Rich Rodriguez Aug 12

So Richard, I've had you doing sort of different positions in the last few interviews, so do defensive backs this week, start maybe with safeties, your overall impression, and then a few individuals. I appreciate you. Yeah, you're smart. Got a lot of new guys. Yeah, there's really three safety positions if you count the nickel, that's kind of a safety linebacker, but on the true safety spots, a lot of new guys. We got Kamari Wilson, who's got some experience. He's played pretty well. We got Matt Sigg, a true freshman. He's got to go and have a great future here. Damari Williams. Jacob Bradford, they're both transfers in. Tim Roberson's a transfer. Cam Reddick is a transfer. Andrew Padreau, they're going to have an outstanding year. He's a veteran guy that really had a great spring. He's been a little limited in the beginning of camp, but he'll be practicing here a full go here in a couple days. But we got some pretty good competition at the safety position. And we got guys like Jameer Latimer that can play safety. We got him at nickel, but him and Padreau can play either one of them, safety or nickel. So the competition is ongoing. Yeah, corner. Again, a lot of new guys. Veteran coming backs played in our system. Nick Taylor. Keyshawn Robinson. They're battling with Choms John, who's a transfer, big guy. Tremaris Bomar is another guy that's got some experience in our system. Jaya Rolison has flashed. He's flashed some stuff today. And then Day Day Allen is another transfer that's shown some good stuff. And then there's a really good young class. There's guys like Kai Boone, Vincent Smith, Smodge Hill. Those guys all are young guys that have multiple years left. I think they're all going to be good players for us. I think we're bigger, particularly at corner. Our guys last year competed hard, but there were just times where we just got mossed a little bit at times with some of the big wide outs. We were in position to make the play, just couldn't. Not quite big enough maybe to do it. So we went purposely to try to get some length and some size at the corner position. You look at Choms, who's 6'3", or 6'4". Nick's 6'6", 6'1". Keyshawn's almost 6'. Ray Sean Reynolds is another guy we brought in. I think he's going to have a good season for us. He's 6'3". Day Day Allen's 6'3". So there's some corners now that got some length that we haven't had before. Is having all those new guys going to make you nervous or does it kind of make you excited to have a fresh piece of equipment? Yeah, nervous is the right thing, but a little apprehensive. That's the whole thing, we try to put them as much game situation and practice as we can because we don't have any preseason games or scrimmage games. So the first time they go out live against Coastal, it counts. And there's a lot of new guys. I don't know how many new starters there are. Two or three returning starters or something from last year. There's not a lot. But if you're ready to play with the intensity we try to portray in practice, then it'll translate to the game. You mentioned Matt Sigg as somebody who's a great future feeder, a part of the group. How do you judge somebody without knowing the game shape they're going to be in and how they're going to play the game that young? If they're ready, how much can you play them? How can you judge that now? You just do it during practice. They're going against good guys. We try to make practice as competitive as possible. Everybody says that, but do they really do that? I think our practices are pretty competitive. I don't want to say pressure is the right word because pressure is a privilege, but we try to put them in a situation like see how's he going to react here and then the games become easy. Guys, sometimes they're fresh. You worry about a freshman maybe more than anything else. But a guy like Matt who's played at a high level in high school, coach's kid, smart, mature, there's nothing that he can't handle in the game. It's more now just getting them used to a college system and college different coverages and getting the speed of the games a whole lot faster. I see him and all those younger guys, they're the ones that adapt the most because they're going against some pretty good dudes on the other side too. Were you hoping he was going to be a winner? Yeah, I think so. Again, we had a little bit of live yesterday. Today's shorts are hard days to evaluate, but we'll have a little scrimmage Saturday and another little scrimmage the following week, and that will play a big part in it. But I can see – you can see that they're slowly getting better at grasping what we want them to do. How do you get out of the scrimmages? Well, we got – again, with so many new guys, we got to figure out who's ready to win with, who's ready and then create some situations where we put them under the gun a little bit during scrimmage and see how they respond the best we can. Like some of these guys, even though some of them are new, they've played – a lot of them have played college football and started, so it's not going to be that big a deal. I mean, I always hope our atmosphere is better than anybody's, but because they've played in college games and played on