Mark Stoops Media Day Press Conference
KENTUCKY FOOTBALL MEDIA DAY QUOTES
KROGER FIELD – LEXINGTON, KY.
AUGUST 2, 2024
HEAD COACH MARK STOOPS
MARK STOOPS: Great seeing everybody. What a great turnout. I expect to see it like this every Monday. Every Monday at noon. So I hope you all had a great summer. It was great seeing some of you at SEC Media Days, and since then it has been great to get started. We have been on the grass for two days, officially, with our team. I like the way practice has started. The guys are in very good shape. They worked very hard this off‑season. Credit to our strength and conditioning team with Mark Hill and Corey Edmond and our staff, the players look really good. The coaches have worked quite a bit, and as I mentioned before, a little bit more freedom and autonomy for us to work with our players through the summer and that is evident. But that is going to be the same way with everybody. I think teams are going to be further along than they used to be with the ability to work with them some more in the summer. So off to a good start. I feel pretty good about this football team. I feel with depth and key areas. Injury bug hit us a bit in the spring, I will get into that a little bit for you so we don’t have to ask all of the questions, but overall, good depth, good team, good attitude, and really excited to continue to push forward. I think last year I mentioned to you that its open to you guys this afternoon. I think you are going to come to practice if you want. So you can go out there and get your own eyes on the team. So I look forward to seeing you out there at practice and having a great year. With the injuries, Josaih Hayes will be out for an extended period of time. Tavion Gaston who filled in as a young D lineman last year for Josaih in the spring, he will be out for an extended period of time. These are either going to be the full year or close to it. Same with Quavo Marshall at corner and Darrion Henry‑Young at defensive line as well. Outside of that, we are in pretty decent shape. We have a few ‑‑ just one guy out there that you will probably go out and look for at practice. He won’t be out there, just a soft tissue injury, other than that we are in pretty good shape.
Q Coach, what about leadership on this football team?
MARK STOOPS: Yet to be ‑‑ we will see as we move forward. There are certain some guys that been around a long time. When you look at JJ Weaver, D’Eryk Jackson, Marques Cox, even though he’s a transfer, he has been around for awhile. I feel really good about it. That has always developed as the year goes on and through training camp. Even yesterday was good. The first day we go out there it was beautiful weather and overcast it was almost cool. And then yesterday the sun broke out and there was some heat and humidity and as we go through practice, guys get tired and irritable, your true colors kind of shine when you get tired and hot and irritable so that’s gonna be a long camp. So that is when we will need great leadership coming in.
Q Transfers coming in?
MARK STOOPS: Yes. I like our team. I like ‑‑ I do. They’ve really helped our team. I think we took a transfer at just about every position accept tight‑end so I just want to supplement our roster in that area. I don’t have those numbers. I had them right before we went to the media day, but I want to say maybe overall we are at, maybe, 35 or 36 and that’s a good mixture right there. I still feel like the majority of our team is guys that we recruit out of high school and try to want to continue to follow that model. Recruit and develop young men and then supplement them with the portal when we need to.
Q Given the depth, what are your expectations for Dennious Jackson as a guy you are weighing in the process?
MARK STOOPS: He’s a guy that we needed to add for that very reason, John. We just felt like we took some hits at that specific position, so even as we want to be physical and get through camp, he is a big body out there that we needed.
Q Retention? Install? You said it’s going pretty well?
MARK STOOPS: Yes, if you look at our team, defensively we have returned a lot of guys that have played a lot of football for us and I think that is important, our defensive staff in the continuity that we have there, and the players that have gained experiences is invaluable. Then you have a guy like Pop who has played a lot a ball at Georgia, so there is pretty good experience there. Offensively, there are some guys who played a lot, I think we supplemented in some areas in areas that we needed to. Certainly, in the quarterback position, we have gone to the portal for several years, now. We feel really good about the high school guy we took in Cutter. He is going to be a special player, but we want to give him time to mature and grow. But Brock has done a very good job and we are excited about him. And then, also Gavin, and what he brings to the table and he’s got some snaps under his belt in the Big Ten. He is a big strong guy and he can throw it and he can run. And it was also very good to bring Beau back. You have seen what can happen in years past when you’re not deep in that position. Some funny things can happen, so we do think that we have some quality depth in that position.
