Troy Taylor & Stanford Players Discuss Stanford's Opening Week Matchup vs. TCU Horned Frogs

[Music] Steve you're up first hey how you doing good how are you doing okay thanks what has you uh most excited what has you most concerned uh four days from opening the season against TCU well just excited to watch our guys play I know they've uh worked really hard since the the last game of our season um last year and uh you know put a lot of work and as a staff they put a lot of work in training and just everybody's ready to roll um nervous uh not really nervous just knowing the first games you know you're gonna have some it's not going to be perfect for either team and um just hoping you you know overcome the nerves quickly and settle in and and uh play football thank you so much Pat thanks Maddie h tro Pat 40 from Sports Illustrated not a game specific specific question for you but just wondering what the approach has been to prepping for the travel that you'll be doing for ACC Road games yeah I think just more planning in terms of uh you know we going to have a larger plane we're going to get out a day earlier um we've talked a lot about hydration and um you know I think getting that a day out early and acclimating and and you know being on a plane after we practice like on a Thursday and then we can when we get to the hotel sleep and then kind of have a whole day we'll make a huge uh I think it'll be beneficial so um not too much anxiety about that I think uh you know we do a great job of taking care of our guys and traveling and um they'll be comfortable and um we're excited to go to to different venues have you studied it at all like um uh distance travel and just what what the effects may be and how you may be able to counteract that yeah I me a little bit I mean just talking to our people that are kind of um well read in that area and so I think you know the honestly it's the the East Coast the thing that you know probably is the thing you worry about the most is the humidity earlier in the year uh with the kickoffs Now Syracuse we're we're playing indoors in the evening I don't know if the Clemson time has been declared yet um but I just think uh you know being able to to try and keep our clocks in terms of our you know our lifestyle and all that is as close to POS the same as possible um and you know we'll we'll be able to kind of deal with all those situations I think um in in a pretty normal way thank you thank you Pat kaek oh yeah thank you coach um you know just a little bit more specific question um obviously you guys used Justin Lamson a lot in a lot of short yard situations last year and he was really effective at it and obviously you guys have him back I'm just curious if you guys you know PL to still use them there or um you guys want to give more carries to the running backs in those short yard situations I'm curious maybe what the game plan is there yeah so we're you know we have three quarterbacks it uh you know we haven't announced who's going to be the starter but um we got three guys that um I really feel comfortable that can play and Justin obviously brings an element uh being able to run the ball and a physicality to the short yards and goal line but you know Ash is also Ashton's also a really good runner so and um Elijah Brown is a a guy that's able to get himself out of trouble and and get yards too so um yeah we feel great about Justin in those situations and we have number of different elements and things that we can do thank you Ben yeah just uh just kind of early thoughts on on TCU um just kind of what have you seen from them and just what areas have you seen that are maybe you know kind of biggest points emphasis against the horn frog specifically yeah so you know obviously first game um you know on the offensive side of the ball you know they have a you know Andy Avalos is their defensive coordinator he was obviously Boise State last year I'm pretty familiar with him he's an outstanding coach he's been good on defense wherever he's B been um and so we've watched um you know a lot of lot of tape of Boise State and stuff that he's done in the past um you know Personnel wise you know they're they're always a really talented team um so it's going to be a challenge um they've got a number of trans transfers that that they've brought in and so you know the element of not totally knowing what they have on Personnel is is always going to be a factor when with the transfer portal in the first game um but they're really well coached um on on All Phases of the game I've known Sunny Dykes for a really long time um and uh Kenn BRS was an outstanding offensive coach and so they're they're going to have great challenging schemes um they know how to do it um and you know there's also the El of what you're going to what they're going to do a little bit differently and I'm sure they have the same um you know a little bit of anxiety and wondering if we'll be any different so that's normal first game stuff um but um I think you know we'll we'll be ready to roll thank you John coach I want to talk about the coach to player communication in the in the helmet uh where are you in that Evolution are you is there is there a cut off like 15 seconds before the play expires or something just kind of give window because that's new for you as well as the player yeah so it once the the play clock starts and then it you have communications as long as you know it's working it