Ryan Day, Dan Lanning, DeShaun Foster, and More | Week 1 Coaches Press Conference | B1G Football

Ryan Day Week 1 Press Conference all right folks thanks for being here going to open up our questioning with third row left Andy Anders 11 warriors uh yeah Ryan are you ready to name a starter at Right Guard and and what's the situation look on yeah um you know we'll we'll keep looking at it this week I think we're going to probably roll a bunch um you know looks like going in that you know Tegra will start at Right Guard uh for us he's had a good preseason he's done a nice job we'll continue um to assess it you know all the way up until the game time but um you he's earned the right to start in this game um I think we're going to you know see us playing multiple guys in in in the offensive line in this game but uh he's you know been consistent now he's got to go put it on the field and play uh fourth row right Spencer Holbrook Letterman ran at linebacker are you guys going with sunny to start the game and and how do you figure that's going is it going to be like the Right Guard where you guys rolling up guys yeah we're going to play multiple guys at linebacker but the sunny has has separated himself for sure and um you know will start at at will linebacker for us um you know he has done a nice job in this transition from safety and when you move up the game moves faster it's just quicker and he's changed his body and the Reps that he got in the spring really helped and I think um you know he's he's done a good job you know of communicating uh he and Cody work well together but you're also going to see arll in there you're going to see CJ in there Gabe uh you you know these guys are going to get reps and and we'll try to play as many guys as we can in this game let's go Tony German Buckeye huddle right with the new quarterback starting I'm sure you know you've seen it more than anybody you know what to expect what will you see from Will on Saturday for your uh expectations to be met yeah we want them to run the team and be clean um you know get us in and out of the Huddle get you know get us up to the line of scrimmage um you know be sharp take care of the football you know you've heard me say the term make the routine plays routinely um you know play well on third down Red Zone in two minute I mean that that's what we're looking for out of our quarterback but in particular in that first game it's you know run a clean operation you know that's ball security that's Cadence that's uh communication you know the new headset and how we're doing that and you know we are going to be huddling some and those type of things um not all the time but but that's a little bit different um and you know how will we converting on third downs and you know all those things sideline adjustments um so it's it's getting into the game getting a feel for it and playing clean that's what we're looking for in week one front row Dave bidd 247 Sports Ryan is the depth on the offensive line maybe a little better than you expected I mean Carson might be a backup for you guys after starting 12 games last year I know some other guys you mentioned like Austin Zan have stepped up a little bit is it are you feel good about the depths yeah you know one of the things it was like a you know early on the the the little illness that was going around the offensive line was frustrating but coming out of preseason camp we felt like we built some depth because we had to and some guys got forced into duty maybe a little quicker than they had to and when you're working with the ones you know you have to you have to tighten up you know all the the things technically that that you're getting away with maybe with you know the twos and threes when you're blocking Ty Le and Tai and those guys you know you can't get away with that stuff you better figure it out fast and and because of that we have built more depth than we expected coming out of preseason so that's been a positive um but we are going to try to get as many guys in the game as possible grade it and just keep evaluating and you know one of the things that we talked about as a staff today is you've heard me talk about building a foundation with this team I mean the foundation is not complete I mean this is this is a long build to the end of the season so we want to come through this week you know watch the game get on the film and figure out you know who graded out a champion who didn't but ultimately we want guys to play really really hard in this game and get it on film start to make the corrections when you're in preseason camp there's a lot of assumptions you make you know some that are right and some that are are not right about players about scheme um you know overall Personnel so um excited to get that going this week and figure out what we got going into Sunday look like tger is pretty softspoken guy how did he take the news that he's going to start on Saturday you know he's just going day-to-day right now and working you know I think that's what's been good about the offensive line is you know guys have been you know uh working at it every day and we we've moved some guys around in there even even as of this this past week we've shuffled it up a little bit just to kind of see guys move in different areas we know we have to build depth going throughout the season so I think it's going to pay off for us uh but he's been workmanlike you know it wasn't like he's knocking on anybody's door and saying you know what is my uh you situation this week he knows that if he continues to play the way he is he's going to you know be a starter for us and and U be a huge contributor but uh it's consistent and uh consistency that we're looking for out of him but uh but you know he's been he's been um you know one of the guys that we've been able to count on in this camp and and that matters you know when you get 20 someone practices under your belt and you get the the 15 in the spring those reps add up and and he's been in there now for a while um when you think about the last couple years you know we really kind of got him with the twos even as a young player and I think all of that is starting to pay off now for him Steven means cleveland.com uh you you've had a starting running back but you've never really had guys who are co-starters or starters like of asking who's going to take the first snap at running back on Saturday yeah um we I don't think locks decided that yet but um but they're both rolling practice you know it's uh um you know we're going to get our money's worth this week with the heat and you know so we're going to be rolling rolling these guys pretty good and James is going to get in there as well so um you know we haven't really talked about that right now those guys are are rolling and they're both going to get a bunch of bunch of reps on Saturday you mentioned James there has he has he made you guys feel comfortable about where the depth is in terms of who might be the third guy up at running back with the way he's playing yeah I would say James right now is the third running back um he's he's made some really good strides now he's got to go put it on the field and play games and that that's different than just doing it in practice um there's still some things that he knows he's got to improve on in different areas um but you know in in a part of that now is getting in the routine of playing a game and you know being consistent over time and when you're a freshman sometimes that can be a challenge making sure you're getting your rest making sure you're taking care of your body and bringing consistency every week so um that'll be the challenge for him but but he's going to play again um a bunch of snaps like a bunch of these guys you far left Joe nen WC with the iPads now on the sideline this year what type of impact do you think that'll have well it's the same for both sides um but I think the communication in game will be very very important in identifying what's gone on in the last series um we did that in in the stadium the last two Saturdays uh we were able to go through and see what it would look like at halftime what it would look like during the game up in the booth on the sideline and you know you you have ability to tag certain plays on your side of the ball so that you can all get to it at the same time identify what those things are and then make Corrections or identify what scheme things are going on so I think you're going to see you know a little bit more in-game adjustments um than maybe previously but um you know other than that I mean football's still football that's not changing uh fourth or right Jeff Gilbert press Bros uh coach regards to Will in his mental approach he's in a position of a team of uh expectations goals higher than he's probably ever been around how's he handled that since you named him the starter how do you expect him to carry that onto the field yeah I expect him to be the same way he's been since he arrived here you know we went went through the the the recruiting process there and um you know he knew what he was getting himself into here at Ohio State and not to speak for him but you know I think there was only maybe a couple places he would have considered other than going to the NFL and this was um this was it for him you know he wanted to be here and I think a big part of that is he knew what came with it um and he's really embraced that role you know he's been in here getting extra film work in this week already he's he's put a lot of work in this preseason so you know we ask our quarterbacks to do a lot here and he's embraced that part of it so um he's got a good look in his eye this week and I think he wants to get on the field and get started third row right Dylan Davis Delaware Gazette stayed with the quarterbacks here is Deon still firmly entres your back quarterback right now going into into the week how do you want to like kind of split those reps there how quickly do you want to get them on the field play for that is just kind of filling out the game yeah we've talked about that chip and I about you know as as the season goes on where do we want to insert him into games um you know we we'll kind of see how the week plays out but um I probably don't see us doing that in terms of like you know the third series or the first play of the second quarter in this game in particular but it's something that we're considering uh deep uh center field Jeremy birmingh the podcast briyan I know as a coach you're not going to assume anything but if I if other than winning and getting out of this weekend healthy what makes this season opener of success to you as a coach and as coaching staff when you have put all this work in in the offseason yeah I I it's not easy but it's simple you want as many guys to grade out a champion as possible 80% or more and you've heard me talk about that before but you know sometimes the best answers are the simple ones you know guys you you grad it out either you did your job or you didn't 80% or higher and then um you know that we are the hardest playing team in the country I mean that's really I know it's not nothing's going to be perfect it's a start but if if our identity is going to be the hardest playing team in the country and we're going to be giving unbelievable effort we have to put that on film we got a gr out over 80% and we got to play really really hard and um it's what I mentioned the staff today and that's what we're going to talk about here in the team meeting at 2:30 and that's what we're going to you know really be echoing out through all all the week and then hold them accountable on Saturday and then come in Sunday identify what what went well what didn't go well and continue to bang that drum also knowing that we're going to have to enhance you know our scheme as the season goes on you let everyone know that 130 years ago a won 12 to six I have not far right Adam Kings wbns well kind of going off of that uh since 2019 this is your first time opening against a non power 5 team you don't have to go on the road against a big 10 team you're not playing top five Notre Dame how is that different for you guys to be able to step on the field on Saturday not taking anything away from aan but knowing you know it's not as much of a challenge yeah um for us it's it's it it's always been about us you you know you hear me say that a lot but you have to really focus on the process of it and like what are we doing and you know our opponent shouldn't matter you know if it does then then we're setting ourselves up for for for failure so um what what is the standard again grade over 80% and be the hardest playing team in the country country and that shouldn't um matter who you're playing because you know they all matter they all count and and we're trying to create a standard for ourselves and you know whatever team we play we play and then we go from there so um like I tell the guys every day in practice you're not allowed to have a bad day around here it's just not allowed so we have to understand that every time when we only get 12 opportunities that's it of all the work we put in and all the time and effort we put in you get 12 opportunities so let's go play with our hair on fire run around and hit uh Dave Holmes wyx Ryan we saw the guys wear the Jesus one t-shirts when they moved in this weekend they had a baptism event I'm curious I haven't seen your team this vocal at least when it comes to Faith what have you seen from them over the weekend and and is that something you feel in the locker well I think this team um is close um I think when you look at what they've done together as a group um they they rub off on each other and um you know that part of it that's that's their own business that they you know handle but uh I think when you start to see and hear some of the messages that some of our team is giving not only out in the community but to our own team on campus those type of things you just recognize what unbelievable guys we have in our locker room the type of people that we have and certainly the academic you know what we've done being over a 3.2 for the last you know two semesters and again you're seeing things like this and some of the community outreach I mean they they care about not only their teammates but they care about the community they care about Buckeye Nation they care about the fans and um these are great great people and you know they a lot of these guys decided you know to to come back or decided to come here and could have gone a lot of other places some to the NFL to some to other schools but they came here for a reason and and it was to make an impact you know and the number one way they want to have an impact is is win championships but there's a lot of other ways to make impacts as well and then you know they want to continue to do that so when it's all said and done there's trophies in a Lobby there's rings to be worn but there's also people that have been impacted and their stories to be told and the guy to me that comes to mind with that is Archie Griffin you know and and now you know the statue is going to be uh in his name here uh this weekend but you know of all the things he's done in terms of winning the two Heisman and you know all the great history he's had here on the field to me it's the impact he's made off the field and I can't tell you how many people have shared stories with me about you know being a young kid who looked up to him when Archie took time or he went to an event and spoke to folks and he took time and because of that you know he's a legacy what he did on the field is unbelievable but to me he's even more special for what he's done off the