couple of mishaps here and there, but it’s a lot easier for a coach to swallow, as opposed to having a very young player who has 14 busted assignments and can’t get lined up in a Friday walkthrough. And I’m not referencing anybody on our team. I’m just saying, sometimes people go, “Why isn’t this guy playing more?” Well at the end of the day, if he can’t get lined up, it’s hard to play the guy. Or if he puts the ball on the ground three times during practice, we’re not going to play the guy. I mean, those are things to me that are a little bit of a mixed message sometimes when I’m in a Tuesday press conference, as opposed to when it’s Saturday and we got to perform.

– [Reporter] Will, you mentioned John Dixon. Again, I was just wondering, was he out there with the number one corner spot again? Is he and RJ still kind of working into that mix?

– Yeah. We got Jaylin Dickerson, and RJ, and Jammie, and Shilo Sanders, all at the safety position. And then Israel at corner, Jaycee at corner, John at corner. I’m hoping to get Cam back tomorrow. We’ll see tomorrow. Israel practiced today. John practiced today. Darius Rush continues to come on for us. Jammie Robinson could be an emergency corner if we had to move somebody outside in a situation. That’s what we would have done Saturday with our third corner, had that situation presented itself. We got into pregame, and didn’t feel like Isy could go.

– [Reporter] Will, in my brief Wikipedia research, it looks like you and Scott Linehan were on the same Miami Dolphins staff, 2005. I know he’s at LSU now, as I think that passing game coordinator. How have you seen him kind of revamp some of the passing stuff? And is there anything that you’ve seen him do with the Dolphins or in the NFL that they’re doing now over at LSU?

– Well, I think that they were so successful last year, and the success they’re having this year offensively. There’s some subtle changes that maybe they haven’t done as much, or a little bit differently this year, but Scott is an outstanding football coach. One of the better football coaches I’ve ever been around. I’m very familiar with the staff. Steve Ensminger when I was a player at Georgia was a coach. And then I coached with him at Auburn. One of the better football coaches I’ve ever been around. I mean, they got a great staff, and certainly Scott and Steve are two of the best that I’ve been around as far as just football coaches. But I’m sure that there’s been some things addition wise, protection wise, whatever the case may be that he has added. But when you walk into a situation, when they have the success that they’ve had, and then you look at the first three games of production of what they’ve done this year, and they’re doing some really good things schematically with some really good players, in my opinion. But I’m sure he’s added a lot to the staff.

– [Reporter] Will, last year I asked you about your relatively small staff of analysts, And I think you said, “More is not always better.” Do you still think that? And if you do, is part of that because you’d rather allocate the money in your budget or whatever to something else that might be more helpful to winning?

– I wouldn’t say that. I would say that… We first got here, I hired three analysts on each side of the ball. We’re down to one on each side of the ball right now, and one on special teams. I think that you can have too many ideas at times. You’ve got to really drill down to what you feel comfortable, and what your players feel comfortable with doing. I wouldn’t say that anything is a budget issue here. Coach Tanner does what we’ve got to do to be successful. So whether it’s in recruiting, whether it’s as far as our staff is concerned, whether it’s whatever we need to do to be successful that’s what we’re going to do. So it’s not a budget issue at all. I feel very confident in our work power on both sides of the ball, as far as our self scout, and the different things that we do to look at, which is what a lot of analysts positions doing, is forward scouting, which we already do. And then obviously you quality control and self scout yourself, and look at the analytics, which we’ve got people that do that on both sides of the ball. And we also hire a firm, as far as that studies our analytics, that gives us information. I feel like we’ve got all those things covered very well with what we’ve got, and it’s not a budget issue at all. It’s what I feel most comfortable with, after going through having more. And I felt like there was a lot of dead time involved with a lot of those people on staff that weren’t doing a lot for us. And we’ve hired actually more people in recruiting than we did when I first was here. When I first got here, I felt like that that was the most important area which we needed to hire more people, but it had nothing to do with allocating money in a different area or budget. Had nothing to do with that.