doesn't go down until 15 seconds on the play clock uh and then we can no longer communicate with the whoever your player is um on the field obviously for us it'll be the quarterback um so really makes communication a lot easier a lot quicker um also um I think eliminates the um ability for people to steal your signals and and those type of things so um I think it's an a great rule really happy that they implemented it this year and it's been great for us you know there's still the times where you know it's technology so it can it can go down at times so you still got to be ready with a backup plan um on how to get your plays in and we have a you know a couple different ways of doing that thank you John Troy yeah coach fascinated in this match up with uh the wide receivers on both side let's talk about Stanford's here I man are getting top billing but who are some of the other guys that have emerged in the mix wide receiver wise throughout the course of fall and that we could maybe get a chance to reintroduce ourselves here in the early part of the Season yeah I saw a little bit of Jackson Harris last year he played a little bit he'll be a guy that's very involved and uh ish CCE who's who's had a really good camp and of course you guys know about tiger bachmeyer and um you know the feral brothers and um so you know all those guys are going to bring an element to to us and um EMT Mosley is an outstanding player so we're we're excited about our wide receiver group and then you know they obviously they have a tremendous group of wide receivers number three Williams is is outstanding um and they got a number of other guys so yeah I think it'll be a a good evening to to watch good wide receiver play thank you David actually uh you mentioned that you have not named a starter uh and have three quarterbacks that you like how how many of them do you expect to actually play in this game is it something where you'd like to have a package for multiple quarterbacks or you want to see a guy try to go as long as they can yeah I mean I I don't think I want to reveal my cards right now but um you know we I'll just say this we feel we feel great about all three of those guys um I think they're all three outstanding players that and I think we can win with all three of them and and uh as a short followup um pass protection was an issue at times last year how much progress do you feel like the offensive line has made in that in that sense that whoever's going to be back there is going to have a little little time to work with yeah no it's uh you know it was a a major point of emphasis as soon as the game ended in terms of what we're doing how can we help our guys how can we be better at it um running the ball obviously he always going to help with pass protection so um I think all those things uh play together now how much improved are we I think we are but you know we we're going against our own team um so we'll we see you know when we when we play a new opponent um but I feel great about our guys up front and how hard they've worked um they've really bought in they've got bigger they've got stronger um they're more mobile they have a better understanding of our protection so um I'm excited to watch our our guys up front and you know obviously it's not just the old line and pass protection it's the tight ends and the running backs and feel like we've improved in in all those areas thank you Steve yeah Troy I hope I don't sound like the crotchy old man telling me to get off my lawn but uh uh kids these days kind of have short memories not only kids most people kind of have short Memories the past three seasons Stanford's been three and nine each season if you just go back you know to the 2009 to 2018 stretch of 10 years Stanford was if not the best team on the west coast certainly one of the top two or three do you have to convince your younger guys that you know the three and nine is the anomaly the 2009 to 2018 is what Stanford is or am I looking too much into that well you know we don't look too far back to be honest with you last year is about as as far as anybody looks back so I don't I don't know maybe subconsciously you know people have those thoughts in their minds you know we're really focused in on changing the way we were changing the way we prepare obviously you know we want to have a more successful season we did last year we're a lot different team than we were last year um so we'll see what happens but we we spend a lot of time just focusing on the day-to-day details and you know people are obviously going to have their opinions about your program and and Look Backwards a lot but we don't spend a lot of time doing that to be to be honest with you fair enough thank you Steve kek yeah coach um I know the NCA instituted new roster limits now and so you know now football teams can offer up to 105 scholarships I was wondering if there have been talks between you and the athletic department about increasing the amount of scholarships you guys give in the future yeah there's been preliminary talks for sure you know I think that would go into effect uh a year from now so uh those things are all being talked about and obviously there's tons of changes going on in college football we you know we uh obviously like to have all of our guys on scholarship that's our preference and um you know that's what I've been told will happen so excited about that um and uh I think you know some of the