A
pre-MTSU interview with:
COACH DANNY HOPE
Q.
Danny, first your thoughts on
Middle Tennessee. They've been to bowl games three of the last
five years. What kind of problems do they present?
COACH HOPE: They're a good football team. Obviously
they've won the last couple years. They've had some post-season
play. They're a fast football team. On the defensive side
of the ball they're real big in regards to bringing pressure, a lots of
blitzes. They'll hang their hat on trying to disrupt your
offensive front. They do a great job of making sure they always
have you outnumbered in the box, so they're strong against the run
game. They have good speed, good quickness.
Offensively their quarterback is a very accurate passer. We
had a chance to watch some of his play from last year. He's an
excellent passer. Great field general with the offense.
They have an excellent runningback, No. 2, big play-maker for them,
very reliable. They spread the ball around a lot last
year. A lot of players caught a lot of passes, as many as 10
players that made their stat list in regard to receptions.
Their offensive line is smaller than some of the others we'll see
particularly once we get into Big Ten play. They're quick, they
do a great job of zone blocking. Very fine offensive line
coach. Special teams-wise they're similar to us,
accomplished players back for the 2011 season, blue-collar support
cast. Press and trail guys, front wall guys on the kickoff
return. A lot of experience coming back special
teams-wise.
Q. From your team I know there's obviously been a lot of
talk about the quarterback situation. With the runningback
situation with Ralph and Akeem, how are they looking?
COACH HOPE: Really good. I think we're really strong
at the runningback position. We have tough runningbacks.
Ralph Bolden is a heck of a player, a proven player. He came back
in camp. First time I've seen him really do a whole lot. He
has looked excellent. I don't think he's missed a beat.
Very fast, sudden, sharp, catching the ball well out of the
backfield. Looks fast and confident on his knee. We've had
some physical play out there in camp. He does a great job of
punching up there in short yardage and goal line situations.
Ralph is fully recovered.
Akeem Shavers, a great addition. Had a heck of a
spring. A very tough runningback, very strong, one of the
strongest guys on our team pound-for-pound. He's like Ralph in
some ways where he has a lot of punch when he finishes his runs.
He's a very good blocker as well. Jared Crank has been in
the program for a while. He's a talent. 245-pound
runningback, good runner of the ball, good receiver. As well as
Reggie Pegram. We have a lot of depth. Really fine
halfbacks, two big backs that could be good ball carriers as
well.
Q. You've been doing a good job in terms recruiting speed,
freshmen coming in. How many freshmen do you feel will be able to
contribute right away?
COACH HOPE: I believe all the junior college players that
we signed will help us this year. Kaulana Judd, Akeem Shavers,
Sterling Carter, the tight end, as well. I think the junior guys
will help our football team in the first game and even more so
throughout the course of the season. I really like what we're
seeing out of Akeem Hunt. He was a guy in the recruiting process
we thought was an exceptional athlete. He fared well at the
Georgia state track meets. Scored more points than any other
athlete that signed a BCS contract. He's been outstanding
throughout the course of camp. Very fast, very physical.
He's looked really good on special teams. He's looked good when
he got varsity reps. Looks great on the scout team. Going
to be a guy that's hard to keep off the field. As well as Brandon
Cottom, 6'2" and some change, 255 pounds. Was an excellent punt
returner in high school, special teams as well as a big back.
Then the two young defensive backs, both of those guys would have
a chance. Taylor Richards, I think he's been rotating with the
two-deep. We plan on him playing some this Saturday. Then
Frankie Williams and Armstead Williams, the linebacker, out of
Pennsylvania, has also done a great job. Anticipate him playing
possibly in the first game or sometime throughout the course of the
season.
Q. Your team went through a lot of adversity last year with
the injuries. I'm curious where you think the level of confidence
is with your team is right now.
