The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
08.20.2016 | Football
Head coach Charlie Strong met with the local media following Saturday morning's scrimmage.
Texas Head Coach Charlie Strong
On today's scrimmage: We had a really good scrimmage today, really good day. Just plays made on both sides of the ball. Offensively, had some really good drives. The running backs really ran well, 33 [D'Onta Foreman] and 25 [Chris Warren III] had some plays. Receivers did a really great job of catching the ball and really good throws by the quarterbacks. On defense, we had some really good stops. Had a number of three-and-outs, but just because the defense played so well. The thing we want to do on defense is tackle, and we did a good job today of just tackling and not giving up the big play.
On announcing the starting quarterback: The thing with the quarterback, the decision will be made and then the team will know, but I'm not going to put it out there because I don't want Notre Dame to know who we're going to start at quarterback. So I guess the way you guys will find out, you're going to have to ask somebody on the team, and they probably won't tell you. I don't even have to make an announcement. They'll know. I'm not going to stand up and make a big announcement about it.
On why he once said he would announce the quarterback early in fall camp: I wanted to know myself who would be the guy, but I kind of know. What's really good about that competition right now is those guys are getting their reps in and they both are looking good. They both are doing a lot of good things and the team, they'll figure it out. I don't have to stand up and make a big announcement about it.
On whether the staff has the same starting quarterback in mind: We're on the same page. Within the staff, it won't be, 'Hey I think it's this guy or this guy.' Everybody has an idea. They have the same idea because we see it at practice every day.
On filling spots at the offensive line: We've been moving guys around. At the center position we have Jake McMillon. Jake's gotten a lot of reps and [Brandon] Hodges has gotten some reps outside at the tackle position with [Denzel] Okafor, [Jean] Delance. We still have some guys that we can move around there, and what's great is having the bodies now that you can do it. Even though they're young, they're talented and you can go out and practice and still have enough bodies where you can get the center position corrected, get the tackle position.
On defensive improvement: We should be much improved from last season. You've got to tackle well, because then you don't give up the big plays. We were just counting runs after a hit, and we gave up a lot of runs after a hit. It's all about just getting the guy on the ground and wrapping him up and driving your feet on contact. But tackling is a major part of it, because it's all about fundamentals and technique.
On what makes him confident that Buechele and Swoopes will be fine sharing playing time, given that Notre Dame will also be playing two quarterbacks who are reportedly not happy to share time: You look at [Notre Dame's] situation, it's totally different than ours because you have one guy who started the season and the other guy came in and played very well. What you're dealing with here, you're dealing with a veteran and you're dealing with a freshman. I think the two we have have so much respect for each other and they know they're going to play. So whoever is chosen to be the starter, the next guy knows he's going to be in the game.
On how the team is adjusting to Sterlin Gilbert's offense, which requires players to make more decisions at the line of scrimmage: When you look at a defense, you're either going to get two high safeties or you're going to get one guy in the middle. So everything is predicated off of looking at the secondary, and it's not hard to pick up because at some point on defense, you've got to show your hand. And if you hold the ball long enough they're going to have to move at some point and so either the safety's going to drop down and you're going to play two deep or he's going to run back down the hash and they're going to play two deep. And if it's man then you're going to show man right away just by the alignment. If you watch the spacing of our receivers, they're going to be able to pick up and see what the defenses are giving them. And it's good for the quarterbacks too because they're going to see it just because of how spaced out guys are. So with us, we go against it every day, so we have to drop down a guy or we walk somebody out and they see it and they can read it. It's not hard. That's not going to be a hard adjustment for them.
On Jerrod Heard's performance in the scrimmage today: Jerrod had a really good scrimmage. He caught a deep ball for a touchdown, probably about 50 yards, and then he had another big catch. He is so athletic and he can do so many different things, and it's really good that he came in himself and he volunteered to play wide receiver. A lot of times when you get a guy like that and he's a skilled guy and he's a quarterback, they don't want to move. He said to me, 'Coach, I just want to play.' And I said, 'So you tell me where you want to play and I'll get you on the field, because you're too good of an athlete to be sitting on the sidelines.' So he said wide receiver. He made a ton of plays today.
On Heard's versatility, given that he has played quarterback: You can do a lot of different things now with him because he's been at the quarterback position. So if you want to move him back there and at some point go with your wildcat package with him being the guy, because he can throw the ball and he's been back there so he knows the offense very well.
On if freshman quarterback Kai Locksley will see time at other positions: Yeah. Kai is working at quarterback and we put him back and let him get some punts because he's got really good hands. With the return thing, we just need to get the ball called and never allow a ball to go over our head and lose yardage. We're working on a lot of guys back there, just trying to find that one.
On who is performing well returning punts: The guy who is doing a really great job is Jacorey Warrick, where he's getting the ball called. We just need to get the ball called and not lose field position.
On if sophomore cornerback Kris Boyd will take kick returning duties: No, I don't have an idea, because you need a different guy handling punts and kickoffs. Returning a kickoff, you need a different guy back there because for punts the ball is coming down, so you have to make sure you have a guy who's there that's willing to center and catch it, and we have those guys. For a kickoff returner they have time because the ball is going to sail down and no one is on top of him real quick. Those guys are really brave when they're back there once you get them back on punt return and see what they're all about. But we have guys that do that.
