Out of the Woods

weeks in now what have you seen from your group um you know I we were talking about this the other day I think that we've got uh we kind of compared ourselves to like a unbroke cult or wild stallion or something I think we got a lot of talent I think we got a lot of energy I think we got the right makeup right our physicality is there all that now we just we're just kind of we're just wild sometimes we're you know I don't know that we're as detailed obviously as we need to be we're not EX at the full level that we need to be but I do think that as far as uh having all the components right that it takes to to be a really good offense I think we got those things so we just got to hone them we got to keep uh keep executing keep bringing them together that's what Paul Camp's about and keep out of our leaderships uh you know our leaders kind of rise up and help us out and then um and and just kind of keep focusing on detail and execution and if we do that then um I you know I think we're headed in the right direction what's it like going up against this defense every day in practice uh it's a great challenge obviously you know top 15 defense in the nation coming back um got a chance to do that and and we you know we got good players we're top 15 offenses too that's um having a chance to do that anytime you can get great competitive work I think coach Lashley does a great job of um putting us in situations to compete and putting us in situations to really strain ourselves to the most we can and and um and that's been evident throughout f Camp you know and I think today was a great example kind of getting into that Red Zone uh competition period there at the end and we got whipped and we got to come we got to go lick our wounds and come back and do a better job next time what have you've seen from your quarterbacks particularly from C and man really excited about our quarterbacks obviously we feel like we got two that can win in the ACC you know keldrick is developing every day and coming along and he's going to be a great support for that room and and uh really excited about watching uh all those guys develop it's fun having um Dallas kids uh that are invested in SMU and and are invested in this offense and you know I don't I don't know how many college football programs are out there that they top three guys are are all high school you know have come through the high school feed system and and been part of your program since they arrived on campus but you know we're we're proud of our guys and and that mechanism and and I think we got guys that we can win with and with those them all being Dallas kids obviously we see how the move to the ACC can help recruit locally but do you think you're going to see in the transfer portal too I've already seen that with guys wanting to come home and now having a power conference School in their backyard yeah you know um I I think we have had great success over the past couple years um W with that model anyway I think Dallas uh sells itself I think it is kind of a transfer destination um certainly SMU what we've been able to produce if you're a transfer right now um you got an opportunity play in a top 15 offense top 15 defense and we can we can statistic every single position that we've got out there and have a bunch of guys that have had success um certainly uh you know more so I think I've seen in high school recruiting where that where the uh Power conference has been impactful more so when you kind of get into the layers of um you know transfers are looking for different things than high school kids are traditionally and uh but but certainly anytime that you can sell the conference and and we're super excited about the ACC and the opportunity we have there um I I think that that'll can't can't hurt us in our room recruiting for sure where have you seen the biggest grow in Preston and uh Kevin in Camp so far man that's a great question um you know I think that there's a comfort level um I think Preston being able to uh get in there and he probably of all the the wildness that our offense is I think those two guys have kind of they've been the most poised to help drive us you know the direction that we need to and that's that's we're going to have to have that in order for our offense to to Rally around that and and develop from there but to see the confidence that Preston has when he takes the Huddle has been awesome um Kevin's really uh the same way you know I think that he's a guy that um has come in now that he's got a full grasp of the offense and He's Got Confidence from having played in games big games you know then I think both those guys when they take the Huddle uh when they speak everybody's quiet and they know what they're looking for and and they do a great job both of them are really doing a nice job communicating post Snap post series um with with us about what what it is that they saw and and and what it is that they're looking for um and where they're the most comfortable in operating in our offense right now what's it been like adding Matthew hner to that tight end room for you guys man uh I don't I wouldn't tell him to his face but it's been an unbelievable addition so it's he's awesome um better than I I hoped he'd be I knew he was a lot of things um you know he had limited reps uh through the course of play in there and there's a lot of factors went into that but um uh but he's he's really been a blessing to our room not just from his ability I mean he's got great ability but he's a professional he's a teammate he's all