Rich Rodriguez Press Conference | Aug. 10
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Video Transcript
So Rich, the other day we talked about offensive line.
So switch over to defensive line and give me your impressions of what you got there.
You got some returners and a lot of new players, so I always keep my roster hidden .
Just so many new guys.
I don't wanna leave anybody out, yeah, um.
Uh, I had a couple of guys that graduated, some pretty good players.
Uh, I got a little bit of experience with McIntyre and, and Big Nate Gabriel, kind of, they're kind of the leaders up front.
Uh, the, the Bandit Edges DN room is almost, you know, almost entirely new, I think pretty much.
Uh, but we got some guys like, uh, Zeke Campbell that played, uh, has played a lot of football.
Um, let me see who else at the other side.
Uh, Harper Hollman has played a lot of football.
Jeremiah Johnson's played a lot of football.
David Afago has played a lot of football.
Toby Hash is an extremely talented young guy that we got from, Um, Oregon, I think it's got a great future.
Yeah, I was still learning.
Darius Wiley was a guy we got a, Uh, junior college, uh, he's got a huge upside and, and works really hard.
I think he can be an impact player for us.
So there's a lot of new faces.
Um, but, um, uh, I think the , I think the town is there and, and we have some experience, but, uh, and we do so much with them and Coach Alley and his scheme.
There, there's a lot for them to learn, but they've done a good job.
What do you need from Gabriel this year?
Well, he, you know, without a whole lot of seniors, you know, and even less, I guess, last year players if we're gonna call him that because it's 5 years.
You know, there's, there's, uh, the leadership probably got to come from some guys that have been here and played a little bit like Nate, and he's been fantastic.
I mean, on and off the field, you know, a great example, you know, it was early to work, um, leads the way all the way around and, and, and I don't like I said, I don't need a whole lot, I don't need leadership during practice.
Hell, that's what the coaches are paid for do, paid to do, but, you know, in the locker room, Uh, off the field, uh, when they're on their own, that kind of stuff, you need somebody that's mature and, and can lead them the right way, especially with all these new guys.
And even if you're, an older guy and you're mature, you know, this is going to be, you know, how we do things is, is new, you know, every program is run a certain way and, you know, what the, what I'm asking for the veterans that are here a year ago, I help educate our guys that this is how practice is run.
These are the expectations and all that.
You have a bunch of defensive guys that are, are junior college, I mean, defensive line and even in secondary.
So is it, what's the process for a junior college guy?
I assume it's easier than a high school player making the transition.
Yeah, they're a little, they're a little older.
You know what I think, uh, I don't wanna say the JC's are getting overlooked.
Uh, per se, but I do think with the, the transfer portal where it is, uh, um, there's more guys getting portal guys than JC guys.
And there's still a lot of really, there's always been good football players in the junior college ranks, but I think some of them are getting overlooked now because the schools are just going to, you know, veterans out of the portal as opposed to junior college.
And we found, and that was one reason we signed them, we didn't, And I've said this before, I don't care if they're from a high school or from another school in the portal or if they're a junior college guy.
Let's just find the best players we can find.
Uh, if they have multiple years left, that brings more value.
And so that was the advantage of the junior college guys, and they all got at least 2 years.
Some of them got 3 years, uh, left now.
So there's, uh, uh, we, we're gonna continue to recruit the junior college guys and there's some good ones out there.
Is is Wiley what you thought he would be?
Yeah, he's every bit of it.
And he's, and the good thing about Darius is he's, um, really hungry to learn too.
You know, he, you know, he's, you know, you see him, he wants to do a little extra.
He, he's, you know, every day he's getting a little bit better and he was well-coached in junior college, but he's, he's also a guy that, that you could tell that football is really important too.
And I hope it is for everybody, but it's ironic, the guys that, that are talented and football is really, really important to them, wind up being the best players.
And, uh, you hope all of them kind of take that attitude.
Coach, you, you talked a lot about leadership there.
I think it was Ben Cutter last week talked about how he feels this particular group is more mature, I think was the word he used, and would be better suited to handle adversity during games.
Do you agree with that?
Yeah, I hope so, but until we do it, you know, for a minute, yeah, I think until we do it, you don't know, but I, you know, I don't, uh.
You know, maybe it's different.
I don't like worry about their mental, um, aspect of things go well, things don't go well, and all that.
That's all about being part of hard edge.
It doesn't matter, you know, what the heck the score is, where you're at, who you're playing, what time of day it is.
I mean, it's me against him and, and, Uh, you're gonna get every bit I got all the time, you know what I mean?
When they got, I don't want our guys thinking about, oh, you know, what's the score ?
Oh, where are we playing at?
Oh, we had a bad game.