Q Mark you’ve always had a stable of your offensive line in your early years, especially being a strong suit year? You had some bumps in the road a few years ago. You picked it back up again. What are your expectations? I know it’s early in camp, but how is that developing?
MARK STOOPS: I want to continue to grow. I think there is no mystery there. I’ve said it since day one. It’s very important. We have Eric Wolford back. I think Coach Wolford does a phenomenal job, not only coaching and at practice, but the way he recruits, and I feel like we are going to continue to progress in there, and then we are going to continue that depth and get better so I feel much better about that position.
Q Deone Walker is always the guy that you expect big things out of and it’s going to be an especially big year for him. What do you expect?
MARK STOOPS: Yeah. Just dealing. I just want him to continue to progress. He certainly has. I think he will be the first one to tell you. He is working really hard just physically on his body. He is working hard to continue to be a strong leader for us and to make a difference on and off the field. He is very disruptive, obviously, the length that he has the way that he plays he is a unique individual that’s for sure. There’s not too many guys, you know, playing that look like him and have that kind of size and speed and the mobility that he has. He’s a very explosive guy for his size, so I just want to see him take another step.
Q Coach, looking at the younger guys on the defensive side, some of the incoming freshman especially the Smith twins, what are you seeing over these last couple practices?
MARK STOOPS: Yes, the Smith brothers, it’s good to see them out there full strength and, you know, getting better. Jerod is a guy that put on some weight. He is very, you know, he is getting very explosive for a young guy so we will see where that takes him. And Jacob, he didn’t get a chance. I think you heard me talk briefly post‑Spring about seeing them out there and seeing him on his feet. He had a shoulder injury so he wasn’t able to do too much in the spring. But right now, we’ve had two days without shoulder pads on and he looks good. They are good players and we will give them a chance to grow up and get in the system for awhile, but good players.
Q There is a lot of depth that you are seeing this here but spring, there’s a lot of talk about Hardley Gilmore. So what are the expectations there?
MARK STOOPS: I think with Hardley he had an opportunity in the spring to show at times really so some flashes and he is a guy that we still think very highly of, but he is a freshman, you know, and just as I mentioned with the Smith twins, just give them a chance to grow up and mature and learn and grow and so I don’t want to put the expectations too high on any young man until they have an opportunity to continue be in our system and go through some practices so there’s some guys ahead of them that have some pretty good experience that are pretty good players.
Q You mentioned that you have a lot of experienced guys back on defense where do you want to get better defensively? This year over last year?
MARK STOOPS: There’s a number of areas. We want to continue to get off the field. We did a decent job at times, but we have to get better at third down and executing and get some more three and outs, get off the field. I’d like to see the offense have more possession more plays. We’ve talked about that with the tempo and the offense, but that goes hand‑in‑hand. The defense needs to play well and get off the field. When we have opportunities get off the field we have to do that. I think we were disruptive last year. I liked that. I liked the fact that we created negative yardage plays we had more sacks, we are getting some pressure, but we want to continue to build on that. You want to continue to be able to when you want to rush forward and get great pressure. You know, some of the best defenses we’ve had here it was a predictable pass, you know, rushing forward and getting coverage and mixing up the coverage and getting good pressure. So I think that’s an area that we need to improve. Obviously the corner position getting sticky being able to place a man. There were some times that we played man last year, got beat, believe me we mix it all up. And there were some times that we had to play tight. Get sticky. We had to get coverage. We have to get some one‑on‑one matchups.
Q Mark, speaking of that cornerback position, he didn’t have much experience last year, now it seems like you’ve got more experience this year. Have you seen that starting to pay off somewhere between the off‑season and the start of practice?
MARK STOOPS: So far. I mean it’s been just two days. So we will see as we continue to go through. I know there’s more bodies out there to work with. I think we’ve built some depth at that position and we still some guys that maybe don’t have a ton of experience, but have another year under their belt so, you know, we will see. A guy like DJ Waller, that we brought in at transfer has great length like some other corners that we’ve had in the past. JQ was a guy that we had last year, but I would like to see a little bit more out of him. We feel like we have a great one in Maxwell and I think he is geared up to have a really big year and he needs to. Jantzen Dunn is a guy that we’ve talked about. Played some Nichols, playing well at corner. Again I’d like to see some growth in that area from him, and then again Ryan Nichols, a young freshman that was impressive for us in the spring, when he was out there in the spring. He had an injury there in the spring, but he is back to full strength. Nasir Addison was with us all last year. I believe that he has the skills to be successful as well, but I need to continue and we need to continue to challenge him to see if he can make that next step.
