The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
09.17.2014 | Football
Head coach Charlie Strong visited with the media after practice; Ash to give up football, Jackson to have foot surgery
Head coach Charlie Strong met with the media after Wednesday's practice. The Longhorns are off this weekend and face the Kansas Jayhawks on the road on Saturday, Sept. 27.
Strong announced that QB David Ash will no longer play football due to his injury history and DT Desmond Jackson will have surgery on his injured foot and is likely out for the season.
Opening Statement: We just finished up day two of our open week, and it's good to see our players get back out and go to work. After watching that game on Saturday, we just had so many opportunities, didn't take advantage of them, and when you don't take advantage of those opportunities then you end up losing the game. It wasn't the last play that got us beat but just so many plays within that game that we had a chance to put it away. I think about right before the half we go down and score and had a missed interception, which either could have got us three points or seven if we had just made that interception. We came out the second half and gave up 10 points on defense. It was something you don't ever want to do, and we talk about that on defense when you're just shutting down in the fourth quarter.
I had a chance today to talk to David Ash. He came by, and we just decided because of his health, which is always critical and that is the number one concern for all of us, that he's no longer going to play football. He's going to be a part of the team because I told him I want him around the team. That's what he deserves, and he should be part of this program, and he will continue to be part of this program. Also, Desmond Jackson is going to have surgery on his foot that will probably be a season-ending surgery, but he's also going to be part of it. Those are the two players for this program that have meant so much and done so much for this program, and that's why it's important for them to stay part of it. We're going to go out there and practice tomorrow and then give the players a few days off and bounce back on Sunday and get ready for game week with Kansas.
On David Ash giving up football: He actually came up to me, and he approached me. The trainers and doctors have been working with him, and we know the concern. Like I said, his health is our major concern. When we sat down to talk, it was 'Coach this is what I'd like to do.' I said 'I still want you to be part of it.'
On what Ash's role will be moving forward and what changes will be made regard to QB: Our QBs are still young, and he'll be like a QB coach out there on the field. He'll go out at practice, and he can work with the younger players. We kind of saw this and just weren't for sure, but we're going to prepare Tyrone [Swoopes], so he will continue to be the QB. We have Jerrod [Heard] backing him up.
On Ash's emotions behind no longer playing football: It is a very tough call for him. He is very emotional. He's done a lot for this program being a major part of this university. With any player, you like for the player to finish his career because that's why they sign up – to be part of something special. With us making that decision, his health is just very important. He will continue to be part of it. I know he's not going to be able to play, but still being part of it will be great for our program.
On if Jerrod Heard will be affected due to Ash's absence: We'll just have to go with Tyrone as long as we can, and if something were to happen, then Jerrod is available. The way we set up practice is with the ones, they get six, with the twos, they get six whenever we practice, so he's already locked in and focused. It is all about his preparation. We're getting him prepared to play in case something does happen to Tyrone.
On whether Heard will get snaps: It depends on the game and how things go.
On the message Strong gave Ash: I said that this has been our concern the whole time, and there was no way we'd let him back out on the field because we were going to be concerned about his health. I said that's what's going to be critical for him is just to stay part of it because a lot of times, when the players get injured, they feel like they're pushed aside. We're not going to allow that to happen. I want him to continue to come to meetings, and I want him to come to practice. Even if we travel, I can take him on the trip, but I want him to just stay with the program.
On Desmond Jackson foot injury: We'll just take the process as it comes, and if it's a season-ending injury, then we know that a redshirt is available. We will have that discussion with him. With him being a senior and having the opportunity to come back, it's always good.
On the depth at defensive tackle: You still have Malcom [Brown] and [Hassan] Ridgeway at tackle. Inside you have [Paul] Boyette Jr. and [Alex] Norman. You don't ever want to lose a really good player like Tank [Desmond Jackson], but you still have guys in there, and it's just about the other guys stepping up and filling in. The great thing about defensive tackle is we have a lot of depth.
