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Dana Holgorsen - Fall Camp Update No. 8
August 10, 2015 02:27 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Coach Dana Holgorsen addresses the media prior to practice No. 8 on Monday, Aug. 10, at the Milan Puskar Center Team Room.
Opening Statement
Welcome. Let me tell you where we are at. We had seven practices, so we have a long way to go on all three sides of the ball. Today will be our eighth practice (third in full pads). You will see some live stuff going on out there today. We will have three or four live periods, so today is a big day. With the new protocol on how you practice, it’s every other day that we tackle. Yesterday, we got a lot of reps with the young guys. We didn’t do anything live, but we did a lot of reps and evaluated a lot of guys. Today, we will be in full pads. We will crank it up, and see how these guys respond. Overall, I am very happy with the effort. With a lot of bodies, we are able to keep a lot of guys fresh and play a lot of ball. We have taken about 300 team snaps at this point. We are out there for about three hours a day. We have good walk thru’s and meetings in the morning, so again, we are in a pretty good place, but we have a long way to go before we make decisions on concrete starting lineups and who gets what snaps. I’m happy. We are relatively healthy. I haven’t lost anybody for an extended period of time at this point, and hopefully, we continue to maintain a clean bill of health and get ready to go. That’s where we are at. Does anybody have any specific questions, if not, I will get back to work. I’m sure you have a few questions.
On sophomore safety Dravon Askew-Henry’s progression
He is progressing really well. It is night and day from where he was last year. We talked about this yesterday in our staff meeting about putting him on special teams. He didn’t play a single snap last year, because he couldn’t handle being a full-time starter as a true freshman and be able to do additional things. There was a lot of times where he was lost a year ago, even in games. He was lost. He wasn’t as physical, and he wasn’t triggering the right way. He looks no different to me than (senior safety) Karl (Joseph) and (senior safety) KJ (Dillon) out there, as far as knowing what to do, breaking on the ball, being a sure tackler and being in the right place at the right time. We are starting to experiment with the things we can do with him on special teams as well.
On how tough it is to play this game as a true freshman
There’s no doubt. How many young kids can come in and play as a true freshman? If your team is in a good place, then there is not going to be many. Right now, looking at our depth chart with true freshmen, I think we are going to have a couple of wide outs that are going to be able to play. Other than that, I wouldn’t anticipate any of them playing. It goes back to all these seniors that are sitting in the room right now. We watched clips from special teams a couple years back, and you see guys like (redshirt senior cornerback Terrell) Chestnut, (redshirt senior linebacker) Isaiah (Bruce), (redshirt junior cornerback) Nana (Kyeremeh), (senior safety) Karl (Joseph) and (senior safety) KJ (Dillon) that were on these special teams who were also playing a bunch of snaps for us on defense. It looked like those guys were in junior high compared to what their bodies look like now. We are in a much better place with our roster and the depth chart, so we are not going to need freshman to come in and play very much. If they do, then it is because they are a different talent than what we recruited.
On sophomore safety Dravon Askew-Henry’s skills
He’s a runner and a tackler. That’s why he is at free safety. He’s played some running back in high school and maybe even quarterback. I don’t remember. He’s done some things offensively, but you have to pretty skilled. I think (senior safety) KJ Dillon is pretty skilled, but he hasn’t been able to handle what he (sophomore safety Dravon Askew-Henry) is handling now, until now. He has to be able to be in the return game and also focus one hundred percent on a bunch of snaps defensively. It takes a different kind of kid to do that, and whether (sophomore safety) Dravon (Askew-Henry) can get there or not, I don’t know.
On junior offensive lineman Kyle Bosch’s rotation
He has a minor concussion right now. He has been sitting for a few days. He’s been rotating at the first and second team guard. (Assistant coach/offensive line) Ron (Crook) mixes those guys up a good bit to try and find the appropriate lineup to see who works well with each other. He’s not cleared for today. He may be out there in a green jersey, I don’t know. We have a staff meeting at one to go over this. He’s missed a couple of days, but before he went down, he has shown some good things. He looks a little bit more motivated than he was in the spring, and that’s based on knowing that he can play.
On if there is an update on junior cornerback Rasul Douglas
No.