games and national TV and big crowds, a lot of them, it's not going to be that big of a wow thing early in the season because they've been there and done that. Zigg, do you kind of let his talents find a spot for him or does he start with one? Matt, say that. Yeah, I mean, I think we thought from the start that our bigger need was at safety, and so he's not done anything on offense. You look at his different spots. Does he fit into one better? Do you let him – Yeah, I think both of them. We want both safeties to play both the boundary and the field safety and there's – I think every one of them that we have can do both. General, when you're talking about evaluating players, a lot of this seems like individual evaluations. Are there sometimes guys that play better with a certain group around them or guys that you're like, hey, individually they were – Yeah, that's a fair question. I don't think so. You know, it's like is a quarterback better with this guy at running back or this guy wide receiver? You know, we roll guys in and out so much that we don't want that to be the case. You know, because I hope we never have another year like last year where you got all the quarterbacks hurt and all those running backs hurt and it was just crazy. But I think we're trying to create depth and it's a good quality depth. No matter who's out there, quarterback doesn't matter to him who's playing center, who's playing tailback. And we roll so much in practice because of that. Because, you know, even though we don't want to go through the season like last year, we got eight straight games and no open dates. You know, that's just the way the schedule falls this year. That's a lot at this level, eight straight with no open dates. So we better make sure we have some quality depth. In terms of contact against quarterbacks during the scrimmages. Yeah, I mean they're – you know, Scotty and Mike are kind of in a black jersey where it's just tag. But I'm debating whether, you know, they're both – I don't worry about either one of those guys' toughness per se. So I'm trying to decide whether I want them to go live or not. Because when it's live it's better for them. They want to be live and, you know, they can outrun sacks or, you know, make big runs or whatever. So I don't know if I'm going to let them go live at all in a scrimmage. I got to think about that. You know, my tendency is usually not because both of them played in college and have had success and, you know, been out there. So I don't know if I'll let them get hit. But the rest of the guys – and I don't let those quarterbacks. I mean, usually if something's – you know, we blow a protection or something happens, the guy's coming free and the quarterback's in a live situation, I'll probably blow a quick whistle anyway. Because no need to get our own guys blown up. But, you know, I think more than anything else, if our quarterbacks look a little hesitant or they're holding on to the ball too long, we'll tell you now we're going to make it live and make them get – you know, kind of teach them that. But I don't think that's going to be an issue with them. Coach, you have a scrimmage coming up that you're talking about now. It's almost mid-August, early to mid-August right now. In this scrimmage or even anyone's in the future, how much of it is just in general working on things or do you actually have Coastal Carolina in your mind? Yeah, a little bit of Coastal from, you know, when we started camp. You know, some of our early installs was that in mind. But, you know, this is – I have to look back, but I think this is the shortest training camp that we've had in a long time. You know, it's – yeah, but it's – you know, just the way the calendar fell. It wasn't – you know, there wasn't so many practices. And so you actually – you get more practices or start a whole lot earlier if you go in week zero, which I think we're going to try to do next year. So this is like – I can't remember a time not even having two weeks of practice of camp and that's it and school starts. But that's the way the calendar falls this year. So there is a sense of urgency to try to get as much done when we got all ball last week and this week and then next week when school starts it's going to be a little bit more limited. But, you know, that got to play part into what our coaches are thinking about and install in all three phases so we're not, you know, getting ready for Coastal Carolina two weeks before the game and all of a sudden we still haven't figured out who our guys are and what they're doing and the fundamentals aren't there and all that stuff. Speaking of quarterbacks, is Hugh Lee to the point you want to consistently get him game this year? Yeah, he's like – you know, there's no more red shirt in any way, right? But we're – you know, he's – you know, with him and Wyatt's a little banged up so hopefully when he gets there but, you know, he needs some – he's the guy that would need some scrimmage time, you know, because that's – everything's happening a little bit faster for him. He's a really talented guy, very conscientious and I think he's got great things ahead of him. But he's the type of guy that, you know, Mike and Scottie have played, even