field and I think you know our guys have embraced that in the locker room uh Andy Backstrom on three right what would it look like for special teams in game I know you've talked about the strategy with since is it going to be different for your game and since the coaching changed with that rule are you going to allow like Rob keys and will they be involved in here very much so yeah so Rob is going to be sort of the ring leader of it all and I'm right there with him for everything and uh we're going to utilize everybody we possibly can maceri is running the punt team James ortis is doing the kickoff um um Brian Hartline and and Keenan Bailey are doing both the return units kickoff return and P return but we got everybody involved Tim Walton's been a big part of this um each of the the coaches have been very much involved with the Special Teams here in the preseason so uh Rob is the point person he's the you know the one who's going to help game plan and organize meet with the individual group uh we met this morning um with the entire you know staff who was involved with special teams went through the game game plan in all four phases uh but then when we get on the field you know I'll be involved in terms of the substitutions making the calls with Rob but then getting feedback from each individual coach Cameron T Robinson the athletic Ryan I know you said you guys hadn't figure out which running back takes the first snap when you have two guys like this is it more so seeing those guys in terms of like figuring out cares is it more so figure out which guys are the best and kind of going with the flow or you feel like you have a minimum snap count that like each of these guys need hit I know you're not going to tell us what that is but the idea I mean I think you have an idea of how many carries you'd like to see for each guy but you don't know how it's going to shake and and and locks going to get a feel for that and he'll be responsible for U you know handling the substitution pattern there um these things seem to have a way of working themselves out um you know it seems to be a topic of conversation sometimes you know this time of year like how how's it all going to go you know I think we get a feel for it you know and assess it after the first game um you know this will be the first time for Quinn Shawn that we've um we've been in a game with him and it'll be interesting to see you know as we go how how he goes as the game goes um and the type of back that he is as the game wears on but um I'm excited to see these guys run far left with Harding WC Ryan this weekend was an exciting week zero I don't know if you got a chance to watch any of the games but with Florida State losing is that just another reminder that that number next to your name really doesn't mean a whole lot and have you had any conversations with your guys as a reminder about that no not not in particular about that but um yeah I think that's why you hear coaches say you know when they talk about rankings the first thing they talk about is what matters is the ranking at the end of the season and it's coach speak but that's that's a great example um I didn't get a chance to see any of the game but yeah I mean you know you um I think the first thing that's noteworthy is because of the way college football is now with some of the roster turnover you may not know exactly what you're getting with each team early in the season and I think that's significant um because you know when you look at the roster of some of the teams early on you're like okay where were they last year well this guy came in from here he came from there some guy got older you know some guy maybe didn't play cuz he was injured he comes back in but that roster looks a lot different than maybe it did the year before so I think you know that's something that's noteworthy but but as we know I mean you got to bring it every week and it has you know um you know what your ranking is has you know um no indication of where you're going down the road what matters what you put on the field and what you earn real quick you mentioned the heat how do you get your guys ready for what's going to be a warm game this week without kind of wearing them out at practice not your first time dealing with it but it's a question yeah I mean it it's it's hot all across the country you know what I mean we're we're in the north so I mean it's it's just something you got to learn to deal with and you got to hydrate really really well and recover uh at night and get your rest but um yeah you got to make sure you're hydrating throughout the week if you think you're just going to hydrate the night before the game It's Too Late by then and then you know guys start cramping so um we got to make sure that we're all over that and mix all over that and we hydrate test everybody every day so um you know we'll do that and just make sure we're on it but you know like I said it's hot you know other places other than Columbus Ohio so we'll handle it right next door Jared SMY WC Ryan on the subject of roster management uh big picture question here you now have a general manager and now that you're into the football season you're relying on him to do things that are are new in that role some of the programs like yourself in Alabama have these positions now can you walk us through Mark's contribution how it's evolved in that title and what that allows you to do uh in your help role coaching the football team through the season because there's so many tasks involved man roster management U understanding how nil is functioning and who's getting what how does he help how does he help uh boy that's that's a that's a long answer um because first off you know Mark is uh he's been unbelievable to me personally you know he's been he's been unbelievable loyal to me and loyal to the program he is somebody who works really really hard his job and I think he's the best in the business at what he does and his job has completely changed even you know in the last 6 years um he's uh an excellent evaluator uh he does a great job of understanding where the college landscape is going where it needs to be to adapt and you know he's really had a huge hand in putting this this roster together now it used to be the evaluating and then the recruiting part of it the weekends um but then when you went to official visits in the spring that completely changed now you know we've gone from from having a couple people on a visit to now having you know 15 recruits and their families and and and and you're talking over 100 people for a weekend and you it's almost like event management you know there's that part of it then there's you know the the nil piece of it you know and his conversations with agents and you know um you know some of the folks in the community and he's had a huge hand in all of that so um he's you know his his role has increased and it's become more and more important and like I said I think he's the best in the country what he does uh Steve hellwagon 247 Sports y coach can you give us a breakdown of like Chip Kelly up or down like how that's all going to look uh where the coaches will be stationed and all yeah yeah uh his plan is to be up up in the box and um you know I think for him you know being able to get organized up there he's got the tablet up there he's got his call sheet up there um you know he can really you know be clean after every series I think that's one of the things too that he and I were even talking about is that when you're on the sideline and you know you're the head coach you have your call sheet but it's hard to you know get your next series ready when you're doing all these other things when you're up there you know you got a desk you can sit down you can get your thoughts organized for the next series you can go through everything you can communicate well and so that's that's going to be his plan um you know Tim drno will be up in the box with him uh Billy fesler and um and Tony Johnson on offense uh wide receiver we've asked about a lot of positions uh who's starting uh I know you didn't you were taking the tack of Slow Rolling uh the talk about Jeremiah Smith but where do things St there at that position with the maybe the top three that are going to be out there to start yeah they're um and and Brandon inis is right there um Bryson Rogers Cojo aney Jaden Ballard I mean you'll s you'll see all these guys play um you I'm excited to see them play they they put in a good preseason and need a couple more days of prep into this first week but um they're excited to get out there just like everybody else you think Jeremiah will be out there the beginning yes okay folks we got to keep it at one question and we're not going to get everyone in Pat Murphy 247 Sports Ryan since the two losses 10 last season it seems like you guys have just been building towards this and I know you mentioned earlier that this build continues this doesn't Right End anything but to get to week one to get to a game to to kind of get back into that Rhythm after an offseason of talk and whatnot just how how much is there the excitement and and getting things rolling yeah yeah we we we're really excited and that's kind of what we said yesterday was our first gameweek practice of of getting back on the field and playing games again you know it feels like forever since we we played a game and there's been a lot of hard work you know mostly by the players but also by the coach by the staff you know a lot of people involved to um you know build this team and Coach Mick and his staff and coaches and you know everybody involved um to you know put this roster together together you know to go attack the season and um you know I can't say enough about the leaders and the guys in this this team who have continued to work hard to get to where we are right now and now it's time to go put it on the field and play but um but now there's a lot of excitement a lot of excitement and U you know just like you know anytime around here everyone's excited about the season there's a lot of talk around Ohio State football and that's great but what matters is what we put on the field and what we do on the field so um like I said fired up to get on the field and you know get on the film afterwards and figure out where we're at Dan hope 11 Warriors Ryan with will having a couple weeks going into this season to be the starter do you feel like the offense is in a better Rhythm than maybe it was best time last year we'll see after the first couple games but um yeah we'll see we'll see I mean I I do feel like we've we've had some really good um days of practice I feel like we've we've had a couple really good moments and some scrimmages um still looking to be more consistent you know still you know where our expectations is my expectations of where we are and where we are right now we're not close but um I didn't expect us to be either so um it's it's like I said before about Quin Shan it's the same with will like we haven't played in a game with will we haven't played in a game with Quinn Shan so um I'm again fired up to see what it looks like on the field but you know then get on there and figure out if some of the assumptions we've made are accurate and which ones aren't and and then enhance the things that are going well and fix the things that need to get fixed the land this King of the north the podcast Ryan you you and Chip both last I it wasbe two weeks ago when will was named the starter um said that the quarterback is the Run game coordinator and I don't know that I've ever heard you put it in those terms before so is there anything different that's 's play in that regard or just what are you expecting him to handle when you say the quarterback was the Run uh yeah I think it's something that and it's it's an approach that chips always had where um you there are multiple places the ball couldn't go um in particular with you know the way that likes to run it and some of the things that we've done in the past with like Justin Fields where you're reading an end and you have to make a decision I'm either giving the ball or I'm pulling the ball um there's an opportunity to throw the ball or hand the ball off you know on on um or or or check the play so you know rarely in this offense do you just take the ball hand it off and move on there are some that take a deep breath but I think what chip is getting at and kind of you know the one we say Run game coordinator is you know the decisions that have to be made it's not just in the passing game it's also in the Run game uh equating numbers reading players whether the linebacker safeties or on the line of scrimmage and Wells handled that pretty well you think he has he has yeah and he needs to be I mean he's got to be an expert he's got to be the best in the country at that because if he can do that then and again not extraordinary just routine plays making them then we'll have an opportunity to continue to make first downs we want to have positive runs and get get completions and and that's the focus early on as we get going Barry wbns coach you've said that you've seen an edge with this club in practice how important is that how do you what do you do as a head coach to enhance that and do you think these guys are ready to play a game now yeah it goes back to how we practice and if we're going to play that way we have to practice that way and again this is you know age-old commentary but you know if if we expect to play with an edge we got to practice with an edge if we're going to play tough we got to practice tough if we're going to you know have guys you know getting their hands on balls in the back end we got to do it practice if we're going to have guys finishing down the field then we got to do that in practice if we have guys playing you know on punt return who are going you know 12 seconds on a return rep as hard as they possibly can go that's got to happen in practice and so we just continue to create those environments and demand that there's there's that now for this team we haven't really had to demand it that hard I mean they when it's time to go when you put the ball down they're going at it hard but that's our job as coaches to create that environment because you know as the saying goes you're going to sink back to the level of your training and so we have to make sure that that happens every day in practice and um you know good news is it's been like that in practice but it's going to continue Billo Columbus Dispatch with most of your other quarterbacks I guess Justin the exception you had years to build a relationship with them you haven't with Will what have you done to kind of hasten that process and I know he he wanted you to coach him hard and if you could give details of how you've done that great but how have you kind of hasten that relationship with him and how is it right now yeah I was able to spend a little extra time with him um you know during the Spring and um you know and and I'm I'm right there next to the quarterbacks and um yeah he definitely doesn't have to worry about me coaching him hard I can tell you that um but I think he knows um I think I think there's a level of trust there he knows you know what's come before and we we talked about that during the recruiting process that like all right here's what needs to happen in order for you to get to where you are and again I just see the way he's been in the hallways this week he's been around it he's studying it you know he he wants it um so this is just the beginning but um you know he's uh he he he wants to be a great player and he knows that if he buys into this offense he buys into this team he buys into our culture