March 24, 2008
SDSU Football
Spring Practice Press Conference Quotes
Aztec Athletics Center
Head Coach Chuck Long
Opening comments:
"Spring ball is upon us again; winter went by fast. We're excited for spring football. We've had a great eight weeks in the weight room. Based on our numbers, we are at our strongest point in our program since we've been here. That was based on our numbers from (strength and conditioning) coach (Jon) Francis and coach (Wendell) Richards. They did a fantastic job in the weight room this winter. We felt like we needed eight weeks again. I know some teams get in there for five to six weeks, have earlier spring ball and then have an extended period of time after spring ball into summer. But we felt we needed eight weeks again in the winter, and we did that. Part of the reason was to give guys who were banged up after the season a chance to heal for spring ball.
"It's going to be a very competitive spring. We have a lot of jobs open, especially on the offensive side of the football. We have to replace a couple of (offensive) tackles, so that's going to be wide open. The quarterback situation will be a focal point obviously, being a high-profile position. That's going to be a great battle. We have some wide receivers with experience, but it's still going to be battle there as well. The running back situation, with a couple guys coming back, is going to be big. Offensively we're not as experienced as we are defensively. We feel good about our front seven defensively. We're a little bit more stable overall on that side of the football with experience. However, our safety position is probably the most wide open on defense. There are jobs to be had out there everywhere, especially with the rotating defense that we have. On special teams, we have the big three to replace (punter Michael Hughes, place-kicker Garrett Palmer and long snapper Tyler Schmitt). We need to find a kicker, punter and snapper. We're going to have to wait until the fall to solidify that position. We have to wait for a few guys to come in and compete, Aaron Brewer being one of them, a long snapper coming in as a true freshman.
"One bright spot has been (tight end) Eric Miclot. It's been a long two years of rehab on his knee. He's starting to run. He will not be here for the spring, but we anticipate him being here for the fall. That's a good sign. We're really excited about him getting more confidence with each day. We're still trying to get a sixth year for Corey Boudreaux, and we're waiting word on that. No timetable there; it's in the NCAA's hands at this point."
On staff changes:
"We made some staff changes. My first goal and purpose was to keep continuity on our staff. We moved coach Toby Neinas from tight ends to outside linebackers, which is really his strength. He has 12 years on the defensive side of the football, so I feel we've put him in a better position as a coach. He will remain as special teams coordinator and that will enable him to do that as well. He gets to start off with a potential all-conference player in Russell Allen, so I'm sure he wanted that move. It's a great move for us; it'll keep continuity. We moved Brian Stark into the tight ends position from director of football operations. Brian interviewed very well when we first got here as a staff. I knew coaching was in his future. He's an excellent coach and recruiter, one of the best recruiters they've had here. So I was able to get him in at the right opportunity at the tight ends position, and we're excited to move forward there. We hired Mike Nelson, a veteran coach, as defensive line coach. He's been around from coast to coast and has a lot of fire and energy. You're going to really like what you see there. He's really perfect for that position right now with our guys coming back and our youth, and he'll get them to a high level."
On who has been impressive during off-season workouts:
"The strongest man on our football team is (defensive lineman) Avery Williams. He has excellent strength. We talked as a coaching staff and we have to find a way to get him on the field. He's got to get out and compete, but he is the strongest player in our weight room. (Linebacker) Russell Allen is always in the top 10 in every category and a young guy, (linebacker) Miles Burris, I believe you're going to hear a lot about this spring. He's going to be in the mix and compete, and he's in the top 10 in every category.