– [Reporter] And then Will, this is a really weird question, I admit, but a lot of fans ask this. You’ve coached in college, you coached in the NFL. What would happen if one of the two, two or three really, the best college football teams got on the field and played, not naming any team in particular, but a really bad NFL team that was say really poorly coached? What would happen in that game?

– Well that’s a grown man’s league in the National Football League. The speed of that game is much faster. The violence of that game is much more violent. And I think I would have a hard time seeing anyone in college football as a college football team with the age of those guys competing on that level in my opinion.

– [Reporter] Not specific necessarily to this week, Will, but when you sit down and do a defensive game plan, is line one the opposing quarterback and what he’s capable of doing? And if it’s not sort of the starting point, at what point does that specific guy come into play?

– I think line one is who can beat us. So that might be a feature back. It might be two receivers. It might be the quarterback. Obviously affecting the quarterback and how are you going to affect the quarterback, are we playing an option team, are we plan to dropback team? Are we playing a gun run team with a quarterback with legs, a guy that can throw it, a dual threat guy? So I think all of those questions that you go back into saying, “Okay, who are the… the one guy, two guys, three guys, and hopefully not more than that, that can line up and we’re going to have a major issue with, matchup wise. We’re going to have a hard time covering this guy. We’re going to have a hard time tackling this guy. We’re going to have a hard time on the right side of their line because their guard and their tackle.” So to me, it’s the matchups that we feel like we’re going to have to, we may have to change here, for better word, a lack of a better word, in order to be successful. And I think it’s identifying those things, and then figuring out how we’re going to be successful, and make teams try to beat you lefthanded. We know that this guy can beat us so let’s make them do it with somebody else. And you attempt and try to make sure you’re doing things that your players, maybe they’re going to give the offense problems, but it’s not going to create issues for your guys thinking. Your guys can be able to react and play fast. That’s why we introduce a lot in training camp, as far as defensively, because I don’t like introducing a new concept in week five. And all of a sudden we’re asking our guys to do something that’s totally foreign to what they’ve ever done within our scheme. I want to be able to assimilate things and say, “All right, this is like this. We’ve done this before. You’ve done this before at a high level on Saturday afternoon in a game. So we ought to be able to rep this. We’re just going to call it this, Because it’s a little something different.” And to be able to have our players. But to me it’s identifying who you’re going to have a hard time matching up with. And in most cases it is the quarterback.

– [Reporter] Hey, Will. Most visiting teams fret about playing LSU in Baton Rouge at night under the lights because of the tremendous atmosphere. What do you recall about your visits there at night? And is it now maybe less of a disadvantage for the visiting team, knowing there’s only going to be about 20,000 people there at most?

– Are you talking about when I was at LSU or when I was an opposing coach going in there? Because there’s a difference.

– [Reporter] Yeah. Opposing.

– No, it’s a very difficult place to play. They got a passionate fan base that supports the Tigers. It’s a great place to play. College football certainly will be a different sort of atmosphere between 20,000 and 80,000, or 100,000, whatever they seat now. It’s bigger than it was when I was there. So there’s no question as far as just volume is concerned, it’ll be different, but it’ll be passionate. That fan base no different than ours are going to support the Tigers, and just like our fans support the Gamecocks. And there’s no doubt about it. Very similar fan bases in my opinion, as far as the support for their football team. So it’ll be a passionate night down in the Red Stick.

– [Reporter] Sort of on that topic, what are your favorite memories, I guess besides winning a national championship, what are some of your favorite memories from coaching at LSU and living in Baton Rouge?

– Yeah. Winning two national championships, developing some great relationships with a lot of coaches that were on that staff. We had a great staff, still friends with all of those guys, including coach. And then, just still some relationships. The people are still at LSU. Doug Aucoin, the video guy still down there. Sharon Lewis, head of recruiting is still down there. Sam Nader, the best administrator in college football history is still there. Tommy Moffitt was our strength coach is still, I mean, it’s still a lot of people at LSU that were there in the early 2000’s, been there upwards of 20 years. So it was a wonderful place to work. Great people. Scott Woodward’s athletic director, Verge Ausberry was there. I mean there were a lot of people in that administration that really make it a special place.

