Player quotes compiled from media availablity after practice.
Cameron Botticelli quotes:
(On being a senior, the top leader of defensive line)
That’s just gonna happen, you got a guy who’s here for five years, he’s going to have a leadership role. So I didn’t really do anything to earn that other than stick around for five years. But nothing really changes, still have a chip on my shoulder, still gotta come to work every day and try and win.
(Competition at Defensive line)
I think those are all young guys, those are all hungry guys. Those are guys who see where we’ve been in the past, they see where we’re going, and they want to be a part of it. And it’s a heated competition.
(Richardson)
Steven’s got great strength, he’s been able to pick up the defense really fast. He’s as close to having his techniques down as I’ve seen a freshman in quite some time. So his ability to pick up what the coaches and older players are asking him to do has surprised me. (Growth) He’s a guy that I really admired once he got here, because he didn’t say much. He listened a lot, he did what you told him. Just from a coaching perspective during our captains practices. I’ve been able to watch him grow into a player that could potentially contribute this fall.
(Factors that could make defense even better than last year)
I think as far as cohesion as a unit, we’re all interchangeable we know all the different positions We have great cohesion. As far as factors for improvement, you’ve got a lot of experience on this line, more so than we’ve had in years past. Cockran, Amaefula, and Ekpe all have a lot of games under their belts. The starters have a lot of games under their belts but what about the guys behind them? We’ve been with these kids all summer. I don’t want to slight Jeff Phelps, but us older guys, us fifth year guys can really do a similar job to what he has, and we have this summer preparing those young guys and getting them ready.
Cedric Thompson quotes:
(On how his leadership style is different from Vereen)
I think I’m more of a vocal person. I didn’t use to be a vocal person, but I broke out of my shell to become more of a vocal person. There are some people that I can talk to and yell at and scream at, and they know I’m not being mean, but that I just see a lot in them so I’m more of a vocal guy. I know who to yell at, who to sit down and talk with.
(What impresses Thompson about secondary)
What impresses me the most is the knowledge of the secondary. You can take somebody out, if someone gets hurt, and whoever comes in knows the game as much as the guy who got hurt. I think that’s the best thing in our secondary, is the fact that we have depth, and the fact that we have experience.
(On Craig James)
He’s a freshman obviously, so he’ll probably have to play his role on special teams first, but Craig is a natural. A lot of the things he does as far as his breaks and his reads, and he ran an actual defense in high school. So he’s just a natural corner, he’s an athlete but you can tell that he’s been playing corner for a long time. He’s natural at everything he does.
Tracy Claeys quotes:
(On linebackers)
Jack and De’Vondre and Damien right now are the first three, but from there we have to get it straightened out between Nick (Rallis) and De’Niro (Laster). Jon (Celestin) has played awfully well, we’re still figuring out where that’s all gonna fit. We’ve finally got Everett (Williams) back in practice, and he’s been moving around again, he’s been doing really well. We just have to get that decided by Saturday to get the kids comfortable. We may be wrong the first game, and if we are we’ll just adjust it and go.
(Is defensive scheme different than in the past?)
Most of it is the same, you always have a few little things that you mess with. The thing now is they’re (Eastern Illinois) going to be a no-huddle team. I don’t know in the past, but he’s been an option based coach, when you throw those two things in together, that’s something you don’t see all the time. Most no-huddle teams are a zone read, but this is a true option game out of it with the no-huddle. We’ve gotta be ready to go for the option part of it. At least for the first game, you have more time to work on it than you do with what happens in the middle of the season.
(Craig James, has he surprised Claeys?)
The thing is that every kid is usually one of the best players on their team when you sign them. When they get here and see that there’s a lot of athletic ability, you never know how kids are going to handle that. Some kids go into a shell a little bit, and don’t compete as hard until they get comfortable. Other kids act like they belong. Craig is one of those who acts like he belongs at this level. It’s never stunned him when we say “Hey, you’re in with the ones.” He jumps out there and goes, where some kids are like “Are you crazy?” So that’s him. He has that mentality that he’s ready to compete at this level right now. And he comes in with the strength and the speed to do it. Sure he’s learning, but the kid gives tremendous effort and you’d never know he’s a freshman by the way he plays and by talking to him.
(Aside from James, and Richardson what other young guys have stood out?)
Andrew (Stelter) has, talk about a kid who works hard. Gaelin Elmore is a kid who started out on offense, we’ve moved him over so he’s got plenty of ability. Jon (Celestin) has done well at linebacker, Everett (Williams) has done well. As far as freshmen that have an opportunity to play right now, this is probably the biggest group. Now will they? We’ll see how it works out. We’re planning on that right now but we’ve still got two weeks to go.