Canales: Today was a great day of work :: WRALSportsFan.com
Good. How are you doing? Excellent. I mean, this is, you know, something we’ve been waiting for for a while now, you know, and, uh, yesterday we had a bunch of meetings and I can tell guys we just jumping at the bit to get out there and get some work. So, uh in general, just a great day of work, just recapturing the work ethic. That’s what this time of year is about, especially early in campus, getting back to the intensity, what the drills feel like, um introducing them to the different team settings that we’re doing. And so I thought that part, we, we definitely did well and then of course, just, you know, having to like work through a little bit of the kids, just a little bit rusty, working, working together, getting our snaps and doing some things like that. But I’ll open it up now for any questions. We kind of started. Um, what have you seen from that surgery? You know, I think it’s just from rice learning this mover. Uh Deonte is special mover, he’s really explosive really fast through his turns. Um And so I’ve, I’ve watched them just kind of grow that chemistry, you know, and, and of course, just, you know, getting out here today is another step in building that, um, and, uh, and really just a curiosity you see them when, when Bryce’s reps are done, he walks right over to, he’s talking to Deonte Adam, it, you know, and just making sure they’re on the same page. Some of those guys here, uh, Adam Colorado passes. Yeah, within four yards a lot. Is that something you’d like to see and expand? Just some teams are game for that? Yeah, there’ll be a mix of different things, you know, and I think his, his skill set, he showed kind of, you know, over the, over the past years, he showed an ability to win outside and win inside. So we’re really counting on that front and it gives us a lot of flexibility of what we can do, especially in our situational passes, you know. Um So it would be a mix of stuff when healthy. What would you like the rotation of running back for work life? Uh I, I can’t, I don’t want to really share that part of it, you know, I just, I want to see them all. I want to see them all work hard. I wanna see them run the runs the way they’re supposed to be, you know, how they’re blocked the tempo of the different things. So we’ll just, we’ll expose them all, especially as we go through this first, uh eight practices really is, is when we get through our full insult. So I’m really excited to see the different guys and how they really come to life in the different one house, how important to establish that identity and the re huge, right? So today, you know, just right to the fundament, right to the basics in the core of our run game, making sure we’re running at the right looks, um making sure that the, everyone’s tied in from the wide receivers all the way through the offensive line and of course, the backs, um, are, are in that mix, you know, and, and on the other side as well, on the defensive side is watching our defense really be able to stop the run with that 47 and then our safeties get involved. And so, um, I saw them really eager to fit those runs up today. The defense looked great against a lot of those looks. I think you might have popped one out of there and I’m sure they’ll get that dave when you talk about 2.7 seconds, one hit the ball as, you know, his coach is play, caller, somebody who is working with me a lot. How do you also, you know, not let him rush his footwork, his processing what else goes into getting the ball out? Yeah, I think you said it, you know, trusting your footwork and my footwork takes me on time to number one in progression. And from there, you got to have a sense where the pocket is gonna start to fall apart at some point. And the thing that I love the most, my favorite part about today is R and Andy finding the check down to the back, finding the short route that takes you once I’m off by timing, where’s my outlet? And we got a couple of those from, you notice uh a few of the balls going to the backs and the sideline and some of our options there. So we tell them, don’t get hung up on one move on to your next part of it. Now, we’re moving to find a check out. So, um, I think we on the right track here, always stay here. Uh DJ just had an illness so we’re trying to just came back in, um, being smart about it. So, um, until he feels physically ready to handle the road, you know, we don’t want it to mount up on him. We’re gonna try to get him to a strong point and then we’ll get him out there. Are you acting on the tight end position and the check that you were talking about? Uh, I know it’s early. I know it’s day one but given the off season the chemistry and the rhythm and then you guys in rookie camp coming through. How is Bryce and both Andy, uh, when that pocket does break down, uh, started to familiarize themselves and be comfortable with, not just looking at a running back, but also at that tight end position. Yeah, it’s great, you know, and I think that’s always a challenge, um, as we build our offense, you know, we really try to feature someone and, and for us right now, where’s Deonte Johnson? And we, we, we have our progressions and we’re gonna move them around in formation, but the rest of the guys have to come alive as the coverage is dictated, you know, and so, but I think it’s great um in terms of tendencies, tendencies are ok, as long as you know, you have them, you know, because the defense is gonna be looking for someone and that opens up everything else. So I think the patience, patience for the quarterbacks is just going through progressive finding the next guy, the the receivers, the tight ends will come alive after that. Hey, debut, what is uh first training camp practice as a head coach? What is today like for you? Oh, it was great. You know, it’s such a challenge for me. Um I had an amazing opportunity this summer to spend some time with Tony Jeff Dung is one of my mentors, talk to me, Carol on the phone and just kind of ask them, you know, what to expect. And, and that the, I think the part that made me a little anxious is I know that I can’t walk into this with 30 years of head coaching experience to be able to see everything. But I wanna just continue to challenge myself to see it all to see what’s happening, not just on the offensive side. I’m sure that’s why I’m