COACH HOPE: I think we have a very confident football team
for a lot of the right reasons. I think we look back at the 2010
season, it only served to make it stronger and better prepared for the
2011 season. We had 18 freshmen that played very well and a lot
of first-time performers that played very well. Even though we're
somewhat a young football team, we're somewhat experienced. I
think we gained a lot of confidence from some of the achievements we
did last year with a young football team. We also had a
great summer preparing for camp. Almost our entire football team
was in West Lafayette with our new director of sports
performance. He has some new ways of getting our team
ready. I think our team has bought into his fashion and his
methodology. I think we're a more confident football team as far
as getting physically ready for camp. Then the way we
practiced, we have practiced like a football team that's on a
mission. They have showed up with a lot of energy, really focused
on details. I don't believe there was any point in time during
camp where we ever really hit the wall as a football team. I
don't believe there were any practices that we went through that were
non-productive. I think we got better every football
practice. I think they realized that. They put a heck of an
effort into it and I believe they have confidence based on the quality
of their preparation.
Even though there was some rough sledding last year, a setback at
the quarterback position, already this year we are a confident football
team just based on who we are, what we're about, what we've been
through, the effort we're putting into it on a daily basis.
Q. You mentioned the defensive pressure that Middle
Tennessee likes to bring. You have an inexperienced quarterback
in there. Is there any concern there? Anything you can do
to get Caleb and Sean ready to see a lot of blitzing on Saturday?
COACH HOPE: Sean played in some games last year. He's
far ahead in some ways for a guy that's only been in the program for a
year. Caleb TerBush has been here for a while, got a ton of
reps. It was a blessing in disguise in some ways as far as having
Caleb ready right now, that he was able to get so many reps at the
beginning of camp. Those guys have a good feeling for what we're
trying to get done from an offensive standpoint. They have a good
feel on what protections they would need to check against certain
blitzes, certain looks to get themselves fully protected.
Obviously we can manage some of that ourselves from a coaching
standpoint where they can get the ball out of their hands in a hurry
where the pressure might not be as big of a factor. I think Caleb
and Sean both will be in position to do very well as long as the people
that are around them do very well. It's hard to play really good
at quarterback if the people around you aren't playing well.
That's going to be one of our keys this week, to get ourselves in a
position where our offensive line can play well, our receivers can play
well.
Q. This is obviously not a conference game. It is a
season opener. You have a long season ahead of you. Just
this one game, how much meaning does this have in the scope of your
whole season?
COACH HOPE: Right now it's the most important game on our
schedule. We need to get a win. Our football team needs a
win. We need to play well, have some success. I think it's
important, not a means to all ends, but important for this football
team to start fast this season. I think building momentum
early in the
season can be important for this football team this football
season.
We're a football team that's committed to taking it one game at a
time. Right now it's Middle Tennessee. It's a game we have
to win. We're prepared very well for Saturday. Our guys
expect to win. It's the biggest game on our schedule, no question
about it.
Q. Middle Tennessee will probably have to bring a lot of
pressure via the blitz. How much does it help you to have a bunch
of offensive linemen who played so much together?
COACH HOPE: I really like our offensive line. The
communication factor is not near as big as it used to be in a lot of
ways. It's overrated nowadays, as far as the center being a
quarterback. There's still some truth to it, but nothing like
years ago. A lot of it has to do with the trend towards zone
blitzes. You call protections where you slide your front, take
some of the thinking part out of it.
The thing I like about our offensive line is there is some
experience and a lot of athleticism on the offensive line. I
think it's a very athletic offensive line. I was an offensive
line coach for a long time. I think it's one of the better
offensive lines I've been around in many years. Potentially could
be better. We have experience and size. We're not the
biggest in the league. The right side of our offensive line,
Justin Kitchens is 6'4" and a half, 284 pounds, bench presses about 440
pounds, not an ounce of fat on him. He's a premiere
athlete. Nick Mondek, 6'5", 300 pounds, bench presses about 500
pounds. I think he clocks about a 5 flat this summer. Two
really athletic offensive linemen on the right. Dennis Kelly has
been a four-year starter. NFL-caliber prospect. Then Peter
did a heck of a job for us at center last year. One of the
hardest positions to play on the field. We have him at left guard
right now. He's performed very well. He can play at any one
of the positions on our offensive line, either tackle spot, guard spot
or the center position. I've only been around a couple guys in my
30 years that can play all positions at this level. I think Rick
Schmeig is right at the center position, strong, tough, has a knack for
it.
Pressure is going to be an important factor this weekend. I
think we have exactly what we need to get that done with an experienced
athletic offensive line.
Q. You watched tape from last season of Middle
Tennessee. How much did their offense change when they had Logan
in?