rules that are that are being changed and stuff you know some of them are really good and then some of them we're going to have to see how you know obviously with the ability to have your limitations on the roster of 105 it's not going to be a huge effect on us we've always been kind of limited to to 110 um but some schools you know have over 130 players so um that's going to obviously eliminate a lot of players that were Walk-Ons at time so won't have as much effect on us but I know that will definitely be um some programs will be affected by it thank you Ben kind of two questions for you first of all just kind of in general how do you feel about the team healthwise going into week one um and then also uh just kind of how close do you feel you are to kind of a sort of a depth chart kind of pecking order across the board yeah pretty close I think on the on the depth chart um um we'll kind of solidify that here in the coming days but we we we know the guys that are going to play and uh you know a couple of guys that are are getting healthy and should be ready health-wise I I think you know we're pretty in pretty good shape um you know like I said there's a couple guys that are that should be right on the brink of being able to to get going this week so that's always a a good feeling um especially this year we have we have more depth so being able to have most of our team ready um I think is huge for us and how we practice and prepare and then obviously ly given us depth U for a long season and against a really good TCU team thank you John coach I'd ask you to comment on the the the the transfers on the defenses I note one on each of the three levels Jay green and uh Josiah Galvin and and Klay Patterson just kind of first impressions of them more than first you've had them for a few weeks now and whatnot but just kind of how they're fitting in yeah fitting in really well all three Great Character guys that have come in and just quietly worked and proven themselves through their you know disposition and their work ethic and being team players so that part's been great and then uh they bring athleticism and and Clay's position and instance of great size and physicality so all three of those guys we've been um excited about um you know obviously we haven't had a lot of transfer portal guys around here um thus far but those are three guys that uh we think are going to really help us this season and just a quick followup coach you're on the offensive side of the ball Keen Eye For That on when there's a defensive portal guy do you how heavily do you rely on your on your defensive assistance and then do you sort of do a final look see how does how does your input to a a defensive acquiree via the transfer portal work yeah it's a good question so you know obviously a recruiting staff will we first vet them as soon as they go on the transfer portal see if they're you know academically viable for us um that's kind of the first step for us and then um then we evaluate them as as athletes and then we if we feel like they're kind of in the mix then our defensive staff will look at it look at them and then decide and then we find out if they're interested and then I'm kind of the last step but I have a lot of faith in our coaches and our coaching staff that they know what they're looking obviously I'm going to be much more involved on the offensive side but uh yeah at the end of the day I need to feel comfortable with uh any player that we're bringing into the program thank you Troy yeah coach obviously Sunny Dykes No Stranger uh to playing games at Stanford Stadium very familiar with him obviously with his time at Cal and very familiar with his offensive prowess as well any common links between Sunny Dykes coach teams from the offensive side of the football that you've noticed that that you think we might see on this side this go round yeah so known Sunny for a really long time and followed him closely and got to know him with in his time at when he was at Cal and uh you know studied that system and uh spent some time um with his staff um at Cal when I was at fulam high school so um a lot of respect for what Sunny has done um not just offensively but in his football programs um but they're they've been just an explosive team um on offense and everywhere he's been um so you know with and then with Kendall br bringing his elements of of his scheme and and knowhow um obviously it's going to be a a challenging offense they they know how to throw it um as good as anyone in the country um and they're they're a team that is kind of pressing you constantly so it'll be a heck of a challenge and then then they got really good Personnel so um I think I'd say the consistency with sunny is they're they're always good on offense and um obviously with uh Andy aalos and what he does on the defensive side I think they they feel really good bit uh with their coaching staff thank you Steve yeah tro if I remember correctly toward the end of last season you got you got a question in a news conference can't remember was after a game or you know the Monday Tuesday ahead somebody asked you know because of the injuries and the the relatively thin roster you had had your offense not shown what a Troy Taylor offense could show and you said yeah basically you know I've had to kind of scale it back if that's the case how much what percentage of fans or when fans are at Stanford Stadium Friday night or watching on