Holgorsen-81315.jpg
Dana Holgorsen - Fall Camp Update No. 11
August 13, 2015 01:48 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Coach Dana Holgorsen addresses the media prior to practice No. 11 on Thursday, Aug. 13, at the Milan Puskar Center Team Room.
Opening Statement
I feel real good about where we are at. We are taking a lot of good reps. I think we have taken about 425 live reps and over 550 team reps, so a lot of ball is being played. We are making progress on all three sides of the ball, and we are maintaining health in the meantime. Today, we will get out there in full pads and work on some two minute drills, third downs and formulated offense. It’s a big day for us today. We will back off a little bit tomorrow with the amount of volume that we do. We will still be in uppers, but we won’t be in full pads. That limits what we can do from a tackling point of view, but that will lead us into Saturday. We will get about 100 plays on Saturday, which will be our first real scrimmage. We will hit all the situations. What’s today? Thursday. When I meet with you on Monday. Are we meeting Monday? I have a week off from you guys (the media). I am far from off, although, it is pleasant when that happens. I could bring you into practice on Saturday. I will do what I do with the team at times. I sometimes stand in front of them and say ‘We’ll see how you act, and then we will make decisions about what’s in the future.’ Let me read your columns for the next few days, and then we will make a decision. Any specific questions?
On if redshirt junior running back Rushel Shell can be on the field in every situation
Not yet. I know he has it in him. The perception of him being a dominant force is far greater than what reality is. I will be the first to tell him that. He’s a physical, determined kid who doesn’t play like that all the time. My job is to get him to do that starting in game one.
On what he wants to see out of redshirt junior running back Rushel Shell
It’s probably a little bit of everything. It’s easier for (junior running back) Wendell (Smallwood) to do that, because of how involved he is with the pass game. Regardless, if we are practicing with lots of collisions or if we are in a controlled non-contact setting, (junior running back) Wendell (Smallwood) can be (junior running back) Wendell (Smallwood). Where (redshirt junior running back Rushel) Shell is going to be a between the tackles guy, lower his shoulder and get tough yards. The only situation we see that in is in live full contact activity. He doesn’t have as many opportunities. When the opportunities are there, he needs to pull through. We are working on him doing that, as well as maintaining health in the meantime. It’s a fine line there. I am not disappointed in him whatsoever. I want to see him be dominant every time we give him the ball.
On how hard is it to gage if redshirt sophomore wide receiver Shelton Gibson is trying to hard
It’s not hard to gage. We treat everybody fairly, and coach everybody differently. He’s a guy that puts a lot of undo pressure on himself. He wants to be good, really bad. Reality sets in with a lot of kids at time. He’s made referencing to me in passing that he wants to be the best that I ever coached, and I tell him ‘let’s hold on here and have a good sophomore year.’ He’s put a lot of pressure on himself, and it means a lot to him. He tries really hard. He goes full speed all the time. You guys saw that when he covered kicks last year. He plays really hard, and he plays really fast to the point where he gets out of control at times. He needs to take some deep breathes and relax. He needs to quit putting so much pressure on himself, and let the game come to him a little bit. We are working on that with him. He had a couple of bad days, and then he regrouped and had a couple of good days the last few days, so he needs to keep that mentality moving forward.
On redshirt sophomore wide receiver Shelton Gibson’s bad days
He is dropping balls. He is too tense. He fights it. That sort of thing. He has really good ball skills. I saw this in recruiting, when he was up here during camp. He can flat out go get a ball and catch it over his shoulder. Some guys have a very hard time with the transition of catching the ball over the shoulder, and have very good ball skills when it comes to attacking the ball this way. He’s as good as anybody I coached as far as going to get the ball, but he fights it when it’s coming at him. You fix that through repetition. You keep doing the same thing over and over again.