COACH HOPE: It changed significant ways when Kilger was in
the line and passing the ball. When (indiscernible) was in the
game, it could have been run or pass. Sometimes it was passes
that manufactured into runs. Kilger is very accurate with the
football. He has good height. I think he's about
6'3". They have him set back deep in the pocket. He takes
an even deeper drop once he gets the snap. He's throwing the ball
way behind the center, does a good job getting the ball out of the his
hands. Not many hits on him. A very good quarterback, good
test for our defense, particularly pass defense.
Q. When you look at their skill guys offensively, anybody jump out?
COACH HOPE: Well, a lot of receivers that played last year,
a lot of receivers that caught passes last year. They're in
double-digits in regards to stats for passing and receptions.
Their big runningback, No. 2, is a very good player. He makes
people miss. Has a great understanding of the offense. He
blocks. Heck of a
play-maker. Very reliable player.
They have a big receiver coming back, No. 15, that really sticks
out on film. Good size, speed. Caught a lot of passes last
year. They have some very good athletes at the skill
position. The quarterback really makes them go.
Q. These last couple
of days, did you get any more information on Henry's knee, what his
time frame is going to be?
COACH HOPE:
No.
Q. Can you bring us up
to date on Gabe Holmes, how he's doing from an injury
standpoint?
COACH HOPE: I'm more
optimistic today than I was at the end of last week. He was
able to get out there and practice some. Hasn't gotten any
scrimmage reps, but some individual work, getting his stance, hit the
sled. He rides the sled. Individual
routes. He ran well, made sharp cuts and caught the
ball. We think he's going to be fine. Have to go
through the next couple of days without him tightening that hamstring
again. I think he's going to be okay for the game.
He missed a lot ofwork. He was really coming on, really
improved. I thought he was on pace to become a dominant
player early in the season. I hope he can retain the
reps. It's going to be a low-rep process getting him ready to
play for this game. He has a potential to be something very
special.
Q. Might it be a
game-time situation?
COACH HOPE: No, I
think he's going to be okay. He'll practice some
tomorrow. We have to be careful we don't have him do too much
too early where it gets sore or aggravated. I think he's
going to be fine for Saturday.
Q. Can you talk about Will Lucas, what you've seen
from him.
COACH HOPE: He's a lot
of fun to coach. He can be an outstanding player.
He has the in that case to play the position. He was a great
player in high school. I think he had almost 170 tackles in
his senior year, awarded the top defensive player in the state of
Florida from Orlando north. Very fast. Probably
runs 4.5 in the 40. Strong, packs a lot of punch, a lot of
wallop. If he's sure of his keys in reads, he can decipher
the play and get there in a hurry. He can be an outstanding
player in his position. I think he's really
progressed. I think Coach Elmassian has been good for
him. I think he's made a lot of progress to being true to his
run reads, made real progress in his pass defense. Linebacker
position is a lot more difficult to play nowadays than maybe 10, 15, 20
years ago, where you have to be stout against the run, have a lot more
assignments to pass defense compared to decades ago. Will
Lucas has the ability to be exception against the run and
pass. He can have a breakout year if he plays up to his
potential.
Q. I noticed you didn't have return men on your
two-deep as of now. Is that because there's still some
competition?
COACH HOPE: I've got it on my two-deep. I
just didn't give it to you guys
(laughter).
There's some competition. Health has a lot to do
with that as well, new guys. A lot of factors. At
least we have more people to put back there than we did at any point
last year. I went into the season last year thinking we had
all new skill players, toys to play with with regard to making big
plays, being a part of the return game. One by one we lost
them due to injuries. At one point I was afraid to put the
few top players we had left back there to catch a kick, afraid we would
lose them.
From a kick return standpoint, we have about half a dozen
guys that we've looked at and really like. I like Antavian
Edison and O.J. Ross. He's a heck of a player, very strong
players. He has cat quick hands, snatches the ball out of the
air, makes tough catches. Bench pressed 280 pounds, ran 3
something in the 40. He's more flexible than he was a year
ago. But he could be back there returning kicks for
us.
T.J. Barbarette was a good kick returner last year.
He's healthy now. We wanted to utilize him more last
year. He had an injury. He's healthy. We
anticipate him getting some of the duties back there. Akeem
Shavers, Raheem Mostert, Michael Eargle back there. I'm not
sure which two. I have an idea, but I won't announce until we
get closer to game day. If it's raining and
windy...
