Below are notes from today’s press conference in advance of the season opener vs TCU.
Jerry Kill:
• It’s been a hard camp, the kids have been great. We open against the #2 team in the country, so we’ll find out where we’re at in a hurry.
• It soaked into our players as soon as the off season started. Our work habits were different. It helped us out tremendously. It’s helped camp, and everybody. We’re playing a great football team.
• Injuries – I’m not going to say too much about that, Gary doesn’t need to know anymore then he needs to know. Right now, We’ll know here in a few days, but I think we’ll be fairly healthy.
• To be honest, we haven’t done as much no huddle as we did in the spring. We’ve been a huddle team, that’s who we are. I think it’s helped our defense more than anybody.
• If I walk outside the door here, and get a Starbucks, I have 3-4 people saying “Coach, Good luck against TCU” everywhere I go, people are excited.
• On Leidner – the 1st 3-4 days of camp, Mitch wasn’t as sharp as he wanted to be, the last 2 weeks he’s been unbelievably sharp, the best I’ve seen him play. He has more confidence than I’ve seen him have.
• We’ve got 6-7 receivers that we’ve got confidence in right now.
• We’ve built it on defense, you have to have that to win. When we recruited, we got defensive players 1st. Eric Murray was a WR, and we had him come to camp twice to see if he could make that transition.
• I was with Gary on a Nike trip, 18./19 coaches were invited, 2 or 3 weeks ago they needed something for their charity, and his wife talked to my wife. In the past month, I haven’t visited with him much. Claeyes went down there 13 years in a row. The game isn’t really about us anyway, it’s about the players.
• I think it’s everything, to me we’ll have standing room only. I don’t know all the games that have been played here, but I don’t think there’s been an opening game that will be top 2-3 in the country. The atmosphere effects everything,. Our stadium is loud, the way it’s set up, the more enthusiasm and energy that’s in our stadium, the more the kids will feed off it. There really needs to be a hoe field advantage. I guarantee when both teams come out of that tunnel, there will be a lot of energy. Fans make a difference, they’re a big no huddle team, the louder the noise, the tougher it is.
• As a coach, every time you come out of the tunnel, you’ve got some juice. You’re not normal if you’re not feeling a little adrenaline. You work 365 days and don’t get many opportunities.
• Somebody said we’re 17 point underdogs, what have we got to lose? Go out there and have some fun, and see what happens. Their AD isn’t too worried about us. That’s what makes coaching so fun, so many people are locked into this game on ESPN at 8pm, it doesn’t get any better than that. I don’t think I’ll have to give them a pep talk.
• On Boykin: He’s pre-season Heisman guy, he presents a challenge. Like the kids from OSU. Boykin’s a guy with a strong arm, he can throw bebees out there. He gets the ball out quick, so he’s hard to sack. He can run it as well as throw it. Gotta keep him locked in the pocket and not run around everywhere. We recruit Texas, so we know some of the kids. If you’re a fan, you’ve get to see a kid that could win the Heisman trophy, what a great opportunity.
• We turned the ball over 5 times, and when you do, you’re not beating anybody.
Tracy Claeys
• They run well, we played with them last year. We ran with them fine. They run as well as anybody does.
• You’ve got to play well, high energy, and play well, otherwise they’re capable of scoring Saturday in a hurry. Keep the ball in front of us. 1st game, and not having any game before this is we have to come out of the gate, ready to go, with no rehearsal.
• We have more film this year, last year, we didn’t have any film. I’m sure they’ll throw in some curveballs, but it’s been easier to prepare for. They won’t change a lot, they are one of the best trick teams in the country. That will be the fireworks for the evening.
• They make it hard for you to put a bunch of big bodies out there at the same time. If we’re wrong, we’ll change it, but hopefully we’re right. You’ve gotta match speed with speed, that’s all there is to it.
• I think we match up awfully well with them.
• I always expect the worst when I prepare for things. When I prepare, I expect the worst possible thing to happen. We felt good about the way we defended them 80% of the time last year. We have video now to improve upon that. The hardest adjustment for us, is the Big 12 goes faster than anybody. It doesn’t matter how we prepare, it will take a few series to adjust that.
• We’ve got a lot of work to do before we get to the game. To open with this type of game, when you have upperclassmen, it makes a difference.
• They’ve still worked hard, it’s a challenge. They’re going to have to play well, they put in the time and the effort. They have some confidence because of the way they played a year ago. We only worked on TCU about 3 days so far, so they have 4 days to clean some things up.
• The way the rules are nowadays, it is what it is. You don’t get to hit the QB as much, you hardly tackle at all in practice. We only tackle twice, but that’s what everyone does.
• The 2nd part of camp what we changed, we took 7-8 practices and worked CSU stuff. We worked more of what we will see out of Colorado State. Then after that, we worked our way into TCU, with the thought that after TCU there will be a lot of recollection there. Except for new stuff you haven’t seen, there’s no reason to not know what you’re doing.
Matt Limegrover:
• On trick plays – You always build a bank, and video of what you’ve seen. You always have that play bank, and see with what fits with what you’re going to do. 30-35 plays in this play bank and you go back and revisit it, the summer is a good time to do that, at the end of June. You steal wherever you can, whenever you can.
• Roderick Williams – He’s not going to exactly like Cobb, but his maturation is pretty good. He’s become a team leader, responsible, you feel better having him out there. 3rd downs, and carrying the football. As far as the number of carries, that’s hard to say, high teens to low 20’s.
• David was an outlier, being that guy you handed to all the time. Rodney Smith has done a phenomenal job, you’d hardly think he’s a redshirt freshmen with the things he’s doing.
• I went back, I met with the offensive line before they started with summer conditioning. I put up 6/7 combinations that could start out. They were in a lot of different spots and felt comfortable with that. Kill gave one of them a compliment and said – You know what, he’s practicing the way he wants to play – I won’t name him.
• Healthy Leidner – Anytime you’re starting QB is as close to 100% healthy as he is right now, it’s been noted in the past that he’s so competitive that it eats at him (being injured last year). He didn’t feel very good about his performance, that’s been a good positive motivation for him. You do a lot of extra things when you’re a starter, and that went into the highs and lows, and now he’s done that for a year. He’s so much more comfortable in everything he’s doing. If he can keep that steady level, a level that will win us football games, offensively we’re going to follow that lead.
• On Leidner’s throwing – we’ve thrown a lot more deep balls this camp, than the past two years put together. He’s able to find those guys, and get them the ball. I don’t know if it’s as much him alone, as it is having guys, a comfort level he hasn’t had before. I think he’s a guy that can do a little bit of it all. I think he’s at his best when it’s the intermediate drop back passing game, and deep play action.
• The biggest thing for us is making sure our kids feel comfortable running our offense and doing what we do.