that he's going to do that um we've seen you know that all uh and more so far so again you know it seems like you know we're never going to get to this first game and get on the field but it's time to get on the field and go play football Austin Ward podcast Ryan you've talked often about the potential length of the season and needing to build depth uh you've been asked about a couple specific positions but I know they're all different generally do you think that your philosophy to younger guys or building depth whether that's by Design or different game situations do you think that's going to be different do you expect it to be different what is the the planning to build that early in the year yeah I I think that it needs to be a little bit different I think there's some things we've done in the past that have been really good and some other things that we probably need to do a little better but also considering that this is going to be a different season so I think that leads you to yeah there there's some things that we need to do to make sure and sometimes you know you just you got to go put them in the game and you know kind of hold your breath but uh but it's the right thing to do because you just never know how these things are going to go so um you know again whether it all happens in the first game or not no you know who knows but um but philosophically yeah we got to get guys in the game and we have to prepare guys to get ready because you know that that run down the stretch is going to take everybody we got uh Joey Kaufman Columbus Dispatch right now that you've had a full preseason runup to practice with the with the helmet Communications and all that how how has that gone how do you anticipate it just being a factor and and what have you kind of learned from practicing with it it's different it is different and um you know cutting it off at 15 is is significant um you know making sure that uh we have a plan for if it goes out uh which can happen happen at times you know when we were in the NFL I remember that would that would happen sometimes you've probably seen in some of the games where just it goes out for 30 seconds and that can get you out of whack fast so just those type of communications um and and but but I think it's allowed chip to communicate um in particular situations really well with the quarterback you know what's what's the down the distance you know what can we expect here those type of things um and then getting feedback from the quarterbacks on you know what is too much information um so uh it's been good good but you know the the day-to-day has mostly been just you know in practice the two that we've had were mock scrimmages we turned it off at 15 to really get a feel for that so um you know we'll get the call in early and and get them lined up and go from there to clarify will will chip Soley be the one talking to will or will you be able to to talk so I I have it on me which we did the other day and I just realized that I said well that's I don't know if that's good or bad for you but um so I do have the ACT you know the ability to get on there and talk to but I'm mostly going to let chip do that and final questions Tim May Tim May podcast thanks uh Jerry uh three-parter uh uh number one will you watch the the Conor stallions piece tonight on Netflix uh number two what is your favorite moniker going into this year is it hair on fire or is it leave no doubt which you said in Indianapolis which was kind of stirring you know to a certain extent and then number three what do you want most now ask another number three A lot's being made of the $20 million Mark that Ross threw out there and stuff nationally about this roster but you had a lot of guys come back Etc and just what's your take on that kind of like hanging over this team as it heads into the year yeah so um no um what was the second question oh what's your what's your favorite moniker hair on fire like leave no no doubt is something that when you when you again look back at kind of where we've been and you know coming up a drive short a play short and and you know you can't leave it to one drive you can't leave it to one play you just can't you have to leave no doubt and and then that's it you know it's like whether it's a prize fighter going down to you know either knock him out or leave it to the judges you can't do that and so I mean that that's been something that we've talked a lot about Mick has hammered it in the offseason we still you know break down some of our meetings that way um we have to do that so I mean that's that's probably the one this year that you know we've grabbed on to the most um and then you know our team um you know every year the expectations are high we've talked about this for years and um you know there there's been a lot of teams a lot of talent a lot of great teams here so that's nothing new and so our focus in this team has done an unbelievable job of just putting one day in front of the other and and going to work and that's you know about to start here so um you know I think our guys have had a good preseason I think they're focused I think they they know what's important right now and and that's what we're going to do we're just going to focus on trying to play the best game we can on Saturday and build from there and that's that's all we can do you know what I'm talking about about the 20 million doll thing is is some people best roster money can buy type thing and stuff does that bother you that that's out there well I I think you know sometimes you know things are said but when you look at our guys you know know they're here because they want to be Buckeyes you know they're here because they want to win championships they're here um because of each other you know and to see you know what they did the other day on campus to see the impact they're making on people like you know they understand what it means to be a Bucky they understand what it means to win a championship here and that's that's the most important thing to me you know the other part you know there's a lot of changes in in college football and we're going to do everything we can to adapt and make sure that we're doing our part but there's been a lot of hard work to put this roster together and that's great that's what we're supposed to do we're doing our job but to me it's about these players and that's the number one thing for me that's what allows me to put two feet on the ground every day is envisioning you know these guys and these players you know hosting tro trophies in winning championships and and I think it's the same way our entire Dan Lanning Week 1 Press Conference staff all right we are finally here you know I think as a coach you're um always enjoy all the time you have for prep get ready for games and uh to get your team ready to go out there and play but I think our guys are certainly excited and ready to go go hit somebody else and go play somebody else got a tremendous amount of respect for Coach Heek and the job that he's done there at Idaho um he's really you know made made them a really solid team and obviously a playoff team uh this past year and and done a good job of uh winning and and they have some good stuff schematically that creates challenges for you um also really excited to see our fans on Saturday you know they did an unbelievable job selling out the the crowd I think we'll have an awesome uh support really not just this game but all the games here in Aon this year and we always you know relish the opportunity to go out there and play in front of our fans so that being said we can open it up lead off over on the right with Chris yeah Dan can you get into some just specifics about what Iowa does that I don't want to say makes you wey but you know what do you see from them what idah Idaho yeah what did I say Iowa Iowa I don't think we're playing them this week western guy here yeah no you know I mean they they've got some good skill players you know they have some guys on their team that are from Oregon that I think it'll mean a lot to them to get the opportunity to play um you know here at odson but ultimately a lot of movements and shifts you know I think those are always a a challenge when you're playing teams like that they have a great uh wide out and dwire that does a good job um they've done a good job of acquiring players certainly they've lost a couple players in the portal but they've done a good job of acquiring players that I think can create um you know matchups uh at times and they just play they play really hard you know they're well coached um they have an identity you know I think they're a team that can run the ball well and obviously we really explosive last year um you know on offense and do a good job of running the ball on defense so they play good team football are sound and special teams they do a lot of stuff well on the left yard it was just one start last year but I think Lane performed really well in that against Ido State based on the numbers I saw what can you tell us about what you've seen from him and what kind of a challenge he presents yeah he's uh he's a really good passer you know obviously did a great job in the Ido State game last year did well in the spring game uh you can tell he he understands where to go with the ball and Trust his guys to go get it you know but he throws you know throws it well and I think you know people probably underestimate his athleticism as well he's a guy that can run and um was a good player here in the state of Oregon so obviously that's showing up there for them right one of Idaho's strengths that peers kind of After Fall Camp was their experience up front just what do you how do your do you intend to prepare for that uh this week yeah we have to go play you know sound football and good football but yeah they they have an experienced old line I think that's something they're going to lean on for sure um I think they could handle you know bigger environments because of that they've played in some some hostile environments like Montana before this will be a little bit different I think here at odson but uh that's a that's a sound unit it's a strength of their team so I I don't think it takes anything special or different for our guys Beyond knowing that they got to play play well and do their job left James who will be the starting center yeah this we'll see on Saturday you know there's a lot of guys that I think can play winning football so you guys want to know every single starter for me it's about how many guys can play you know winning football for us and you could see more than one guy in those situations let's go back here left has there been any separation between Austin and Dante in terms of the backups and just maybe speak broadly what you saw from both of them yeah I think both those guys had really good fall camps um good job done a good job in the spring uh as well and again I think we have multiple quarterbacks that can play winning football for us so uh they both understand our system you know both of those guys have gone over and helped us get looks um from the look team as well um which that's the key is playing football right going out there and have an opportunity to play you know winning football but both those guys I think can do that for us all the way in the back on all the way on the back Matt and in your first few years here your teams really haven't overlooked any opponent how do you get this year's team to to do that and because we've seen FCS teams give power five teams really hard games yeah I think you trus in the process right what we know that we want to set the bar for us you know what's our bar what's our standard what do we want it to look like and you know being you know self-aware enough you can go attack the things that you have to improve and regardless of who you're playing when you're playing we always talk about our biggest opponent is Oregon right we have to go play or be do the best to be the best version of Oregon that we can be next one right coach you obviously had quite a few week ones in your career what do you enjoy most as a head coach with the week one preparation and just getting things you know ready for the season to begin yeah just seeing what what kind of team you have right and I think a lot of fall Camp leads up to that and like I said as a coach I always enjoy having the extra time to prepare and get ready but as you know for our players I'm I'm sure they're excited to get to play somebody else that right Aaron again um the transfer portal like you I think mentioned hit Idaho pretty hard when you're preparing um for a week one opponent that did have a lot of uh transfer portal out and transfer portals in just how do you attack the film of that and how much do you look into the spring game but also have to go back and look at multiple players that played on multiple teams last season yeah we do a deep dive I mean we watch a lot of different film they have a really Dynamic returner that played at Weber State last year um that's been you know really good I think he has five you know kickoff returns for touchdowns um so he's had had a lot of success but that's that's what you do you go look at other opponents and where or other places that those guys have been and what their film looks like and how it adds up and matches up with your team left James the follow up on the interior line Dan how much of this for context purposes is coming down to snaps between Charlie and Poncho versus a Charlie at Center versus NAD guard conversation and and dynamic I think all things are on the table I mean uh again how many guys can we have that would be can play winning football we'll we'll send out the group that we think has done the best in Fall Camp to start you know start the game but I think for us to be think long term we have to be able to prepare and have multiple guys play at multiple positions are you expecting Jal and Dave and and Gary to be available on Saturday um I don't think jalile or Dave will be available you know Gary I think could be available all in the back left back talked about wanting to find out how many guys can play what's the kind of a a good number that you you look at for a game by- game basis and what dictates that yeah I don't we don't set a number what you know what's winning football right so hopefully you know every single guy on our team but that's not necessarily the case so we'll play the guys that have earned the opportunity to play there's some guys that have probably earned the opportunity to play that have a lot of talent in front of them um and if there's a discrepancy you play the more talented guy or the guy that's ready right now there's also some guys that are really talented and could help us uh but maybe they're not just not there yet so it's game one we'll go we'll go out there and and play the guys I think that can contribute to us winning on the football field back to James you touch on their kickoff returner kickoff coverage was much improved last year relative to the year before just how important is that with him back there and will Bole be the primary kickoff guy uh for you guys yeah I think we had a couple guys that can kick for us whether it's Bole or attakus um you know even engage and Grant of all all been kick so I think you could see multiple guys there uh kickoff coverage is really important it sound I mean it's an opportunity to create an explosive play but for us that's our first play on defense so um you have to respect who's back there and make sure you do a good job in your lanes um but that's been you know the guy that they have back there has been really aggressive and bringing the ball out