Punt return-wise we've been looking at Ricardo
Allen. Fastest guy on our team when we timed them this
summer. A big play-maker. Even though Waynelle was
our return guy last year, he didn't manufacture a lot of return
yards. He looks like a whole different guy to me this
year. He's lost some weight. He's a lot stronger, a
fit-looking body, a lot more confident. Sometimes when we're
watching the film of the practices at night, him playing the receiver
position, I have to rewind the film to make sure it's really
him. I've never seen him go as hard or fast. I
think he's been as I've been around at fielding punts. Looks
like a faster, more confident player. Justin Siller back
there. Also Antavian Edison and T.J.
Barbarette. We have some guys that can go in the game
return-wise.
Q. Just assess where
you're at defensive end. What have you seen out of Ryan
Russell from the start of camp?
COACH HOPE: Ryan is an
excellent prospect. He's still young in some ways.
He was redshirted last year. He's a big defensive end from a
potential standpoint. He's probably 6'5", about 260 something
pounds, has four years of eligibility left. He runs
well. He's very strong, particularly from the waist
down. Has some good weight room numbers in regards to the
squat.
A couple years from now he'll be a force to be reckoned
with. As he gets bigger, stronger, older, he potentially can
be a standout player. He has done well throughout
the course of camp. Physical enough and strains hard enough
to be effective against the run as well.
Gerald Gooden is the best he looked in two years. I
thought he was a good player two years ago even though I thought he was
overshadowed significantly by Ryan and other big defensive ends in the
league. Gerald Gooden was a good pass-rusher two years
ago. I thought he had excellent quickness, suddenness, was an
aggressive player. Last year he wasn't near as productive,
playing most of the season recovering from a sports hernia.
He has recovered, is much more physical, much more sudden and
quick. He's bigger and stronger.
Again, we don't have Ryan back, I think we have a better
Gerald Gooden. I like Ryan Russell, and Robert Maci can play
at both spots. He always has been a very good football
player. He had to play when he was really young.
Backup role at the end position. He's older and stronger now,
knows how to play his position.
I like what we have. Still not a Ryan over there,
but we can certainly manufacture a lot of plays with Maci, Gooden and
Ryan Russell as well.
Q. Is Ryan Isaac still
in that mix or do you like him at tackle?
COACH HOPE: I like him
better inside. There's going to be a place for him when we
need a big strong guy to go out there and whip the tackle, make some
plays.
Obviously some of our pass-rush we can manufacture from
pressure, just like any other team. We're very fast in the
back half, feel like we can land and get there in a hurry.
Manufacture some of our pass-rush with blitzes and pressure.
Q. What's the biggest difference you've seen in
Sean Robinson this year compared to last year?
COACH HOPE: Well, he
knows what to do. That's huge at the quarterback
position. He wasn't ready last year. It was very
unfair in a lot of ways he was kind of thrown to the wolves had to play
without us having the opportunity to prepare him for the magnitude of
the games he had to play in.
He's been very accurate with his passers. He has
shown good arm strength. He understands the
offense. Sean has a lot of pride. There's not many
people that will out work Sean in his pressure to get ready for a
game. He'll study film, notes, has a good football
IQ. He's like a lot of our other players just
because they played last year they're so much further along
at this point in time than last year. The same with Sean
Robinson. I think he's doing a good job of executing our
offense.
We came into the camp assuming that Robert Marve was going to
be healthy. I was sure that he was going to be ready to
go. I was surprised when he wasn't. He will be
ready soon, but he's not ready yet. Then Rob Henry got sick
during camp. He missed a significant amount of practices the
first half of camp. As a result, Caleb and Sean had to get
all the reps. It's ironic how it worked out, both of those
guys got the reps with the ones, especially Caleb. He was
having a lights-out camp. I think he started camp out faster
than any of our quarterbacks. He had a bunch of reps, kept
getting better and better. He's certainly ready to
play.
Q. You just mentioned
Marve. Did he not do what he should have done in the rehab
process?
COACH HOPE: What do
you mean?
Q. Was he not as
diligent of how much he should have been working? There's a
reason you thought he should have been ready by this point
obviously. Physically his knee didn't heal as fast or did he
not do as much as he could have in the process?