On the timeline of deciding when to redshirt a player
We won’t talk to them about it until the week before game week. It’s a little unusual here, because we have five full weeks before the first game, so we have two weeks of game and then next week is a whole lot of adjustment with school starting. We will have less practices and meeting times next week, but we will get some practices in. We will get them used to the daily schedule of school, and then the next week we will do a mock week. We will practice what it’s like to go through a full game week. We kind of want to have our depth chart pretty well in line at that point. We want our scout teams pretty well in line at that point. The Sunday or Monday prior to that mock week, we will sit down with some guys and say ‘here is where you are, and our plan right now is to redshirt you.’ They can go to the scout teams and do what they have to do to help us get ready, and you never know. They are only a play away from having to pull that. Throughout camp, we don’t do much scout team work. We just play a lot of football against each other. It gives amble opportunity in order to be able to evaluate these guys.
On having a better idea on which players to redshirt compared to years past
Yes. It doesn’t change how we practice. We want to give these kids every opportunity to prove themselves, so do we have an idea? Yes, more so than in years past. This year, I probably have a better idea of who is and who isn’t, but I have no interest whatsoever to share that information with you or with anybody else.
On the freshman wideouts
I think we did well last year in recruiting receivers. (Redshirt sophomore wide receiver) Ka’Raun (White), (freshman wide receiver) Gary (Jennings) and (freshman wide receiver) Jovon (Durante) are as good as I thought they would be up to this point. Can they do it over the long haul? We will keep coaching them and keep evaluating them, but right now those three guys are in the mix. Whether that means as starters or backups, I don’t know. We will keep practicing and coaching them, but I am happy with all three of them.
On the wide receiving corps
(Redshirt sophomore wide receiver) Shelton (Gibson) has done some good things. He’s trying too hard. He had a lot of success in the spring, so he is trying to be the best one in the country. He has to let the game come to him. He’s doing some good things. For a guy that’s been here for as long as I have, (redshirt senior wide receiver) KJ (Myers) is a guy that I am proud of. He’s what a program guy is all about. He’s a hard worker, and a great teammate. He hasn’t allowed himself to get discouraged and leave or graduate and move on with life. He’s very motivated to make this a good year for him and a good year for us. I have been very proud of him. (Junior wide receiver) Daikiel (Shorts Jr.) has done well. (Senior wide receiver) Jordan (Thompson) has done well. Then we have a couple of other guys that need to keep progressing. There is nobody else to really talk about.
On what type of body is looking for at the wide receiver position in Big 12 play
I’m looking for fast, big, strong, agile and athletic guys who can make plays. It’s not any different from years past. If you take those three guys who we recruited (redshirt sophomore wide receiver Ka’Raun White, freshman wide receiver Gary Jennings and freshman wide receiver Jovon Durante), and look at who we beat out to get them, you have to have something to sell. We have a couple of guys who are playing on Sunday’s right now. It has to keep progressing if we want to continue on beating people out and have something to prove. We need to keep going forward when it comes to being able to have that to offer to recruits. Like I said, I thought we did well recruiting those guys, and they’ve lived up to what I thought they could do at this point. Body type, I don’t look at it that much. The bigger, faster and stronger guy that you can get, the better. I think everyone would agree to that. A kid that’s 160 pounds and runs a 4.20 is pretty appealing as well.
On junior quarterback Skyler Howard’s mobility
Yes. I started to last year with him. You have (redshirt freshman quarterback) William (Crest Jr.) who is pretty athletic, and (freshman quarterback) Dave (Sills) who is pretty athletic. (Freshman quarterback Chris Chugunov) Chugs is a little more athletic than I thought. In recruiting, the guys that we are targeting are probably a little more athletic. That’s not uncommon for a lot of people across the country at this time. You can do some different things schematically throughout the course of a normal pass play, and it helps you be able to keep it alive and not get sacked or caught. You have to be able to keep the play alive and be able extend the play. It’s a big thing.
On his comfort level with the backup quarterbacks
It’s better than it was eight practices ago. (Redshirt freshman quarterback) William (Crest Jr.) is doing a lot better with signals, communication and knowing where to go with the ball. I’ve been really impressed with (freshman quarterback Chris Chugunov) Chugs up until this point. He spins it really well, and he’s a very smart kid. (Freshman quarterback) David (Sills) is probably the smartest guy in the room. He understands football as well as anybody. He is extremely athletic. The ball has to go to point A to point B in order for me to give them some serious thought as far as taking the snaps. They’re improving. I’m happy with their progress.