here to make sure we step out on a good foot, but to see what’s happening on the defensive side, how it’s all fitting in spending time with special teams. We have some great periods out there where we’re teaching fundamentals which you can be critical. So I think more and more how much can I see on any given play. But, um, I think in general, you know, just, I was just really excited, really humbled. Um I really grateful for it to have this opportunity and to really feel supported by a staff of amazing coaches and by a bunch of players who are hungry to do something. Were there particular things that and p told you about what it was gonna be like for the first time? Um, just there’s things you’re not gonna be able to anticipate that may happen and they come from different areas of, of the program, things that you’re gonna have to be able to in stride, kind of handle and answer and then get back to the football, handle it, answer it and get back to the football. So I take the reminders to continue to get back to the football, uh, part of it so that all the other things don’t detract from what we’re trying to get done. What? Oh, I just, it’s cool. I just see a focus, um, and an eagerness for them and, and my encouragement and the thing that, that is, is a big part of what I have to do to teach this team is we’re not competing against each other. We’re not competing against another team. We’re competing to find our best on a daily basis. So, if we can come with that focus, if every guy fishing group, every offense, defense, special teams and as a team, if we’re competing to find our best, I think that’s when you make the most progress versus looking side to side picture the Olympics in a in 100 m dash, you can’t look side to side, you’re trying to run your fastest and the best race. So trying to create that mentality, can you address that regard? It’s a great, great opportunity, right? Just with the depth of the corner, you know, these guys are gonna get a lot of opportunities to show us what they can do. They had a great spring. Um Just look at them to keep building on. What did they really get, bring to this offense and what’s realistic as far as his timeline and maybe get all that. Um He brings a massive receiver, explosive ability. He can make things happen on short passes, he can stretch the field and don’t get it. My expectation for Xavier, I’m wide open, I’m wide open to how quickly he can really assimilate himself into this offense and pick it up so that he’s, he has just kind of AAA rhythmic for what he’s doing. And so, um I don’t have any, you know, specific numbers or anything like that, you know, I’m just, I just want him to get better one day at a time, the same message as we just kind of talked about it and I’m open to whatever that looks like if you address the. So the what the, yeah, so the core, the core of our systems, right? Making sure we get those taught. But while we’re doing that, we definitely, because, you know, time is of the essence, we definitely as a staff have to hone in on where do our players look most comfortable? Where are they playing the fastest, those runs, those passes, those coverages, those pressures. Those are the things we will become a message to the team. We will become us at some point in this camp. They’ll feel it, they’ll feel the comfort, they’ll feel the aggression, they’ll feel the attack mindset and the things they’re comfortable with. So the teaching part, yes. But also we really got to start to hone in on those things that are gonna make us feel, ok if you address the fan or uh the core practice here is your, your thoughts and feelings on your first training camp practice. Also being the first practice at this new practice field with the fans out there. Oh, it’s great. I mean, I, I wasn’t here to experience Wofford. So for, for me, I’ve been kind of spoiled that in Seattle and Tampa and then here we’re hosting training camp right in our facility. Um And I just think about the advantage of it is for our community as well. Um to be able to come to, to be around us, creating those moments for our guys, you know, and even just like at the end of practice, bringing them up for two last plays, guys, can we have that reset mentality regardless of what’s happening around us? I love the noise. I love the music. I love the fans being here so that they can just walk in and execute and do their job at the highest level at any part of our practice finish. But it was um it was really cool, it was really cool to address the bands um beforehand um to just see the faces and to see the people that, that are pulling for us. Um And just to know that again, what is it gonna be all about? It’s just getting our football right? You know, and making sure that we’re bringing a product every day um while we’re improving, we’ll take two more questions we might not have um trench play. What do you wanna see? What do you want to see in the past? First and foremost? Communication I wanna hear them talking more. Um I heard some good communication today, but that needs to go up a level every day. So as we get our calls, as formations change, the defensive front has to communicate, the back half is tied into that as well. And then offensively getting our combinations the way they need to be getting our protections aligned, we can start off with the, if you could start to play on the same page, you have a chance to leverage the different plays to be successful. So that communication is really what I’m looking for. You guys. Curious. Yes. So right now, what it’ll be is the staff is getting together, evaluating the film, uh making sure that we, we’re correcting our scheme, we bring the players back and then we’ll, we’ll watch the film together as a group, then we break up and we start to introduce them to the next day’s install. We walk through it this evening and then hopefully we come in the morning, the meetings are shorter, but we’re ready to go. We can try to sell to our guys if we wanna have reviews not installed. So these are things that we were given the guys to last night to start preparing them for the next couple of days. So, um that’s kind of what the values meant. And then of course, every evening of the statues kind of come together talking about our roster and just where everybody kind of fits in. Thank you. Thank you.
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