COACH HOPE: Well, I
wonder where you get an assumption like that. Robert has been
here all summer long and was assigned to the rehab coaches. I
assume they worked him as hard as he needed to work. He's one
of the harder working people we have on our football team on the field
and in the weight room. I can't imagine how he would fall
short effort-wise in his rehab over the course of the summer.
Again, I get a medical report every day. I don't
remember anything indicating he wasn't doing a good job from a rehab
standpoint.
Q. Why do you think
you can win with Caleb? What is it about him?
COACH HOPE: Well, he's
6'6", 230 pounds, has a strong arm, accurate, has been in the program
for three and a half years, has a lot of velocity on the
ball. Executed our offense very well from day one of
caamp. He's a talent. He's a talent. He
really is.
Coach Tiller I thought was as good as
there is in the evaluation process, particularly at the quarterback
position. He didn't miss very often. He certainly
didn't miss with Caleb.
Q. We asked Caleb last
week just about he ran quite a bit in high school. Now he
says he feels more comfortable in the pocket. Is running the
option for him an option?
COACH HOPE: No pun
intended, he is. You don't have to run as fast as Rob Henry
to manufacture a run game with a quarterback. That's a
luxury. Rob Henry is as fast as any quarterback playing the
game anywhere. A class sprinter at the quarterback position,
which is something to be excited about. Caleb doesn't run
like Rob Henry, but he runs pretty well to be 6'6", 230
pounds. At one point in time we were going to use him some in
a two-quarterback system, throw the ball, let them tackle him a little
bit because he is a big, physical guy.
Q. What is something
you're most eager or anxious to see from your team on
Saturday?
COACH HOPE: That's a
fair question. A lot of things. I want to see them
execute like we've been executing in practice. We're going to
make some mistakes. Don't misunderstand me. Someone
is going to jump off-sides, someone is going to get a
penalty. We've executed very well. We
have more players that have played in games, played well in games, when
we started the camp off. We started the camp off executing
well. I want to continue along that pace from an execution
standpoint. That's one of our keys this year for us being
successful, being a football team that can execute in all phases of the
game. I think we can execute in our first game well
offense-wise, defense-wise, special teams-wise. That hasn't
always been the case.
Q. Always seems like
they're trying to find a balance of defensively how much you're going
to do in these early games, whether you're going to blitz a lot, show
everything you have. Do you want to be that aggressive
defense and create things especially against a team that led in
turnovers?
COACH HOPE: We have a
plan of going into the game. As the game goes will sometimes
dictate what part of your plan you utilize the most. We have
good, strong players to line up and play very well using base
defense. We have a heck of a pressure package that's I think
rock solid sound that we've executed really well throughout the course
of camp. I would anticipate us going into the game loaded to
utilize either one.
Q. In terms of
linebackers, we've talked about those starting three guys, who is maybe
a pass-rush threat of those guys?
COACH HOPE: Well,
experience will go a long way with that. All of our
linebackers have played. I think Will Lucas is an excellent
pass-rusher. Every time we have utilized him from a pressure
standpoint, he has outstanding closing speed. That's a
difference maker for you. We can bring any one of our inside
backers. They're guys that have enough physicality about
them, foot speed, to take on the rush and manufacture some
pass-rush. I'm comfortable with any one of our linebackers,
potential pass-rusher force if we need to call that type of defensive
play.
Q. On the depth chart
you had the long snapper as an 'or'. One will do it on punts,
another on kicks?
COACH HOPE:
Possibility, right.
Q. There's a
difference between the two snaps. I'm pleading ignorance on
that.
COACH HOPE: We have
more specialists. We can use Carson as a kickoff guy, field
goal guy, certain punting situations as we have in the past.
Same thing with our snappers. Depends what we're trying to
get done. Both those guys can get that done very
well. Maybe the punter has one guy he likes better, feels
more comfortable with. We'll have a method to our madness,
but we have two good snappers which is a good thing.
Q. In these
non-conference tune-ups, what would it do confidence-wise if you went
out Saturday and blew them out, or if they kind of hung with
you?
