San Diego State Football Press Conference
March 9, 2020
San Diego State Head Coach Brady Hoke
Opening statement:
"It's a really good start to phase two. We break the year down in four different phases, obviously spring ball being phase two. We had good energy, good effort and I thought the intensity overall was good all four days. We've got a lot of competition at every position across the board, which makes us better as a football team and a program. I think the new coaches are getting used to everything and the players are getting used to the new coaches, so I think that's worked out well. They've meshed well. We have a very big senior class too, so the leadership and how the leadership comes together is something that's daily. Making sure that they understand how we want this team led.
"I think the learning curve on offense is something that this week will be even more important to us for the simple fact that now they'll get more used to the verbiage and some of those things, even though (offensive coordinator Jeff Hecklinski) has tried to keep a lot of the same verbiage in there.
"We ran about 76 plays (at our) full scrimmage on Saturday. That number will jump up this Saturday, but right at this point, we've got a lot of work to do, but I do like how the guys have come out, the players have come out and really competed."
On current leading quarterback in snaps:
"Right now, Carson (Baker) is. At this time what we're trying to do is to make sure that everybody has an opportunity, so we'll rotate through who's with ones during different drills during the week and then on those scrimmages. I think right now he has probably shown the most, at this point, but we also need to give some of those other guys a little more of a chance."
On if he is looking to sign more players:
"Not at this point. I think, if anything, we may take a peek later on. Obviously, we've talked about a quarterback, and possibly maybe an offensive lineman."
On who the starting running back will be:
"Right now, it's by committee. I would be remiss if I said one guy was ahead of anybody else right now. It's a good problem to have. But (associate head coach/running backs coach Jeff Horton) is trying to get all of them equal snaps with the ones in the twos. They ran the ball decently within the scrimmage last week, but we needed to run a little better when we're in the red zone."
On personality of Jeff Hecklinski's offense:
"Well, there's a lot of the RPO game in it. We want to still run the ball inside-outside zone, in the counter plays, misdirection plays, taking playmakers like (Jordan) Byrd, who you can put in a lot of different positions to help him create some space in some plays. From the standpoint, the RPOs are going to be huge."
On one-on-one meetings with players:
"You know, it's always interesting, I was kind of sheltered last year, just coaching the D lineman. All the meetings were real positive. I think there was a ton of honesty and it was good to meet a lot of them really formally for the first time. The meetings were all positive, they're all good. I think everybody knows that one of the big things is, who are going to be those leaders on our football team. Kyahva (Tezino) last year, as well as anybody, lead this team, and so, to me, who is that next guy?"
On who the main leaders of the team will be:
"I think there's a couple of guys. I don't want to say anything about them yet because I want to see how they continue to progress, but there's some guys with that ability."
On what they're looking for in a team leader:
"Guys who are genuine about who they are and their love for the team, their love for the game. There's a physical-ness that, in my experience of doing this a while, that those guys are the ones who kind of gain the respect of everybody on the team and I think that's what Kyahva had."
On importance of senior leaders:
"Well, we won't be very good if I have to lead. If the locker room leads, we'll be a good football team. I think they understand that. You can see some guys starting to come out of their shell a little bit, and are a little bit more confident in what they're doing."
On being called "animated" by players:
"Is animated good or bad? I don't know. I got in this to help kids, that's why I got into coaching and that hasn't changed. Whether it's kicking them in the butt – not literally – or kissing him on the cheek you have to do that. We talked about being a family and if we're going to be a family, then we're going to agree to disagree, but we're going to go in one direction. So, animated? I guess."
Brady Hoke Press Conference Quotes