On if the coaches know who their top playmakers are on offense: Well I don't know if we're counting our throws but I know who the players are. It's pretty obvious. You walk out to that practice and know who those guys are. [Regarding catch counts], that's dictated on how the game goes. You have to know the flow of the game. We've got two big backs and they're a major factor themselves. It just depends on how the game goes, the flow of the game, and who needs the ball in their hands. The good thing about it is you have [John] Burt on one side, you have Collin [Johnson] on the one side, you have [Jerrod] Heard and you have [Devin] Duvernay in the middle… the guy Jake Oliver is the guy that's had a really good camp, so you have enough guys now where… Dorian Leonard has come a million miles. You have guys who can come on the field now and whoever touches the ball, you feel pretty good with the ball in their hands. So if you play a game and, say, Burt got one ball on the day and on the backside Heard got six, that's how it happened today. Heard got six, Burt got one. The next day Burt may get seven and Heard may get two, but we know who to get the ball in the hands to. We know the guys who will make the plays. The good thing about it is when you have competition, you see what happens and guys are really competing.
On how his team's specialists are performing in camp: Had a lot of field goals today, and I think [Trent] Domingue may have missed one from about 52 or something where he hooked it to the left or didn't have enough leg for it. Trent is doing a really good job. Michael [Dickson] is doing a good job of punting the ball, so special teams-wise we'll be really improved because we have another year from [Dickson] who can put the ball out there and place it where we need it, and Trent has been a really big help for us.
On the possibility of having a threatening pass rush this season: Well I would love to think I have a pass rush. When you look at it, we have to find the right speed of the guys we put on the field when it gets to third down, and those guys can put some pressure on the quarterback. Not so much you look for a sack every time; you want to make sure you can make a guy step up in the pocket and make it very uncomfortable for the quarterback to stand there. We can't allow for him to just stand there and pat the ball at the receiver and put the ball down the field. We need to put pressure on the quarterback.
On how Trent Domingue has fit in with the rest of the team: He has done a great job of adjusting, but that's the way he is and his personality. Yesterday he was working on something where there's forty seconds left in the game and we needed a field goal, so we get the ball down there and with seventeen seconds left on the clock, I said, "Sterling, let's run one more play," and the ball was on the hash and I said let's try to get it in the middle and I yell to Trent, I said, "Where do you want the ball?" and he said "It doesn't matter coach. Any hash, I don't care where you put it. I'm going to hit it." So I said, "Ohh, alright then, my man's automatic! Put the ball and leave it here then! Let's see if he can bank it from the left hash." It was good, then we slid it back to the middle and he did it again.
On who on the team the media is not asking about: The guy you aren't asking about who's having a really good camp right now… if you look at it on offense it's Jacorey Warrick. I think he's having an unbelievable camp and he's making all the catches and is practicing so hard. You feel him; when we're at practice the ball is being caught by him. Jake Oliver and "Petey" Warrick are the two guys on offense that you're not asking enough about. And on defense, it's Poona [Ford] and Chris Nelson, the two guys that are inside for us right now. They are doing an unbelievable job and they're doing an unbelievable job from their leadership ability because we have all of these young guys and now you see those guys sitting in a meeting… Poona has two of [the freshmen] next to him playing in the defense and then you look over to Chris and he's got two of them next to him and [Paul] Boyette's got them next to him where they're explaining it. Those guys are the ones right now that are working hard and not much has been said about them.
On legendary Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz: He talked to the team last night and the good thing was the coach's grandson is here, Trey, so he was actually down there visiting him and I saw him speak to the team. He just talked about accountability and he told them that youth and age has nothing to do with it, just go out and play. As long as you guys gel together and play well together as a team, you're going to win games.
On what comes to mind when Lou Holtz is mentioned: Organization. You have to be organized. With him, it was all about dotting every "i" and crossing every "t." You could be sitting in a meeting and he would ask you about a player and he would already know the answer. When I talk to our guys about academics, he'll ask a young man a question about academics and you fumbled the answer he would know the answer. He just asks to see if you knew. You would get reamed in front of the whole staff and he would let you know it.
On whether a quarterback will see a majority of reps as camp progresses: We get so many reps in practice and I don't know if it would be 50-50 but those guys are going to get their reps, and it's going to be against looks that we get the looks against. When they go into a game, they'll be prepared. I don't think it's that big a deal about who gets the reps and everything because that guy's going to play and the next guy is going to get his chance to play. Just the way we are scheme-wise offensively, they know where to put the ball and who to read and who you've got in the running game. We've got two big 'ol backs back there with a good offensive line that can open up the gaps and open up holes for people. We've got to be able to run the ball. I told our guys and I told our coaching staff is that we're going to have to be able to have two teams, because I said if you don't… when we're at practice, our first team is getting a lot of reps and then the second team is getting just as many reps as the second ones are getting. So when we put them in the game, we just let them go play, because I don't want to hear at the end of the game that I played him too much because you don't have to play him too much. You've got twos and guys that you're comfortable with and if you have the confidence in them, put them in there. I say let's play and see what happens, not so much see what happens because they're going to play well. If you coach them the right way and you put them in a position where they can be successful, then they'll get it handled.