TV how much different will they see the Stanford offense than they saw maybe toward the end of last season yeah I think you know just going back to last year definitely when you come in a situation where you know you got to adjust and uh you know we we did that um I'd say this season yeah we're we're going in with our guns blazing and and uh feel much better about um you know our depth and our guys and their uh comfortability I guess with the offense and the scheme uh we definitely made some adjustments uh to the scheme and as football adapts and evolves you got to adjust as well it's not one of those things that stays stagnant defensive coaches are changing constantly to adjust the to the offense and then offensively you got to be able to adjust to those schemes now they're not necessarily anything that you would not notice if you're just watching on TV but um we've definitely adapted um some things that we're doing but the the premise of the offense and and philosophy um I'd say is is pretty similar to what I've always done in the past and I think this year yeah you'll have a a much better U look at the offense and kind of who we're going to be moving forward thank you than yeah kind of building on Steve's question um how do you kind of go about installing new plays and trick orations and things like that is is it stuff that you've already kind of worked out in Camp or is there any stuff like maybe during game week you might break out how do you kind of go about that kind of creative process it's a great question i' I'd say you know for the most part I'm a big believer in that you're going to um run the stuff that you've practiced and um the offseason is really the time for research and experimentation and and trying um maybe some different things and then seeing what your team does well um and then being able to to teach it and and Coach it and um and get reps in what you're doing so there's always a mix of uh the things that you do no matter who you're playing and then a little bit of game planning um in terms of who you're playing maybe what they're really good at maybe what they struggle and so there's an adjustment you just got to be really careful that you don't have too many new Concepts when you go into a game because the other thing you got to keep in mind is they're going to change a little bit too so you can't um every single game and play now again they'll have what they do but they're going to have minor tweaks and game plan things that they do against you so it's always I think for coaches it's always um a battle to make sure you're running the stuff that you feel good about but also having a few different things so that you can you know keep the other side of the ball you know on their heels a little bit Diego hey coach I had a couple of followup questions about the um the helmet Communications one uh who's the player you're going to be communicating with on the defensive side of the ball and does the rules that only allow one player with the speaker to be on the field at one time impact your ability to use multiple QB packages that's a great question absolutely yeah you can only have one on the field so it'll be our quarterback and then if we BR if we bring in uh and have two quarterbacks on the field at the same time only one of them can have uh communication now that's a penalty if they catch you I don't know if they you know ever notice it we would never attempt to do it but um they'd have to see the green sticker and all that and I don't know how much they're policing that but um yeah on the defensive side of the ball um it'll be one of our linebackers that will communicate um with our coaches and unless they you know in in a certain week that they feel it's a better concept to have a secondary player but most likely it'll be a linebacker thank you Troy yeah obviously a win this week would be incredible getting to one and0 but how much more special would the would a win this week potentially be given the fact that it would be a win at home what would that mean to this program yeah I think no matter where you're at you know getting off to a great start and winning your first game is is is always a plus so um we want to I mean bottom line is we want to win them all um obviously winning a a game at home is is is great but Wi on the road is is just as satisfying so we're just excited to be able to play we're we're happen to be playing a really good team our first game of the year and um we got our hands full but we're we're excited and we're confident going into the game thank you last question we'll go to John coach another sort of evolution of football question although this is close to home for you the running back's catching the ball out of the back field obviously with Christian mcaffrey and watching the NFL we see that valued more and more are you looking more for that in in recruiting are you looking to incorporate that more into the existing running backs that you have sort of give us a sort of a download without revealing plays of course AB of your of your philosophy there our philosophy is we want them to be able to do all three things run the ball which most of them are really good at we want want them to be able to catch the ball and then pass protect and so uh you know obviously looking for guys to be able to do all three things sometimes when you're recruiting High School guys you know they just haven't caught many balls they've ran it a lot