and uh we have to be aware of that can I hear from right where have you seen Improvement in some of the newcomers from the start of fall Camp into game week yeah just execution you know I think that's always a a bigger leap for guys coming from high school um to college is the amount of stuff that we ask these guys to absorb you know and do and uh it doesn't matter you know how good a football player you are if you're not going the right direction or running the right route or doing the right assignment so being assignment sound and playing relentlessly that's what we look for back left how you talk about position battles in the team out west video I'm curious just what were the ones that were really competitive for for you guys as a staff this Camp I mean honestly I mean all every position right right like we have battles across the board there's some guys that have established themselves as guys that have played winning football and are clear starters for us but for us it's about clocking in every single day so I think we've seen it in multiple groups on multiple sides of the ball front left James with the big 10 having a universal policy regarding injury reports Dan just how do you envision uh going about that in terms of disseminating information during the course of the week on these nights and the midweek of just how you would prefer it so we're not running into any uh issues along the way before those Saturday reports come out you mean from you guys yes yeah just read it on Saturday that's when you guys will get it so if you see it on Saturday you guys can use it from there back over here on the right Chris yeah I know it's been a week but we haven't talked to you since but we just your thoughts on Bo being named the starter at Denver yeah excited for Bo you know um you don't know when that's going to happen or come and I know that's what you know Bo realizes he just went to work he's gone to work every single day and and now that he's been named that that wasn't his goal wasn't to just become the starter is to play winning football so um I know go B will be humble and continue to PR prepare the way he always has but I think obviously you know Denver's a great fit for him and they've done a good job of developing him as he's been there back left BR coach oal Camp you've talked about the growth and the importance of growth this you know the last couple weeks do you feel like heading into week one you're seeing where your team wants to be at and how much more can they continue to grow before obviously Saturday Saturday comes around yeah every day you know uh I've been happy with the growth that our team's had I think they've practiced hard and worked really hard this off season um but certainly don't want that to stop like all we got for you coach all right thank you okay game week so uh Jedd Fisch Week 1Press Conference certainly an exciting time uh for all of us that have been here since January uh 16th or 15th feels like it's been really short some days and really long other days so it's uh certainly now time to go play Talking season's over um and it's an opportunity for our team to really go out there and uh showcase how hard they play and that's kind of what uh we're going to talk about all week long is can we have the team with the greatest amount of effort for the longest amount of time and can our program sustain that and build that uh as the weeks go on so that's going to be our number one Focus for sure um and then number two is are we capable of um playing together and um playing at the highest level we haven't really done that uh as we're so brand new that uh it'll be our first time that we're all out there together so really excited about kind of seeing how we do how we communicate and um if we can play with great effort and we can communicate at a high level I think it'll be a a fun a fun season but uh there's a lot of uh a lot of things that we need to see it starts Saturday night at 8:00 uh excited about first game at home being um for me and my family for our coaches uh to be a part of the greatest setting in college football uh really excited about the chance to you know drive up here be a part of the dog walk uh start some of our own New Traditions as well as embrace the past of the Traditions that have been here and then um hit the field for the very first time uh as a husky so excited about everything that's coming our way and uh certainly take any questions you guys have what allowed Will Rogers to ultimately win starting quarterback job I think Will from the very beginning showed a command um a maturity uh he has a ton of experience we felt that um with the team of inexperience there's a it's a nice thing to have a lot of experience at that position and uh will has certainly shown that he has great leadership abilities he has certainly embraced um learning this offense and then um has continued to improve week in and week out day in and day out um and he's had somebody that's really really good uh nipping at his heels every single uh every single day so um they make a great pair uh they've certainly become very good friends they've gotten to really uh build a great relationship but in the end uh we felt like at this moment in time uh for this game uh certainly will was Will was the right guy to lead the team J we spent a lot of time asking you about the offensive line over the offseason and you have your Five Guys for now can you kind of just talk about who those guys are and and why those five guys are the right ones yeah you know uh we we we kind of had a a pretty good mix and match I mean in the spring we only had eight scholarship line uh offensive linemen and two of them were hurt and we didn't really have a lot of flexibility to be able to evaluate the team and the offensive line and then as a you know spring went to summer summer went to fall we started getting a good feel and really had about a 10-man rotation of offensive lineman and uh when we when we settled down and saw who were the going to be the best five for opening day to help us uh move the football we felt really good about uh Swan's progress um at left tackle thought that he really has shown the ability to not just run block but pass protect he's got great length he's got a body that you want uh as a left tackle um felt really good about right tackle obviously Drew ASA party has kind of had that spot um throughout you know that wasn't um I would say that he was secured the spot the earliest starting in the spring and then the guard battle was a pretty good battle all the way through with guard memar coming back from a knee injury and then bringing Enoch in uh from Ohio State uh both of those guys have certainly helped us but there's been a lot of uh good guard play here I would say uh in training camp so there's uh certainly some good competition there and then with Hatchet uh coming back and being cleared to play but um how many reps how many uh you know can he play a full game he hasn't done that yet uh we really like the way DLo has been playing and uh DLo is I think it's 48 starts at Portland State so there's experience there and with him and will you know you those two guys if you add up the amount of starts that those two guys have I don't think anyone combined um is close to that number I think when you look at the 30s something starts that will had and the or even more and the 48 starts that DLo had you're talking about almost 80 starts I'm not sure our team has 80 starts when you add them all up so it's pretty good Jed and that same subject right here You' said um on your first day here about it starting in the trenches I think you said to win games the Big 10 it starts in the trenches if you can't run the ball or stop the run you don't have a chance and I'm just wondering your confidence level in the trenches on both sides how would you describe where you feel like you're at offensively and defensively with the big boys up front yeah well I I certainly uh I don't regret saying that and I believe that 100% um we are uh certainly gotten better up front both sides of the ball I feel that um this training camp coach Caroll coach KUSI um both have done a tremendous job of of getting our two lines offensive line defensive line ready to go uh along with their assistance um with coach lych and Coach Jackson and Coach Switzer so uh we feel good about it I think our defensive line with dery and with Cass you know you've got Sebastian Valdez you've got dery you got jbon Parker coming back from injury uh Bandz returning for his sixth year uh you you've got Isaiah Ward who came over um there's some really good uh there's a really good defensive line group and I think we're we're really solid really into the two deep if not even one or two others rotating through um then you have on the offensive line I feel far better than I did going into training camp now that I've seen these guys compete and uh I was confident from the film that we were able to evaluate and see but to be able to watch them work together every day uh it's still a work in progress and um we still have to figure out exactly what it's going to look like I mean this uh this group saw two really two first round picks I know one went in the second one went in the first but some people would have argued they both should have been first round picks last year at tackle um so we we certainly know that there's a standard of of playing really good up front and we have to continue to to Really build off of that whether it be this week this season or the seasons ahead you mentioned Javon Parker you guys didn't have him for a lot of Camp here what what did he do to to be listed at the top of the depth chart well when he was healthy he was a he was a starter for us uh then he wound up at some point in Spring ball having to get uh his knee fixed up um and it wasn't a season Ender it was about a three-month recovery so when you look at the time frame of when it happened or where it happened and then what we needed to get done he's now back healthy and uh he's back healthy and we believe that based upon the way he worked all summer uh in the weight room and during on his rehab the amount of film study the preparation that he put himself in position to be able to have substantial reps on Saturday um whether between the next four days or so he's we're fully comfortable with starting him or not we'll we'll have to see that but certainly prior to his injury he would have been uh certainly named a starter at this point could you uh talk about the the Big Sky connection here you've got maybe three transfers that are going to start for you from that league and it used to be maybe a gimme game but three years ago we saw Montana come in here and win and I think you went through the same thing in Arizona that year with Northern Arizona could you talk about keeping your guys focused on the Big Sky yeah and I think how we just saw it this Saturday with Montana State beating New Mexico um so you know I think these games we're going to have a what North Dakota State game against Colorado um the night before I I think that the day of the Gimme days I don't know I think those are over uh the leagues are different the competition's different coaching's continuing to improve um this is not like what we had back in whatever 2000 when I was at Florida and you'd have a game that you'd win 60 something to nothing um I just don't see it I don't see that being the case at all I think you've got a really good football team coming in here off of a three-game win streak ranked 22nd in their in the FCS uh they played in the playoff uh eight times here in a row or eight times in the last 10 years uh it's a good football team well coached new coach going into a second season um so there are no more gimmies in this sport uh especially with all the Transitions and all the turnovers and all the changes they have 10 transfers that are on their team eight of which came from the FBS you would never have had that um back in the day you wouldn't have had eight guys that played in FBS football now playing in FCS football football and uh within what a couple months of of playing and then they lost some guys starter at BYU starter at New Mexico that were just on this team so um we got our work cut out for us I'm going to say that every single week I believe that uh each week we got to figure out how to bring our best and it's going to start with our effort how hard we run to the ball how well we finish how much we want to compete in every single aspect of the game will determine the success of our team how Jed you said a month ago that you weren't sure how this group was going to look as a collective before going into Camp what did it look like to you during during camp and maybe what stood out about how everything came together yeah um well what stood out to me is that um each day we improved we made a standard uh as a program that we were never going to have a bad practice we might have a bad moment in practice we might have a bad period in practice ice but we were going to do everything we could not to have a bad practice and these guys uh they never had a bad practice uh sometimes it wasn't as good as we wanted it to be or there were certain moments that weren't as good but what I loved about this group over those last four weeks is they they found a way to find an identity they found a way that they were going to you know be physical they were going to play with great effort uh and they were going to finish on every play disciplined that's going to be what the standard's going to be here here that's what's going to be what this team looks like and as they started talking about it more and more it gave me more belief and more confidence that we're going to be able to start seeing uh quicker what we want to look like how quick I don't know but certainly quicker than maybe I thought five weeks ago are there any updates on Kevin green Jr we saw him get injured at the end of the game now he's not only to deep yeah Kevin will be out for a while um I I would imagine we won't see uh Kevin till the bye what is your approach to working with the defense at Steve Bel obviously this his first year a college defensive coord how how do you handle that process and going through the two deeps because coach anderi said obviously it starts with you and I know you're more Hands-On with the offense kind of what is your approach to the defensive side on that respect yeah um you know the the accountability accountability falls on me um so I've got to do the very best I can uh to make sure that in all three phases of our program um we're all saying the same message I believe in our coordinators 100% uh defensively Steve's done a fantastic job since he's arrived he's really embraced college football he's embraced the learning uh curve that these kids are on uh he's really done a great job of putting his scheme in I have the utmost um respect for Coach powpow uh we've been together now for four years he's run our special teams for the last three uh he his so valuable his input that he gives when it comes to to the personnel and the to deep and what we need to get done coach carols and I have been together for seven years um certainly Brennan uh has a great mind for the game and we talk about what we want to do on offense often uh but in the end you know I'm gonna I'm gonna let Steve put in what he wants to put in trust Steve in what we're doing I'm going to meet with the defense every Friday all season long uh with the players I'm going to meet with Steve every Monday and every Thursday meet with the defensive stat every Sunday and we're going to make sure that we're all saying the same thing playing the type