Quick Hits: Transfer Portal/Recruiting Plan, Young QB Impressing + More
Opening statement
"The bye week comes at a good time. Physically, we're beat up. I think emotionally spent. I gave them Sunday and Monday off, so this afternoon will be the first time I've seen them. It's a frustrated group talking on the phone and text. I think everyone in this building is frustrated. Nobody likes losing, that's obvious. I know our fans are frustrated. This is the way I always think about it right or wrong and it's that we are in the entertainment business and when the product is not good, people have an opportunity to complain and I don't blame them. You repair what you can fix, I think that's a big piece of it. Then you have to readjust. What is the plan moving forward? Reflect, repair, readjust. We've got a lot of football left. We got half a season. Everything is doom and gloom right now but I don't think you can approach it like that. From where I'm sitting and when I sit in front of the team here at 2:45 this afternoon, I'm not going to be miserable. Right now, it's the time to lead. It's easy to lead when things are going well. It's hard to lead when things are going poorly. Right now is when we need leadership."
Offensive line issues
"That's the hardest position to get right and it takes time. Nobody wants to hear that but the truth is, it takes time. We have not performed well enough on the right side. I think Zach Frazier is playing winning football, maybe at an all-conference level. I think James Gmiter is playing really good football. But everybody else, we've got to play better. Some of it is a technique issue. Some of it is from a schematic standpoint. We've got to do a better job of taking care of them which is on me. And we're repeating some of the same mistakes. What we're playing is what we got. Those are the people that are ready. Ja'Quay Hubbard has shown some improvement, he may be a guy that is potentially ready to play but other than that, the guys that are out there, those are the best we've got."
Will Crowder's progress
"Goose is a guy that, he's coming along. From a leadership standpoint, he has probably as good of skills as anybody in our program. He's really added positive weight over the last nine months since being here in January. The game is starting to slow down for him. He's had two really good Mondays in a row."
Other young guys coming along
"He had a couple of really nice runs, he missed some protections that he can't do but he'll continue, we'll work him hard this week. Offensive line-wise, Tomas Rimac is a guy that is not ready to play right now but we do think he will. He is progressing well. Really learning how to pass protect for the first time. The tight ends, Victor [Wikström] and Treylan [Davis], they're very similar to what a lot of the league is playing with as far as blockers and guys that can get out into the flat. I think they'll be able to help us next year. Start talking defensively, Hammond Russell has played spot duty. We like what he's doing. He's done a nice job on scout team. I think Saint McLeod is going to be a guy that we get a hard look at that can help us right now. Aubrey Burks, I think he played 20 snaps on Saturday and I think he did a nice job. We'll continue to grow him because he needs to play more."
Where Doege and Greene have struggled
"I don't think playing Garrett [Greene] has hampered him [Jarret Doege]. Jarret has just been a little inconsistent. I thought he competed really hard on Saturday. He had a couple of really good scrambles, he threw the ball away under pressure a couple of times. But he missed some down in the red zone where we could have scored touchdowns but we just didn't take advantage of those. Garrett, I thought his run reads were much improved on Saturday against Baylor. He's got to do what he's coached to do in the passing game. I'm all for the freelance but he's got to go to one to two before he takes off and runs. On Saturday, he just took a drop and then ran. The struggle with him is the receiver group is playing by far and away the best group on the offense right now and he's got to be able to utilize them. They're open when he's playing but he's got to find a way to get them the ball because that's the most productive position group right now."
Transfer portal/recruiting plan
"We will have 32 [scholarships] available. I mean, you all know, we're down scholarships. It is probably going to allow us to take another d-lineman than we thought high school-wise. It's going to allow us to take probably another high school and a transfer DB, another body at linebacker, probably two more wideouts. We're going to have to fill some holes with some transfers but when you're dealing in the transfer world. You're going to have some hits and you're going to have some misses. With high school guys, you can get them in your program and you can develop them. Just because we're struggling, we're not going to go this wholesale transfers in large numbers. I just don't believe that's the right way to get to where we want to get to. Are we going to have to add some pieces in the secondary and at linebacker from the transfer portal? Yes because we have holes there that definitely need to be filled. Are we going to be aggressive in the transfer portal on offensive linemen? Yes."
If the turnaround is taking longer than anticipated
"I knew this wasn't going to be a quick turn. Now, did I think we'd be able to win some games in the fourth quarter this year? Yeah. Did I think we'd be 2-4 right now? No. Did I think we were going to be 6-0? Probably not. I did feel like we would play better and be able to close out some of these games in the fourth quarter that we simply have not. But I knew this was going to be a process and I knew that early on. We made some turns last year. So, did I think we'd be sitting here with a better record than 2-4? Absolutely. Did I think that we were going to arrive in year three and be at the top of the league? No. Now, do I believe with all my heart that we will get there? Absolutely. I do."
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