Q We are a few years into that era of college football where bringing in 30 plus guys isn’t really an odd thing anymore. That continuity that you were talking about before, how have you had to adjust and how has this year maybe been easier in some ways?
MARK STOOPS: We have great leadership. I feel like that the transfers that we brought in fit in well here. I believe that that is an important piece to make sure that transfers are coming for the right reason and they fit our system. And then with us, we just try to ask expediate that process and have at them more in tune to our culture earlier than normal and try to, you know, continue to feed them that message and sometimes it is like drinking with a fire hose, but we want to do the best that we can to educate them and to see the culture that we want.
Q Mark, 12 years, not to call you old, but that is a long time ‑‑
MARK STOOPS: No, no. You can.
(Laughter.)
Q You have to learn so much about the sport. Obviously it is changing so much, and then the rule changes, college athletics as a whole. Does it ever surprise you how much you have to learn each and every ‑‑
MARK STOOPS: No. It doesn’t. That has been that way, you know, since day one. When you walk in here, I’ve said it 12 years ago through ups and downs. Mostly downs early on. That I was prepared for, that I knew what I was getting into. That doesn’t mean that it’s easy. It doesn’t mean that you take it all in stride. Every day you walk in, there is a new challenge and something that you have to deal with. And I embrace that. There are young men that are going through things in there that need counseling that need talked to. Sometimes you have to put your arm around, sometimes you have to push them when they don’t want to be pushed. I love that part of it. So there are just different challenges each and every day and I feel as good about that now as I did then as far as embracing those challenges, and sometimes they are more difficult than others.
Q How well of job do you believe you’ve done in building this program?
MARK STOOPS: I don’t know. That’s a soundbite waiting to happen right there. (Laughter.) I will leave that to you all. I am just trying to ‑‑ as I mentioned ‑‑ I really truly am. We have a good staff, a really good team. I’m just trying to get better.
Q You’ve had a really strong running game as long as you have been here. A lot of new faces in that room. Chris and Benny and Ray and stuff to follow up. And Bush has said you guys are going to run the ball. How is that progressing and him being the new OC. Just talking about that for us.
MARK STOOPS: I really like what he does in the run game. With Bush, there’s no doubt, any good offense of coordinator is going to have that ability to run the ball. We talked about it. We talked about what the offense of line is upfront. We have to be more physical, we have to be able to get tough yards. You know, we were at our best or doing some really good things when the entire stadium knew we were going to run the ball and we still ran the ball for some success. There are critical moments and you’re still going to need to do that. Sometimes when you are bleeding the clock or trying to win the game or in a four‑minute offense you have to be tough and physical and run the ball when everybody knows you are going to run the ball. Obviously we are looking for that balance and you are going to be able to create explosive plays if you are able to run the ball better. That’s just the nature of the beast. So I like what Bush is doing. I like the way he mixes it up. He does a very good job of window dressing. He does a very good job of cutting off the defense with deception and with motions. You know, it’s a mixture with getting things on the perimeter with running things down hill and the play action off of it. So I feel good. The running back room to some extent is unproven. We will see. We will see what we will do. I believe in those guys. I believe there is a really good mixture of players in there where we have the really strong bruisers that we have had before and some guys that can be electric in the open fields. So I think that will work its way out.
Q Mark, you guys were better on special teams last year, but I think adding to help with field position, how important was that?
MARK STOOPS: Yeah, I think it was really important just to improve. You know, we are going to continue to work at that and get better and the same with Jacob Calloway, eventually replace Alex after this year, but we don’t know. Maybe he will hit a few this year too. Yesterday was the first time because he didn’t kick the first day, but yesterday was the first day I saw him kick live and he nailed a 50 yarder with plenty of room. So, you know, we will see. I feel like we want to continue to get better. I think we were much better at special‑teams at times when it showed it’s ugly head the wrong way, a lot of times it was kicks, and that is something that we need to be very consistent at.
Q You are saying that you have been wanting to snap the ball more frequently and play at a higher tempo this year, how you working with the tempo with the offense and how are you going to be moving forward and making sure?