COACH HOPE: We're
showing up to get a win. We don't believe there's a tune-up
on the schedule. They've been to a bowl game the last two of
three years. They've had winning the last two or three
years. I can't look at Middle Tennessee and look at them as a
tune-up game. We'll be happy to play our
best. We want to start fast, have a lot of fun, execute, take
care of the football. If we do those things, we'll
come away with a win. That's what is important for
us is to come away with a win. The most important game on the
schedule is next Saturday and we need to win.
Q. Is Ralph Bolden
ready for 20, 25 carries?
COACH HOPE:
Absolutely. He's done fantastic. Again, I
don't think he's lost a step. I was really
surprised. I hadn't got to see him do much. The
rules don't allow us to be around our guys much in the
off-season. Haven't had much chance to see Ralph do a whole
lot. Was thrilled to death the first day out there how fast
he looked, took the ball, got it on the edge, out-ran most of the
defense, catching the ball out of the backfield, making sharp,
confident cuts in practice, really planting on his
foot.
Again, we got down on the goal
line a couple weeks back in camp in a scrimmage situation, live
scrimmage situation, we gave Ralph the ball. The first play
he didn't get in there. He punched it in there as hard as he
could. We didn't manufacture much of a hole. Turned
around, gave him the ball again, he was able to punch his way through,
power his way down low, didn't shy away. That's when I knew
he was ready to go, to have the courage on the line with the defense
all stacked up to stop him.
Q. How do you feel
Caleb handled last season?
COACH HOPE: Better
than most. Caleb is a very likable guy, a great
teammate. Really cares about his teammates and the football
team. When he wasn't in position to play last year from an
academic standpoint, was assigned to some scout team duties for the
season, I thought he really embraced that role and tried to make a
difference with it. He went down there, he competed, he threw
the ball well, took charge of the offense. He gave our
defense a fantastic look. He got better as a football player
just by the attitude he took down with him to the scout team.
Was pleased with the way he handled last year. I
think a lot of it had to do with the success he had early in camp and
where he's at right now.
Q.
How is he better than he was before ?
COACH HOPE: He's a lot
more sure. He's had the bulk of the reps through 20 something
practices. Anytime you're getting the bulk of the reps, the
game slows down some, your assignments and alignments, they become
details that emerge during play because they're part of you.
That's what I see. He looks a lot more comfortable, a lot
more natural, a lot more confident. He understands the
offense significantly better than he did at any point last year when he
wasn't in the mix. Heave he's a big, strong-arm
quarterback. He can throw the deep ball, runs well.
He's a talent. Having lost Robert Marve temporarily, to have
someone like Caleb is huge for our football team.
Q. I'm looking at your
two-deep. Not seeing many in terms of freshmen.
You're more experienced now. How important is that and how
nice is it to be in a position where you have guys that have
played?
COACH HOPE: This time
last year we were optimistic that we could win in spite of what we had
on our football team. We had a lot of young, talented players
that we thought from an ability standpoint, from the quality
of person standpoint that we could have a good football team and be
able to win even though we didn't have a lot of experience coming
back. This year I don't look at any position on our
football team and wonder whether or not we're going to be
hold up in the game. This time last year I wasn't sure if
our center was ready to play yet. He never played
center before. He was spraying the ball all over the place in
practice. He wasn't accurate with his snaps until three days
before the Notre Dame game. Same thing with our right tackle
last year, Nick, never played on offense, never been asked to get in
the same stance and go forwards and backwards like you have to do as an
offensive linemen. He really struggled through
camp. Really probably didn't practice winning football
throughout the course of camp until we got midweek of the Notre Dame
game.
I don't see anyplace on our
football team that I look at and concerns about not being ready to play
this Saturday. A lot of players back, starters back.
Q. How much do you want to play Sean Robinson on
Saturday and what factors do you look going into the game balancing the
two quarterbacks?
COACH HOPE: We'll make
a more exact decision as we get closer to game day. But we
are committed to playing two quarterbacks. At one
point in time I was really excited about a two-quarterback
system. We wanted to do that a year ago when Robert Marve was
the starter, and Rob Henry was a guy we had to get ready to play the
quarterback position, a chance to get both of those guys on
the field. Henry being a great athlete, get some yardage out
of him. Going into the season this year, thinking
we had Marve and Henry back again, still wanted to employ a
two-quarterback system some. Not really as our bread and
butter, but a way to get both those players on the field at the same
time and keep the defense all balance some. We still had that
plan. Whether or not we use that plan or not, we're going to
play two quarterbacks somehow in each and every game. We have
to prepare a number two quarterback. We have to have a number
two quarterback that's ready to play. You can't get one ready
to play unless you play with him in the game. I worked with
Coach Nord at the University of Louisville and Oklahoma, our head
coach, it was his policy that he would earmark some drives in the
course of a game. Unless something unusual would happen, that
number two quarterback was going in. The only way he gets
some experience. You don't want the only time he goes in a
game when it's on the line in a tight situation.
