Steve Sarkisian Media Availability #texaslonghorns #texasfootball #stevesarkisian #secfootball #sec

first of all I was again um kind of two weeks in a row really proud of the way our guys worked and I thought uh this week of preparation is always challenging when it's your first time coming off a game and having a review a game and then getting into the next game and finding that routine uh and you know as always like I've been praising the veterans on our team the leaders on our team for showing the way uh to our younger players and how to do that and I think one good sign for us is we progressively have gotten better throughout the week of the the being intentional at practice what we're trying to accomplish understanding the wise we're doing what we're doing um and inevitably it it's capped off with a really good week of work um I feel good about the the state of mind that our guys are in uh I think they're excited but yet focused and um obviously we're looking forward to the opportunity thanks coach uh guys if you have a question put your raised hand function up Danny start us off um Steve now that you got a chance to do it in a game and review the film what do you like about the receiver depth and the way you're able to rotate receivers and mix a match um that that crew yeah I still think we're a little bit of a work in progress in that um you know we have a we have you know one game sample size and and even at that was a little bit limited uh just because of how the game went but I will say it was comforting to know that I didn't have to leave guys on the field as they were getting fatigued as you could notice noticeably noticeably see them getting fatigued that we had enough confidence in the in the next wave or the guy behind that guy to put him on the field uh and all they did was give me even more confidence you know whether it was Ryan Wingo jonay cook Silas Balden I mean when those guys went on the field they made their plays and so I think it's very comforting for us as a staff to know that we have six really quality receivers uh that can play play at a high level the moment never felt too big for any of them um I love kind of having um cross Trin Ryan niblet um because of the fact that he can do things out of the back field and it receiver and so it gives us a lot of Versatility that way to still pour into our 21 package stuff but also you know have the ability to to play an 11 and to do both those things so um again as we continue to grow throughout the season you know I think time will tell but but going into week two I think the biggest thing I got out of it was just confidence in all those guys that when on when they're on the field they're going to they're going to play well Kirk you're up yeah Steve you mentioned how the opponents kind of come at you with a different attacks and you kind of prepare for Colorado State huddling up and maybe not throwing near as much do you kind of deal with the same unknown with Michigan with so many new offensive starters a new quarterback and win marale at defense yeah it's pretty safe to say um you know I'm sure like us they have probably spent a little bit more time um on us in preparation maybe during the offseason um and have studied some different things and would like to try to attack Us in all three phases maybe differently and and generally speaking you know they you know you go play that first game and you have a game plan for that first game and then they kind of had that second game plan waiting for us and so it's going to be critical for us to um to identify kind of what they're trying to do um I I think this this game more than ever is when we could probably really get some of the the usage out of the tablets on the sidelines uh and some of the video that we get to see uh so maybe we can make those adjustments a little quicker uh than when you're when you're trying just to talk it through um but they've got great coaches you know it's a really good staff um you know Chiron Moore has done you know he's been he's been there and he knows the Michigan way I know like I said I've known wink for for 20 years now and he's an excellent defensive coordinator so they're going to have a good plan they're very good on special teams um and so you know and they got good players and so the point is when two good teams meet up you know it's it's how do you how do you attack one another in a way that um whatever you're trying to do doesn't have holes in it right and that you don't get exposed anywhere until you can try to really start to you know attack what's going on on the field and so hey we know we're going to get some new stuff and that's why we we use the adage here trust our training and if we can trust our training and execute early on uh then we can make the proper adjustments Sam go ahead hey S I know coming into the season you said you wanted to play a lot of guys early I know you got to play a ton of guys last week what kind of sense did you get for some of these younger and newer guys who were getting a lot of snaps and and do would you like to continue to play that many guys this weekend moving forward I'd love to you know um you know I think that the couple things that I that I saw out of our younger players I think we played 13 true freshman uh this past week um and they all kind of showed their physical attributes of what we thought about them the the size the speed the