Max Brown has played a lot of football, but all those other guys need some quality, intense type of scrimmage reps so that will be big for them. We'll do a little bit tomorrow but it will be mostly Saturday. Back to your secondary, how much of an emphasis have you made it on that position group just to try to eliminate or lessen the explosive plays this season? Yeah, we get – some of it is you give up explosive plays because you're not getting the pass rush and he's got all day to throw it and the guy's got all kinds of time to get open down the field. But, you know, I think it's really, you know, Coach Alley's system. He does a lot of different stuff with the secondary guys. You know, they got to be very conscientious of formations and splits and their eyes have got to be in the right spot. Usually for young guys the eye – they have eye violations. You know, they're looking at the wrong area for too long, gets them in trouble. But we purposely try to get them, you know, a lot of deep shots in practice so we can test at them. I think they're, you know, so far I don't know. We've gotten a few deep balls here and there. But, you know, we haven't had a lot of explosives. But we have a scrimmage like Saturday scrimmage is going to be important because we got to – right now the defensive coaches are on the sidelines, the offensive coaches sometimes are in the back. But we're kind of helping them from the sidelines, you know, and all that. When we go to scrimmage it's going to be like coaches are going to be kind of like hands off, voice off, kind of, you know, we'll correct some stuff but we got to let them play and see how they handle that. One week and seven practices into this, you probably have a little bit of a better feel than you did on day one. Would you, in comparison to one weekend last year and to where you would like to be one weekend, how are you feeling about this so far? To say I think it's a fair question, I was just trying to think about myself as I'm looking – because I look at our scripts from last year, this year and, you know, how we're practicing, what we're doing each period. And so I'm also trying to think like where were we at? Was I really – was I happy one weekend? I don't think I've ever been happy in 29 years. One weekend, two weekends, four weeks in. So, I guess like if I look back at my notes, it's like, man, I'm ticked off after week one because we haven't made more progress. That would probably be the same thing I said 29 other times, you know. So, I don't – I'm trying not to put too much into it, but I like to be further along than right now. But if I looked at my notes, we're probably further along than we were in the past. In fact, I know we are, so I can't complain. You mentioned last year about even times having to make sure the coaches were all in the right mindset, even the ones that knew you, about what's hard edge and calling out players and culture from the coaches. Where is that now? And obviously there's a couple of new additions, but is that not work you have to worry about this year, you did last year? Yeah, I think, you know, the coaches have been around, kind of understand not just so much the culture, but just the environment, the intensity, you know, the way we go about doing our practices and our program. And new coaches adapt pretty quickly, you know. The guys that have been with me for a long time are guys like Rick Trickett. I mean, Trickett and I have been together a long time. So, I mean, I didn't have to worry about that. But we have a lot of – we have so many coaches now, which is a great thing. And they're all really eager and good and are going to be great, got great careers ahead of them. But it still, you know, comes down to like their singular focus has to be why we're practicing that next play or that next rep or that next thing got to be the most important thing in the world to them at that time. That means it's the most important thing to them in the world in general. But at that time, their singular focus has to be that very next rep or play or whatever we're teaching. And our coaches do a really good job of that. Our managers and trainers do. And I'm trying to get the players to do the same thing. Because there's a, you know, when I go to practice, I mean, like we got some great people visiting and all that. But once the whistle starts for the first period, I mean, there could be bombs going off outside. I mean, I'm not talking to anybody. I'm like totally into the very next thing we're doing. And our coaches do a great job of that. And our players I think have done a better job of that. You know, because there's a lot of – you watch a lot of practices and there's a lot of lollygagging around. Got players on the sidelines looking at birds or, you know, over there chatting about something on TikTok or whatever it is. And, you know, I've asked the entire program, everybody in the entire program, recruiting staff, everybody. When we practice, we have 100% engagement on everything that goes on in practice all the time. Kamari Wilson. Kamari is going to be a really good player. I mean, he's one of those guys that's got a lot of experience, played really good football. It's been a seamless