We're going to play Robinson
some on Saturday. How much I don't know. We're
going to get him in there and get us some game experience. He
can help us win. He's a good football player, much further
along than he was at any time last year. He's a good
football, can help us win the first game and throughout the course of
the season.
Q. Did you ever think
you'd see Coach Tiller make the jump to the broadcast
booth?
COACH HOPE: I think
he's going to do great. I think it's going to be a lot of
fun. I think it's a great idea to get Coach Tiller back
around the football program some. He's a coaching legend,
Purdue football icon. I think it's a huge shot in the arm for
our football program. I think it will create some interest
from our fans. I think it's a win-win all the way
around. He's funny, well-read. He'll be prepared
and do a great job.
Q. He'll have his eyes
burning in the back of your head watching every move you
make. That will be an interesting thing.
COACH HOPE: He's more
than welcome to. I would polish his boots if he wanted me
to. I admire and respect him. If he's got
questions, comments, advice, I'm all ears.
Q. How do you think
Cody and Carson have been kicking the ball during camp?
COACH HOPE:
Good. Cody started off a little bit slow. He didn't
have the height on the ball. Wasn't kicking it as straight
and as far as the end of the season last year. That's
probably to be expected because he was kicking it really far and
straight at the end of last year. He was on the cutting edge
from a punting standpoint. I think he's done very
well. I anticipate him to pick up where he left off
at. I think Carson has improved. He's hit
more long field goals in practice than he did last year. His
kickoffs are further. He's punted some, done a great job with
it. I believe if he has the time of year that he can have,
that he can be one of the top kickers available for the draft next
year. He's really developed at his skills. Just
exceptional at it.
Q. How has Logan
looked in camp? What does it mean to have his brother on this
team as a redshirt freshman?
COACH HOPE: It's great
to have another Link onboard because they know how to work and
hit. He in time will be a great football player for us as
well. I like both our safeties, I like Albert Evans and Logan
Link. They hit like linebackers that have a lot of experience
at the safety position. I think Logan was our leader in
tackling last year. He has a great nose for the
football. I expect him to be even better than he was last
year. But you always get Logan Link's best. He's a
joy to coach. He's what coaching is all about.
Q. You mentioned you
really like your safeties. I wanted to ask you about Albert
Evans. Three months from now you wouldn't be surprised if he
had a big year, would you?
COACH HOPE: I
anticipate Albert having a big year and I'm counting on him to have a
big year. He's a good leader for us. He's really a
tough guy. He calls it like he sees it. Sometimes I
refer to him just being brutally honest, and he is. He's a
tempo setter for us. There's things we earmark to get done in
practice that are effort oriented. We mention those things to
our team. Albert is always one of the first to step up from
an action standpoint. If one of our goals is to get
more hats on the ball in a certain period of practice, Albert will be
the guy that gets his hat there first. He's an excellent
leader for our football team. I think he sets the tempo at
times for our practice and for all of our football
team.
Q. How do you think
the linebackers core has been doing, especially captain Joe
Holland?
COACH HOPE: Very
well. There's a couple of positions on our football team that
have improved significantly throughout the course of spring football
and camp. I think the offensive line and the linebackers are
the two spots on our football team that may have improved the
most. Again, the linebacker position has changed a lot in the
last 10 to 20 years where you have to be able to be a force against the
run. There's very little margin for error in pass
defense. I like the addition of Coach Elmassian on our
staff. He has a very extensive secondary background on our
coach. I think that allows him to tie the linebacker play
with the pass defense with a little more level of efficiency.
Our linebackers are experienced and they run well. I think
they've been closer to the ball in the passing game and they've got
their nose on the ball a lot more in the run game throughout the course
of spring and camp. They're much more sure and true to our
run reads and fits we're much more sure where we need to be in pass
defense. I think we've improved significantly.
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