athleticism the the the willingness to be physical um those were those were all definitely evident then we saw playmaking ability you know obviously it's easy to point to a Ryan Wingo or Jarrett Gibson and some of the things that that they they did offensively but I even go all the way to Wardell Mack with the interception at the end you know we're continually trying to recruit you know Playmakers to go along with the skill set and and a character piece that that adds into it all so I don't think any of them did anything to say we can't put them in the game um we just got to continue to try to develop them and to grow them and to to keep building their confidence and to keep building our trust in them Eric go ahead good morning Steve uh from your vantage point I was wondering if you could just kind of take us through how the speed the team speed on both sides of the ball has increased from maybe year one to where you are now well I think it's probably a a byproduct of oh I'd say probably about three things you know one is recruitability right we we try to recruit to speed and so as players come into our program um I'd like to think they're either fast or we think they have the ability to get faster uh that that's the first part right you have what are we identifying as a as a staff that that is that are attributes that are important to us W you guys have heard me talk at length about big humans up front um but speed on the perimeter is is important to us and so we we try to identify that two I think the way we train you I think coach beckon with his with his background and the track World um the way that the way that we train our players to run to run for Speed to be explosive to have the ability to change directions is something that we train to uh in the summer and then the third uh I think is our nutrition piece you know I think that that our guys really do a good job of of eating right um I think they've got they've got a great deal of of trust and confidence in our in our nutritionists and our dieticians of getting their bodies into Optimal Performance shape so that they can utilize the the god-given talents that they have to go along with the work that they've put in to to play Fast Dennis you're up coach over the last couple years we've talked about Quinn being a you know he rises on the big stage here he is as a third-year starting quarterback in your system how big of a luxury is that a comfort for you is he goes up against a really Stout defense that he's almost an extension of you at this point yeah I mean I think it's critical this is a you know difficult environment to to play in you know I mean these these guys haven't won 23 in a row at home on accident you know it's it's tough um you know it's it's a big building it can get loud um they they've got a they've got a defensive system in place that their players play a lot of confidence with they play with a lot of swagger um you can see that on tape um but having that calming effect at quarterback I think is helpful for uh the other guys on the field um and and for me just knowing that he's going to operate the calls accordingly uh is comforting uh knowing that hey when I'm calling something he's understanding the intent of the play call that doesn't mean it's always going to go that way but as long as Quinn understands the intent of the play call uh generally pretty good things come out of it Thomas you're up coach uh good morning you mentioned Jerick Gibson um I think he got most if not all of his carries in the second half did did he do enough to kind of get some to earn some carries in the first half especially against a physical interior defense like Michigan yeah I mean Jeri's gonna play for us again you know when you're when you're kind of the third on the depth chart and we've got two really good players in front of him it's always trying to find you know that right Rhythm for everybody involved and every game takes on a life of its own of um the way that it's going and the in the rhythm of the game and the score and time of possession and you know amount of plays R so on and so forth uh but we have the utmost confidence in Jerick I thought him getting I think it was 10 carries last week or so uh was big for him uh and just his own confidence um so it's you know when when it happens I don't exactly know when he's going to get into the game but I know he he'll play this Saturday onir go ahead uh good morning coach um coach you have a a lot of talented uh freshman players but all of them won't be able to make the trip to Ann Arbor obviously this weekend so I'm curious which guys of your freshman class will be able to make that trip and what do you tell the guys who you have to maybe you know leave behind now what's your message to them how do you want them to stay ready and stay focused and be ready to go the following week off the top of my head I don't I don't know exactly you know it would take me too long and I'd waste everybody's time there there's a fair amount of them there's a lot of them going on the trip um and if they're going they probably have a role um uh to to Our Success um you know they the guys that don't go you know I think I think in the end in this in this day and age it's like hey we're here to develop you to become the best player that you can be so that you can be the best teammate you can be so that we can be the best team that we can be and we really