Oh, I made a mistake, and, you know, I mean, we, you know, is that adversity is gonna happen even if you win a national championship .
That's right.
Yeah, it is, it is.
And, and I think sometimes, and it's not anybody's fault in media, you all just report what you see and what you, you know, what's going on out there and And, uh, if it's, you know, a bad game or a bad play, whatever, I mean, those that follow the game and those of you that cover the game are gonna say what it is and players have to, have to be adapted to it.
You know, it's like, uh, booing players, right?
You know, like in the NFL you can, you boo those guys, those guys are getting a lot of money, you know.
You gotta, you pay you for your ticket, you got every right to boo them.
Well, now, you know, I can't, you ain't, we ain't gonna get upset if you boo a college player because they're getting paid.
You know what I mean?
So they, they got to take, uh, the, that pro approach and understand that, that they may be, if you're not playing well and, and the fans are paying good money to come to the games and, and, and it's, and they boo you or whatever, Hey, that's part of the deal.
And, uh, I think, you know, a lot of, before, I would have said that , hey, you know, they're college guys, you know, give them a little break, whatever, but now, now I can't say that.
Now, it's like, They got every right to boo.
Richard, have you done any special teams work yet?
Yeah, every day we're doing more.
We're gonna do, we're doing more than, uh, and I've always had kind of the same schedule, uh, pretty much over the 29 years or whatever, but, you know, uh, because we have so many new guys on the special teams and new specialists and all that, we're doing a little bit more special teams every day than we did a year ago.
You know, today we're doing a field goal every day.
We're doing punt every day.
We did punt block today.
Uh, we did a little bit of kickoff as well.
We'll have them all in by tomorrow and then, uh, we're gonna, we're gonna rep quite a bit.
I mean, a lot of them is part of having a, a lot of new guys is you got to figure out your special teams starters too.
So that's, we're sorting through that every day.
You get a feel for your returners in that area ?
Yeah, a little bit.
DJ Epps is going to be back there, probably Monty Weaver, um, Uh, Cyrus raw.
Um, there's a couple of other guys that I don't know, Matt Sigg would probably be catching punts too.
There's, uh, you know, that, that's gonna, and that's really the hardest thing to figure out because I don't, I don't know if I've ever went live kickoff in preseason.
Probably should have, um, but I don't know if I ever have, um, because it's such a, you know, crazy, uh, play.
So we'll, but I think we have, um, we have enough talent to do it.
Rich, is there anything new as far as your, your roster or even a perspective about what to do with that 5 for 5 stuff now that about a week has passed?
We have, we're, maybe you guys tell me that we've been practicing this morning.
Did any, any of the NCAA ruling on the On the class action suit, nothing, nothing came out today, right?
Uh, as far as the, the guys they have in the 5th year.
Uh, so we have a couple of guys that, that we've talked to and communicated and, You know, if it, if the 5, 5-year class action thing goes through, then we may have a couple added, but as far as guys out of the portal, are suing to get in the portal, whatever that is, you know, that's, you know, we're not, we're not have anybody right there just yet.
And then, um, on your offensive line, Wes King played a lot of football before here but exclusively left guard, and now he's at center.
I know is that unusable at all?
And then how has he taken to playing a new position?
Yeah, he's, he's a, a really savvy football player.
Like I said, he's got a whole lot of experience and so it was a natural for him to be at center.
We got Landon at center as well.
Uh, Cam Griffith, who's been in our system, can play all three positions.
Um, so we, we've, you know, you gotta have, you can't have too many centers.
Wes is a veteran guy, so.
Uh, we're giving him an opportunity to play there.
And it's like, you know, Landon is the veteran guy, he's playing multiple positions upfront.
Um, Coach Tricketts got a pretty good rotation of trying to find the top 10 or 11.
You two talk about fans booing there for a minute, uh.
Would you prefer that they booed or stayed home, #1 #2, did, did you ever, did you ever boo anyone?
Oh , I'm there.
No, I didn't because I didn't know what's.
It would be a shame that, uh, I booed myself before.
Like, man, that was, that was a terrible call.
What the hell am I thinking, you know.
Uh, but, um, you know, I've been in games where we've got booed and, um, understood it, you know, even that game when players weren't getting played and they were just maybe booing the coach, that's probably warranted.
You know, and I think it's, uh, You know, there's, I don't know, it's probably society today, they're more likely to, to express their feelings, maybe.
I don't know.
Um, But I don't, I don't, uh, I've never, because I know what goes into it.
I don't think anybody intentionally, like any player or coach is intentionally, no coach is intentionally making a bad call or no coaches intentionally, uh, no players intentionally making a bad play.
And I guess you gotta throw officials in there too, right?
Like, have I ever booed an official?
No.
Have I yelled at him yet?
