Texas A&M Football Fall Training Camp Media Day
Aug 13, 2015 | Football
Coaches and players met the press on Thursday as Texas A&M held its fall training camp media day.
Quotes from Coach Sumlin are posted below. Video clips from the coordinators and select players are also posted below. Audio clips are available through the links to the right.
KEVIN SUMLIN QUOTES
At what point last year did you become concerned with the physicality of the team and want them to be more physical?
"Just in general. You've heard me say before, as a head coach you're always assessing the program and where you are. Whatever you're doing well, you need to continue to work on that to stay ahead of the curve. Where you think you're lacking, or not where you need to be, you need to make adjustments. Coming into year four in this league, you've heard me say often times this is a line of scrimmage and depth league. I think we've recruited to that, but also schematically I think we need to make some changes to help us try and move into the top tier of this league—particularly in the west. Those are things that we've made changes obviously in December from a coaching standpoint. We implemented those changes. Those things work hand in hand. It's hard to be physical on one side of the ball and a finesse team the other way. I think it's helped us. The run game style has helped us in the spring with our defense. Across the board it changes what our attitude is up front."
Coach Spavital took no time in comparing Kyler to Johnny at least in the way he's able to extend plays. How fair is that?
"You know, that's going to happen just because of his stature and his style. Anyone who has watched highlight tapes--he can throw it, he runs around, he extends plays, he moves well. A play extender. That's kind of the standard comparison across the country for a guy who can move around and extend plays. I wouldn't put a whole lot into it except that it is a comparison."
With all he's crammed in since August 1st, what is the next big step you want to see from him?
"You have to remember it's since June 2nd. He didn't just start. With the new rules we've been meeting since the first week in June. His knowledge of the play book and (this is) with a lot of our lung players, I think it's helped a lot of the young guys on campus. Now you've got to go out and do it. The way we set this thing up, today is our last day in just shoulder pads. We go full pads tomorrow. We won't be out there long tomorrow, but we will have a substantial scrimmage Saturday. We will try to give all our newcomers the majority of the playbook for this scrimmage. Then next week we'll have a mini scrimmage Wednesday and then the following Saturday have another full scrimmage. Besides practices, we'll have two-a-days next week twice, but besides those, three real-live opportunities with full-go tackling and the whole bit. A lot of guys will get evaluated. We wanted them to have a grasp of what we're doing offensively and defensively, particularly for the first scrimmage. That kind of times out with what we usually do around here, two weeks before the first game."
Take us through the impact Aaron Moorehead has had on physicality and toughness of the wide receivers…
"Aaron's brought a lot of experience. It's what we were looking for. He's kind of a self-made guy. He wasn't highly recruited, goes to Illinois, wins a lot of games. He was a free agent. All he does is goes to the (Indianapolis) Colts and wins a Super Bowl. He understands technique, he understands toughness. He worked himself into being a great player, a pro. He brought to the table the ability to not only teach technique, but teach not only the college game but how to be a pro. That gets a lot of attention from people in that room. And that's what we needed. We have a lot of talent on the perimeter. You've got to remember, a lot of those guys didn't play receiver. Speedy Noil didn't. Ricky Seals-Jones didn't in high school. Christian Kirk was more of a running back than anything. They just gave him the ball a bunch. And I think that gets overlooked. But the ability to really take these guys and teach them their craft as a wide receiver—footwork, releases, spacing, everything—we've put a lot of work into that in the offseason. I know we've changed practice time…a lot more time for individual technique work this week and then the next week than we've ever done before. Some things are a little bit different offensively and defensively, but the emphasis on individual technique has gone up across the board. He's done a great job with those guys."
What has Myles Garrett meant to your program so far and what are your expectations for him for the future?