On any other injuries besides junior offensive lineman Kyle Bosch
(Redshirt sophomore linebacker) Al-Rasheed Benton missed practice yesterday with a slight knee concern. He should be out there today. I hate talking about it (injuries). It’s a mood point until someone is really out. You guys will be out there today, and you will be able to see who’s out there and who’s not, but I will tell you if it is a long term situation. If it’s a day to day thing, it bugs me a little bit to talk about it.
On if anyone has emerged on kickoff returns
We are working on it. You will see them out there. (Senior safety) KJ (Dillon) and (redshirt sophomore) Jacky (Marcellus) are two good kickoff return guys. We think (redshirt sophomore wide receiver) Shelton (Gibson) is going to be pretty good. We think (sophomore safety) Dravon (Askew-Henry) is going to be pretty good. We’ve worked punt returns way more than we have worked kickoff returns, but we’re working kick returns today. You will see those guys out there.
On redshirt sophomore wider receiver Shelton Gibson being on the punt return last year
He was probably the best that we had last year at punt and kickoff coverage. He was everywhere. He can’t do everything. He can’t be kick return, kick cover, punt cover and wide receiver. He can’t do all of that stuff. We have to figure out what he deserves on offense and what he’s capable of on offense. However many snaps he takes on offense will dictate how many snaps he will take on special teams. We have really challenged our team. We have challenged the likes of (junior running back) Wendell Smallwood, (junior wide receiver) Daikiel Shorts Jr., (senior safety) KJ Dillon, (senior safety) Karl Joseph, (redshirt senior linebacker) Shaq Petteway, (junior cornerback) Daryl Worley, (redshirt senior cornerback Terrell) Chestnut and (sophomore safety) Dravon (Askew-Henry). We have challenged all of those guys to give us something, whether it’s one unit or two units based on how many snaps that they’re taking on that specific side of the ball. I’ve been extremely happy with their responses and their eagerness to get out there and make that side of the ball as good as we can possibly make it.
On junior quarterback Skyler Howard’s footwork and what he has worked on mechanically
I disagree with that a little bit because when you guys go out there you’ve seen the quarterback coaches. (Offensive graduate assistant) Mike (Michael Burchett), will be drilling the heck out of those guys. The number one thing that they work on is what’s happening below the waist and the accuracy with where they’ll throw into a net. Footwork and accuracy is what drills are all about. You can’t sit there and drill guys in the 15 minute period on the mental aspect of them game. That’s what team skills and meetings are for. I handle about 95 percent of that. The footwork, the quick release and the accuracy is what (offensive graduate assistant) Mike (Michael Burchett) knows. He’s worked a lot on it last year, and he’s working a lot on it this year. I’ve seen a big difference in not only him, but the other guys as far as improvement goes.
On this year’s coaching staff
It’s great. It’s super. Offensively, going on my third year with (assistant coach/offensive line) Ron (Crook), (assistant coach/running backs) Ja’Juan (Seider) and (assistant head coach/receivers) Lonnie (Galloway) is great. We’ve talked about the graduate assistants already. (Offensive graduate assistant) Michael (Burchett) and (offensive graduate assistant) (Dan) Gerberry have done a great job. (Offensive graduate assistant) Zac Hueter has done an outstanding job with the tackles. He’s a valuable asset with what we’re doing. Those guys have done nothing but improve with what we’ve done offensively. Defensively, having (assistant coach/defensive line) Bruce Tall is night and day. It’s different from what it was last year because (assistant coach defensive coordinator/linebackers) (Tony Gibson) Gibby is so comfortable with them. He’s been with them, knows the defense and understands the technique as well as the schemes. The d-line looks 100 percent different. Those guys get along. (Assistant coach/defensive coordinator and linebackers Tony Gibson) Gibby is extremely happy with having (assistant coach/defensive and special teams) Mark Scott back. He is also happy with having (assistant coach/safeties and special teams Joe DeForest) DeFo back, and having (assistant coach/cornerbacks Brian Mitchell) B-Mitch back. That’s a unit that is completely on the same page. I couldn’t be happier with the guy and where they are at. There’s going to be adversity down the road, everyone understand that. I think this is a group that is going to be able to handle it.
On junior quarterback Skyler Howard trying to open up his body more
It’s where his feet are. If you go back and study the Iowa State game compared to the Texas A&M game, then you’ll see two different quarterbacks from the waist down. He has taken that and really worked hard on it. He was pretty antsy in that game, and his feet were never still. He’s done a good job at that. We watch every pass skeleton snap and every team snap, and then we critique it. I think he’s doing a lot better.
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