transition for him here. It feels like he's been around, you know, forever because he's got a great personality. And, you know, guys gravitate to him. So, I've been really pleased how he's played since he's been here. But also, you know, kind of, you know, how he's fit into West Virginia football. What's that? You're inside the receivers? Inside. You know, DJ Epps is a really good player. Again, another guy that's highly productive where he's at. He's had excellent practices all during camp. Who has slot receivers? You got to help me out here. Yeah, Monte Weaver, you know, just had an unfortunate family. His father passed away and missed a little bit of time. And a great family. He's going to be – he's one of the fastest guys on the team. He's back now and doing some really good stuff. KT Triplett is a junior college guy that's slowly getting better. You can see the beginning of it, he was wide-eyed. This is kind of all new to him, but he's been doing good. But DJ's the leader in that group. I think Armani's going to play a lot of football for us. We have – we got a couple guys that can play in a slot like Jaden Bray and John Niter will play both outside and inside. Cyrus Troll can play both in a slot inside and outside. So we've moved the wide outs around a lot more than we have in the past. And some of them like Jaden and Cyrus and John Niter, who's an experienced guy, can handle that. Is it easier, despite the big roster turnover for the second year in a row, to maintain kind of that culture or just that intensity and that mindset? Because 20, 30 of the guys came back that played with you last year. I'd say it's a little bit easier, but still harder than probably will be in the future. You know what I mean? Now we have like 14, 15 seniors or something. Hopefully we get most of them coming back. And so it won't be nearly the same transition again. There's still a little bit more. I find myself still having to do some culture things that I won't have to do or won't have to worry about as much next year or the year after that, year after that. So it's a little bit still there, but it is better than last year where it was new for everybody. Have those older guys kind of like surprised you or just impressed you in general with the way they've stepped up in that regard by leading in that aspect? Yeah, and again, I'm a little different. I'm not like asking guys to be leaders every day on practice field, whatever. I want leaders in the locker room. I don't want leaders off the field. But I'm not worried about leaders on the practice field. That's what the coach is there for. But I do want guys that kind of show a certain type of consistent effort and intensity. You know, if that makes sense. Like if that's a leader, that is a leader. That guy plays hard all the time. That guy's attentive all the time. That guy, you know, he's running from drill to drill. Yeah, you're seeing that on Jaden Bray. You're seeing that on Nate Gabriel. You're seeing that on Nick Cray. You know, Ben Cutter. You know, guys that have played a lot of football for us and been here. You know, those guys, like when I start getting in one of my moves because we're not like the intensity is not what it is. You know, it ain't those guys ever. I'm not worried about them. They're always in it. So, we're slowly getting there. Like I said, I think we got a lot of work to do. But how we practice is different. It is. You know, the intensity and the edge or whatever it is, I want it to be different. And that's not fair. But that's just the way we do it. And everybody's got to buy into it. I know they're there because they're deserving coaches. But how important is it to have Iowa and NOAA Divine to help lay out that culture because they were with you? Oh, it helps because they guys got a lot of respect. You know, it's like Rasheed Marshall and Chris Herring. All those guys are great players here. So, that helps. And it hasn't been hot. But if it's a hard part of practice, whatever, then there's not really been a hard part of practice. I mean, I don't think you're looking over and seeing if Pat or Noel or somebody or Rasheed is telling them to like, hey, go harder. You know, that's all our coach's job. I usually take the lead in that. I enjoy it. I don't like – I yell a little bit. I don't really enjoy it. But it doesn't bother me. If you are eventually able to add players back with the ruling stuff, it's kind of a weird position. You may feel different than you would have a week ago after watching some practice. Does that factor in it? Or are there certain positions where it might be easier for someone to come in and hit the ground running? How does that work if it doesn't happen? Yeah, I mean, boy, I don't know. I just read something a little earlier today where the NCA was following a motion or something. So, nobody, that fifth-year deal and that court case, whatever is going to be hold or held. So, who knows what's going on. I think he kind of really pushed the pause button. We may have a couple guys that could have a fifth-year and we've got a plan for that. But I'm like really waiting until, okay, they're good to go, there's no more court cases coming up, you know. So we're not wasting anybody's time.