of football that we want to play uh with that being said if you're going to be the play caller uh you are going to spend a little bit extra time on the offensive side and I've got to be able to manage that with the new that's call iPads that we've got on the sideline and you know getting wrapped up in sitting on the bench making Corrections while you're also uh the head coach of the team so there's going to be some uh learning there as well and I'm looking forward to to balancing that because at the mock game I felt like I was uh running a meeting every time we were in between series rather than uh overseeing the whole game so I've got to make sure that we get that done how would you describe Steve's initial reaction to you offering him this job or reaching out and saying hey we want you to come interview and coaching College well he was uh I would say gratitude first off uh he was you know I I think he felt that it was a great compliment that uh we reached out and uh offered him his first the defensive coordinator job in a power five team and he was very grateful for that opportunity um he was excited about the chance to fly out here he asked if his wife could come with him uh as they have been in New England now for 13 I think straight years so it was a big move uh they've only been with one team so he wanted to make it a family decision if they chose to do that uh he was very prepared when he flew out here for the inter uh had an exact plan of what he wanted to go through uh on the computer and in terms of installation and in terms of schematics uh how he teaches it he's very uh you know he he's not very threatening in the way he speaks so everyone on the staff felt really good about the inclusiveness that he was going to bring to the coaching staff but they also were so impressed with his intelligence and uh how well he knew the game and um it was immed medely we we we have a great relationship we have a great friendship we've socialized together on and off the field we've been on vacation the same place so there it's not like this was a new relationship but the idea of being able to have him here um he's been fantastic it I I respect him I trust him I believe in him and uh there's no doubt I feel like we have the best defensive coordinator if not uh uh around it looks like a lot of your secondary positions are still in competition could could you talk about that and and especially Darren Barkin who who came here last year got hurt and then just kind of you know been in rehab it seemed like ever since yeah he's been uh he's had a lot of treatment he's been in the training room a good amount over the last five or six days he's shown up as somebody that's competing uh I think his first practice back he had an interception his second practice back he had a forced fumble his third practice back he recovered a fumble he just kind of found the ball uh which was exciting and when you've never seen him because he didn't participate really in very much football since I've been here he showed up and that was cool um obviously pryck fad Dixon EJ have played a lot of football so there's a lot of video evidence out there um and we feel really good about those three guys and then Jordan Shaw is a freshman red shirt freshman but young nonetheless and then McCutchen uh was out for a lot of training camps so those two guys are in a good competition uh for that star position and then at safety uh Mikel and cam Fab were were kind of sitting there as the starters um during let's call it uh Spring ball and then card came in and did a fantastic job in in competition so that's now added a new dimension there uh so now we have the flexibility of three corners three safeties two stars uh that gives us a lot of personnel groupings one thing that coach belich will say Steve will say for sure is uh it's our job to get the best 11 out there for every single play so we're not going to get wrapped up in what position they play we're not going to get wrapped up is are you allowed to play with three corners sure you're allowed to play with everybody as long as there only 11 out there you're allowed to play with three safeties you're allowed to play with two defensive linemen you're allowed to play with five defensive linemen so I think what we're going to do what you're going to see is um that mentality by Steve that he learned from his dad was it's our job each down to get the best 11 out there to stop what they're doing on offense and not worry about what position they play and that's why all that competition um has been great for the team Co I think I answered this a couple weeks ago and I wanted to just follow up after a few more weeks of practice and probably a better question for week four or week five but what are you good at like what are you hoping this team is good at starting Saturday I want to be good at playing really hard I want to be great at that actually um and that's something were're good at not great at yet but our my hope our hope as a coaching staff is by Saturday we're great at it uh and if we're not great at it Saturday by the following Saturday we're great at it we want to be great at playing with Incredible effort uh the next thing I'd say we want to be great at is we want to be great at fundamentals if it's about setting the edge on defense then we want to be great at setting the edge if it's about tackling on defense we want to be great at tack tackling um if it's about blocking on offense we'll be great at blocking you know I I I put up a quote the other day from Vince Lombardi and it was like football is about two things blocking and tackling so we got to be good at those two things if we're not good at those two things the rest of it doesn't matter so that's kind of what I want to be good at effort running to the ball setting the edge tackling blocking fundamentals after that we'll see if we can be good at throwing post routes or Corner routes or playing cover two or playing cover six or whatever it might be but in the end we want to be good at the first part coach you named uh Will Rogers if QB one but you said earlier there's a a really talented guy nipping at his heels um is there going to be certain situations special packages where we see Deon stpp in under Center the answer to that question is maybe uh we've got uh we've got a very talented quarterback room and uh it's our responsibility to move the football uh any way any way possible how we do that when we do that how we choose to do that uh we're very excited about will uh right now as our starting quarterback uh going into this game and everything that will brings and then uh we'll see uh what demand um can do will do but uh I did this with Noah and Jaden and Noah red shirted his freshman year he played four games he didn't go in uh more than four games and then he came back in his second year won Pack 12 freshman of the year so uh we don't know we don't know what it's going to look like we don't know how it's going to be I don't want to predict the future I just know that right now um I love our quarterback room and I'm really excited about um where it's heading Jen you've got six guys listed on the depth chart with the edge rusher can you just talk a little bit about that competition why you felt comfortable putting so many guys on on the chart yeah cuz the edge rusher is um you know they're The Edge player they're the ends right so is it a run snap is it a pass snap is there certain third down packages that you'd want to get a guy in for I think we've all seen like the designated pass rusher is one of those terms that people use when they're talking about the draft like hey is this guy really a third down pass rusher or is he an ed Setter um so for us we have to get an idea of what type of offense we're playing every week um some guys fit uh what we're doing on defense better for a certain week we don't want to get locked into you know you guys asking me on Saturday hey you guys had on the you didn't have so and so on your depth chart and yet he played 36 snaps well I didn't you know know they were going to be a Zone read team or I didn't want to tell you guys that you know whatever it might be uh so you know we left it open for interpretation and our flexibility to be able to mix and match players back and forth ultimately when when you talk about your quarterback battle how difficult did Deon make that decision for you guys to go go with will or the idea that you can play both of them um d man had a d man got better every day d man got better every single day uh coach dhy did a great job uh developing demand and uh continuing to obviously develop will as well I think our quarterbacks continue to show um how they can thrive in our system and I believe it's a great system to play quarterback in I think that's been proven over the years it's a great system to play wide receiver in um so I feel like it's a situation where deand will continue to get better deand turned 18 in March will has been doing this for a long time um together they're they've made um each other better they're going to continue to make each other better theand continue to improve will continue to improve and uh what's exciting to me is when you have a true freshman at quarterback every receiver in the country should want to come here okay thanks appreciate Michael Locksley Week 1 Press Conference sure um again always great to to have you guys here joining us um great to be back with a a game uh game week I mean I know our players are excited I know I'm excited about the opportunity to go uh see what we have see what this 24 iteration of of Maryland the Maryland football family looks like um Camp was a super super competitive Camp um when you look around and you see the depth that we've been able to add to our team and what I've found over the the last few years is that the competition is is what really has helped us improve and and it helps you get better when you compete um really healthy competition at a number of spots quarterback Corner uh the tight end position the left side of the offensive line um you know great great healthy competition um we got a lot of guys young players reps in practice and if you watch the way we practice and the development of our young uh guys especially the young old linemen you know this was one of the biggest classes we signed in Old lineman and I can tell you that those guys were coached and you know when you have three guys working with those guys and Brian brazwell and and then obviously uh Damen robowski and as as well as Brian frence I saw the immediate Improvement and the development of those young linemen and we're going to need the need that depth you know obviously we open up with Yukon I've got a ton ton of respect for coach MOA um he's been really successful at the NFL level he's had success at the college level um he's done a pretty good job you look at how they finished uh last year with two wins at the end of the year uh to get momentum going into this year very similar to how we finished our season um we get a chance to be back inside the shell as you guys know I I really love having an opportunity to play at home I think as our program has grown and as we've developed the championship mentality and habits I've seen our fans try to do the same and I expect and hope um that we're able to feel the shell I know myself and uh some of our game captains had an opportunity to speak to our incoming freshman class this Saturday and we got a small taste of what the energy is like and and I can tell you the class of 28 did a tremendous job Saturday night with how they responded and and and I'm excited to see you know as we work to get better as a football program the challeng is for our fans and our supporters to work to be better at supporting the program and and I I see it uh I saw it in in the Freshman that reported here Saturday but I really what I really hope is that this entire area can get behind this team uh we need it we need the entire area to support uh Maryland athletics to support Maryland football I know today is our fall uh fall Sports what is this press conference media day and so we we need this area to get behind you know when the governor came he talked about 6 million people behind our programs and and not just football but all the fall sports that have opened up or opening up uh this week um we've waited eight months for 12 weeks of a season we've worked hard for eight months to get 12 guaranteed opportunities to play uh and I've seen total buyin from our players total buying when you talk about a player Le team there's no doubt in my mind that what what I have seen and what I've what I've told you is really what's happening and I'm excited uh that now we get the opportunity to show what this team is all about and and it starts Saturday um our game captains going into this game Ruben hippolite Rob Smith and Roman HBY uh all three guys have really been a major part in what this program has become in their own special ways and I'm excited for them to lead us uh against Yukon on Saturday um so with that I open it up to questions about the back again Mike and what's been the regular weekly question what is the the state of the quarterback room right now going into the opener and I assume the plan is still what it was before you told the team Sunday and the rest of us have to wait till Saturday to find out yeah um what I've learned from this quarterback competition that we've got a room full of guys that we can win with that we've recruited the right guys to the room um the three guys that have competed for the position during fall Camp I come out of the meeting Sunday I met with all three together I come out of the meeting with a really strong confidence that we'll have the ability to win with all three um obviously we're not going to get three quarterbacks ready we can't that's not the nature of of how you build a team and how you develop it um it gives us no competitive advantage to to name it publicly um they know who it is uh we're preparing the way we typically prepared where you know our starter gets you know a good good portion line share of the Reps and then we get a number two guy ready and then the third guy gets a lot of visual reps and and and is up and I can tell you there's no doubt in my mind that I can win with all three and they all competed uh we got better collectively and and I'm excited you know with the starter our team is going to get behind the starter rally behind that guy the guy doesn't have to win the game for us what we've got to do is uh play to the standard practice and prepared to our standard and I feel good about the quarterback room as a whole how much different is the the thought process going into a season with a different quarterback after having Leah here for four years and accomplish what he did yeah it's been a luxury to have tiia tongal on our program and like I said he kind of set the standard and the foundation for how you prepare as a quarterback um he's put put a solid foundation in place to where I think all three of these guys have have benefited um from how we prepare how we practice how we develop because I've seen them all really really improve uh their games from the eight months that they've been here working and and it was a healthy competition and like I said I leave we leave out of it feeling really good about what we've been able to get accomplished in the QB room afternoon Mike Dave what's up not much regardless of who plays happen to your eye man you should see the other guy who don't mess with the bull you get the horns hey man be careful man put your hands on people regardless of who is your starting quarterback he's got to stay upright what