On the similarities between the situations with Tyrone Swoopes replacing an injured David Ash and Teddy Bridgewater replacing Will Stein at Louisville in 2011: The key thing with Tyrone is that he just continues to get better and better each and every game. He's making the throws. What you really like with him now is his whole focus and how he approaches the game now because he knows that he is the starter. As he continues to develop, the players around him need to continue to get better also. We're talking about running back, wide receiver and offensive line. I think once that happens that his game is just going to elevate even more.
On if any player suspensions will be lifted for the Kansas game: I haven't made that decision yet.
On the team's reaction to the David Ash news: They all know because David is around them, so they kind of know what is going on. They know how much he meant to this program, and it's all about their relationship with him and just how much he's been involved. When you see him on the sidelines, he's involved – he's at practice, he's in meetings. I think that their concern is also his health. If it were them, they would feel the same. It's all about protecting the student-athlete.
On what was impressive about Swoopes against UCLA and his thoughts on the three-and-out in the fourth quarter after the fumble recovery: Tyrone played very well. If you see the way he started off, he may have been 7 of 7 or 8 of 8, but he was just making the throws. What happened with the possession - I think there were like five or six minutes left to go in the game, and we got that possession, and we had been moving the ball with what we call our rally. It still comes down to getting into second-and-5, and then we get a tackle for a loss. Then we have to get it at third down. There were so many things within that game. We ended up punting the ball and allowing them to get the return. We get the ball back with three minutes to go in the game, then we throw a hitch-route, and we drop the ball and they get a sack. We just tried to make things happen. When you get into games like that, what needs to happen is we just have to step it up. Even as a coaching staff, we have to be aware of the situation and our players. We just have to make plays, and we didn't at that time.
On his frustration level at this point with all the injuries: It's a part of the game. You can't get frustrated and you just hope that the next player steps up. You lose [David] Ash, now Tyrone's [Swoopes] been playing well. Now all of a sudden, you lose Tank, how strong you have to be with, you lose that core right there in the middle. But now [Paul] Boyette [Jr.] has a chance to really step up. [Alex] Norman has a chance and we played [Hassan] Ridgeway in there some the other night, also. So I think that we have enough defensive linemen where we can move guys around and just get them in position. It's just about us making sure that right down the middle, we have to stay strong.
On losing two in a row and whether he's going hard or easy on his players: Two in a row, as in two practices, we haven't been going hard. What I do is I go out and make sure we just move around. It's not a lot of just work, work, working, but we're working and making sure we get done what we need to get done, as far as in the red zone, as far as in the goal line and third down. We're working with different situations right now. But they know that once we start conference play, now everything counts, and we can't drop one. We have to go play well in the conference.
On how the team is responding after the UCLA loss and their mental state getting ready for Kansas: I showed them the tape on Monday, so I gave them Sunday off and we watched the tape on Monday. I just showed them plays that we needed to make to go win the game. So after looking at those plays, they responded really well. Even after the meeting, they could see it. A lot of times when you show it to them and just show exactly what happened. If we just make this play, we're a step away here, ball goes off our hand, if we make that catch or get that interception. When they see those plays, they really understand we're so close but we have to make those plays and we win that football game.
On if Shawn Watson and Joe Wickline want to expand the playbook and give Tyrone Swoopes more: You'd like to throw the ball vertical but we also have to protect, too. If we're going to drop back five steps and throw it, we have to make sure we protect Tyrone. I think we dropped back the other night and threw a five step in, the guy came off the edge so quick, he never got a chance to set. I remember he threw the ball and I think it ended up going inside and [John] Harris almost makes a heck of a catch but if he has enough time and he lays it out, he had ran by the DB, then we'll probably make a big catch right there. The package is there for Tyrone. It's not like we cut it down. It's all there for him now. It's all about when we walk into a game, we've got to block their first seven, also.