On if he has seen some similar situation with other players
Absolutely. Joe Filani was like that at Texas Tech. He’s the one that comes to mind. He had to balls go right through his hands and hit him in the head. It bounced straight up in the air in front of 80,000 people. It ruined him for a year. After a year, he was a two-time All-Big 12 player. The game slows down, and guys relax. They become more comfortable and confident with themselves and the hand-eye coordination. He’ll (redshirt sophomore wide receiver Shelton Gibson) work it out. My job is to get him there now, and not going into his junior year. It’s not busted assignments. He understands what to do, and the effort is really good. He’s just trying too hard.
On if his young wide receivers have as much potential as he has ever seen
That word potential is pretty dangerous. We all understand that. If they develop, then they will be as good as any of the ones we’ve had, collectively. Realistically, can we get through this year? It will be hard. I like the bodies. I like the talent. If you go back and really figure out why Kevin White had the year that he had, he developed and took the next step, there is no question about that, but the relationship that existed between him and Clint (Trickett) got him the numbers that he had. It just did. That relationship with the quarterback has to develop. It has to be great timing. That is stuff you can’t coach. That is just stuff that has to happen over a period of time.
On if junior wide receiver Daikiel Shorts Jr. is going to play inside or outside
He can do whatever we ask him to do. He can. He’s the most versatile guy that we have. He is a great kid. He’s a hard worker, and he understands the game. He has a lot of experience. He can play outside. He can play inside. Physically, he can do any of it. Where he ends up is probably going to depend on where we need him.
On if he expects a lot out of his first year receivers this year
I’m trying to think of the last freshman receiver that has been productive for us. It’s nobody here. It’s nobody at Oklahoma State or Houston. I haven’t had many. Across the country, there has been some guys that have emerged as freshmen, so who’s to say these two kids can’t. Without putting undo pressure on them, they have a chance. They have as good a chance as any of the other guys we have lined up, so we will see what happens. (Sophomore wide receiver) KD Cannon did it last year for Baylor. It can happen. We talked about this the other day. Of all the freshmen that are on our team right now, those two have the best chance. They are not redshirting, but whether they end up being the go to guys or not, there is still a lot of practice and a lot of days ahead to figure all that out.
On the depth chart
More so defensively than offensively, I think we could probably all pinpoint who are 11 guys are on defense. Defensively, the great news is that we have to figure out who our next 11 guys are. That changes daily. Offensively, a receiver and probably a guard spot are constantly changing. Then again, you are going to have another six guys that are going to factor in, and that constantly changes as well. If we rotate guards or another center or tackle. You need more than two backs. Who is that third back going to be? How many tight ends? Who is the second and third inside receiver? Who is the third and fourth outside receiver? That’s what changing. When are we going to release the depth chart, Mike (Montoro)? You are in charge around here. How about in pregame when we run out against Georgia Southern? I can put a two-deep together, but it’s going to change. I’ll look at it and start scribbling some things, but based on what the articles look like here in the next couple of weeks, we will see if I want to release that or not.
On the Jets quarterback Geno Smith situation
I was surprised. He talked to my son the night before. He was having a great camp. I made a comment a couple of weeks ago that I thought this was going to be the year that he exploded onto the NFL map. I thought he was going to have a great year, but hopefully, he hurries up and recovers from it and gets back to work. It’s a setback. It’s disappointing to hear. I don’t know the details whatsoever.
On using your depth chart more with the offensive line this year
It’s hard to do it when you don’t have depth. We done it to a lesser degree based on performance in a negative way. This year, I would like to be able to do it because of performance in a positive way. I think we are at that point now. I have been happy with four of the backups. I have been happy with nine, but that doesn’t mean we are rotating nine at any stretch of imagination. (Redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Kyle) Bosch came back yesterday, and he had a good day. He’s going to be in the mix for a starting position. I didn’t say he is starting. I said he is in the mix. (Redshirt sophomore offensive lineman) Grant’s (Lingafelter) been doing some good things. (Redshirt senior offensive lineman) Stone’s (Underwood) pretty solid. Unfortunately, he backs up one of the better centers in football, but you need to have that guy come in and be available to go. (Redshirt freshman offensive lineman) Marcell (Lazard) has been doing well. He’s better than what he’s been doing, and his effort has been good. He’s improving. We have some options. We talked about this with (redshirt freshman offensive lineman) Yodny (Cajuste). You have to have a plan for a young kid. There are not too many freshmen playing o-line in the Big 12 right now. You have to have a plan to be able to rotate those guys and keep them fresh. O-line is the hardest position to play. The more help you can give those guys without breaking up the continuity, the better.
