What San Diego State coach Sean Lewis said during his pre-camp news conference

Aztecs open camp on Wednesday

San Diego State Aztecs head coach Sean Lewis. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

San Diego State’s Sean Lewis met with the media on Monday ahead of the start of his second fall camp as head coach.

The Aztecs feel they have a better team than the one that went 3-9 last year, including 2-5 in the Mountain West. Not only do the Aztecs want to improve on last year, but they want to look strong as they head into the Pac-12 next year. 

“I think there's a greater level of comfort and connection in the building than there was a year ago,” Lewis said. “I think just the time on task that we have had together that ultimately leads to confidence, right? And, you know, trust within the building. And I think anytime that you're confident in what you're doing, I know our kids and our staff believe in our process, and they're trusting one another and the work that's getting done that's ultimately going to yield a better product on the field and better results on the scoreboard.” 

The big camp battle will be between junior transfers Jayden Denegal and Bert Emanuel Jr. for the starting quarterback job. 

Whoever wins that job will lead the Aztecs in their opener against Stony Brook at Snapdragon Stadium on Aug. 28.

Here are the highlights from Lewis’ news conference.

Lewis on the importance of the quarterback

“There's a couple of guys that are coming back offensively. Regardless of who's coming back, the quarterback is the one who gives the offensive personality. The quarterback is the one who instills confidence in the offense. So, whoever the guy is, that when he has the ball in his hands, not only the offense, but the whole organization goes, ‘Yeah, that's our dude. He's going to move this, and no matter what the situation is, we're going to put the ball in the end zone.’ 

“That guy, ultimately, who injects that confidence and that swagger, if you will, into the program, that's going to be the guy who's going to get the ball.”

Lewis on losing the last six games of 2024

“Learning how to win, right? And then there were three games at the start and throughout the season, at Central Michigan, Washington State and New Mexico, that you lose by a combination of nine total points? We have a great collection of talent that's becoming a team, and that team needs to learn how to win, and that's what this time of year is for.

“That's being focused and having great attention to detail, that's taking ownership of all the things that we put down, the good, the bad and the ugly. Then finding the most smart and effective way to go about what we're doing.”

Lewis on the essence of camp

“Now we're in this really cool moment of the season where all eyes are on us. We've been quietly working in the dark for a very, very long time, but for the next 24 days until we break camp, we get to exponentially get better, because we get to kind of go sequester ourselves in this football bubble and really get good at our craft.”

Lewis on the disappointing 2024 season

“Yeah, it was poor. Right at the end of the day, you're judged on your record, right? And so 3-9 is never acceptable. The thing that we look back on, that we've been intentional about all year round, is everyone truly understanding the details of the plan. How we need to work our process, and having the trust and the connections within the building, both amongst the staff, amongst the staff to the players, and players to players. So that we can do a much better job at working our process and working our plan, so we can have it happen in an expedited manner. But also knowing, hey, the changes that are being made, right? We're pivoting this thing and there's a lot of things that happen and that takes time.”

Lewis on the team’s academic standing

“Last announcement, we do school around here as well with all this other stuff. I’m really pleased to announce that our current roster, all the active guys, posted a 3.0 team GPA last spring. So that's two out of the last three semesters the team has posted a 3.0 team GPA.”