On the quarterback situation:
"We're very confident about what they can do. All three quarterbacks will compete, Kelsey (Sokoloski), Drew Westling and Ryan Lindley. We think all of their futures are bright, but we'll see how it all plays out. Having been around quarterbacks, you're going to need them all at some point in time. They'll need the repetitions to get themselves ready for that. We'll go into spring with three and narrow it down as we go. There is no timetable at this point to name a starter. It may go into the fall with our situation as it is. They all have a great work ethic. Drew Westling, the new guy coming in, has the type of work ethic that is second to none. He's the son of a coach and knows what the deal is. He reminds me a lot of (Oklahoma's) Josh Heupel, a young man who I coached in the previous stop. They all bring a lot to the table. We have a pretty good idea of where Kelsey and Ryan are and what they can do on the field, but we're anxious to see what Drew can do."
On the wide receiver position:
"We have some experience at the wide receiver position, but we still have to replace Brett Swain. Chaz Schilens was only there for a little while. We've played Vincent Brown early and Roberto Wallace has to get healthy at this point, but we think he'll be a contributing factor. There's also DeMarco Sampson, and everyone's been waiting for him. He's been out for two years, and we're excited. It's been so far so good for him. He's really turned the corner on and off the field, and that's been nice to see."
On the similarities between the three quarterbacks:
"I think the three we have right now are more pocket-type passers. They're different than what you've seen in Kevin O'Connell. They are guys who are able to get to the third and fourth wide receiver. Pocket-type passers who don't run a lot don't have much of a choice, so they learn the progressions. They learn to get the ball to that third and fourth wide receiver. Running quarterbacks sometimes feel like they're the No. 2 or No. 3 guy in the progression, so it's in the back of their minds to run. That does not mean that we won't have a quarterback run-game. There's a (misconception) that if you don't have a running quarterback, you're not going to work the quarterback into the running game. But oftentimes you'll have even longer runs with quarterbacks who aren't as mobile because (defenses) are always trying to account for a guy like a Kevin O'Connell. Teams didn't want a guy like that running on them, so they stuck a guy back there. Coordinators now have to go into games with us and have to decide whether to commit to the front-side run or save someone in back for the quarterback."
On whether he will miss running back Brandon Bornes:
"Brandon brought a lot to the table for us. He was an excellent blocker and a hard-nosed runner. What we liked about Brandon was that he gave us an attitude and he did it all the right way. He worked hard, never said a word and never complained about anything. That part hopefully got handed down."
On whether there will be any surprises heading into spring practice:
"A good story right now is Lance Louis. He started out as a tight end, blew his knee out and has come back as an offensive lineman at guard. He might be someone who we will look at as a tackle. He's still not all the way there yet, but the way he's leading right now, it's almost like night and day from where he first started. He is becoming the great story, and I look forward to see how that progresses."
On what he hopes to accomplish this spring:
"We want to get as much experience, especially with our quarterbacks getting as many reps as they can. That's one goal for us. You can't beat repetitions, especially when you're breaking in a new quarterback. We also have to find out who we have at tackle on offense. Those are two key issues on that side of the football. We have to keep our continuity going on special teams. We ended the year with our special teams on the upswing, and we need to make sure we keep that going and continue to take pride in that area."
On wide receiver Jon Toledo:
"Jon Toledo hasn't shown it yet, but again he's at that time (to do so). There's that clock that starts to tick in the head of everybody, especially seniors. He's not a senior yet, but he has a chance to get on the field and produce. We've graduated some wide receivers. Jon was someone whom the game was very fast for. We believe that the game is starting to slow down for him. He's always been one to think too much instead of reacting on the field, which is common for a lot of guys, but he's at that point of having learned it, now it's time to let that game slow down. He'll get plenty of repetitions in spring, but we look for Jon to produce and make an impact whether it be on special teams or on the offensive side."
On the front runners at the running back position:
"Brandon Sullivan and Atiyyah (Henderson) are guys who will compete hard for that position. And as I've said before, I'm sure we'll use them both. Tyler Campbell has had a great winter. Tyler is one of our leaders. He'll be a four-team special teamer, and he'll figure in that mix as well. It's going to be an interesting battle, but we're going to use those guys."