– [Reporter] Hey Will. I think Arik Gilbert was the national player of the year last year in high school ranks. How have you seen him used through three games at LSU?

– Well, he’s been targeted a lot. I mean, he’s a really good football player I think he has 14 receptions, but I think he’s been targeted over 20, I think closer to 30 times in three games. So, a really gifted guy, can really run, big frame, very difficult guy to cover, as far as length his concerned, really competes hard. He blocks well in the C area for a freshmen. I mean, for any tight end. I mean he does a nice job. He’s a really good football player, and a guy that we’ve got to account for in the game.

– [Reporter] How do you feel you guys have defended tight ends through four games?

– Well, Pitts had two touchdowns in the first half. We did a much better job in the second half. He’s an elite player. Auburn, didn’t really… Tennessee didn’t, and Vandy didn’t really take advantage of that position at all. So again, I think that a decent job on Pitts in the second half.

– [Reporter] Obviously, I know that Israel played one year with Terrance Marshall, and I guess I wanted to ask, has he been able to give you a little bit of a scouting report? And what kind of stands out with Marshall on the kind of playmaker he is?

– I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t realize it until this morning. I just asked Israel before our meeting started. He said they played together for a year. So we’ll talk again. But Terrence Marshall’s a really good football player. I mean, this guy competes. They move him in the slot, they move him outside. And he is a really, really good football player. Again, as a 6’3″ big guy, has a lot of length, attacks the football and the 50/50 balls down the field, a really good player.

– [Reporter] Will, I asked you about this on the Sunday teleconference. When the guys are having a few days off next week, are they restricted from going home if they’re out of state kids, or maybe just advised not to, what with COVID and everything?

– Yeah, we’ll talk about that again next week. We put up the schedule for next week on Sunday, just to give them an idea to be able to plan, with their families and such, but we’ll address that moving forward. And I’m going to meet with the senior leadership group again. A couple of those guys came to me about making sure that we have a certain outline of what you can and can’t do, and that was important to them. So we’ll address that again.

– [Reporter] Coach, following the injury that Spencer suffered on Saturday, what is the conversation like with the guy that’s going to step up to kind of fill his shoes for the rest of the season?

– Well, Mo Kaba was going to move over and play the mic, behind Ernest, Damani obviously can do that as well. And then Jahmar Brown’s back functioning very well at the will and the dime position. So we feel pretty comfortable there with those guys. And then on special teams, Mo Kaba’s going to step up in the kickoff, and some different things that Spencer was doing positionally. So we’re going to have several guys step up for us because Spencer was a huge, somewhat of a leader on our special teams group. Did a great job of getting those guys organized on the field and making the calls and things. So we’ve got to have some other guys step up in his absence.

– [Reporter] Will, I know you guys emphasize, especially as a defensive minded coach just being able to create turnovers. And I think, if I’m right, the last time you guys have been able to create at least two turnovers or more in a game, I think you guys are 5-1. What has been the emphasis the last couple of weeks in particular, because now we’re seeing it go up, because I know for a period of time, I think it was the first game of the season, and then going back to last year, you guys struggled to be able to create turnovers.

– I don’t know if we can emphasize anymore, whether we’re doing it or we’re not doing it. So that’s an emphasis of our staff every single day in this building. We talk about the ball all the time. We talk to our team about how important it is to be opportunistic defensively, to take advantage of opportunities, and getting the ball off people, and identifying violators of opponents, how they carry the ball, and what we need to do to get the ball off of them. So our defensive staff does as good as any staff I’ve been around of emphasizing those things. At the end of the day, you got to have some guys finish plays like Jaycee did on Saturday. You got to have some guys that have a knack. I go back to Dante Sawyer. I go back to Skai Moore, Taylor Stallworth. I mean, those guys had a knack of getting the ball off people. We can emphasize it all we want, at the end of the day, the game has got to slow down for some of our guys, and I think we have some guys that are capable of doing that. But they got to do it on Saturday afternoon. And so that’s what we’ve got to continue to push for.