with your offensive line what gives you cause for confidence that the Five Guys or the 10 guys the ho will be greater than the sum of its parts yeah we got we got two deep 10 guys um you know we've got a smattering of some true freshman in that two deep uh that have earned the right to be in it um we've expedited the growth of some of these guys I mean really when you look at the job that that we've been able to get done over the last three weeks uh now we got to go play um you know but when you look at the competition of the front seven on defense which is one of the strengths of our team and the way we've come along up front on the o line um we're going to have some Growing Pains but I feel good that we've got the right guys in the right places and what we've got to do now is uh get the continuity and and and get those guys playing you know together when you have a quarterback competition the one negative is you don't have a consistent voice in the Huddle or on the sideline and they've all kind of had to adapt as those three guys have competed and you know now that we've got the consistent voice in there um I expect you'll see the the o line kind of Jael and get better with each game and you know up front is the the the toughest and the the the the longest to develop players and we've done everything based on the resources that we've been given to be able to try to expedite the how how we develop our our guys up front second yeah coach kind of following up on Dave the boxer's question um you know you've won 23 games in the last three years s eight and eight three three bowls is there a specific part of the team that you can point to where there's Improvement to that gives you confidence that you can get to that next level that you talked about in your opening press conference before the season began yeah it starts with playing good defense um been a part of championship teams whether it's National Championships conference championships in this this league you got to win up front and we knew that uh the way we've constructed our team over the last five years it's been how do we get depth up front on the dline how do we develop the depth to get through tough a tough Big 10 schedule on the o line and you know everybody knows we got skill we've had receivers DB speed very few teams in our league you know have the ability to recruit the speed that we have in this area and where we've struggled is getting the big guys and and I think anybody that's seen us practice says hey we kind of look like a big 10 team now we've got length and size on the o line and D line um now it does take three years typically to grow a offensive lineman to be able to play and be productive in this league just like we've been able to do on defense the gradual incremental development of our defense has shown uh offensively we were a little ahead of schedule because we had a quarterback that had the ability to make plays and we always recruited skill our coaches did a really good job of of doing what the players are capable of getting executed well now on the Comfort level is that um our defense is is salty a lot of veteran players that have played a lot of football we still got to go play it I mean I mean this is like Christmas for me to to open up Saturday against Yukon and really see who we are and we got to play the game to see who we are and start the the chess match of making the moves and the adjustments we need to make to get the program uh to continue to move forward hey coach Sam Jane d Z what's up how we doing um last year you guys forced a lot of turnovers on defense I think you're like second in the Big 10 in interceptions what on that side of the ball do you kind of want to carry over from last year and where are you looking to improve um on the defensive unit well I think it starts with stopping the Run um you know anytime you stop the run and and that's been a big emphasis for us to take the next step on offense we got to rush the ball better we we know we can line up on First and 10 possession pass RPO get the ball in space we know how to do that but there comes a time where you going to have to get in the phone booth with a tough guy stand Toe to Toe and fight him and in the Big 10 it typically happens as the weather changes and so we want to develop a mentality of stopping the run and being able to run the ball while also still creating any explosives that it takes to win uh on offense while limiting on defense so what I'd like to see us do to answer your question on the defensive side continue to tackle the way we've tackled the ball uh because most big plays start with Miss tackles and then the next starts with the missed assignments making sure everybody's on the same page and not giving up the explosives we did that pretty well a year ago um and we need to continue that Trend hey coach Pete Gilbert from P good to see you what's up man Roman heni from the time he got on the field here he's been an impactful impressive player now in his third year what do you where have you seen him grow and how has he gotten better from even that time where he you know he was special when he got here yeah you know what even more than what you talked about Roman HBY on the football field Roman heni is the real deal as a person man you know kudos to his mom and dad the job they've done uh from the time that kid got on campus here and again he came in three running back class if you remember Kobe him and Antoine and much like some of the other guys you know he didn't play very much as a freshman and red shirt and then all of a sudden boom he shows up in the bowl game and people starting to see the things that we knew about him but the thing we talk about Roman the football player but Roman the person Roman the Maryland turp representative is a unbelievable guy and that's how you win championships when you recruit guys like Roman because you know what Roman GNA do he's going to bring in other good players which he has and I I expect Roman uh to continue to build on the Legacy that he started here and he's been a tremendous leader I mean it's the reason why you know when we start the year off this kind of like a the the liftoff of a rocket you know it takes hundreds of hours to build this rocket to take off and go places it's never been before a lot of people play roles not everybody gets to make the trip up but they all play a role in it and so this is kind of liftoff and we're were able to do it because of players like Roman HBY coach you uh kind of LED with this in your opening here we know how important the X's and O's are and the Johnny's and Joe's that are in your program but why is it important to your program that the students and that the community come out here and feel the shell for your team he try push my buttons aren't you come on man I we need them I mean we we really do like I've said this before and again I'm not going to be the dead horse but we've tried to do our part as a team to recruit the right kids to build this program uh my bosses Damon and Colleen have given me the resources we've navigated Co we've navigated nil transfer portal and we we've done our part or have tried to do our part to the liking well to take the program to a championship level we got to have Championship level support fans people coming in I mean there's no reason in this area that this a Saturday family friendly environment man it should be a block party like all the local kids whether the youth football programs that play on Saturday morning they should be here supporting the turps we're the flagship University we're the the the marketing arm for the state when you leave this state people talk about your Flagship University football team and you know what when we bring some of these top players I mean we have some of the top players in the country in recruiting and they they need to come and see that we have Championship caliber fans we've tried to do our part to put the product on the field uh we got to do our part by you know winning sure win some big games lock shut your mouth and win some games I get it but it'll be a lot easier to win some games and shut my mouth if I can keep the top players here because we got fans in the stands early staying late rabbit fans that don't care Win Lose or Draw they love their turps I know I love my turps and I know our turps love representing the state of Maryland hey coach up um so since you've been head coach you guys are the team is 14- one and um against non-conference opponents including 12 straight wins against them so I was wondering what has gone into the success that you guys have had in non-conference play I mean our standard how we practice uh good players that that believe in each other and Believe in Us as coaches uh the support staff you know getting through a tough training camp and we practice the right way our our training room staff getting our players healthy uh the former coaches and players that have worked here that have gone on and maybe doing different things or better things there been a lot that has gone into it the support that I get from you know Administration and to to win is a a a culmination of good habits coming together and and we we've had good habits in a non-conference um we're building and we've looked at what we've got to do to kind of uh compete for all three parts of our season the beginning the middle and the finish and uh feel good about this team because of the player Le culture that they've created uh these guys want to win and they want to win now last from George hey Mike how's George what's up G herbo good to see you since the beginning of Camp to now is there a a position group you can identify or players you can identify that have made the biggest Improvement since when you started practice the beginning of August to this point yeah I would say I think it's the o line um just because when you look and see I think how many true freshman we got in this the two deep up up fromont two three yeah and then we got some on defense but I I I have seen I mean that that young old line when you watch him work and and I've seen him work like those guys kind of get it and and they kind of got like a little bit of a edge to them and and that's what you need in this league I keep going back to you know there going to come a time where you going to have to line up and and and go Toe to Toe and get in the phone booth with a tough guy and maybe have to take a couple punches and you have to give a couple and in that area you know we put you achieve what you emphasize and I put a big emphasis on developing and making sure how do we develop them quicker because it takes three years but I ain't got three years do I boss I got three years because I I got to get it done now and so BRZ the oine and and those coaches that we've added I mean I've been I've been bragging about I hope they they prove themselves right and prove me right how's it going Alex clay with WJZ back here start with start with the quarterback let's end with it might as well yeah let's do it uh I was just wondering if you could peel back the curtain a little bit and was there a characteristic that the guy that you ultimately select to be the starter that is it that this person has that this trait that they shown or is there something on the field that they showed you throughout the uh this camp that that separated them just kind of peel back the curtain on that decision- making process for us yeah I mean going into it I was pretty clear on what what it would take to be the starting quarterback and it starts with who gives us the best game week I'm ready to go players are fired up we excited um for this game DeShaun Foster Week 1 Press Conference traveling to Hawaii so you know we have a few Hawaiian players that are happy to get back and play on the island and I'll open it up to you guys um leaving Thursday yes okay um Hawai obviously played last weekend what did you see when you watched that game same thing we saw on film you know some high energy guys um play together um offens def defensively you know just a team so um I just told my guys you know no matter our opponent we just got to get out there and play you know it really doesn't matter who we're going against you you know just play our Brewing standard and we should be good their quarterback I think threw for two TDS ran for two is he kind of a dual threat a little bit I would say that you know he ran um a lot more in this game than he did last season I would assume so well I would say not assume but you know he's a good quarterback we're going to hopefully you know contain him and just continue to um take good defense and cause Havoc you you guys got to scout them uh yet they got to shake off the rust there one way outweigh the other as far as you know would you rather have had one way or the other no it's football you got line up and play anyway so it was good that we were able to see um a game before our game but other than that it's still football so what you think about his I guess his big playability I think he led the FBS last year with nine throws of at least 50 or more yards I mean I guess what's the key to uh you know stopping that um just getting hits on them you know you got to find ways to to um to get him out of his rhythm you know offensively so um I'm just you know just going to come in there and you know hopefully our front does a good job we're able to to get some hits on him or you know at least get some pressure on him so he's not just sitting in the pocket Personnel wise any updates like KJ Wallace how's he doing he's doing good he he'll be out here full goal today um Right Guard is it maah haly I know there was some competition there yeah it's most likely probably either going to be um hopefully there's no type of injuries or anything that happened this week but yeah should be Al are you going to release a depth chart uh this week before the uh first game yeah you guys will get one had some uh recognition on Friday night what was that experience like for you it was good just to go back to the high school see a lot of my teammates ex- coaches U couple teachers so you know it was it was pretty exciting um you know testing is where it started so it was a it was like it was good to go back home at uh qb2 would you say Justin Martin's one that spot yeah you would say it was Jus Martin how was it going out to the Rose bub or somebody the value of doing that on tnd just the whole communication from U coach to player um using the iPads uh see who we have in the Box communicating like that just uh just kind of wanted to get out there and just kind of give them a little mock game just so they can uh you know have the special teams tied in with the offense and defense yeah why couldn't they just yell down do you I'm not going to talk about their field so you know um I'm just glad that we'll be able to play a game this weekend was there anything that was like in retrospect you're like wow I'm glad we did that to get that kind of kink out this was helpful just so it's familiar to guys just so it's not new on game day really you know for coaches and players do you kind of have to tone the guys down a little bit uh keep them even killed with the excitement of game we finally be in here um you can say that to a bit but you know I still want them to have energy and stuff you got to be enthusiastic out here you got to be excited to be able to play a game you know it's zero week so I'm fired up I know they are and um I'm not holding them back so if they want to let it out let it out you think about the totality of Camp anybody come out as maybe a pleasant surprise somebody who maybe developed a little quicker than you thought or or