and they blocked a little bit um so some times you got to when you go out and see them you got to see what their ball skills are like I feel really comfortable with with all the three guys that uh we recruited we felt like what we had seen on tape and evaluating them they could catch the ball but that's always something that's really important now if we are recruiting a back that maybe a subpar with his hands but is an incredible Runner and protector um we would have space for somebody like that we just don't want to have too many guys because we just ask our guys to to get out and and catch the ball so much uh we want to always maintain that threat all right thank you so much coach awesome thanks guys all right hello everybody we have offensive lineman Conor mclin here we'll take questions the exact same way we took them for coach and Ben you're up first nice I get the first crack at Connor today um so just uh game week TCU just talk about how you're feeling and uh yeah go yeah uh coach DK is obviously a really good coach um I'm really excited they've got some guys who can play for sure I know he was a little banged up last year but Johnny Hodes was a guy really jumped off on tape number 57 really fast linebacker um plays almost seems like a different speed than some of the other guys on the field just really good player tuned up so it'll be cool to see him back on the fields I know he's a little banged up at the end of the season last year um they're Stout in the middle too which will be a good challenge for us and then they've got some good Edge rushers too and then uh one of them being a Notre Dame transfer who I saw last year so it'll be good to have some experience on him thank you Troy they got a guy from Cal as well elamor is is is also over there as well uh offensive line wise what where do you feel and where do you hope this this the that the front five have been most improved from some things we saw last year yeah for sure um I know it kind of got alluded to in uh protection earlier but um like coach said uh protection's a lot easier when the run when the Run game's going well so we' really honed in on that and then also F tune to a lot of things in protection not just scheme wise but also um mechanics techniques really setting firm angles trying to work on the things we can do and really get on the same page and like streamline our assignments but yeah uh like we said earlier it'll be a lot easier when we running the ball W thank you John you're working with a number of quarterbacks a number multiple multiple are likely to play in the game can you give us just a overview of how different they are stylistically in the Huddle or do you not notice those things yeah I mean every guy's unique right um uh yeah they're they can all do some different things all some really cool things they're all very talented um but uh to the Huddle I probably wouldn't think too much about it um you know they're you don't really look or think too much into it just kind of go out there and I kind of focus on just doing my job but um they're all really talented players thank you back to Ben yeah for you just kind of game week how do you kind of mentally prepare what's kind of your do you have like a routine or just kind of how does that work for you on a game days is or particular just rout team music you listen to foods you eat just kind of how just kind of walk us through kind of what a game day routine looks like for you that might be unique to you uh yeah so I added to my rock playlist last night so I have some good stuff um was listening to some uh blue oyer what is it blue oyer cult that sound right listen this morning so I think I'll be listening them on game day too maybe some cash mirr by Leed Zeppelin but uh other than that um you know try and just stay calm uh I'd definitely like to see my family the night before so that'll be good spend some time with them it's been a little bit but uh yeah business as usual for the most part be around the guys as much as I can you know get our heads in the right place and get really really excited for the game too because I know um one thing that's definitely really important is being grateful for everything and having a lot of gratitude to play in Stanford Stadium thank you kowk oh yeah Connor I mean uh a lot of new guys in the running back room I think three new freshman running backs who are just some of the guys in that room that have been standing out in Fall Camp yeah to be honest we've really got a stable um all those three freshmen can really run the ball well and they're very Dynamic too which is I know coach Taylor said was important but um you know we've got a lot of guys who can play so it'll be exciting to see um when we have some guys out there but being able to do a lot of different things but CD M for and Nicole tab can all do some really cool things so I'm excited to see it all thank you John Conor you had a your team had a great opener last year over in Hawaii uh did did you anything that you remember about last year in the prep that led to such a a good start uh on sort of In All Phases in that game good result too yeah I think it's pretty easy to be calm cool and relaxed when you're in Hawaii but I am glad to be back in Stanford Stadium I love Stanford and it's special to be in our stadium and also take a lot of pride in defending that place so I'm excited for that and and uh like I said earlier just trying to be around