The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
11.05.2014 | Football
Defensive coordinator/Secondary coach Vance Bedford met with the media Wednesday
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Defensive coordinator/secondary coach Vance Bedford met with the media Wednesday morning. Bedford reviewed the Texas Tech game, previewed Saturday's game vs. West Virginia (2:30 p.m. Central, FOX Sports 1) and talked about recruiting among other subjects. Quotes from the availability are below:
On what he liked about the trip to Lubbock: The experience of them throwing flour tortillas at us – that was a new experience for me. I was looking for sausage to go with it, just to really enjoy it but it didn't come with it. It was exciting for our players to go out there and play like they played. Quandre Diggs with a big hit. I think that changed the game around for us, for our offense, and for our fans. It got the team excited. They had a drive for a touchdown, but our guys settled down on both sides of the football and just kind of took things over. Offensive line did a tremendous job. It was ground chuck. Defense would just stop screens and the rush on the quarterback was not going to let the quarterback throw the ball downfield. For us, it was an exciting game, especially for our players.
On who is the best man-to-man cover cornerback: Duke [Thomas] brings certain things to the table that you like, so does Diggs. It's based on whether you are playing pressed or off. Both those guys do a tremendous job for us. I think Diggs does a better job up close and Duke does a better job off, so they both have certain attributes that you like.
On Senior S Mykkele Thompson wearing contacts: I certainly hope so. I think before he wasn't seeing the ball at all, now he might be seeing four balls. He's seeing the ball a lot better. It's amazing he's in his fourth year here and this is the first year he has worn contacts in a game. I think that was his second interception, which was a timely interception for us. I'm hoping to see him make more plays on the ball in the next several ballgames.
On how he used Quandre Diggs for coverage against K-State and who will he have cover West Virginia WR Kevin White: In that particular game because Quandre is such an outstanding nickel back that you hate to take him from that position. He has great instincts and great awareness and that's what a nickel back must have. We are going to have a few changes in this ballgame to try to match guys up. It's going to be a game situation and see how it's going.
On how TCU and Oklahoma State neutralized White: Pressure. They pressured the quarterback. They started to play a lot of zone. Baylor started to play quarters and I think they had eight PIs. TCU has a big corner who matched up pretty well against White and they had great pressure from the front four. Oklahoma State dropped eight to roll over the top of him, so they did a variety of looks to take things away from him. Hopefully we'll do some of the same things.
On West Virginia WR Mario Alford: He can fly. We looked at last year's game and he caught a pass, split the defense, and he took it to the house. He's done that this year several times. I'm watching the Maryland game right now and it looks like the DB has great coverage and Alford is not very big and he jumps over the guy and catches a touchdown pass. It's not just one guy. People talk about White all the time but they complement each other very well. If you worry about White, Alford and the other guys can beat you man-to-man. It's a tough task. It's a lot like playing Kansas State as far as they had two receivers. These guys have two plus a slot receiver whose been very productive for them also. They have three solid players.
On WVU QB Clint Trickett: Trickett is a great manager of a game. He does a tremendous job. He knows where to go with the ball. He runs the offense to perfection. They do a lot of glance like a lot of the spread teams do to get them in the right play. He gives his receivers a chance to make a play. What he does, he trusts his receivers to come down with the ball. He was throwing into double coverage, and so far this season, they haven't made a lot of plays for him.
On Junior DT Malcom Brown's NFL future: I think you always have to have those conversations with them. You don't want to wait until the very end to do those type of things. You say the plus and minuses of coming out, and the biggest thing that I talk to the guys about, number one, is getting that degree. Football is not promising. If you are injured tomorrow, what are you going to do? That comes first and we talk about those things first. He's married and has a son so he has to look at those things too. When it comes down to it, he's going to put an application in and see where he stands in the draft. You always tell the guys, if you have the ability to be a first round pick – you go to school to make a living and make money – a first round pick in the NFL in today's age is $12 million. How many of us are going to make $12 million if you go outside this building and ask that question? If you are in a situation where you know you can be doing that, to be honest, why would you not go? The next thing is if your draft grade is in the middle rounds, we strongly suggest that you come back. If you come back and do the same thing, you might be a top-10 pick. Now you are talking $20-$25 million. It's all those things that you need to evaluate and we are in the evaluation process right now. Nothing is set and nothing is guaranteed. If you ask me right now, I think the young man is a first round pick. I think he will be a three technique in the National Football League. He has great football awareness and plays with great leverage. Very strong and extremely explosive and that's what the NFL is looking for in a three technique.
On if he plans on having Malcom Brown next year: Well my plan right now is trying to find a way to slow West Virginia down. That's my first real thought right now. After the season, we'll sit back and evaluate where we are and where the guys are and what their futures hold.
On Quandre Diggs' hit against Texas Tech: I'm always concerned when anyone gets injured. If you have any kind of injury as a football player – and I've had several of them of course – you never want to see anyone get injured. That's number one. Next thing is with concussions going on across this country, you really get concerned that that young man is okay. That was my first thought. The next thing is, I'm excited for Quandre and the team because that got the team fired up. First thing I came and told him I said, "Look, little Ray Lewis at it again." He calls himself Ray Lewis and I call him little Ray Lewis. From a standpoint of the young man, I was concerned for him, but then for Quandre and the defense and the team, I was excited for us.