just improved from the spring to the fall a significant rate um cam Jones did a good job in those three weeks you know just uh picking up the offense as fast as he could and being able to just play fast you know he was running around making plays so that was pretty exciting are there any positions battles still going on right now or do you feel like you know who's going to line up for the first ring for the opener the only ones that still might be is the the kicker and punter everything else is pretty solid would you say some of the guys that kind of were going through the Acron isation process like Jaylen Burger are they prepared who else was it I can't remember are they prepared to play with oh share yeah both of those guys would you say they're prepared I would say they're pretty close you know we'll we'll see how their conditioning goes this week and to put a finalize what we're going to do a couple days ago uh there was a the NCAA football oversight committee uh had a recommendation to eliminate the spring transfer portal window uh just your thoughts on that uh how much that would maybe help you guys as a staff and maybe from a players perspective do you think that's a positive thing or um I think just one portal could help it just be a little easier you know um just to maneuver but um coaches can leave at any time so players should be able to too we saw Kanye Clark in the mix at return uh last week you had one of the best returns uh is he in the mix to to actually uh maybe contribute in that spot uh he has a shot you know we're pretty deep at returner though but he has a shot coach you know you're busy with prep obviously watching why did you get to take a few minutes to yourself to kind of just watch the landscape of college football this weekend and just enjoy some other games yeah just tried to watch as many games as as you could just to see just to learn some stuff that's going on in college football you know you can always learn a little bit from every game that's that's being played so I try to watch as many as I want but I for sure wanted to watch a l did anything stand out to you not really nothing nothing too crazy but uh we'll have a couple plays that we show our team on Thursday welcome to game week finally here and uh you know just good to finish Kirk Ferentz Week 1Press Conference Camp end of camp and uh begin preparation for Saturday so I indicated last Thursday I think you know the guys's done a pretty good job during camp and thought the last week went really well saw some sharper execution out there and uh overall pretty healthy you know Phil really is the worst injury we had which try to keep him safe this week week but um happy with what we've seen I think we're getting good leadership and pretty consistent on that for most of the year and it's it's been consistent as we've moved forward then the challenge over the weekend and then starting this week is just trans transitioning into normal Student Life a lot more activity in Iowa City this past week or so and uh our guys are out there U with student body now so got that deal with her back in classes and then we've had a spike in heat too so it's you know a couple things going on that way but um um anyway good to be in gameweek that's that's for sure and U you I think the team's really excited about having a chance to play in kenck and it's going to be you know first game challenges are always a challenge you've got veteran players who are a little bit more used to it for a lot of the new guys it's going to be a totally new experience you know having fans there and then you know your first game you always you there a lot of unknowns with your opponent and I'll talk about that in a little bit here but that's that's kind of where it's at so uh as we look forward moving forward uh in the game here our captain defensively we've got Jay Higgins and Quinn schy offensively you've got Luke Lee and Kade mnam those be our four captains going out for the toss and then transition to Illinois State uh obviously a good program there were six and five last year um of those five losses I think four of those were by eight points total so played in a lot of close games coached back's been there since 09 I've known Brock for quite some time a lot of respect for him as a player back in the 80s when he played at Purdue outstanding player for him there and he's had a great career in coaching uh certainly was a big part of the success Purdue had when when Joe to was a head coach there when we got here they were awfully tough to beat and Brock was a big part of that being the D coordinator gotten a g over the years outstanding person just a really good football coach and then if you look broader uh a lot of the guys on the staff have experienced that Illinois state so you know they've got an identity it's no big surprise uh it's a veteran staff for the most part part and yeah I think they have a good idea what they want to do what they want to accomplish so uh a lot of respect for them that way and then you know football-wise they've got a lot of returners back uh you on both sides of the ball plus special teams are Specialists are back for the most part pretty balanced offensively run p uh they get the ball pretty quick so it's hard to get to their quarterback defensively it's a little bit of a different preparation because they've got a three man front we've been practicing against four basically all camps so uh some adjustment there and then you know as you might imagine they're they've got a good pressure package uh I think we had one of Brock spitzes up on our board for about 3 years I think it was 02 0304 um one of those memorable ones so uh again I'm sure we'll see some things on say it be a challenge for us and as I mentioned there Specialists are back on special teams so uh you know good football team we expect them to be a you know really tough competitive football team like they have been in the past so that's that's what we've got to get ready for here uh just transition real quickly and I'll throw it out for quite questions but you know just thrilled that the kid Captain program is still in effect I believe this is the 16th year I think it was 09 when they started that and uh it's just a really really good concept a really nice way to honor some special people and uh this week it'll be Carter Schmidt who is from Coralville his grandfather Kent Ellis was actually a captain here in 1980 so a little connection to the program that way and uh Carter had a rare form of leukemia uh early in his life and um you know had a bone marrow transplant right before his first birthday uh you know and has been treated since and looks like he's in great shape he's been pronounced clear and card so really happy about that and he's a you very active 8-year-old right now likes Tat's bike and uh very involved in sports and and the last thing just want to you know uh pay tribute to Don sucki they played here in 56 and uh don pass earlier in this month from Bell Plane played center on the 56 team second team allamerican first Team all big 10 and served as an honory Captain back here in 04 for our Kent State game and just a first class guy so had a really long productive life and uh you know our feelings to his family certainly just a great guy so that being said I'll throw it out for questions uh Adam jacobe hawkey Beacon uh thanks for your time today coach uh the depth chart that just came out uh Kamari Molton at rb1 is probably the splashiest uh update there uh sort of how has he ascended to that spot and what are you looking to see from guys like lean and Caleb yeah I figured that might get everybody's attention but it's it's more by right of what's going on uh two things really uh lean's missed some time he's had an injury that nagged pretty much throughout Camp um so Kamari got a lot of work this this uh August and uh the other component there is Kamar has really done a nice job and I think I kind of mentioned that or alluded to that back in December even he really started to to look comfortable and did a lot of good things did a good good job in the spring and um you know has really just been really consistent all the way through August so they're all going to play uh but he's really done a nice job uh lean's only been back you know maybe 8 10 days and it looks like he's good he's good to go but it was just uh he had a really long nagging injury it was just took a while to get uh get work through but uh happy he's back U the other guys have done a good job too so really I felt pretty good about the group but uh anxious to see him play in Kamari especially we haven't really seen him go in game activity John Kirk uh Tyler tashman with the de Mo register I think this offseason you alluded to um Michael penx Jr in the context of Cade and like Michael penx was someone that had major like surgical repairs and came back and was not not that those two guys are exactly the same but can you just kind of expand on maybe the context of how you see guys coming you know the ability to come back from multiple major injuries right yeah I'll put it in the context that you know you know I've sat in a lot of meetings acade or medical meetings and academic meetings but a lot of medical meetings since uh you know 26 years now uh we had one last night so I don't pretend to know anything about medicine but um you know you listen and you pay attention and then also you witness things and I can go back just the you know the contrast between the 80s 90s and now um you know the way all injuries are are different now certainly an ACL repair is much much different than it was 40 years ago uh laboral surgers have come a long way most of them are arthoscopic so uh but the bottom line is this you know ACL repairs it's our experience that you know just takes time to get them back and Cohen came back uh entringer came back from his in record speed that's at one end of the spectrum sometimes they're slower I think they're different for every individual just like any injury and um but the bottom line is uh you know a player has to get confidence in his body and confidence that he can do what he has to do to perform whatever his position may be so you know it it uh it's I don't want to say routine nothing's routine medically but it's just it's it'd be really unusual for a player to be I think deterred uh from an injury like what Kate had it was a very clean repair uh again I'm no expert on medicine but you know it's always good when they say everything is clean you know really nice repair and that type of thing then it's just a matter of time uh for the physical component and then also you know where a player gets the confidence and I think it was that open scrimmage was really the first time I saw him look like you know he just kind of put it aside and then we've seen a lot of those pictures since then so I think he's he's more than ready to go and really confident in his in his body John seppie C Rapids CU that obviously a little different this week with you not being there on Saturday how do you kind of prepare for that and what's kind of your Approach at that wide receiver spot in terms of who's spending the most time with them yeah so a couple things the um you those are things we're working through this week and really haven't talked much about it we'll start that tomorrow and then Thursday's our day to really kind of you know talk about all those things yeah I did think of one good thing about this at least I can blame if you know something happens toing just I don't know why they did that that that was stupid uh so maybe there is a positive here in this whole deal uh but in all seriousness no I think I think we're it's not it's going to be pretty much business as you usual um you know Tim Tim would be the guy I go to to refer on you know what do you think about this this and this on offense Phil Lavar and U you know Seth will do the same thing we talk about a lot of things on th is about what we do you know fourth down four down territory all those kinds of things this situation that situation but the the only missing part is uh you know when you get in a game sometimes there's a feel that flies in the face of maybe what you decide on Thursday and sometimes you just got to make a call and go with a gut instinct so um you know if that that be the case Seth will do a great job with that he will have the final say all that stuff but we'll we'll talk a lot of those things out and then the the receiver thing will work out internally uh as I said last week we got got a really good staff and the guys young and old you know the full-time coaches but also the ga part-time guys and um you know we'll get it done we'll cover that uh David I hawkey insider.com Kirk TJ Hall list is quarterback two there's no doubt that John Nester is probably going to get some significant time and to Shawn Lee but what were maybe one or two things that ultimately gave TJ Hall kind of that maybe just that extra little Edge over the other two probably just a little bit of consistency and it's gone back and forth it's a little bit like the running back position uh differences most of those guys have been available the Four Corners have been been competing and practicing so probably a little consistency thing but it's it's still really close we have a lot of positions right now where you know we got to start somewhere uh Saturday and start somewhere this week when we we practice with our first team uh but I will say this it won't surprise me especially in certain groups where it may take a month to figure out like where we're at uh and I say that in a positive way because I think we have a lot of young guys right now that you we're going to learn a lot more about them John Nester is a good example you know he hasn't played an awful lot we've seen him on special teams so to see him in game action I think we'll learn a lot about him I think our receiver rooms a lot like that uh the back thing will probably sort itself out but I think we've got guys that are capable um so that that's part of the process here as we move forward and just it'll be interesting to see see what it looks like here six weeks from now as opposed to just you know this Saturday Chad L too de Mo register uh you've been at this for 25 years at Iowa 28 in total as a head coach uh in your opinion like what are the most important jobs for the head coach on Game Day itself uh and I know you're probably going to give a self-deprecating answer here yeah but no see what is set like for Seth what does that what does he need to do the best on Saturday I'm laughing because they're chuckling he gave me a u a report on what I do do and there's more there than I thought I guess uh cuz you just kind of you know you just kind of do what's natural in your position but um yeah I guess you know some of the decisions we talked about are part of it but if you think about over the course of 12 weeks there aren't that many decisions you make and uh that are really critical I don't think but you just try to keep things in in an even flow and I think you know probably try to keep everybody's mood or approaching an even flow too and uh you know if we're getting a little bit higher here or down here you got to try to balance things out a little bit and just try to make sure everybody's for focused on what they do but you know really in all serious I don't mean this um you know to to lowy it but it's probably what you do during the week is more important I think and then certainly during camp and just year long like just trying to um you know make sure everybody's kind of keeping their eyes on the target what we think is important and uh once you get to game day you I