Chad Morris:
Coach Morris spoke a lot after practice about the purpose of spring football. "Energy. That's the number one thing we're looking for. Guys playing with unbelievable energy. Flying around the ball, finishing drills, finishing through the whistle."He continued, saying it's still as simple as "middle school football". His three points included, "Alignment; can you get aligned right? Assignment; can you do your assignment right? Technique; do you do it right? Those things are what we've been looking for." When asked about if he has any idea of a depth chart, he left the door open for plenty of movement. "We've got a general idea, but they're going to be some freshman that will come in and have an opportunity to play." Morris added that the coaching staff would starting meeting one on one with the players this week. Morris said the team will have slightly different preparation for the spring game this week, but still mostly the same routine as it has been all spring. "Saturday is more or less a celebration. We want to celebrate the end of spring and celebrate with a game-like atmosphere and get our fans out." The Mustangs focused a lot on running the ball today, and Daniel Gresham was a full participant. Morris loved the progress he's seen in all of the running backs, but particularly Gresham and Prescott Line. "With Prescott and Daniel you do have that bigger back. Now we've brought in a couple backs that can give us some more game-breaker mentality...Both of those guys are going to be instrumental to this offense. It's unmeasurable, because they're going to play all over the field...You can play as fast as you can with those guys on the field. I'm really excited about these guys."Quarterback Matt Davis still has the clear lead in the quarterback race. Morris said about Davis, "He's got a competitive edge about himself, and I do like that. Obviously he's learning and growing in the process but the thing I like about him is that he keeps getting better and he wants to be a student of the game."Van Malone:
Defensive coordinator Van Malone spoke to the media after practice and gave high praise to the progress that the defense has made. "Sometimes we'll go back and we'll review day one video. And we'll look at video of the present day. When you look at day one and compare it to what we're doing right now, we've thrown a lot at them and we've thrown in a way that's been pretty demanding. Even back since winter conditioning with Coach Tru (Trumain Carroll). It's been a big time coaching change for them, and they've adjusted well. They've accepted and they've bought in to what we're selling."Echoing Coach Morris, Malone spoke about the effort on and off the field from the players. "They're buying in and everywhere I see them they've got those playbooks in their hands. They're studying film and asking the right questions. As a coach that's encouraging. They won't take an easy step. They won't take a lazy step. The demands are too high out here." He added, "You know there will be a time when we give up a play. There will be a time when the other team will out-talent us. But there will never be a time when they out-work us and out-effort us." Malone went into detail about the "star" position that is a hybrid linebacker-defensive back. "We'll ask that guy to cover. We'll ask that guy to blitz. We'll ask that guy to set the edge on the run. We'll ask that guy to sometimes fall in and look like a true 4-3 linebacker. He'll be a star with all the things that he does...not to mention that recruits like the name." Before he got hurt, Shakiel Randolph was the number one player at the star position. Malone said about Randolph, "He's played corner. He's played safety. When he's got all this ability, you want to get him around the football as best you can.You want to allow him to use his strengths to make plays. It was a logical move to put him there." Malone emphasized that his defense will be very aggressive. However, he ensured that the defense will be proficient at much more than just blitzing. "You can't just blitz. You can't just blitz your way out. They've got to play base defense...When you start to blitz, that's a bonus. That's icing on the cake."When asked about a comment from Morris about the defense coming along more quickly than the offense, Malone jokingly replied, "Of course I wouldn't [agree]. [Coach Morris] is trying to lull me to sleep. I'm not buying it."Malone continued his sense of humor, "We can't play in the Super Bowl, can we? We're not going to win the Super Bowl this spring. We're climbing mount spring ball. And we're going to stay disciplined to that."As for when Coach Morris offered the coordinator job to Malone, "It was a very brief conversation actually. Just as with these other coaches, the conversation was brief...To work with Coach Morris, what I know about him as a man, my family and I were on board."
Quick Hits:
One of the stars of practice was Daniel Gresham, who returned from a knee injury. He ran over many tacklers and ran explosively. He received a fair portion of the running plays today, including a 50-plus-yard run from the 1-yard line right up the middle. The defense often had a tough time bringing him down.However, the run defense overall was stellar today. The running backs could usually only run one or two yards before a defender took them down. Ben Hicks threw two interceptions. He struggled today but did have a couple nice passes, including a brilliant 30-yard throw in which he had to pass the football a couple seconds before the receiver was even open. The crowd was a bit lighter today in Ford Stadium. Most visitors sat in the stands, rather than on the sideline. Xavier Castille attended and spoke with Ben Hicks on the side for several minutes. Offensive lineman Jerry Saena limped off the field with an apparent leg injury. He did not return to play, but he did walk slowly along the sideline.