the guys get everyone on the same page and just you know not think too much about it just go out there and play football thank you Ben yeah Don't Fear the Reaper Blue ier C I saw them live a few years back about a decade ago anyway enough of that uh just for you personally what areas of your game have you most been working on looking to improve on uh for this season yeah in the Run game I'd definitely say trying to get more power through my feet um be more efficient and more powerful when I block I feel like sometimes I was kind of leading power bleeding power and being a little too high in the Run game and really when I get on the second level would kind of fall off blocks easily so I've really focused on that and being deliberate and what I'm aiming for my aiming points whether it'd be like a Gallop technique really hitting the hip as opposed to just putting a hand on the shoulder and running up so that's been important for me and uh really trying to practice things to make the game slow down and then same way in the past past game um setting firmer angles using my hands you know trying some different things so give myself some more variability and uh different different things on the menu then yeah also just kind of want to get your thoughts on working with VI tal eleter those two coaches just what have you liked about working with them and also working with them are there things that they do differently than each other or just kind of how does that how have you come in just thoughts on that coaching tandem yeah for sure um having two coaches been really nice because they're both very experienced and have wealth of knowledge so it's nice because I think I've said this before but um you know when one guy says one thing it might not click for the person which makes sense like you know sometimes they just use verbiage or something different that just doesn't really stick with you so having another guy to explain it in a different way really can like help you understand it and you know maybe see it on the field too so that's been very helpful and then um yeah that like I said wealth knowledge and uh they were very compatible with each other and they work well so that's been nice too any other questions for Connor all right thank you so much Connor all we will wrap up the day with Tristan Sinclair we'll take questions the same way we did for Connor and Co Ben you're up first same question I asked Conor trist good morning or good afternoon I should say Just Thoughts on TCU go yeah um I mean obviously they got a great offense great offensive scheme uh you know they like to distribute the ball out on the perimeter uh and the Run game was was pretty solid last year um I think that uh it's interesting watching the tape because I think a lot of a lot of those guys are gone now like their their whole line almost is all gone and then the running back who who I thought jumped off tape like I thought he was maybe one of their best players just from from me watching um he's out of there too I know they got their big time receiver back so he's going to be a threat that we got to look out for um but I'm excited for it it's gonna be a good game cow yeah d i just wondering what do you notic about their quarterback Josh Hoover and what do you guys need to do to be able to slow him down yeah I think um I think he's a solid quarterback um you know he distributes the ball and I think that their scheme um allows him just to to make plays on the move and they do a lot of movement stuff getting him out of the pocket and um you know a lot of like the the play action RPO stuff so um I think that uh putting pressure on him is definitely going to help Troy yeah Tristan I'm sure and perhaps you reached a point during Camp I'm sure most players do where it's like God I wish we could start hitting dudes in different color jerseys uh did you hit that point in this Camp when did it come and how did you work through it yeah I think uh I think everyone hits that point um you you know you start seeing you see the same stuff every day same runs same passes whatever um and same people so it it definitely gets tiring and like you're ready for something new I think I'm most excited just for uh to be like kind of like let off the chain a little bit you know because you know we can't hit the quarterback and we take care of our teammates you know we're not we're not going to the ground every day um so I'm excited to get let off the chain and finally get to to to Really hit somebody um but yeah I mean in Camp it is what it is you just got to prepare the best you can and and you know every like every tackling opportunity is real so so make it as real as possible um even if we're not going to the ground Sean just as you go up in years you get new people in the room you're now an elder Statesman um usually in the old days it used to be freshman coming in and you have some of those but you also have a Josiah Galvan and and he's a guy with pedigree right he's he's some Goods what's it been like having a new player be a veteran what have you gotten from him or levered off him and what what do you think he how you think he's integrated yeah I mean so far he's been amazing um jaw's like incredible athlete you know he played all these different sports and and was a stud in a bunch of different sports and then obviously had a had a great career so far um but you know he he hopped in and and like integrated super quick he's