say this in all honesty the players do win the games like they're the ones out there competing we can't do that there are times when we maybe do something that's helpful but overall it's how the players play it really is so you know they they'll do great I mean we've got a good good leadership group here and they'll do great but there's going to be some challenges there's no question about that and there going to be some things that we don't expect so we just got to you know kind of Stay Stay centered and just stay on course here Owen cing with kg in uh I saw the Cade peeper is the backup center right now he's a guy who's received a lot of Praise from his fellow offensive lineman is that where he's firmly entrenched now is just at Center would we see him anywhere else on the o line yeah he can play anywhere on the interior and that's that's a good question because it kind of opens up uh we do have some flexibility this year which is kind of kind of nice going into this we've trained him a lot or worked him a lot at the center position uh Logan's not going to be here forever so he's really done a good job there but you know Toler jumped in last year Ellsbury jumped in and did a really nice job tyers work all five positions and it's not often you can say a guy can do that but I think he can do that pretty effectively he's got a lot of experience and practiced well uh Nicki Young's got the capability of playing a couple spots so you know those would be our topic guys with the five starters and um you know I think we probably have a little bit more versatility and flexibility than we've had in the past which is good and and we've got some younger guys that are are are moving along and you know we're going to try to keep them uh keep them growing too but yeah those will be the top eight guys and yeah kade's been a he's quote unquote undersized when we recruited him uh but he's you know he was just a lean guy and he's still lean but's he's really done a good job and he's he's done a really nice job on the field uh John seers wotv Kirk when you have a new offensive coordinator new offensive schemes what are some realistic expectations for you as the head coach as you enter game one H it's like every game I mean you just want want things to go smoothly and you want the flow of things to be good um you know things that stop offenses or negative yardage plays on forc erors penalties you know fall starts those kinds of things alignment errors so just you know playing fundamentally sound that way would be a good starting point keeping the ball off the ground is always a good thing and then you know regardless of what you're doing um you know there there going to be some things are going to pop up and some things we're we're trying to get cleaned up in practice right now uh you know we had Saturday off uh Sunday we didn't didn't do any football stuff we just let the guys stretch and Jog a little bit so we got back into football again yesterday and you know we took two whole days off without helmets on and looked like we hadn't practice in six weeks so it just it's all of a sudden you're right back to trying to get the guys there plus you're trying to you know deal with some things that maybe you haven't seen so but you know all that being said I think just you know good effort obviously playing Fun sound and not doing things they going to beat us good starting point and if we can get a little momentum going and get you know hit a couple plays that's always a good thing too it's usually what it takes for offensive production uh Blake hornstein Hawkeye headquarters coach good to see you um you know it feels like as far as level-headedness goes you have a unique approach to every single game you treat every single game the same whether it's an FCS team or I I'll say Georgia 3 years ago you guys treat every game as a unique challenge H as a coaching staff how do you uniquely motivate your players every single week to treat every single game the same I mean with all due respect I just explained to our guys like the people that think they know what's going to happen most of them don't have to go out and compete uh so you know I think whoever it was somebody said you know experts are people that aren't accountable to anybody and you know so it's good to be an expert I guess but we're you we got a lot of invested everybody's got a lot invested and one thing I've learned you know 20 plus years of being back here and you know it's no different in the NFL although in the NFL everybody's in the NFL but um you know if you everything starts with respecting your opponent in college football anything can happen last weekend uh already Illustrated that there at least two games I think that went you know opposite of what people would have predicted so it's just the nature of college football and you we're talking about young people they got a lot on their minds and lot they got to deal with they do go to class they're trying to earn a degree and uh you know if you're not careful like you know you just you can get off the track and lose the concentration that's necessary to be good at this this level and you know winning is hard uh I think it's harder than it's ever been in college football uh and that's a good thing it's competitive but you have to appreciate that and you've got to understand it's it's Weak by week and I think I said this somewhere in the last couple press conferences we only got 12 that are guaranteed so it's really not that much compared to all the time we spend preparing and practice and training um you know it's just such a small percentage so to think you can't be ready 12 times there's really no excuse for that and that that's everybody's job hey coach Matt mcgall from the da I want to just wanted to ask you about Xavier damka obviously a five store recruit coming to Iowa how has he handled those expectations and how has he grown throughout his time here he's been great he's just absolutely great and you know I know five stars and all that we don't get a lot of those but um you would never know with him in the building you know five star three star or two star just he's a quality young guy first and foremost uh really does a nice job that way and it's been fun to watch him improve each and every turn so he's really doing well he dealt with a little bit of a u injury or medical situation here during Camp so he missed some time so he's you know not maybe as far along as he would be in normal circumstances but done a really good job and expect him to have a really good year this year uh Kirk Scott do with the athletic I wanted to ask you about uh earlier today there was a documentary that dropped on Connor stallions from Michigan and there was a segment that showed him with the game ball from kennick Stadium from two years ago had his name placed upon it um what are your initial thoughts now that it's there it's not a rumor anymore and then secondly um do you have any opinions on what should happen to the University of Michigan based on this yeah I'll let somebody else figure that out and yeah I just heard about it maybe an hour ago something like that and got an email but you know I mean that's so far out of my it's history right now so whatever whatever happens happens and uh the appropriate parties will deal with it but uh you our eyes are forward right now and um you know I'm that whole scenario I never spent much time worrying too much about it um you know just we we got PL to worry about right here so that's kind of been my attitude yeah thanks Kirk Tom ker Hawkeye Report wanted to ask you about Rees vandery and um his appearance on the two deeps as a true freshman and kind of duve tailing that too any other true freshman that you've decided maybe you're going to put out there on Saturday no nobody firmly I don't think I think I'm correct in saying that I probably should know but uh nobody firmly um and I think we'll be able to protect a lot of guys in that red shirt mode with the four four game rule so but we'll see we'll see how that all goes two things in reese there's opportunity at the position and then secondly more importantly he's done a good job it was kind of frustrating because he had some stuff he was dealing with through the summertime medic uh but that cleared up I guess right before Camp I guess it would have been and he's done a really good job he's learning quickly he's done some some really good things out there in the field and you he he'll be on the field for sure Saturday yeah um John Ste Cedar R Gazette what's really stood out to you about Boose Stevens kind of coming back from the injury last year and kind of through Paul camp now yeah Bose uh had quite a journey you know since he got here in that whole Co class was uh you know it's been interesting but he's fought through a lot the injuries um a lot of things that could have gotten him discouraged and I'm not saying made him made him quit but just you know maybe U and I'm not saying make them break but you know there there are some things just he's had a tough go he's really had to work hard for it and you know we've had a couple guys really do a great job uh but I think you know last spring was a big big period for him he was able to be out there all 15 days and he's had a lot of injury things that have kept them in and out of the lineup and off the practice field it's hard to gain traction really get good if you can't be out there consistently but spring was the first period where he went you know start to finish no issues and same thing in August he's really had a good you know good good month and I just told him this morning I said you really had a good camp and you should feel confident because he's worked hard and he's really um you know he's done a good job so I'm anxious to see him play I'm anxious to see him play H some ups and downs like call the guys on Saturday but um he's he's a he's a guy that's got a really good future in front of him and I'm just really pleased for him in the way he's fought through and push through uh Adobe hawkey be uh one position that hasn't been on the depth chart is R Turner any idea of who's been working who's you know looking like a starter there I got some idea but uh yeah I think uh we we will be the punt return guy right now weij will be back there and um he'll be starting off there and then Caleb on the uh most likely and kick return got a couple guys in the mix there but uh um that'll probably be what it looks like um you know I'd say that'd probably be where we'll go I'm just trying to think here lmer is also a guy and then TJ Hall at punt return lmer probably be three right now and TJ be number two and then the kick return think we're still looking at that a little bit yep finish up with Jack Shannon hi Kirk Jack leader with Casey RG when we spoke to the players with one exception pretty much everyone was not worried about you know rallying around you as their coach who wouldn't be there on the sidelines it's kind of honestly a little lukewarm it wasn't rah rah was that something you instilled in them that that first day you told them told them and just as a clarifying Point practice this week this whole week is it going to look basically the same as any other week with with you leading it or will you kind of seed some uh leadership to coach Wallace I'll do what I always do through Friday night uh including the snack I'll go to the snack and uh you know we tell them a little bedtime story before they go to to bed and then we have a snack so I'll be there for that but yeah it's business is normal for me and um I think last year I heard about rallying cries and stuff like that you know I made a mistake so uh I've owned it stepped on a line I think the line was a little bit cloudy a little bit blurry but nonetheless I stepped on it so that that is what it is and just like if um you know a player were hurt or you know we all go on we just go on and keep pushing on and uh so I won't be here there's nothing to Rally about or anything like that the uh the idea right now is to do what they're supposed to do and um I'm confident they will we got a good group of guys and the staff will do a great job so to me it's almost a non-factor and it could be the same thing if I you know got hit by a whatever a truck or something like that wasn't there so you know it's all kind of the same stuff hey Kirk Shannon KCCI where have you I know you talked about consistency but where have you seen Kamari Molton grow oh probably confidence you know he he's had a great attitude since he's been he's got good Vision he's he's bigger and stronger physically uh than he was certainly a year ago a year plus ago when he got here uh so all that's good and that's one of the benefits of experience and um you know so happy about that he's got he's got a tremendous attitude but he's got he's got a real good Vision a good ability to see things maybe other guys can't see and that's been pretty consistent it really started showing in December when we were doing more work with the guys you know he had been on the scout team most of the time last year so uh it seemed like he was you know maybe a guy who could could pop through here a little bit and I think he's certainly done that in August and again I I Envision us playing you know a lot of the guys in the group and Max White's done a good job too so feel like it's a good group that way and you know we'll just kind of see how it plays out as we keep going forward and history would say we we never have too many backs that's for sure Chad L too morning register um I know we talked a little bit about this in February but honestly you know hiring a new offensive quarter proba overshadowed it but you picked Seth Wallace as assistant head coach for a reason can you kind of articulate what you see in him that that fills the role that you want to see on Saturday and also do you want him to kind of reflect what you do this Saturday or kind of be his own person I'll start there I mean he's got to be himself that's the most important thing and uh if I've learned anything in coaching like my mentor is very different personality-wise than I am um the coaches I've worked for are very different than um you know than my personality so you got to be yourself that's that's first and foremost uh going back to February basically you know there's a probably a reason I've never named one in 25 years cuz it just it's you know there's some there's upside and there's certainly some downside to it potentially so I don't want anybody to take it as like you know picking you know I like my fourth son or fourth kid better my third kid type of deal um but you know he uh he's just done a great job he's really and it's no foreshadowing none of that stuff it was just uh I felt it was time to to reward him he had he's had opportunities to leave and several other of our coaches have as well uh but I just thought it was a good way to recognize the fact that he wanted to stay at the program and we certainly wanted to stay and I just think it made sense at that time there was nothing more than to it than that but um he's done a great job but I've got I've got total confidence we got a really good staff of guys and guys that have been here for the most part for quite a while or have association with the program for quite a while and um I've said it before I mean the best part of my day is walking in there outside of being with my wife Mary obviously but uh is walking in here and you know being with a lot of good good people that you know we're all kind of working we're we're different but we're all looking work working towards the same thing and that that's a fun thing fun thing to be part of you okay thank you