On if the pass rush is going to better this year
It should be. (Redshirt junior defensive lineman) Noble (Nwachukwu) looks good. We relied on blitzing so much last year. The scheme, defensively, you are not going to have a bunch of sacks with the nose and those two ends when they are playing every down defense. They hold the point to when other guys can get there. Seeing No. 8 (senior safety Karl Joseph), and No. 9 (senior safety KJ Dillon), No. 35 (redshirt senior linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski), No. 36 (redshirt senior linebacker Shaq Petteway) and No. 42 (redshirt senior linebacker Jared Barber) shoot gaps is better than I have seen. The d-line aspect of it, (redshirt junior defensive lineman) Noble (Nwachukwu) looks good. (Junior defensive lineman) Larry (Jefferson) has some twitch to get there, so I think we will be better. I know the technique aspect of the front is night and day from what it was a year ago. (Assistant coach/defensive line) Bruce Tall understands this defense and how to coach it. Watching it from the other side, I can see a big difference.
On getting to the quarterback without rushing
It’s hard with three unless you are in a pass defense. How many sacks did the d-line have my first year here? A lot of came when they widen Bruce (Irvin) out, and he shot off the edge. That’s not an every down defense. It’s improved, and the more that you can do that, the better off you are going to be. We are in a better place now than we were a year ago.
On the young quarterbacks
(Redshirt freshman quarterback) William (Crest Jr.) is getting a vast majority of those reps. He’s really done some good things here lately. I have been very happy with his progress. (Freshman quarterback) Chuggs (Chris Chugunov) has a very sore shoulder because he is not used to doing what we are asking him to do in the course of 10 days, so I rested him the last couple of days. He will be back in action today. Right now, (redshirt freshman quarterback) William (Crest Jr.) has been concentrating exclusively on quarterback, not to say that we can’t do other things with him. We can if needed, but a backup quarterback is pretty important. He’s doing some things that I have been happy with from a progress point of view.
On if he feels comfortable putting redshirt freshman quarterback William Crest Jr. in a game
Absolutely. He has to keep getting better. The biggest knock I had with him in the spring is that he would give the ball up. He’s doing a much better job at protecting the ball.
On if his expectations of redshirt freshman quarterback William Crest Jr. have evolved since the spring
Correct, at quarterback. I think we have some pretty good people around him. I don’t feel the need to have him out at receiver as much. We had some receivers emerge that weren’t here in the spring. Our running back depth is pretty good right now. In addition, he has to make progress at quarterback. All quarterbacks have to make progress from their true freshman year to their redshirt freshman year. I have been happy with his progress, and I am going to keep coaching the heck out of him and see what happens. I don’t know where it ends up. (Junior quarterback) Skyler (Howard) has to keep getting better as well. I think he has. He has a firm grasp on what we want, and he needs to play within the system and protect the ball. He needs to do what we ask him to do, and he has done a good job of that up until this point.
On freshman quarterback David Sills being a multi-position player
He’s athletic enough, but he is focused at quarterback right now. He’s athletic enough to do it. He’s got a redshirt year and four years, so who knows what will happen. These guys are still in the developmental mode. I view them the same as the five o-linemen, the three d-linemen and a lot of these other freshmen that we fortunately don’t need right now. We are going to keep coaching them and see how they progress. (Sophomore linebacker) Xavier Preston wasn’t ready to go a year ago. He didn’t play very much. He should’ve redshirted, but we needed him on special teams. Now, he is raising h**l out there.
Cam Cook | March 30
Monday, March 30
Coach Jay Boulware | March 30
Monday, March 30
Coach Rich Rodriguez | March 30
Monday, March 30
Rick Trickett | March 24
Tuesday, March 24