MARK STOOPS: I want everybody to understand this. I’ve said it 20 times. Yes, I do, but I am not trying to be a tempo offense. We are not trying to be Old Miss and Tennessee and some of those teams that do it exceptionally well. And just snap it with 30 seconds on the play clock. That is a different style and it’s very difficult to defend and they do it very well. That’s just ‑‑ we can’t be that overnight and I just don’t want to staff it with two and three and four seconds on the play clock as well. I like to see more snaps. There needs to be a balance there. We are not trying to be in a complete hurry. We are just trying to be more efficient, get in a rhythm, and get some more plays. So, you know, any of these offensive coordinators have that ability to go superfast to go medium to go at the line, I think, just trying to get in a rhythm and, you know, hopefully get some more snaps, that also comes from getting first downs. If we get first downs, guys are going to get more touches. So you have to make sure that you’re still putting them in a position to be successful. And again, just as I touched on earlier, defense getting off the field. Special‑teams putting us in good position. You do that, and we’re not going to sit here after games and say why did so‑and‑so only get so many of this and so many of that, because we only have 55 plays, you know, 60 plays. That sometimes is frustrating because I feel like we do have some playmakers, but we have to get first downs and then we will get more touches.
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR BUSH HAMDAN
Q Coach, what role do you envision for Gavin Wimsatt? Do you see him as a Wildcat quarterback? How do you envision using him?
BUSH HAMDAN: We are only two or three practices in. So I would definitely agree with that. I think that we are going to utilize him in a lot of those Wildcat type situations. At the very least, but we know this and you know this at this conference we have the opportunity to acquire talent. He is a big talented player when you have the opportunity to see him at practice, you will see how dynamic of a player he is and so a little bit of a wait‑and‑see on how that role goes.
Q What do you see emphasizing with Brock in the fall after the spring and summer?
BUSH HAMDAN: We have discussed it before. I think so much of it is a leadership part. You are a new guy coming into a new program. New office coordinator. So much is about scheme and plays, but don’t lose sight about what that looks like when you are in a locker room building those relationships with the guys as the true signal caller. Certainly from a play style standpoint it always comes down to accuracy, decision‑making, toughness, but we really don’t want to lose sight of that leadership part.
Q Is he adjusting pretty well?
BUSH HAMDAN: He is doing a great job. He really is.
Q Smart guy.
BUSH HAMDAN: Smart player, tough, can run, all those things. Again, I think we’ve had success with the last 3 to 5 years, a guy like Brady Cook at Missouri, you see what his skill set looks like what Taylen Green did last year at Boise, Maddox Madsen, we think he is right in the mold of a guy we like for the system.
Q What is the biggest trait that you have liked from him so far at the quarterback position?
BUSH HAMDAN: He is a consummate pro. I’ve said that multiple times. This is a big time football league. We get done with practices at 6:30, he wants to be up in the facility. He’s always watching games on opponents. We know at this position it comes down to kind of locking yourself in that room, if you will. Taking a side with the naysayers have to say and just working and keep getting better every day and I think that he is a guy that understand that.
Q How do you go about establishing the run, be more physical upfront, what are your thoughts going into the season, about the offensive line? It seems like has the most experience line when you talk about starts. How much can that help accomplish that goal?
BUSH HAMDAN: We’ve got good depth. I think you mentioned it right there. Certainly there is the comfort feelings about Eli Cox at center and the amount of games that he has played in. Certainly feel good about those guys. We have a long way to go. As you know, most folks are going to say that, just three practices in, but certainly needs to be a really solid group for us with the amount of starts these guys have made.
Q We brought in an NFL schematic last year and started to challenge Devin Leary’s ability to get plays on. Is it your expectation that using the new helmet system is going to make your ability to do complex plays easier?
BUSH HAMDAN: I think so. I think the starting point is still trying to keep it as simple as possible for guys to go play fast. I think the more critical thing is the challenge on me of what information to give them. As you guys know, we are all maybe parents, sometimes our kids don’t want to hear a lot, but they just have to hear enough, and I think of that. When we get that play call in, how can we be clear, concise, competitive, and give them just the things he needs to be successful in that play.
Q There was last year when Barion was kind of just begging to hit on one of those deep balls and obviously he has the ability to get open down the field, but he was begging and he was open on a lot of those, do you see that? Obviously he’s not going to hit home run balls every play, but do see an opportunity to hit on some of those and do you see them kind of taking that jump?