On Senior LB Steve Edmond and how he's grown: Daingerfield. Very small town. As a kid growing up, I used to look at Green Acres and Petticoat Junction, and most young people don't know about that today. Very small towns. With Steve, he's a sincere, honest person. What you see is what you get. There's nothing phony about him. That's what I like about Steve. He's starting to feel comfortable with us. When we first got here, he wouldn't say two words around us. Now he's starting to smile. He talks. He's up in the office right now. He comes into the defensive staff room and jokes with us. It's amazing to see his transition in our short time being here. He's a young man from a small town and the trust factor was not there. Over this period of time, we've gained his trust and he's starting to open up and joke around and smile now. It's been a plus for all of us involved.
On if he still sees progress in how the players are integrating with the new coaching staff: You really do. Right now if you go in the office anytime throughout the day, guys are coming around. When we first got here, you had to have an ID card or a fingerprint to get in the doors. Coach Strong took all those things out. We want you up here anytime you want to come up here. The coaches are always available to you all the time. You don't have to set a meeting or an appointment, you just come up there. Coach Strong is in there with us all the time with the defensive staff. Every few minutes our door is knocking and guys are just walking in saying hello and sitting down. We normally have candy and cookies in there and they just sit down like its family time. You see all those things. You see the young guys coming out of their shell and feel comfortable around the staff right now. When we first got here, everyone said the players are afraid of you. Who said that? Because we had discipline here that means they are afraid of us? No. They're starting to learn that we have their best interest at heart. We want them to be class young men. When we aren't around, they know how to act and treat people and speak to people. Because of that, they are coming around like its one big happy family. If they do something wrong – I tell them this all the time – you are going to get disciplined, but if you do something right, I'm going to be the first to jump up and down and give you a hug and those types of things. That's what a family is all about.
On what goes into beating a top-25 team: Anytime you play a top-25 team… they are a top-25 team because they make plays. The things that we have to do defensively and as a team is the same thing. You go back to the Oklahoma game, we played close but we lost. That's the thing about it. The one thing we told our defense about is this, number one our defense must outplay their defense in order to win. That means we need to get takeaways and get off the field on third downs. You look at the games that we have won this season and we've had takeaways. In the games that we haven't on, we haven't had a single takeaway. We go into each ballgame stressing those things. We must find a way to get interceptions, to cause fumbles, and to find a way to cause a short field for the offense because every time we have done that, the offense has scored a touchdown or field goals. In the games that we lost, we didn't put our defense in a position to do those things for us.
On the play of sophomore CB Bryson Echols in his first career start: Echols did a solid job for us. Here's a guy who hasn't really played at all this year except for special teams and he's been practicing well for the past month. He's been doing an excellent job on special teams and because of injuries to Jason Hall, we wanted to put Echols out there at the cornerback spot. That enabled us to put Mykkele back at the safety. We played quite a bit of man-to-man and that made us a better football team because now when we play man-to-man, Mykkele will come down and cover a receiver in the slot so we really had four corners out there. He gave us the versatility to play more man in that ballgame. He did a good job and made a few plays. I think he was excited to get out there. He was run by one time but he made the play because we had a blitz on with bringing Diggs off the edge and got there just in time to make it a high ball so Echols had the chance to recover and make a play. I think the experience was good for him and I think he'll make a difference for us for the remainder of the season.
On keeping the players out of DKR on Thursdays until they can defend home: We've been doing that for a while and it's twofold. On Thursdays, we have a practice defensively where we have to move the football. When you go in the stadium, you only have 50 yards to work – well really 40 – because the offense is on the other end. When we go over to our practice facility, we have the whole field so we are able to put the ball down at the 20 and move it down. That's the moving day where you do every situation, down and distance all the way down to the end zone. That's one reason why he wants to do that. Next thing is, when you go into the stadium, it should be special. You don't go in there to practice. It should be gameday or a scrimmage. It should be a special place. Our players need to understand, when you go in there, it should mean something and that's another reason why he's done that. Twofold, for practice and to move the ball and secondly, it's a special place to play in. You don't go in there just for practice. It shouldn't be that way. We have enough room around here at The University of Texas to go on the grass fields and practice. That's what it's for.
On how college football has changed: It's a different era. When I first went to school here in 1977, there were 120 guys on scholarship. You had numbers. Now it's 85. You look at the last 50 years in college football, who can name 10 of the top teams. You look at Oklahoma. They won national championships. You look at USC. You look at Alabama. You look at Florida State who came strong in the late 80s and 90s. Miami. You look at Ohio State. You look at history and tradition of the past 50 years, there have been 10 to 12 teams that have been consistent at football throughout the last 50 years. For the most part, there still are today. Going from 120 to 85 scholarships, you have more parity, so now other teams have made a push. That's why my hat is off to Art Briles for what he has accomplished at Baylor. He's doing a tremendous job right now. You look at TCU because they have 85 scholarships and have done a tremendous job. But the teams that have been relevant the last 50 years, they have had some down times and right now The University of Texas hasn't been where it's been and not where we want it to be. We have to get back there because it's still Texas. Alabama had a few times before Nick Saban brought it back. Michigan is going through that phase right now. Florida is going through that a little bit right now. But guess what, because of who they are, they all have a tendency to get back to the top and we want to do the same thing at The University of Texas.
