Jordan Travis has 'cranked it up': Florida State assistant coaches discuss team improvements over spring camp
The Florida State Football Spring Showcase is coming up this weekend as the 'Noles wrap up their spring camp and head into summer. FSU assistants quarterbacks coach Tony Tokarz, tight ends coach Chris Thomsen, wide receivers coach Ron Dugans and running backs coach David Johnson met with the media after practice on Thursday to discuss improvements throughout spring camp and what to look forward to in the Spring Game.
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Tony Tokarz
Tokarz spoke about the improvement of the returning quarterbacks, how much freshman quarterback Brock Glenn and the speed he's picked up on the offensive playbook.
"I've said it before there's guys that are all at different points in their development. You have Jordan (Travis) that has a lot of football under his belt. He came out, operated at an extremely high level throughout the spring. Tate (Rodemaker) with some reps under his belt too and then AJ (Duffy) just getting better taking the meeting back to the field," Tokarz said. "Brock really hasn't slowed down since Tour of Duty; he's hit the ground running and it's fun to watch those guys get better every day."
When asked about the way Travis has approached the spring and his personal growth, Tokarz said that he continues to grow as a quarterback and a leader.
"I mean, he's cranked it up. I think last year continued to help build his confidence, and now he's just really embraced that role as a leader. Not just of the offense, not just of the position room, but really program-wide. He's become more comfortable in that role, and it's been really fun to watch him grow and have fun while he does it too."
Tokarz's full interview can be seen below.
Chris Thomsen
There are a couple of new faces in the tight end room since last fall and Thomsen said the returners are continuing to build and the newcomers have grown throughout spring.
"Guys like Markeston (Douglas) and Preston (Daniel) that have a lot of reps in the offense, they've just built on that and continued to improve, and then some of those young guys have too, "Thomsen said. "The new guys like Kyle (Morlock), Jaheim (Bell), you know, those guys have... they're learning a lot of information whether it's schematics or techniques. It's been fun watching them all grow and develop and learn it all. It's been a great spring. It's been a lot of fun."
When asked about tight end Jaheim Bell's improvement throughout the spring Thomsen said his blocking has improved and that has been handling himself well in the new offense.
"Just in his blocking technique, he's always been an explosive route runner and ball carrier. We've seen that. Now, he's starting to understand how strong he is in his lower body and how he, even though he's not a big, typical inline tight end, he can actually handle himself in those situations and then all the other situations in the backfield or out on the perimeter. He handles himself well. So, I think just all phases of his game."
Thomsen's full interview can be seen below.
Ron Dugans
Ron Dugans has had an influx of talent coming in paired with a veteran squad of receivers that finished sixth in the country last season per pff.com. When asked about how their spring went he said it went well.
"I feel like I saw progress. I saw guys competing. I saw guys responding, and if they didn't have a good play or a good practice, I thought they came out and responded the next day or the next opportunity that they had," Dugans said. "I thought it went really well because guys were doing a good job of encouraging each other, pushing each other, and holding each other accountable."
Freshman Hykeem Williams came in as a heralded 5-star recruit and it shows up in practice. Dugans' said that he's made plays but he needs to understand the intensity and the way they practice at FSU.
"He's made some strides, you know, probably a little slower than some others. Probably ought to get him down, lose a little weight and everything, and just kind of get him going a little bit, you know. But you've seen spurts of what he can be, what he can become. He's made some plays for us as well, left some plays on the field also. We just gotta get him to understand the intensity and the way we practice here at Florida State."
Dugans' full interview can be seen below.
David Johnson
Running back Trey Benson was part of a three-headed rushing attack that included former Seminole Treshaun Ward and Lawrance Toafili. Johnson said that Benson has continued to grow and accepted the challenges in front of him.
"I think he's doing a good job accepting the challenge. He's pushing himself to try to do all the little things, you know, being more aggressive without the football and that's one of the things that we're trying to challenge him about, making sure you're playing that fast, just as aggressive without the football."
Toafili has made some strides as well according to Johnson. He's happy about the things he can do in the offense and his size and his maturity have grown.
"He's doing a marvelous job. He knows the offense in and out. So many different things we can do with LT. We can split him out wide, put him in the backfield, be Wildcat quarterback, and the mere fact that he's putting on more weight, more muscles right at 200 pounds, and really proud of him," Johnson said. "He's matured a lot. I mean he's took Rodney (Hill) under his wing; making sure Rodney understands exactly how this thing worked."
Johnson's full interview can be seen below.
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