BUSH HAMDAN: Everything we had to do is to throw the ball downfield and give him those opportunities. So in this system we want to run the football, but the number one first and foremost thing is to create explosive plays, and we are going to look to do that early, we are going to look to do that often with him and some of the other guys in this room that can do it, because when you know when you have a premier player like him, defenses are going to lean to his side at times and create a lot of one‑on‑one opportunities for about five or six other guys that we feel can all contribute and make plays. We are excited about the potential for throwing the ball down the field, but also getting the ball and in the space and seeing what he can do as a ball carrier.
Q Coach, you guys have a lot of folks in that wide receiver, but Barion and Dane have been here for three years, three offensive coordinators, three quarterbacks, how do you feel like some of these guys who have been in the room for awhile are adjusting to your system, this quarterback, as they have been through so much already?
BUSH HAMDAN: They’ve got a level of experience again they have played for some great coaches, some great systems, so a lot of it just comes down to ‑‑ we used to call this scheme and now we are calling it that scheme. Guys like that, what they never lose is the technique and the fundamentals and the experience. That always stays with you even with the change in the coordinator. So excited about those guys, there is a level of maturity in this league; right? From one week to the next just staying the course, we are going to rely on their experience in that position. Certainly with some of these younger guys who are extremely talented who we think and get going.
Q Mark, you just spoke a little bit about the tempo and finding a balance. And what does that looks like?
BUSH HAMDAN: We are going to run 100 games per game and be the fastest offense in the country. (Laughter.) I think I lose sleep over the tempo question and you guys coming in here and asking me. I think the biggest thing is with tempo and the systems that we had. Again, if you go back to the tape, right, I think about last year at Memphis. We get down. We’ve got the ability. I think we put 17 points up in seven minutes, because we have the ability to play extremely fast. We always want to be somewhere in the middle. And what that means is, have the flexibility depending on how the game is going to do whatever it takes to win the football game. And I think that’s important for all of us to know. I think the checklist in fall camp is, we have periods where it is fast as anyone in the country. One‑word plays, getting up there, snapping the ball within seven seconds, we also have that focus where we can huddle, operate, execute, take time off the clock. I know everybody wants to play fast. It always comes back to execution with us. So I think the thing that you we want you guys to know is we are going to have the ability to play fast and keep people on their feet.
Q Bush, we didn’t add anything to that tight end room and there is a lot of experience a lot of depth in that room. What do you expect to see this year and how are you trying to use them this year?
BUSH HAMDAN: Okay. That’s the second question I am losing sleep over. Are we giving the tight ends the ball? Again, it is a solid group from top to bottom. When we think about the three guys between Dingle, Kattus, Khamari, the talent level with Khamari is an intriguing young player for us as well. Any types of systems like this, we want to establish the run and create explosives down the field. No better player to create explosives within the tight end because obviously defenses think they are in all of the run schemes. So it is going to be a balance certainly with each player of asking him to be a physical blocker down the field and create explosives. We think that those guys will be an intricate part of our passing game.
Q Bush, you get to work with Ja’Mori Maclin again. What have you seen from him from the last time and could be maybe be a guy that could back that explosive?
BUSH HAMDAN: He is in that category from Dane and Barion for a guy who has been through a lot. That’s a 20‑, 21‑year‑old college ballplayer who has seen it at different levels. Played a lot of football. We have been extremely impressed with his route running ability. His ability to make guys miss. He is a guy that is just chipping away at it. But he is certainly the next guy we are looking to get the ball to.
Q Coach, you like it here in Lexington?
BUSH HAMDAN: Love it. It has been great. I mean this. I said this earlier. There’s great people in this city and I think you guys know that with how they have welcomed me. It has been a great place for my wife, my kids, and the culture here is just different. It’s special. It really is. Again, I haven’t been anywhere where you got a head coach that has been in place for 12 years, and then you look at the staff; right? This has got to be one of the longest tenured staffs in America, and that just speaks to what Coach has done. They know exactly what they want, exactly how it needs to be done, and what the standard is, and because of that, it’s a place where the players are excited to be here every day. He understands we have to get them ready, but that doesn’t mean we have to burn them out and wear them out on day one. I think the mixture of all these things, how tremendous the people of the city have been, the culture that the coach has here and the understanding that nothing comes to his desk that he is surprised by, with the experience that he has, has made this an unbelievable fit for me and my family.
Q When you got here, having gone through spring and learning more about them, is there anything that maybe you tweaked or adjusted?