On if Tyrone Swoopes is passing on big plays and going for the shorter stuff: No, no, it's there. If you look at some of his throws, there's a lot of curl routes, there are 'smash sevens', which we call a corner route with a smash route, there's hitches and there's drags. They're there. It's just a matter of protecting him and letting him release the ball. It's still about protection also.
On the spark Jason Hall gave on Saturday: It's amazing. I said this in the summer. I told our coaches when we were going through fall camp; I said that he plays with a lot of emotion, a lot of enthusiasm. When you look at the plays he made, he comes in and he gets a sack. You just like his play because he's so physical but also he has enough speed where he can go and cover in the middle of the field. He's a spark because when you play with energy and you play with passion, then everyone feeds off of you. That's what he brings with the energy and the passion that he has.
On if he feels Jerrod Heard needs to be redshirted or play in some kind of game: It's just going to depend and I can't answer that because we can get into a game where if we're blowing somebody out, he could probably go in and take some snaps. But also, you've got to think about this: you just don't want to play him to play him. Because if you go play someone and then you look back and he played 25 snaps for a year, then you waste a year on him. It has to be the right situation when we get him in there.
On whether high school coaches have reached out to him and appreciated his program's discipline with the negativity nationally with behavior by football players: I just think that if you look at us, I always think about this as a coach, that you have core values within your program. If you're going to say that that's what your program is all about, then you have to be about it. I don't think you can say one thing and be a different way. You have to be strong about what you truly believe in. You're right, there's so much happening on the professional level and it kind of trickles down to the collegiate level. But as a coach, you can't be afraid to discipline players, you can't be afraid to challenge players because in the very end, the only thing you're doing is helping that young man in the long run. Because what's going to happen for him, he's going to realize, if he had a foundation in college, because we talk about sports as being discipline, so much you can learn, you talk about integrity, you talk about character. If he has that foundation within that sport, even within college, then it's going to carry on to his life once he leaves college where he becomes a productive citizen in society and realizes there's some things you can't do but that's the way you were brought up. So now, it becomes a part of him on how he approaches his everyday life. There's so much happening. You're right; it's so negative right now. It's happening where you don't want to see that within this profession. You would not like for that to happen but as a coaching staff, we need to stand up and make decisions and go make the right decisions and not have to worry about what people think because it comes down to what you truly believe and how you feel like you're helping that young man. Because we talk about all the time, 'Hey we're in this business to help young people. We're in this business to help them change their lives to make their lives better.' Well that's what it's all about and that's what we should be doing.
On the Texas-Michigan series: I'm just trying to get to Kansas. I'm not worried about 10 years from now with Michigan. You look at two outstanding programs that are just so rich in tradition. It's going to be a great matchup.
On what he and his coaches have seen from the team that he's been stressing about toughness and the little things in practice that gives him an idea that the program is growing the way he wants it to: When you go through fall camp and you're thinking that hey we're implementing. It's coming, it's coming, it's coming. Then you get to the first game and you play so well. Then you go out to the second game and it looks like everything we taught them just got flushed. You feel like 'oh my gosh, what happened?' Then we're able to bounce back last week and go play but then we don't go finish. It's about the finish and we didn't finish. But showing them the tape and letting them realize you have to play good, it's all about hard work, it's all about the energy, it's all about the effort, it's all about how each and every game we have to approach each game and be prepared and have the focus. That's what we were not getting. I think a lot of times, players, especially young players, think they can just take the field because we're The University of Texas. I said, 'that's what you do because you get their very best because we are The University of Texas. We're going to get their very best.' We're going to get it from everybody, no matter who we play. So if you don't come with your A-game, the BYU game could happen to us again. So we have to step it up each and every week and it's got to be about our toughness and about us being a team. It's not offense, it's not defense, it isn't special teams, but it's about us being a team. Once we come together and start believing in that, believing in ourselves, a lot of times we have to believe in ourselves to have confidence and that's what we don't have yet. Each and every day, just building that. Believe in yourself, believe you can do it because it can happen because there's enough within the program where it can be done.