"I think he's taken a step. We really visited with him in the offseason…you're a really good player, but what is it going to take to be great? What are the goals you have? What are the goals we have as a team? And, to step outside yourself and become a leader. When you speak, people are going to listen to you. It's hard to do that as a freshman. You're worried more about what you're doing, not necessarily what others are doing or saying 'let's go'. He's made those strides in the offseason. Remember he missed 3 games last year tool. I think all these freshmen understand a lot more now what it takes to go thru a season in the SEC West. It's more to do with Sunday through Friday than it is Saturday. How you do things during the week has a lot to do with your performance through the year. Now that they're beyond worrying about themselves, like Myles, to be able to say 'Here's what I've been through, here's what I do know from an experience standpoint' and relate that to the other people on the team…that's important. That's where leadership comes from. He's embraced that. We work a lot in the offseason on leadership, particularly this last offseason. He's one of those guys. We had a situation the other night where things weren't going right, and I was happy to hear him speak up at the end of practice. Because of his talent and ability, when he talks, guys are going to listen. The funny part is he's just a sophomore. He's played one season."
How well has Daeshon Hall developed physically and what do you expect from him this season?
"Physically, you look at him and he looks great. We've got two guys that 'look' like defensive ends right now. A bunch of guys that look the part. Daeshon was I think 211 or 212 (pounds) on his visit, a basketball guy. Now he's 255-260. This is his first real offseason. He had shoulder surgery on both shoulders since he's been here. It's the first real offseason he's had in the weight room and from a nutrition standpoint. He's strong. He's going to have to be. Everyone is talking about Myles, and they're not going to single block Myles. We need others to rush the passer. If things go right for him he could have a big year. We need him to."
You touched on the receivers a bit ago. There are a lot of talented guys at that position. What do you expect from that group?
"I expect them to play well. They're good players. Whoever the quarterback is, whether it's Kyle Allen, Kyler Murray, or Jake Hubenak…you guys have heard me say before, it's not about him. It's about the other 10 guys on the field. The receivers can't play without the line or without a quarterback and running back. It takes everybody for this offense to go. It's not as if they've been bad since we've been here. We've always had talent on the perimeter. We've got it right now. They'll have to continue to play well for this offense to go."
You talked about the coaching changes you've been through…talk about John Chavis and his impact on squad so far, and the greatest difference you've seen from his players from last year to this season…
"John's done a really good job of communicating since he's been here. If anything I think at first we simplified things a lot. Now we are in the evaluation process of where guys will fit on the two-deep. Who those guys will be, getting the right pieces on the field and really kind of melding our talent level to what we're doing. He's got a great feel for that. We are still evaluating guys all the way across the board but what he's done is brought a style of defense our guys believe in and have confidence in. The biggest step was to develop confidence. First you'll have to develop that with practices and scrimmages. Until we play you really don't know what you have. I've been real pleased with the progress so far. As I said before, the buy-in was almost immediate. He's a guy that has a proven track record. When he talks, guys understand the reason why we are doing things. He's been successful. The confidence level there out of our coaching staff and out of our players is probably the biggest difference right now."
About this time you always talk about how you're going to find out who your real players are and some of the guys that are going to slide away. Are you hopeful that maybe this is a group that everyone just kind of stays in there? You recruited football players, is it time for them to show you that they are football players?
"That happens not just here, that happens everywhere. I say that all the time, we don't recruit them to stand next to me. That does nobody any good. We want guys to play. That light comes on for some guys sooner than later. Some guys it never comes on. When you get to this level, it's difficult. It's been warm outside. When you leave wherever you are, you're usually the best player on the team, or sometimes the best player in district, or the best player in the state. When you come to a program that's recruiting like we are now, you have to compete every day. Some guys like that, some guys don't. That's the part of recruiting that's most difficult I think for all coaches. It's not talent level and not character level, but how much does the guy really love the game and how willing is he to compete when things are equal or get tough? We try to develop and we work real hard at creating a competitive environment. So our guys understand what it takes to win in this league and be successful."
In your offenses going back to Houston and the first few years here, you were great on third downs. Last year that dipped some. How big a deal is that to you and were some of the changes you made to address that?
"Yes. (laughing). Great analysis. (laughing). I would say that. I was listening to Nick Saban yesterday talk about where they were with third-down conversion defense. It's the same for everybody. It's about staying on the field on offense, and getting off the field on defense. It has a lot to do with third downs and explosive plays. So if you're down in third downs offensively, then your explosive play ratio needs to go up. We had a number of explosive plays, but not enough to make up for 40 percent. There was a time where people thought it was insane we wanted to be at 50 to 60 percent conversion rate on offense. To do that you have to be multi-dimensional. We lacked the ability to do that last year. That's why we made some changes. Third-down conversion rate for us is a big stat. I've said that from day one."