preach team um because if you if you pour into the team and and you'll get what you deserve ve in the back end of it and uh everybody you know when freshmen come in they're always at different stages you and I I love to use the Kelvin Banks example because in that recruiting class we had signed those seven offensive linemen six of them came midy year and Kelvin didn't come until the summer he was number seven that didn't come until the summer but he was the one guy that started you know as a as a true freshman you know at left tackle and and so it's rest is history so it's not always about you know when did I get here or how many opportunities and reps did I get it's what did you do with the opportunity when it presented it to you and how do you go about your business on a on a daily basis and so that's what we try to instill in those guys and like I said some guys maybe are a little further along than others but that doesn't mean that just because a guy doesn't go on the trip um you know he's not going to play here no he's just at a different stage of his development and I've seen plenty of guys not travel early on in their career and end up playing at the end of the season or becoming you know Frontline players force in year two or in year three and so now their Journey's just uh just getting underway Cedric go ahead hey Steve um you've made no secret of Your Love of college football you being a fan of it uh you've coached some of the biggest road environments uh if you would what what was your OMG moment when you walked into a opposing facility and you saw the people and um you know as a coach of USC and uh also Alabama what was your OMG moment actually my OMG moment came as a player I was a player at BYU and uh we were pretty good you I think we might have been two and 0 and um we had beaten A&M in week one we had I think beaten like Arkansas State or somebody in week two and we went to Washington and uh we went into Husky Stadium and uh it was so loud that I just hadn't been in an environment that was loud like that I end up getting sacked I think seven or eight times we got beat and that was our only loss that year went 14 and one um but but in that moment you know it's it's there's another level in your mind you go to well there's another level of what what opposing stadiums can feel like and be like um especially when there's some hatred towards the opponent when you walk in for whatever reason people can generate hate in a lot of different ways and so um for me now I've learned to relish those opportunities there's something that I um that I kind of relish being the villain I kind of like going in there thinking man there's there's 100 versus 120,000 and and we're the villain and it's okay being the villain you know and and and how do how do we create that uh you know that deafening silence and how do we go about that and that that comes about by our style of play that comes about by our execution um that comes about by sticking together playing as one um but I love those opportunities as much as I love playing at home I like that too um because I think you find out a lot about yourself and a lot about your team go ahead Harge uh coach I wanted to ask you uh everybody's been talking about the freshman and the impact that they've already been able to make but one of those freshman is Ryan Wingo uh what did you see in Ryan Wingo that you knew that he was going to be a guy that was ready for this type of stage well I I think the thing about Ryan even throughout the recruiting process and then early on when he got here there there's a real sense of maturity about him um he's a worker um he loves football he's humble he knows that he is not a finished product but yet he continues to work every day and as he gets incremental growth and incremental success he just continues to stack that on top of the work that he's already put in and so um like I said I value the humility but I also value the work ethic and I also value the confidence that he has in himself to go do the things that he's doing and so um he's just got a great he's got a great demeanor about him and he goes about his business the right way not only on the field but off the field Josh you're up hey Steve um with Ryan nib doing two positions can you offer some insight into maybe like what a day looks like for him like what percentage of practice at wide receiver running back is he sitting in in both meetings I'm just curious what that looks like for him yeah you know I think the first thing is you have to remember he has banked reps at the wide receiver spot right from all of last year all throughout Spring ball all throughout summer and so so he is very comfortable and confident at the receiver spot um I think right now we're really just trying to continue to hone in on the things at the running back position uh and then when he is at white out you know it's easy for him to fall back on the training that he's had you know for the last you know 16 18 months whatever that is um but also on top of that he's become a real player for us on special teams and so that's a whole another level of you know where we're relying on him as in the Special Teams aspect and so I love what Ryan's done um you know he has really changed his body composition he's playing fast he you know I think last Saturday he he hit over 22 miles an hour uh in game speed which is which is flying and we thought