On whether any players from the 2008 signing class will have an immediate impact:
"Who knows? We played five (new) guys last year and a couple of them were surprises. Vincent Brown, for one, came along really fast. Things like that are unexpected, but that's what training camp is for. I would guess out of the 21 who we signed, we're looking at three to five guys who will play based on the numbers last year. Of that number, we may have a couple who just play special teams. Dey Juan Hemmings was a young man who played on all of our special teams last year and did a great job. He figures in the battle at cornerback this year."
On the possibility of moving some offensive linemen to the defensive side of the ball:
"We'll see about that this spring. We do have numbers now; our numbers are a lot better offensively on our line. We'll see if there's someone who can contribute to the defense. Look for coach Nelson to switch a lot of those guys around on the defensive line. We're looking at Jon Soto, for example, who we think will be a better defensive end than in the three-technique. We played him in the three-technique out of necessity, now we see him as more of a defensive end, which is probably his most natural position. We're going to try and work Siaosi (Fifita) inside because of his size. I'm going to let coach Nelson figure all that out. He's coming in here with a clean slate and has some ideas that I like about switching some guys in there. So he's going to play with it and experiment with it this spring, but it probably won't get settled until after spring ball."
Linebacker Russell Allen
On the linebackers:
"There has been a lot of improvement. (Size) is something that was a big emphasis coming out of last season. The numbers for the (linebackers) have gone up immensely, as far as strength and size goes. Those guys are definitely starting to put on some size and are getting stronger, so we are really excited to see what they are able to do this spring."
On whether he prefers to play inside or outside linebacker:
"I have played a little bit of both, but I am going to be mostly playing outside linebacker this year, which I am comfortable with. I have been doing that for a while and that is what I enjoy."
On what he expects to achieve during the spring:
"Spring for me, and speaking from the defensive standpoint, is about coming together and starting to gel as a defense. Last year we were young and had a lot of new faces, but now we've played together for a year, so it is going to be about all of us coming together again. We want to get a feel for how things are going to be in the fall."
On entering his third year with the coaching staff:
"There is a comfort level now with the staff and the way they want things to work. Guys know what to expect. We are also ready now to take it to the next level. You can kind of feel that in the locker room, in the weight room and when we are out on the field."
On his role as a defensive leader:
"To eventually be someone who is looked at as a leader is something that every player strives for in their career. Being somewhat of a leader last year as a junior captain helped to give me some good experience, especially having guys like Kevin O'Connell, Chaz Schilens and Nick Osborn guiding me. Seeing how they led our team has helped me to now step into that role and kind of take this team under my wing and get us ready."
On tight end Eric Miclot:
"If he is physically ready, then he will absolutely have an impact on this team. I am pretty sure that I can speak for the team when I say that the effort he has put in these past two years to get himself ready to play again has earned him more respect than anyone else on our football team. You guys know as well as I do that when he is healthy, he is a great football player and we are really excited to see what he will be able to do for us."
Wide receiver/quarterback Darren Mougey
On the transition at the quarterback position:
"I don't think (the transition) will be a problem. We have three guys who are very capable of leading this team. They all can throw the ball and spread it around. I think we should be fine, but we will learn a lot this spring with those guys getting some reps."
On what he expects to achieve this spring:
"Offensively, we have a lot of young guys who need to get reps, and they will get a good experience this spring. It will be helpful for the three quarterbacks to get in, work with some offensive linemen and get some live reps for the first time against the defense. It will be good for the offense and I think we will get a lot done this spring."
On his third year with the coaching staff:
"You start to get a better understanding of the coaches every year, but being really comfortable with them and the way they communicate is something that we have really started to pick up in year three."
On the Aztecs' young offense:
"We need our young guys to pick things up fast, but that is what the spring is for. We will get them a lot of reps, and we really have a lot of young quality guys who can step up with confidence. We have spring and summer to prepare and come fall, we will definitely have guys who are ready to play and everyone will see that."