You've made mention of an effort tape during games. Who have been the effort guys during camp?
"We haven't had a scrimmage situation. We haven't been in full pads. So that will be coming. You've got a lot of guys in the first two days look great because there's no tackling, and not really any hitting. Yesterday was the first day in shoulder pads and we had two or three guys that disappeared already. We'll have some more today. Saturday when we go full pads we'll have that group that'll be done. We'll be able to evaluate much more Saturday when the coaches get off the field and guys have to adjust to situations and run and hit and tackle without being told what to do. I don't put much into the first couple of days. Effort is the price of admission around here. That's what you are supposed to do. If you need me to yell at you you're in the wrong place."
How has Otaro Alaka been developing?
"He's a very talented guy. He had a great offseason. You don't leave the bowl game as the defensive MVP and not expect to have a great offseason and continue to be confident. He and Kyle Allen leave out of there with trophies as true freshmen, and all that did was propel them into the offseason. We look forward to a lot of good things out of those guys."
As you enter your fourth season in league how do you feel you have evolved philosophically from when you first got here?
"I don't know…we've made some adjustments. We've had guys leave to become head coaches. We've made some adjustments as we've been in this league with maybe the style of play and try to develop and recruit to what we think our program needs to get to the top of the list. That's probably changed the most, recruiting profiles based on who we play. Not just the best player, but the profile of player by position. It's always interesting. You go different places in the country, for where we are right now, if three years ago you'd have said we would have won 28 games people would have said you're crazy. Now you've got people saying you should be winning more. Where we are right now basically after three years going into year four, I think we have a roster that has good depth. We don't have huge holes in the whole place. Some places we are a little thin but we've eliminated holes in the roster. Athletically and physically I think we're comparable to the teams we're going to play. We have a chance to be good. The reason I think that we have to wait and see is how leadership plays out with the young guys. These guys are a year into the system. We've got a lot of seniors that have been through the good times and the bad times, and take a lot of pride in what we're doing. It's going to be an interesting year. I meant it when I said it. It's fun. To see guys with talent mature and grow up is the fun part of coaching."
Quotes from Coach Sumlin are posted below. Video clips from the coordinators and select players are also posted below. Audio clips are available through the links to the right.
KEVIN SUMLIN QUOTES
At what point last year did you become concerned with the physicality of the team and want them to be more physical?
"Just in general. You've heard me say before, as a head coach you're always assessing the program and where you are. Whatever you're doing well, you need to continue to work on that to stay ahead of the curve. Where you think you're lacking, or not where you need to be, you need to make adjustments. Coming into year four in this league, you've heard me say often times this is a line of scrimmage and depth league. I think we've recruited to that, but also schematically I think we need to make some changes to help us try and move into the top tier of this league—particularly in the west. Those are things that we've made changes obviously in December from a coaching standpoint. We implemented those changes. Those things work hand in hand. It's hard to be physical on one side of the ball and a finesse team the other way. I think it's helped us. The run game style has helped us in the spring with our defense. Across the board it changes what our attitude is up front."
Coach Spavital took no time in comparing Kyler to Johnny at least in the way he's able to extend plays. How fair is that?
"You know, that's going to happen just because of his stature and his style. Anyone who has watched highlight tapes--he can throw it, he runs around, he extends plays, he moves well. A play extender. That's kind of the standard comparison across the country for a guy who can move around and extend plays. I wouldn't put a whole lot into it except that it is a comparison."
With all he's crammed in since August 1st, what is the next big step you want to see from him?
"You have to remember it's since June 2nd. He didn't just start. With the new rules we've been meeting since the first week in June. His knowledge of the play book and (this is) with a lot of our lung players, I think it's helped a lot of the young guys on campus. Now you've got to go out and do it. The way we set this thing up, today is our last day in just shoulder pads. We go full pads tomorrow. We won't be out there long tomorrow, but we will have a substantial scrimmage Saturday. We will try to give all our newcomers the majority of the playbook for this scrimmage. Then next week we'll have a mini scrimmage Wednesday and then the following Saturday have another full scrimmage. Besides practices, we'll have two-a-days next week twice, but besides those, three real-live opportunities with full-go tackling and the whole bit. A lot of guys will get evaluated. We wanted them to have a grasp of what we're doing offensively and defensively, particularly for the first scrimmage. That kind of times out with what we usually do around here, two weeks before the first game."