BUSH HAMDAN: Say that again.
Q You were getting to know their personalities, and when you got here and having gone through the spring, have you adjusted or tweaked anything that made you thought about them coming into the job?
BUSH HAMDAN: Yeah, I think so. You are always doing that. I think the biggest thing is just the challenge of ‑‑ you have your position room battles and players think, here I am, I’m second on the depth chart of receiver, I’m third on the depth chart of receiver. The biggest ‑‑ and I’m just echoing to them is we have battles from group to group and what I mean by that is, there are times you are making the decision where we are playing with 13 personnel, 3 tight ends in the game. There are groups we like 11 personnel, we like 12 personnel. Right now, we think we can go out there with four wide receivers and do some different things. So I think that’s the biggest thing. Not necessarily schematically the biggest ways, but who is going to do those plays and that is what we have been expressing to players the all along. We have to find those guys who have the ability to do a lot of different things and if they can do a lot of different things well, then they will be on the field. Thank you very much.
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR BRAD WHITE
Q Brad, what are some things that you were not happy about last year that you really want to focus on with your guys this year.
BRAD WHITE: Yeah, when you look back and you self‑scout yourself, look at what you need to do better obviously, there third‑down defense and specifically, with the backend of the season, third and long situations, especially extra long, was an area that, historically, if you look we have been really good, and we were not. Not anywhere close to the standard that we need to be at and it cost us. When you give up third‑downs, you extend drives and extended drives leads to points, it leads to less opportunities for the offense. So obviously, that is going to be a primary focus. Again, the year before ’22, was, sort of, our best year ever in third‑down defense, and there is a correlation to how well we played as a defense. We need to get back there.
Q Brad, there’s some cross training going on, now that Josaih’s out for the year. How do you feel about that group, collectively, that you will be able to replace that loss?
BRAD WHITE: You know what, obviously when you lose a player, some other guys have to step up. And that’s the reality of sport, that’s the reality. We have dealt with it every year, here, at some position or another. I feel really good, if it was going to happen at a position, that’s probably the one to happen at because I think the experience that we have up there, defensive line‑wise, the quality of players that we have, allows us to overcome that. And we’ve got a bunch of guys that can play multiple spots across the front. And I think that is going to be good for us too, defensively, in terms of being able to be multiple. Like anything else, do you want it to happen? No. But is there a silver lining in there as well? I believe so.
Q You guys lost some guys in that linebacker room, but gained some really good ones as well. Can you talk about the leadership that Pop is bringing with his experience in the linebacker room in general?
BRAD WHITE: Yes. When you talk about the linebacker room and experience in leadership, I think you’ve got to specifically mif you’re talking about inside linebacker the first person you go to is D’Eryk. D’Eryk has been here and he understands our system, and he has been very good for Pop, in terms of being able to essentially translate our defense, help him grow within, because every time you change like systems, you have to get adjusted and what you don’t want is a really good player that is playing slow because he is thinking. We’ve got to get to the point where all of the guys on defense that are playing, they sort of do it unconsciously so they can play fast and they just play ball like they know how. So to have D’Eryk, there, obviously Pop showing what he can do in this league and in college football in general, so excited to see that. Excited to see a guy like Daveren Rayner continuing his progression. I thought he got better each and every game throughout the year and was playing at a really good level for us last year. I think he has more command of the system this year. You’ve got a guy like Alex Afari who can play inside now, as well, and outside, so he knows how to play, sort of, in that field apex and he also has a lot of skill set that fits that inside backer position. So I feel good about that room. I feel good that we’ve got solid old guys with a lot of reps in college football. And then you’ve got some young talent. That future is bright in that room that are going to be able to learn from those guys. Fast, long, athletic guys, so ‑‑ which will also help on special teams.
Q Brad, what did you all like about Kristian Story and what are your expectations?
BRAD WHITE: What do we like about Kristian? We have a guy who is long, athletic, he knows and what position he has played in the SEC. Obviously, playing in a system like Alabama, he knows how to adjust to a lot of different coverages, checks, run fits, so that’s not going to be something that was going to overwhelm him, and it hasn’t, so he has been able to ‑‑ personality‑wise, he has come in and he fits with that room. Again, you talk about the inside backers on a previous question ‑‑ the safeties is another group that you just feel really good about in terms of having Zion Childress, Jordan Lovett, Ty Bryant, Kristian Story, you have four guys who are SEC safeties. They have played and have been really successful in SEC games, so it gives you the opportunity to be multiple in what you do. And it also allows you to absorb ‑‑ when an injury occurs within a game or maybe it’s a multiple game deal, you’ve got the ability to absorb that. Depth is always important and to be able to have the ability within a game to keep guys fresh, so that you don’t wear out through a game, it’s a huge advantage for us.