On if the West Virginia is a must-win game: Yes, yes you have to. There's no doubt about that. It's a must win because it gets us into the next game and it makes us relevant. We want to end on a good note for our seniors, number one. That means one game at a time. Next thing is that we need to learn how to play well at home. We want to win in that stadium not only for seniors but for our fans. I think it's very important that you make your stadium something special. The last two weeks, we've been on the road to Kansas State and to Texas Tech, and their student body does a tremendous job getting into it. We got called all types of names. Whether that's how you say you do things or not, but I really enjoyed being called all types of names. Because when we start playing good football and good defense, they get quiet so I put the memory back on them. We need to make our place special because when we win at home, we fill the stadium, our student body comes out and cheers and the band starts playing "Texas Fight", you have all those types of things. We need to win because of that and to put our seniors out in the right way.
On who is the best team Texas has faced this season: When Oklahoma's quarterback is on point, they are extremely talented. They probably have, at times, when they play well, the most talent in the conference that we have played so far. Baylor, because of the tempo of offense as a team they do a great job. Kansas State and Coach Snyder, when you say guys are achievers, they achieve. He gets everything out of his guys. They play up to their potential. Most teams we faced so far this year, they have been underachievers and that's why you lose games. When I look at Kansas State and how you rank their recruiting classes, a lot of times you say "I wouldn't take that guy." But when you go out and play against that guy that other people say you wouldn't take, he's hitting you in the mouth. They play up to their potential. It's hard to get guys to do that some times. They buy in. I always wonder how you get so many junior college players to do as well as they have accomplished at Kansas State because you only have them two years and usually it takes four years to get all the little issues out of their system. They have gotten it done year after year after year. As a team, Kansas State is still the best team that we've played because they execute, don't make a lot of mistakes, and they don't beat themselves. They play as a unit. In other words, they are going to snap the ball with five seconds left on the clock to keep their defense off the football field. His whole thought process is that we win as a team. Some of the other people that we played, the offense is going to do their thing and the defense is going to do their thing.
On how big the West Virginia game is for recruiting: Number one, we're playing a ranked team in West Virginia. We're going to probably have quite a few recruits coming to watch this ball game, to watch West Virginia and to watch us. I think it's extremely big for us. If I was a recruit coming in, I'd look at The University of Texas and where they are right now, what is their record. You look and say "can I come in there and maybe play next year or make a contribution?" I think young kids today, they want everything yesterday. When you look at those type of things as a recruit coming in, I look at that. I'm going to evaluate the guys that are coming back, who I'd have to go against, and also, as a young guy, I looked at tradition and history. I was looking at Texas, Oklahoma and UCLA as a young recruit coming out. Those things are important to me. I don't know, for today's young people, if that means anything to kids anymore. To myself growing up and to my father as a coach, that was important to me. The opportunity to say one day I could play for a national championship, the University of Texas still brings that to the table. Why? It's The University of Texas. University is in front of Texas. You have the Oklahoma's of the world, the Alabama's of the world, LSU and USC, they are still them at the end of the day. If you go outside of Texas right now, The University of Texas is large to fans, to recruits, to coaches. In the state right now, when you talk to recruits and sometimes even coaches, they don't see us that way. We need to get back to that where in the state they see us that way. Out of the state? You go to Georgia, they say "that's The University of Texas." You go to Indiana, they say "that's The University of Texas." You go to Florida, they say "that's The University of Texas." You call a recruit sometimes here in Texas and they think oh, that's just Texas. We've got to get back to when we call a recruit here in the state of Texas, they say "that's The University of Texas." The excitement in the voice is back. You go back 15 years ago and Texas calls, you would've stood up and saluted. But now, it's not a big deal in this state. We're not the relevant program that we once were, and we need to get back to it. Also, it goes to what Coach [Bill] Snyder has done at Kansas State, what Coach [Art] Briles has done at Baylor – their programs have come up and because of that, that's why people in Texas see it this way, as just one of the other teams right now.
On if he sees different jerseys coming: You're asking the wrong person because that's absolutely, 100 percent, no. It's The University of Texas. A uniform is going to make you a player? I think that when we wear that white it's as pretty as any uniform out there. You can put all of the clown suits on everybody else, all of the different color helmets – who are they? When The University of Texas walks out there with that helmet on and that uniform, you know who they are. The respect, in my opinion, is there. You look at USC's uniform, you know who they are. You look at Notre Dame, you know who they are. It's nothing personal, but I don't need all of that stuff. You keep asking the old school guys. I'm not a young guy who needs all of that stuff to say here I am, this is who I am. Give me the nice, clean stuff, and let's go out and play football.