Take us through the impact Aaron Moorehead has had on physicality and toughness of the wide receivers…
"Aaron's brought a lot of experience. It's what we were looking for. He's kind of a self-made guy. He wasn't highly recruited, goes to Illinois, wins a lot of games. He was a free agent. All he does is goes to the (Indianapolis) Colts and wins a Super Bowl. He understands technique, he understands toughness. He worked himself into being a great player, a pro. He brought to the table the ability to not only teach technique, but teach not only the college game but how to be a pro. That gets a lot of attention from people in that room. And that's what we needed. We have a lot of talent on the perimeter. You've got to remember, a lot of those guys didn't play receiver. Speedy Noil didn't. Ricky Seals-Jones didn't in high school. Christian Kirk was more of a running back than anything. They just gave him the ball a bunch. And I think that gets overlooked. But the ability to really take these guys and teach them their craft as a wide receiver—footwork, releases, spacing, everything—we've put a lot of work into that in the offseason. I know we've changed practice time…a lot more time for individual technique work this week and then the next week than we've ever done before. Some things are a little bit different offensively and defensively, but the emphasis on individual technique has gone up across the board. He's done a great job with those guys."
What has Myles Garrett meant to your program so far and what are your expectations for him for the future?
"I think he's taken a step. We really visited with him in the offseason…you're a really good player, but what is it going to take to be great? What are the goals you have? What are the goals we have as a team? And, to step outside yourself and become a leader. When you speak, people are going to listen to you. It's hard to do that as a freshman. You're worried more about what you're doing, not necessarily what others are doing or saying 'let's go'. He's made those strides in the offseason. Remember he missed 3 games last year tool. I think all these freshmen understand a lot more now what it takes to go thru a season in the SEC West. It's more to do with Sunday through Friday than it is Saturday. How you do things during the week has a lot to do with your performance through the year. Now that they're beyond worrying about themselves, like Myles, to be able to say 'Here's what I've been through, here's what I do know from an experience standpoint' and relate that to the other people on the team…that's important. That's where leadership comes from. He's embraced that. We work a lot in the offseason on leadership, particularly this last offseason. He's one of those guys. We had a situation the other night where things weren't going right, and I was happy to hear him speak up at the end of practice. Because of his talent and ability, when he talks, guys are going to listen. The funny part is he's just a sophomore. He's played one season."
How well has Daeshon Hall developed physically and what do you expect from him this season?
"Physically, you look at him and he looks great. We've got two guys that 'look' like defensive ends right now. A bunch of guys that look the part. Daeshon was I think 211 or 212 (pounds) on his visit, a basketball guy. Now he's 255-260. This is his first real offseason. He had shoulder surgery on both shoulders since he's been here. It's the first real offseason he's had in the weight room and from a nutrition standpoint. He's strong. He's going to have to be. Everyone is talking about Myles, and they're not going to single block Myles. We need others to rush the passer. If things go right for him he could have a big year. We need him to."
You touched on the receivers a bit ago. There are a lot of talented guys at that position. What do you expect from that group?
"I expect them to play well. They're good players. Whoever the quarterback is, whether it's Kyle Allen, Kyler Murray, or Jake Hubenak…you guys have heard me say before, it's not about him. It's about the other 10 guys on the field. The receivers can't play without the line or without a quarterback and running back. It takes everybody for this offense to go. It's not as if they've been bad since we've been here. We've always had talent on the perimeter. We've got it right now. They'll have to continue to play well for this offense to go."
You talked about the coaching changes you've been through…talk about John Chavis and his impact on squad so far, and the greatest difference you've seen from his players from last year to this season…
"John's done a really good job of communicating since he's been here. If anything I think at first we simplified things a lot. Now we are in the evaluation process of where guys will fit on the two-deep. Who those guys will be, getting the right pieces on the field and really kind of melding our talent level to what we're doing. He's got a great feel for that. We are still evaluating guys all the way across the board but what he's done is brought a style of defense our guys believe in and have confidence in. The biggest step was to develop confidence. First you'll have to develop that with practices and scrimmages. Until we play you really don't know what you have. I've been real pleased with the progress so far. As I said before, the buy-in was almost immediate. He's a guy that has a proven track record. When he talks, guys understand the reason why we are doing things. He's been successful. The confidence level there out of our coaching staff and out of our players is probably the biggest difference right now."