– [Reporter] And where’s that target mark each week? Is it two? Is it three?

– Three a week.

– [Reporter] Will, I guess with Jaz, what do you remember about him in the recruitment process? What made you guys want to recruit him? I think he called himself just a fat guy when he got back from campus, his words. Just how have you seen him grow so much since he got back this summer?

– I wouldn’t agree with what he said. I mean, he’s a big man, and I think that again, when you’re off for three months, especially, and I’ve said this before with big guys, it’s much more difficult than a skill guy to get your wind back, and different things that we all deal with different issues. And, I think that obviously there was some there. It just took a little bit more time to get him back in shape. Call it like it is. But a guy that was very flexible in his lower body for a guy that’s I don’t know, 6’6″, the length that he has, but very athletic, moved his feet extremely well. We were able to watch him work out in the spring. Coach Wolford went out and evaluated him. A guy that could really move his feet. Very flexible in his lower body. Knew him from Stockbridge High School. Coach Whitley there’s a great friend of ours really endorsed him as a person. His family’s great. His parents are great. And when you meet Jaz, he’s a wonderful young man. He’s a kind-hearted young man and just needed an opportunity. And so seeing his athleticism, and then checking out the type person he is, he was going to be a good fit for our program. We’re very fortunate to have him here. I think he’s a really good player. I think he’s got a tremendous upside. I think he’s scratching the surface for how good he can be, in my opinion. I do think he played well Saturday, and I’ll think he’ll continue to improve as we move forward.

– [Reporter] Just quickly, have you all heard anything from the NCAA? Got any feedback on Jalen Brooks?

– I have not, John. I haven’t heard anything, and there’s really no timetable. Somebody, Steve Fink had asked me last week that there was a deadline on Friday, but there’s nothing. We haven’t heard anything, so we’re still waiting to hear back.

– [Reporter] Going back to Mo, and obviously you enrolled early, and I’m not real sure on how much he was able to stick around here through the shutdown, but him getting in early, how much did that benefit him from a health standpoint and being able to get into the playbook and knowing what you all want him to do?

– Well, it helped him, but in high school his first game of his senior year, he tore his ACL. So he had surgery and then was not cleared for the five practices that we were in. So he didn’t… He was in the meeting room, which is great. And that’s certainly beneficial, but not being able to practice, he was here for the most part of the pandemic, because he was rehabbing his knee. And the NCAA allowed us to have a certain guys that were rehabbing serious injuries to stay on campus. But we had no contact other than Zoom calls as far as installation. I don’t know, there’s no doubt that any talking football at any time helps, but not being able to walk through or practice to me is where you really make some strides, especially for a young player learning a new defense, learning a new position, learning a new offense, or whatever the case may be. But he’s extremely bright. It’s really important to him. He’s in the building all the time. He’s up here, learning, watching film, asking questions. He’s going to be a really good player. He’s coming off an ACL and he’s a freshmen. So there’s two things right there that he’s battling to overcome as far as those things are concerned. But as far as effort and the physicality, and the type young man he is, he’s exactly what we want in the program.

– [Reporter] How good was his baseline knowledge of the game when he came in, because just me personally knowing a little bit of his background, and living with Coach Johnson and all that it seems like he’s pretty knowledgeable of just the game itself.

– He’s really knowledgeable, very knowledgeable, but learning a new defense or learning a new offense, it’s like a foreign language. You’ve got to assimilate terms. And this is what this means. And this is what that meant as far as what we’re going to do. And the good thing is he’s extremely bright, and he works really hard at it. And again, we put a lot on our safetys and linebackers. Those guys got to be able to communicate. They’ve got to be able to make it easier on the defensive line in the corners. But I think he’s going to be a really good player. There’s no doubt about it.