Q Coach, Ty Bryant from Frederick Douglass High School, how is his progression?
BRAD WHITE: Really good. We saw it last year. I will readily admit, I thought Ty played at a level that I didn’t anticipate Ty playing as a true freshman. We knew he was a mature young man, we knew he was conscientious, all the things we loved about him, but to be able to step up in the moments that he stepped up in, was huge. And it’s a testament to him a testament to his work ethic, he has taken another step. This spring, there is a confidence and command in his game. he is bigger and stronger and he is still really fast, so a guy that we are really excited about.
Q Brad, mark mentioned playing more sticky coverage as a quarterback, how do you feel about the group entering the season?
BRAD WHITE: Obviously, there are things that we have to do to continue to improve on defense, continue to adapt, sort of, in the changing environment and being able to play some man‑to‑man, get sticky on those outside edges. Obviously, Max has put himself ‑‑ he’s had a good off‑season, he has put himself in a good position, and I think we’ve got a good competition opposite. But it is early in camp right now, obviously, so a lot to be seen. What I am looking for is guys to be consistent. The nice thing is we have a lot of bodies that don’t have to take all of the workload. We can distribute it across with guys like Jantzen Dunn and JQ Hardaway and Nasir Addison and DJ Waller. And then you throw in true freshman in there that have done some really good things throughout summer and the first two days of practice. And it’s going to be a really good competitive room and really excited to, kind of, see how it shakes out. That’s the one position I don’t know.
Q There were times last year, the secondaries were doing their job, but the front, not getting enough pressure on the quarterback, sack numbers were low at time, so with the unit that’s probably going to be as good as anyone the SEC with pass coverage, how important is it that if you get more pressure on the quarterback, you could bring your defense to another level?
BRAD WHITE: Yeah. We have talked about it since I’ve been here. They all tie together. It’s funny ‑‑ there were times last year when we would get plenty of pressure, we would miss a sack ‑‑ the South Carolina game jumps to mind. We had two opportunities on the very first drive to get off the field on the first down. One we lost leveraging and coverage, something that we shouldn’t have done. It should have been off the field. We were walking into a sack. And then number two, we had a missed sack which, led to a third down conversion. There were breakdowns on all sides last year at times, and that’s why it’s so important that they work together. Obviously, really excited about the front that we return because, like anything else, I think people’s interceptions, turnovers, sacks, a lot of times they come in bunches. It’s not always super consistent. But from purely statistics, and that is what it is, this was the defensive line and what they did last year was the second most sacks since I’ve been here, only behind the Josh Allen year, so they were disruptive upfront. Obviously, when you return those guys this year we need to keep that production going up front, and then you mix in being able to play sticky and stick year and coverage at times and being able to make some plays on the back end and then when you have a chance to be at the quarterback, you’ve got to be able to finish.
Q You’ve got two kids that are Silver and Walker?
BRAD WHITE: Yes, we got Silver, we got Walker, we got Oxendine we’ve got Rybka. I think, obviously, everybody in this room understands the impact that Deone has on a football game. I think people don’t necessarily realize how well guys like Keeshawn Silver or Tre Rybka played last year. How well Ox played. The jump from two years ago for Ox to last year, and this year his weight is back up to where it was when he was ‑‑ before the injury and is as powerful as ever. You know we have Khalil Saunders who makes big plays for us and he is big and athletic. This is as good as a cumulative front as we have had, and then you throw in young guys, and a guy like Jerod Smith in there, and Kendrick Gilbert coming back off of injury from last year, where he was ‑‑ he was a freshman coming off of a shoulder, he was stronger, he already made some flashes in some of these early practices. So you have depth there, and you can roll these guys, and keep them fresh, so that is exciting, and then, obviously, the position we haven’t talked about is that outside linebacker position, and to be able to return JJ who ‑‑ there are times that he can just dominate a game and take over. He understands that this is the year that he needs to do that consistently. It can’t just be one or two games. We need that consistent force, presence, from him and then we will see who can rush opposite him.