About this time you always talk about how you're going to find out who your real players are and some of the guys that are going to slide away. Are you hopeful that maybe this is a group that everyone just kind of stays in there? You recruited football players, is it time for them to show you that they are football players?
"That happens not just here, that happens everywhere. I say that all the time, we don't recruit them to stand next to me. That does nobody any good. We want guys to play. That light comes on for some guys sooner than later. Some guys it never comes on. When you get to this level, it's difficult. It's been warm outside. When you leave wherever you are, you're usually the best player on the team, or sometimes the best player in district, or the best player in the state. When you come to a program that's recruiting like we are now, you have to compete every day. Some guys like that, some guys don't. That's the part of recruiting that's most difficult I think for all coaches. It's not talent level and not character level, but how much does the guy really love the game and how willing is he to compete when things are equal or get tough? We try to develop and we work real hard at creating a competitive environment. So our guys understand what it takes to win in this league and be successful."
In your offenses going back to Houston and the first few years here, you were great on third downs. Last year that dipped some. How big a deal is that to you and were some of the changes you made to address that?
"Yes. (laughing). Great analysis. (laughing). I would say that. I was listening to Nick Saban yesterday talk about where they were with third-down conversion defense. It's the same for everybody. It's about staying on the field on offense, and getting off the field on defense. It has a lot to do with third downs and explosive plays. So if you're down in third downs offensively, then your explosive play ratio needs to go up. We had a number of explosive plays, but not enough to make up for 40 percent. There was a time where people thought it was insane we wanted to be at 50 to 60 percent conversion rate on offense. To do that you have to be multi-dimensional. We lacked the ability to do that last year. That's why we made some changes. Third-down conversion rate for us is a big stat. I've said that from day one."
You've made mention of an effort tape during games. Who have been the effort guys during camp?
"We haven't had a scrimmage situation. We haven't been in full pads. So that will be coming. You've got a lot of guys in the first two days look great because there's no tackling, and not really any hitting. Yesterday was the first day in shoulder pads and we had two or three guys that disappeared already. We'll have some more today. Saturday when we go full pads we'll have that group that'll be done. We'll be able to evaluate much more Saturday when the coaches get off the field and guys have to adjust to situations and run and hit and tackle without being told what to do. I don't put much into the first couple of days. Effort is the price of admission around here. That's what you are supposed to do. If you need me to yell at you you're in the wrong place."
How has Otaro Alaka been developing?
"He's a very talented guy. He had a great offseason. You don't leave the bowl game as the defensive MVP and not expect to have a great offseason and continue to be confident. He and Kyle Allen leave out of there with trophies as true freshmen, and all that did was propel them into the offseason. We look forward to a lot of good things out of those guys."
As you enter your fourth season in league how do you feel you have evolved philosophically from when you first got here?
"I don't know…we've made some adjustments. We've had guys leave to become head coaches. We've made some adjustments as we've been in this league with maybe the style of play and try to develop and recruit to what we think our program needs to get to the top of the list. That's probably changed the most, recruiting profiles based on who we play. Not just the best player, but the profile of player by position. It's always interesting. You go different places in the country, for where we are right now, if three years ago you'd have said we would have won 28 games people would have said you're crazy. Now you've got people saying you should be winning more. Where we are right now basically after three years going into year four, I think we have a roster that has good depth. We don't have huge holes in the whole place. Some places we are a little thin but we've eliminated holes in the roster. Athletically and physically I think we're comparable to the teams we're going to play. We have a chance to be good. The reason I think that we have to wait and see is how leadership plays out with the young guys. These guys are a year into the system. We've got a lot of seniors that have been through the good times and the bad times, and take a lot of pride in what we're doing. It's going to be an interesting year. I meant it when I said it. It's fun. To see guys with talent mature and grow up is the fun part of coaching."
Players Mentioned
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