those things that you want out of um out of somebody transferring in with in that role and and I think that um we're providing him an opportunity to go uh showcase what it is that he wants and I think that this is uh what this is this is one of the the great stories of the transfer portal this is why the transfer portal was created man you get a guy that's that's a college graduate from the University of Michigan that gets to roll in here and and uh get a great uh graduate degree from our business school over here have an opportunity to have success and and and have more of a role in football and have more of an opportunity to showcase what ability he's got um and and we're sure glad he joined us it's been kind of a search for some of those transfer tight ends to come in and help out RJ and take some of the load off of him with Matthew and what he's shown on the field along with Adam Moore how creative can you be with that that group and that's one of the most exciting developments that I think we've had on offense is that tight end room and being able to do being able to find somebody like you said to supplement RJ and as you go through the transfer portal everybody sees RJ and so you know and that was a big that was awesome from Matt to be able to see what the offense really was how it could provide a multi- tight end set you know what what our history has been over the past 5 years with multiple tight ends and and how we operated our best with multiple tight ends that are growing and developing you mentioned Adam Moore who is getting better and better and he's closer and closer to being B to take on an every down model you know type of role and so um yeah I think that that I think that that can get us in uh in all the places that we'd like to be offensively you know anytime that you can uh present multiple Personnel formations without having to substitute at Tempo you know that's that's I think we can be operating at our highest levels um when we're given a 12 picture a 10 picture an 11 picture even a 13 picture um and and then but not having to change those guys out and it's it's a great responsibility on our guys that they've embraced it and it's fun it's fun for them to be able to operate and and and do all the many things that we have to do within this offense but um we got some good guys that are doing that speaking of just what have you asked of RJ this offseason to take that next step and then just what have you seen from him kind of taking on that challenge and and doing it on the field yeah you know I think RJ's biggest challenges was his um uh for his own longevity and for his own sake and for his own you know development as a player which then contributes to what it is that we're doing as a team is just lifting his professionalism from all the I mean you know he just turned 20 he's he's still I mean he looks like a grown man acts like a grown man we would treat him like a grown man but he's still a young guy you know and he's developing those but but understanding uh what it takes um when you leave this building to go take care of your body and to eat and sleep the right way and to start developing some of those professional habits that are going to carry him on and make sure his body um withstands The Grind into what this League's going to be and and you know he's certainly a guy that'll have an opportunity once college is done to continue to play and if but if he wants to have that then you know the biggest challenge to him is is um continuing to develop that professionalism about how he treats um his own body you know and and doing those things and and um so uh he's taking those steps you know what I mean I think that he's trying to dig in and study more ask older guys how it is that they rehab and pre G and uh get extra work in the training room to make sure that you can do preventative measures just as you know instead of everything being reactive or instead of everything being reliant on the fact of I'm just a better athlete than everybody else then okay now you know we got to take those applications and do that certainly he he came into fall Camp 238 you know that's uh amazing uh to see that development from him and everything he's down a little bit with all the water weight just as hot as it's been but he's um but he I mean he's ready to go and and he's as excited about as anybody in our room about having guys like Matt and Adam develop that we can all be full speed the en entire course of the game and and really stretch this offense um even further than than it's been so far in your years of knowing coach Lashley how have you seen him oh gosh uh and I in every way you can you know I've always he he's a really good um I I was very blessed to be friends with him before we we got into this role right you know we came into this business together and and he was a young guy and he he and Lauren had just been married like they celebrated their second anniversary or something like right when I had met them and so we're there for the birth of the boys and girls and they actually my wife uh was had had been an acquaintance of of his wife you know so that's actually how I met her and then now we've had our five kids and so it's um I he's a great coach it's been fun to watch him develop he's always been the same competitor that he is now you you know and I I remember those days in the in what we called the engine room back then when we were G together playing techmobile against each other it was just as you can see that same competitive fire uh now coming out and showing here but I do