The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
08.21.2014 | Football
Head coach Charlie Strong met with the media on Thursday. To read a notebook from the press conference, click here. Quotes from Strong are below.
Head Coach Charlie Strong
Opening Statement: Nine days out. We just finished morning practice and we're going to come back this afternoon and get another one in. Usually what I do for two-a-days is focus more on the kicking game and just throwing the ball, putting the ball in the red zone a lot, get a lot of skelly and pass [skeleton]. We come back Friday and go one on Friday, and then on Saturday we're going to come back and do a marked scrimmage to let them know on gameday where each position lines up and how we're going to stretch and go through the game routine, just making sure we cover every situation. We will go through every phase of kicking, whether it be an onside or a sky or whatever we're going to do in the kicking game, just return yardage, return after, safety. Whatever phase we have not focused on, we will get that done on Saturday. Give them Sunday off, and then we get in to game preparation. When you think about nine days, that's not many days. We're very pleased with how we came out today. This afternoon will just be a true test of our team and to see exactly where we are.
On if the players have responded since the poor practice last week: They've responded and you just have to let them hear your message and hear what you expect. That practice wasn't very good that day and I was very upset. They know just exactly what the expectations are, just how we need to go out each and every day. We can't waste a day. There's 29 opportunities and we have got to get every day in.
On Malcom Brown and Desmond Jackson: You look at two big guys in the middle and you always talk about your front and you have those two guys. Malcom is very athletic, a big guy that can move, very powerful, can get in to somebody's body, can punch and get off the block and then go run and chase the football. We had a scrimmage and they threw a screen play to one of the backs and you saw him running down from behind once we got the ball, kept it inside and front of us. You look at Tank and there's a guy who isn't very big, but he can just anchor the line of scrimmage and you like that because he is so strong.
On Rami Hammad: Rami has left the program. He decided that it was in his best interest to transfer and we wish him nothing but the best of luck.
On where they are with installation and game planning: You're so late into it now, we'll start game planning now. We have a week to go still but we'll start game planning and just see where we are with North Texas. We haven't had a chance to look at them, but here we are coming in to Friday, so when we get in to Friday we'll get through the day and get in to Saturday and when we go out to do the mock scrimmage on Saturday it'll be a lot of the plays that North Texas does.
On WR Daje Johnson: Daje is doing everything we've asked him to do. He's working very hard in camp. Daje is a special player with a lot of ability. The thing you like about him, he is so explosive with the ball. He can get the ball in his hands and he's one of those guys who can make people miss and a guy who can break away at any time.
On his feel for the team: I'm just excited to see us go out there. I just want to see what this team is going to do. I say to them 'I want to see you go play hard, I want to see you go have fun, I want to see you go play with some excitement, some passion. Go play for one another, go be a teammate. I want to see the leadership take over. I want to see you go out there and go be the best you can possibly be.'
You only get 12 opportunities, so we can't waste one, because those games are so critical. I want to make it so hard in practice that a game comes easy. I want to see that carryover when we get in to it. Be a teammate, play hard. Johnathan Gray and Malcolm [Brown], those two guys are just so fun to watch those guys go practice and go compete each and every day. They're the two hardest workers on the team. They practice like it. If they all practice like it, when they get to the game, they'll play exactly the way they practice.
On the No. 2 quarterback: I don't know when it's going to be, but Tyrone [Swoopes] is the clear No. 2 quarterback. I don't know when he's going to play. It's going to depend on the flow of the game and how we're playing offensively and how well David [Ash] is playing.
On Texas alum Kasey Studdard being around practice and what effect he has since the current players are old enough to have seen him play: I don't know if they're old enough to remember how good he was [laughing]. Casey comes out some days. Being around the team, it helps. When you have an alum, a player who was so good, for him to just talk about how important a team is and how it was when he was here in those old days. You know how everybody has those stories. It's just so fun for him to be around.
On if he'll have the element of surprise in the Big 12: I don't know. Football is football, it's still about fundamentals and technique and that's what it comes down to. Everyone thinks it's about scheme, when you have players, scheme looks really good. It doesn't matter. If our kids go out and do what we ask them to do, you always have a chance.
On Jaxon Shipley's injury and if its worse than last year: I don't know if it's worse than the injury he had last year. It's not so much the injury, but he hasn't had the reps at practice. When you haven't had the reps, it's more of just being game ready because you haven't been in practice mode. He's smart enough because he sits in meetings, but it's just a matter of him going out there and running those routes.
On if he thinks the team is gaining momentum: You would like to think that when we came in January and we started to implement all those different schemes and just trying to get things done within the program. Now you're looking at late August and we need to get ready for the game coming in another week. I think it's all coming together. I think they understand and they know the direction in which we'd like this team to go. The players, they get it now. I really think they're ready to go play a game.
On how Louisville made such a big defensive jump his first year and if its due to coaching: I don't think it's so much coaching, it's a matter of scheme. Just the preparation, and when you get into a game, how well the guys go play. What's going to be critical here is, we returned a lot of guys on defense, so it's going to be can we hold up front, can we control the line of scrimmage and not give up the big play in the secondary. I think offensive teams aren't patient enough to drive the football. If you give them something, they're going to take advantage of it, whether it be a big throw or a penalty to keep the drive going, there's so much that plays into it when you're looking at defense. What's really great is that our defense plays our offense, if they don't go turn the ball over and put you on a short field then you always have a chance. We didn't turn the football over, so defensively we weren't on the field a lot. There's so many factors that come in when you talk about just how good you can play and how well you can match up.
On walk-ons: When I look at it, I just don't look and say 'oh he's a walk-on' because they all come out and they all go to work. Some guys were blessed with ability where they were given a scholarship, but you look at the job that Temp [Ty Templin] is doing for us now, and then Dylan [Haines] and Nate Boyer, our deep snapper. There's a lot of guys, they come out there and they go to work each and every day. They don't get the credit that they deserve, but we could not be the football team that we are without the hard work that they put in to it. It's amazing to watch because you go to the kicking game, and it's the same 11 guys whether it be on punt rush, they're rushing the punt team, and then you go to kickoff team and there's the same guys on a kickoff return team, or if our return team is returning, it's the same 11 guys. I call them out and I try to recognize them and make sure they are recognized because the job that they do is just amazing. When they have the chance, they're going to get the opportunity to get to go play, you feel comfortable playing them. With Dylan lining up, he's going to next week, he's going to line up back there and he knows what to do. I just look and say 'there's a football player we need to go develop.' This university means so much to them and it's just so fun to watch it happen.
On winning the turnover battle: You have to look at it very strongly. You look at us offensively and you don't want to turn the ball over. You can't. It's always about field position. You're driving the ball and all of a sudden there's a turnover, now the defense, whether it be a positive or the negative side of the ball. If you look at it offensively, we always talk about how we can't have any turnovers. Defensively, we're always trying to get the ball back to our offense and get the opportunity to go score. In a game, a lot of points are scored off of turnovers. You just can't get behind the clock with turnovers. It's very big. You want to make sure at the end of the game you're on the plus side of it.
On if he has the sense that his players are gearing up for the season: Last night we had a team meeting, and I talked about how you have to be competitive and look at your schedule and talk about how there should be no one on that schedule that we feel like we can't compete with and go win a football game. You have to learn how to handle winning. When you do go win games, you can't just worry about what's being said from the outside. Now it's all about not being complacent and being able to grow and develop and get better. I think they're sensing it now. You can just feel it now that we've moved out of the dorm and now they're in their own places. You can just tell.
