What Luther Elliss said following week one of Utah's spring camp
Q: How did practice go today?
Elliss:
Better than day one - so that's also a good thing. Guys getting better, taking to the coaching, understanding what we’re trying to get out of them, just how we’re playing, different things of that nature, but a good group of young guys that want to get better - and anytime you have a group like that, you should get better every day.
Q: How’s it been for you coming back?
Elliss:
Ah, a dream come true. I mean it is, it's something not only to come back as an alma mater but to come back and be coaching here, and then also a chance to be around my son, and coach him a little bit… Honestly it's just a huge blessing and I’m grateful for that.
Q: How’s the group you’re working with? How are the tackles?
Elliss:
Oh fantastic. Very talented young group. We have some great players, I expect to get a lot out of them this year. I think they want to be great, and anytime you have a group like that, good things are gonna happen.
Q: What are the butterflies like, before the first day you started coaching here?
Elliss:
I think it’s just excitement, It’s just like a kid in a candy store, and someone says “you can have whatever you want” Really? Whatever I want? So you go get it - I'd say just like one of those types of things, it's not really butterflies, just an excitement and an appreciation and an gratefulness to be able to be here, you know? Be with Coach Whitt, he was my position coach my senior year here, his dad was my DC. So a lot of ties and relations here, and then just working with Lewis, there’s just a lot of connection here. Playing with Sharrieff, seeing Morgan and those guys, and it's just been really good.
Q: What's the familiarity like, because you were a parent watching this group a year ago, so you had familiarity with the kids, and the name, but now being in the room, not just the defensive line but the whole defense?
Elliss:
You see the coaching, they’re doing the little things that matter. And not that all coaches don’t try to do that but they have it down to a science here. In a sense that they get the guys to buy in and do the things they ask. And that's what makes great defenses great. I mean look how young we were, not just as a defense, but as a team, what they were able to accomplish and through all the adversity they went through, the highs and lows. And to see that transpire the way it did. First, it starts at the top, Coach Whitt, that leadership, that trickles down, and everybody believing and buying in, ‘we’re going to be something special’ and they were.
Q: What are you hoping to accomplish with your group this spring?
Elliss:
I’m hoping to accomplish is for them to become the best that they possibly can be. To look back and be even better than last year. So when they reflect back, that they will say ‘I’m a better player than I was before spring’ And then just continue to build on that. I believe I’m a big technique guy, fundamentals guy. To me, it all starts there, you can’t do certain things if you don’t have the fundamentals down so we’re hopefully just going to continue to build and improve on that. Sione Po’uha did a great job working those guys, getting, building, and sealing those fundamentals, but we are going to continue to develop and sharpen those.
Q: In your experience as a professional player, how have you tried to instill a professional mindset, not only with your group, but with the team as a whole?
Elliss:
I probably have more influence on my group, with that, I love what you said: mindset. How you approach the day, how you come in here ready to be a part of what we’re about to do, not wasting a day, not wasting a rep, not wasting a meeting. We all have things happening outside of football, outside of this facility, this building. But when you get here you gotta compartmentalize and set things aside, and say ‘Imma focus here’. Fought with a girlfriend? Well I’m sorry you fought with a girlfriend, keep that over there and let's focus on football right here, and then we can talk about that after, and do those things. I”m not saying we separate that completely and not help these guys with different situations and issues, but what we try to do, is when you get here, to be a professional you gotta be able to separate personal and business, and this is a business. You gotta come in here ready to go.
Q: You see a guy like Junior Tafuna, young player, Pac-12 freshman defensive lineman of the year, lots of potential. What, as you watch him, is his next step in his iteration?
Elliss:
There is no ceiling with him. I mean he has unbelievable opportunity, unbelievable talent. He does some things that other guys just really can’t. He’s just that explosive, that talented, that he’s able to use those abilities - and what’s scary is he doesn’t even know what he has yet. So he has a high ceiling, if there is a ceiling. Like I said, I think he’s gonna be even better than what he was last year.
Q: What’s impressed you the most about the position group at this point?
Elliss:
Their desire to be great. They have a desire, they have a want. They’re locked in, they are focused, they are being professionals right now. And I think that's something that's unique and something that a coach wants from his players. Guys that have that kind of internal motivation to want to be great. They have that naturally, and now I just have to hone that and help them to continue to focus on that.
Q: Anybody that’s caught your eye up to this point?
Elliss:
I mean my room in general, but i think Devin Kaufusi is doing a great job in leading.He’s a talented guy, a big guy, a tall guy, He has long levers, he learns how to use those levers and he’ll be really another guy that will be unblockable. Then you got Junior Tafuna, and really my whole room. We have some other guys stepping up, showing me a few things, got a little further to go with some of these guys, but overall, those two I see as not only my on the field leaders, but off the field as well.
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