think that um his pois and his steadiness has grown throughout his career um obviously the success he's had offensively you know you got to be super proud of him for for going out there on his own and and really you know he he he was with coach maon for so long um when he got that necessary separation ation for both of them you know I thought that that was um really beneficial uh for him and his development and uh it's been awesome watch he he took that and he went and what we all knew the spirit of the offense once was he took it made it his own you know and we've been able to really developed through that for the past couple years but I mean what a he's he's he's always been a great person you know but to see him now elevated into this role and to have to lead the number of people that he leads and he has influence and impact on the number of people he does he cares about the people that are here and he's always been that but it's um to see that responsibility you know born upon him as is is really cool and there's not a better man for this job right now uh than him what have you seen I know there's a lot of trust between you and Coach Lashley with Coach justice but what have you seen from the offensive line seems like it's just kind of a lot of tinkering a lot of moving around to find kind of see what guys can do and who who those best five that may be the wildest of our horses right there right we're all try to just get keep them uhh together but coach justice has done a great job for a long time and and he is he's got ideas about you know we got these guys uh like I said it's it's kind of a raw canvas right we got these just Raw Talent power unbelievable what it is that they can do all right let's see if we can hone them in and let's put them in the positions where they you know it's finding the place where they can have the most success as a cohesive unit you know we're trying to find a way to get our five best players on the field um and then what's the right you know alignment to get that done to make sure that we're you know accounting for the double teams that we need to account for and accounting for the space that we need to account for and accounting for what it is that we're trying to get done and pass protection and you know just just thinking through all the details of those guys um the experience of of some of the guys compared to the others um is certainly influential with that we got you know it's he coach Justice and Coach lash have been together this is coming up on our fifth you know their fifth year together our third year together um as all three of them and and he's done uh he's done a wonderful job one continuing to supplement our room with guys this is the deepest room that we've had this the most athletic room that we've had so we've been able to build um from what we had when we got here to to really a a competitive power five offensive line we just got to get them to Jael and now you know as as we kind of iron this thing out and and get them to jail a little bit more and get some of those guys that are banged up back you know that's that's kind of the other thing right now is um without Logan full speed back without Ben Sparks full speed back without Andrew shambley full speed back you know what I mean now of a sudden you got um you got the makings of something that could be really special if we can continue to you know just put the rains on it and and um and get it home in uh speaking of depth the wide receiver position has a bunch of guys how is it important though that one two however many step up to be the guy and a go-to guy for this offense uh yes and no yes and no you know I think the beauty about what coach Lans has been able to do there and what we've built is we've got six guys you know I mean I don't I don't know what the ending stats of last year ended up being right we had like eight guys with more than 30 touches and more than 300 yards uh receiving so I think that our offense has proven that we can support two sets of starters and um and our offense is also proven that we had a second round draft pick and Rashid rice who led the country in receiving so we've we have the versatility within this offense to be able to rely on one guy and also rely on multiple guys and and I think that um you know I don't I don't know how many school records we ended up setting last year but I do know that the versatility and the speed with which we got is is driven by that group and I think the the competitiveness drives them to be better right so um so you have an opportunity to get some of those guys that rise to the top um and maybe it's one week it's this and then the next week it's this support you know and and I mean I don't think we had I remember maybe conversations we didn't have a 100 yard receiver until week 12 or something last year right but it was but still had all the uh stats and touches and everything that went out um you know I think that Comfort develops with the quarterbacks and and some of those guys thus far it's been we've been really really comfortable with all six of them that we got that are um that we would all consider those guys to be starters you know and um and I think that for our offense to operate at the highest level it possibly can and we got to be able to substitute to play Fast right have multiple guys in the games as many as many times as we're pushing the field vertically um we got to be able to make sure that we can supplement get guys in there and then so snaps 50 through 60 are just as fast offensively as snaps 5 through 15 are so