Coach Morris spoke a lot after practice about the purpose of spring football. "Energy. That's the number one thing we're looking for. Guys playing with unbelievable energy. Flying around the ball, finishing drills, finishing through the whistle."He continued, saying it's still as simple as "middle school football". His three points included, "Alignment; can you get aligned right? Assignment; can you do your assignment right? Technique; do you do it right? Those things are what we've been looking for." When asked about if he has any idea of a depth chart, he left the door open for plenty of movement. "We've got a general idea, but they're going to be some freshman that will come in and have an opportunity to play." Morris added that the coaching staff would starting meeting one on one with the players this week. Morris said the team will have slightly different preparation for the spring game this week, but still mostly the same routine as it has been all spring. "Saturday is more or less a celebration. We want to celebrate the end of spring and celebrate with a game-like atmosphere and get our fans out." The Mustangs focused a lot on running the ball today, and Daniel Gresham was a full participant. Morris loved the progress he's seen in all of the running backs, but particularly Gresham and Prescott Line. "With Prescott and Daniel you do have that bigger back. Now we've brought in a couple backs that can give us some more game-breaker mentality...Both of those guys are going to be instrumental to this offense. It's unmeasurable, because they're going to play all over the field...You can play as fast as you can with those guys on the field. I'm really excited about these guys."Quarterback Matt Davis still has the clear lead in the quarterback race. Morris said about Davis, "He's got a competitive edge about himself, and I do like that. Obviously he's learning and growing in the process but the thing I like about him is that he keeps getting better and he wants to be a student of the game."Van Malone:
Defensive coordinator Van Malone spoke to the media after practice and gave high praise to the progress that the defense has made. "Sometimes we'll go back and we'll review day one video. And we'll look at video of the present day. When you look at day one and compare it to what we're doing right now, we've thrown a lot at them and we've thrown in a way that's been pretty demanding. Even back since winter conditioning with Coach Tru (Trumain Carroll). It's been a big time coaching change for them, and they've adjusted well. They've accepted and they've bought in to what we're selling."Echoing Coach Morris, Malone spoke about the effort on and off the field from the players. "They're buying in and everywhere I see them they've got those playbooks in their hands. They're studying film and asking the right questions. As a coach that's encouraging. They won't take an easy step. They won't take a lazy step. The demands are too high out here." He added, "You know there will be a time when we give up a play. There will be a time when the other team will out-talent us. But there will never be a time when they out-work us and out-effort us." Malone went into detail about the "star" position that is a hybrid linebacker-defensive back. "We'll ask that guy to cover. We'll ask that guy to blitz. We'll ask that guy to set the edge on the run. We'll ask that guy to sometimes fall in and look like a true 4-3 linebacker. He'll be a star with all the things that he does...not to mention that recruits like the name." Before he got hurt, Shakiel Randolph was the number one player at the star position. Malone said about Randolph, "He's played corner. He's played safety. When he's got all this ability, you want to get him around the football as best you can.You want to allow him to use his strengths to make plays. It was a logical move to put him there." Malone emphasized that his defense will be very aggressive. However, he ensured that the defense will be proficient at much more than just blitzing. "You can't just blitz. You can't just blitz your way out. They've got to play base defense...When you start to blitz, that's a bonus. That's icing on the cake."When asked about a comment from Morris about the defense coming along more quickly than the offense, Malone jokingly replied, "Of course I wouldn't [agree]. [Coach Morris] is trying to lull me to sleep. I'm not buying it."Malone continued his sense of humor, "We can't play in the Super Bowl, can we? We're not going to win the Super Bowl this spring. We're climbing mount spring ball. And we're going to stay disciplined to that."As for when Coach Morris offered the coordinator job to Malone, "It was a very brief conversation actually. Just as with these other coaches, the conversation was brief...To work with Coach Morris, what I know about him as a man, my family and I were on board."
Quick Hits:
One of the stars of practice was Daniel Gresham, who returned from a knee injury. He ran over many tacklers and ran explosively. He received a fair portion of the running plays today, including a 50-plus-yard run from the 1-yard line right up the middle. The defense often had a tough time bringing him down.However, the run defense overall was stellar today. The running backs could usually only run one or two yards before a defender took them down. Ben Hicks threw two interceptions. He struggled today but did have a couple nice passes, including a brilliant 30-yard throw in which he had to pass the football a couple seconds before the receiver was even open. The crowd was a bit lighter today in Ford Stadium. Most visitors sat in the stands, rather than on the sideline. Xavier Castille attended and spoke with Ben Hicks on the side for several minutes. Offensive lineman Jerry Saena limped off the field with an apparent leg injury. He did not return to play, but he did walk slowly along the sideline.