about we thought that about him out of high school I think he was like a 104 10500 meter guy that uh is utilizing that speed now and it's and it's been effective for him not only like I said on offense but on special teams got time for the last few questions in Q Terry go coach sarkeesian the you talk about the reverence for the game for the opponent we hear this from the players I'm just curious just because of your love for college football do you have in your game plan do you have any plays that maybe honor the 2005 Vince Young uh game or maybe a play that will be distinc of sarkeesian maybe a Quinn yers distinctive stamp on that game uh no I just Tred to win Terry I don't I don't know I just try to call whatever I think might work that that play you know I don't I'm not maybe I'm not nostalgic enough uh um but uh you know I guess that'd be kind of nice if they if they made t-shirts with a play Call of ours and wore them around town I do see that about the fourth down play against SC so Wescott you're up yeah um how important is the screen game to the offense and you know what does it it do for you when it when it's working well and is there maybe somebody that you like to watch to maybe uh pick up Concepts or that you borrowed from in the past yeah no I don't I don't think it's a secret we we like the screen game um again you know we have an adage on offense the the more things we can do really well the we feel like the harder we are to defend and so if we're a really good running team we're really good RPO team really good drop back pass team really good play action pass team and if really we're a really good screen team we're really good Tempo team whatever that is we're trying to do as many things as we can really really well um and we do value the screen game and like you know every game is different some games the screen game is a real factor in other games maybe that's not something that we're as focused on um but it is something that I think can you know create value for yourself on offense and I I know we spend time on it to to be good at it um but I also know from a defensive perspective you know you you you have to practice that when you're getting ready to play usfs two last ones Roger go ahead s the challenge of of a Davis Warren who doesn't have a lot on tape and you figure he'll get more comfortable and then they can bring an orgy in on on any play in the middle of a series and then having to kind of adjust well I think the challenges is Davis's ability to operate their offense you know they're they're so many things that systematically they do that are on the quarterback at the line of scrimmage um and I think that that's why he's definitely you know got a good head on his shoulders and and can make those necessary checks and different things at the line of scrimmage protection change so on and so forth um I think naturally he's probably got to be a really good competitor you don't get to become the quarterback at Michigan without having a real competitive Spirit about you um and and you know I'm sure you know you get a game under your belt and you come out with a win you start to develop that confidence and and a willingness to uh to trust your your ability to make some of those plays and so you know he he'll do that and and org is going to play um I think it's critical for us to recognize you know when he is in the game and I think it's going to be critical for us to recognize if they leave both of them on the field at the same time and and how we're going to adjust to that you know if they're on the field at the same time so we have to be ready for for things that maybe they haven't put on tape yet and one of which being those two guys being on the field together last one Robert go ahead uh coach in the Colorado State game you had lots of players rotating in and out of offense on many different drives drives and I understand that may be something you have to do against Michigan how do you kind of keep the composure and patience of your players uh who have to share snaps or one player who may catch a a deep pass for a first down and then rotate off the field the very next play what what do you tell your players uh how do you make them okay with maybe sharing snaps on different offensive drives really simple we we just reiterate to the players don't count your reps make your reps count and it's a it's a really simple formula that way um you know it's not how many times you're on the field it's what you do when you're on the field and and maximizing those opportunities when they come your way um oddly enough you know Ryan wingo and and jontay cook didn't start in the game but I think they they might have had maybe the most yards and I think seven catches between them you know as as backups in essence and so we really don't look at them as backups we look at them we've got a great rotation at the receiver spot obviously you know Matt and and um you know IB played really well for us and the one guy who started DeAndre Moore didn't have a catch and so you just don't know in our system and so uh again we just want to make our reps count we don't we don't try to count our reps and we just try to play to the best of our ability and and with this group now more than ever we tell them to empty the tank because the guy next guy can go in you can get you can you know you get your win back and then we'll get you back out on the field