totally like a Stanford guy um so you know even with the transfers like all these guys that they're bringing in um they're total Stanford guys and they definitely fit the mold um to to be part of the team and he's picked it up really quick he's a really smart player and I think that's what you see you know he's he's played enough snaps now where he's comfortable um you know playing against bigger guys and you know he's got the strength and power already that some of the you know young freshman guys that come in they don't really have um so he's been a great addition and and he's going to play a lot this year Ben yeah just talk about your relationship with Guy from baradell and how that's kind of uh progressed over the last year since he's come under the team yeah you know he's like my right-hand guy uh he's like my wingman that's what we call each other so um it's been a great relationship even just from the jump like GB is such a awesome dude he's like so positive and so outgoing and you know I'm more of like a quiet guy but he's like super outgoing and and um I feel like everyone knows GB like around campus and you know around the Athletic Facility and stuff like that so it's been fun being with him um and you know we're just at this point now we've played so many snaps next to each other that we just kind of know what we're thinking um and we got terminology and communication that that we say to each other just to remind ourselves constantly um and I think that we're we're constantly talking out there um coach's always like asking like what we're what we're saying to each other um he like thinks we're like arguing or something sometimes he's like what are you what are you guys arguing about and we're really just talking out there talking about the sets you know the backfield set um um any tips or alerts and that's kind of like you know playing so many snaps with him it's been easy to Jael um and have that good communication Kik yeah Tristan obviously sort of as as one of the the veterans on the team being a leading six year guy I'm sure teammates give you nicknames or something like that they calling you Unk or anything like that I'm kind of curious what nickname they given you yeah the the Unk is is a big one uh moffen calls me grandpa I I can't even I mean he's like a fifth year too so he's an old guy too I don't know he's always he's always giving me crap for that but uh yeah they they got all types of stuff they call me back to John you can tell them that they're nine-year guys playing college football somewhere so you're not you're not one of them um I know what your answer is going to be but I'm wondering whether this this piece of motivation will come out of your mouth or a coach's mouth uh TCU a great year a couple years ago they in the national championship game last year they stumbled a bit I think they were five and seven including a sort of a high-profile opener they lost to Colorado in at home and um a lot lot of us were watching so me thinks they're going to be extra crisp in this opener just remembering last year is that something you'll think about someone will bring up or or is that just kind of not that's kind of a media thing and you guys just are going to be crisp no matter what yeah I mean I mean I think that like game one is is definitely like there's something real to that um you know I was like watch watching the SMU game what was it uh you know two nights ago or whatever and and I think game one for everyone is like always tough um I think you prepare the best you can and and you're kind of ready for stuff to be um uncertain and and ready for adversity um I think it's just hard when when you're not really in that flow like even even right now okay it's finally game week and you know we're preparing for a game and everyone's got the nerves and and kind of isn't in the flow yet and uh I think game one is always kind of crazy and unpredictable and that's why you have to be ready for adversity and and um be ready to make changes on the Fly try person a lot of depth in the outside linebacker spots uh two very good corners and Manley and right on the outside how can those respective units help you do your job and vice versa yeah I mean uh you know starting with the the secondary I would say like obviously everything works together it's like it's a whole like the one thing is so true um you know secondaries holding guys up and and um you know clamping guys outside then they don't have places to throw dine gets home outside linebackers get home uh and you know the opposite is true as well if uh they're putting pressure on the quarterback the the outside linebackers D line you know in us as well then um you know the quarterback's throwing bad throws or or you know we call them ball destructions um you know getting a hand up or something in his way to to make him throw it where he doesn't want to throw it um and and then you know corner Corners get picks safeties get picks and they're making pbus so I think everything just works together but uh those two rooms especially you know our Corners are solid our safeties are solid I'm super excited about the secondary um those guys are going to fly around make plays and then obviously the outside linebackers bring the pass rush um which is something I think that we've gotten a lot better at and you know we got some stuff in to bring some pressure so I'm excited for it Steve something I asked coach Taylor um