Have I ever got a 15-yard penalty?
Never in 29 years as a head coach.
Never got a 15-yard penalty.
Deserved a few, you know, I don't know how I get the heck, the heck out out of them, but I think what happens a lot of times in football, I might, you know, you might be screaming and yelling, hell, they can't hear you anyway, you know, or they ignore you.
So I've been ignored a lot in 29 years.
Uh, but officials, you know, with fans boo the official because they think it's a bad call.
I mean, They paid their ticket, they can.
Have at it, you know what I mean.
The Officials, they, they understand that most after the return game a little bit you were talking about with so many changes over the past few years in the punt game, kickoff, what you can do on blocking, that kind of stuff.
Has that changed what you look for in returners other than just being a good catcher?
No, the first thing is catch the ball, you know, and, and, uh, you know, the punt lock, you know.
Obviously, the, your, your punters are becoming, they're more, they're, they're even more talented today.
I mean, they could place the ball so many different days.
They're roll punting and all that.
And so we ask our punters to be able to do a variety of kicks, you know, not your, you know, we gotta, we want to do what they do the best most of the time, but if they have the ability to roll out and kick it as a rollout or they could roll out and kick a line drive or they can roll right and kick left, If they have the ability to do all that, then it makes your punt team a little bit harder to, to, uh, to, to go after and get a, get a blockhead or something like that.
So, um, and in special teams is, you know, to me, I like, I'm a little different.
Like a lot of teams say, put your best guys always on all the starting special teams.
And there's certain like if a guy's a special returner, or he's a special guy getting off the ball to block, yeah, you want to put him on it, but I like, could a guy that maybe he's not a starter.
on offense and defense, but he's a contributor, but he could be a starter on special teams.
And so I, I like to play a lot of guys that are maybe not a starter on ones, they're rotational guys, but they're starters on special teams.
And so that, that gives me a way to play a lot of guys.
I've said before, I want to, whatever the record is, I'd like to set an NCAA record for the number of players that play in a game, you know, because they, when they're playing, they're happy.
If, if they're not playing, they're probably not happy and I understand that competitiveness.
Quarterbacks continue to carry over their momentum from the spring and summer.
Yeah, it's been OK.
I think that there's been times where it's uneven, you know, with the quarterbacks are holding on to the ball too long or, you know, not seeing the field quick enough and that they're still learning like to quit looking at our guys and start looking at their guys more often.
But it's a, it's been a pretty, pretty solid group.
Back to defensive line behind Corey and Nate.
What, what do you look like behind Corey and Nate?
OK, can I look at my chart?
Interior.
So we have a young guy named Yender Mack.
He's a true freshman out of Harrisburg, gonna be a really good player, you know, there's no red shirt anyway, we're gonna get him ready to play.
Uh, Will LeBlanc's a little, uh, banged up.
He's a transfer, a Division 2 school.
He's going to be a good, he's going to contribute and play.
Um, I'm looking at, uh, inside.
You're talking about inside guys or outside?
Do you have outside, huh?
Yeah.
Oh, inside guys.
Uh, Taylor Brown has been here.
Um, he's an athletic guy.
He's got a chance.
Jalen Thomas is a junior college guy.
He's got a lot of potential, um, and, uh, he and KJ Henson are two new guys, you know, he's got some size and can help us, but they're still adjusting to.
You know, Division One, Power 4 football, but I think they can help us and they're working really hard.
Rachel, more about your junior college guys, um, you committed a couple of them like before signing day, I think, but also we're probably recruiting them for a long time too.
If you think it's untapped, do you have to treat them like 4 for 4 transfers or, or like not just junior college guys you add late, but somebody you actually think they can?
Yeah, I think, well, now, you know, having, you know, junior college guys, you get them for 3 years now, which is a bonus.
And then if they can get out and, which our guys could to get here in January was a big plus, you know, there's always junior colleges depending on what JC they're at.
A lot of them you don't get until.
You know, June, it's a, it's a, it's an uphill climb for them to get ready.
There was a couple like that, but most of our guys have been here .
So it makes a big difference.
Even with the high school kids too, the high school kids that were here in January ahead of the high school kids that got here in June, and that'll always be the case.
Richard, that depth chart that you made in the spring, do you use that at all in the fall?
No, no, I don't like, we have a depth chart, we look at it and we update every day, uh, and it fluctuates every day in camp.
So, but I'm not like, it'd be useless for me to give you one because then you'll, you'll run with it and it'll be like, it'll change in an hour, you know, so I don't like, and I tell the guys, don't worry about like, if you're 1st or 2nd or 3rd, just get good enough to win with and you'll play.
If you're good enough to win, you'll play.
If you're not, you won't.
That's enough.
Thank you.