and uh I'm a Grand Uncle for real so you're you're not grandpa but you have been around the program for a while and look not telling any Tales out of school so to speak you guys have been three and nine each of the last three seasons but when you were being recruited Stanford at that time was if not the top program on the west coast it was certainly one of the top three do you have to tell your teammates that the past three seasons are an anomaly and the that 2009 to 2018 stretch is what Stanford is supposed to be or am I reading too much into that and each season is a entity unto itself you know I think that like the culture here was winning you know like when when Coach Harbaugh came in and kind of turned this program around like it was and then you know coach sha took over like it was the culture was a winning culture and you know there's definitely something to that it's like when the culture is strong in a place and you know the coaches are staying there and the you know they're they're fostering that culture um it's it's easy to have continued success you know like I think that there's something really to that like having that winning culture um and I think that we've gotten off track and I think that you know last year we kind of laid the foundation for for building a better culture and for getting back to winning and uh you know like I feel like this year is our year to prove it now um but I think there's definitely something to having that winning culture I would say right thank you yeah just kind of two-part question here just first of all just talk about kind of the comfortability of that you guys film in year two and Bobby April system for those that are returning and then as an inside linebacker what is maybe the most kind of difficult or challenging aspect of that system for your position sure I think that uh I think everyone feel I mean we we basically have our whole team back um and just added more guys more more depth um so I think that the comfortability is like way higher than it was last year um just like the things we're able to do and you know being able to add defenses and and to add more nuance and and more checks more calls uh within those defenses um it it's been great so far and and our I think our safeties are like you know making all the calls and checks and adjustments and our secondary as well so um I mean that stuff honestly has been great so far and we'll see how it goes in the season um and then for us I would say I would just say communication like inside linebacker is I guess we're kind of like one of the quarterbacks of the defense and um we handle a lot of that stuff and making sure everyone's lined up right and then making sure we're lined up right and and be able to react and and make plays um but but the communication is is tough and you know there's a lot of check checks and adjustments and and that stuff's on us to uh to take charge and Lead John technology question for the guy who reportedly built a computer in sixth grade um we you be the Green Dot guy the helmet communication guy on defense and the second thing is video on the sidelines with tablets uh is that something you'll use not use as much as other position groups kind of give us a window into the technology stuff yeah sure uh yeah so as of right now like the inside linebackers are going to be handling all the communication stuff um so I think you know if we go out there and start it'll be me and then uh we all kind of have backup helmets with and without it um you know me GB Rose jaw those guys so um I think it'll be it'll definitely be one of us you know and if I'm not out there it'll probably be GB um and that's stuff's awesome it's pretty fun it's it's cool to have like those little tips um especially with a coach like you know as experienced as coach denafo you know having him in your ear like he's he's calling out stuff and you know reminding you and telling you what to look for um because he sees the game like ahead of time as soon as they line up in a formation he knows what's coming um just with all the experience being a DC and then for the tablet stuff on on the sideline it's pretty sweet uh we've had a couple practices where we've been practicing using it uh and I think that in the past like basically the biggest difference is I mean our gas would just like kind of memorize all the plays like okay it was you know they would write down like this formation and they ran you know Zone cut or whatever and then you know we would memorize the play too of like the whole Drive pretty much and and uh be able to come on the sideline and and talk about like what happened um but I guess now we can just watch it which is pretty cool so you know I think that it'll help coaches make more adjustments um and maybe be able to just visualize what happened a little bit more because there there are some plays in the long drive that you know you'll forget like what exactly happened or you won't see the full full picture but normally like we could come up the sideline and be like oh you know it was it was pin pole and I got to have a better enter you know and we got to scrape or something like that so uh it'll be nice to have that and be able to see it kind of you know from a step back instead of being in the game any other questions for Tristan all right thank you so much for attending today's press conference we will see you at Stanford Stadium on Friday thank you thank [Music] oh