Fisher Holds Second Press Conference of Fall Camp
Aug 22, 2020 | Football
Jimbo Fisher held his second press conference of fall camp on Saturday afternoon prior to the Aggies' fourth practice day. The Aggies are back on the Coolidge Practice Fields in the evening before donning full pads for the first time on Tuesday night.
Video of the press conference, along with notes, is available below. 12thMan.com's coverage of Fall Camp is presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors.
Quick notes from Jimbo Fisher's second media session of the fall:
- (Devon Achane) Playing running back, we’ll slot him, flex him out. Very smooth player, very fast. Natural football player. Developing very well. Looking forward to utilizing his talents.
- (difference week one from this year to last) See little more urgency this year. Don’t mean that in negative way. Have more veteran football team, older players, more seniors. Think leadership has improved in quality and quantity as many more guys are understanding what to do, how to do it. Made a huge impact on the younger guys as much as anything.
- (position groups that have stood out so far) Hard question right now. Just two practices in shorts. Some of your physical guys, hard to truly judge. Only one shells practice. QBs have done a good job. Ainias (Smith) and Isiah (Spiller) at running back, those guys have done solid job. Like the secondary guys. The defensive line and offensive line, with continuity and calls and knowing what to do. There’s nobody I’m disappointed in. Ton of work to do, but even with longer offseason think we’re faster. Running much better as a team. Guys coming back in that regard. We’re bigger. Hopefully we can play better.
- (expect Demond Demas to play this year) Up to him. Demond is very intelligent guy. Great ability. Couple of good practices so far. Expecting him to compete. We’ll find out. Too early to tell that. Has the ability to. Learns very well. Not making a lot of the same mistakes twice. Being very coachable.
- (preparing for Vanderbilt) Had broken Vanderbilt down during the offseason. Being first one, we’re getting back into those things. Know the defensive coordinator, Ted Roof. Went against him many times in the ACC. Was head coach at Duke at one time. Mix their fronts, blitzes, packages. Know offensive coordinator Todd Fitch. Great offensive mind. Todd was at Louisiana Tech last year, threw it all over the place. Lot of different things they can each do. Will be very challenging because you have two new coordinators in opening game. Never know what to expect. Will have to cover lot of ground in short period of time.
- (Vandy COVID outbreak) Saw that. Hate that for them and their kids. Don’t want anyone to ever get it. At same time trying to concentrate on ours and make sure we don’t have outbreaks. Don’t want anybody to ever have COVID. My thoughts and prayers go with them but I know they’ll do great job managing that situation.
- (any COVID outbreak becoming national news) We pray knock on wood it doesn’t happen again. Right now of course you guys want news, want to say what’s going on. But in our world it’s new normal. We have plans for plans for plans. Then something happens and we don’t have plan for it. But it’s our new normal and the world we’re living in today. Just taking it one day at a time and doing best we can.
- (Jayden Peevy) Doing excellent job at leading. Setting great example in practice. His getting better and better is from knowledge of game of football. Said he was heck of a basketball player and in lot of those guys you can see that. Very athletic. Can run, change direction. When he jumps and moves I can see why he was very good basketball player. At end of day, football is very, very technical sport. How to run a route. How to get open. How to run block. How to fit my hands. Those things take time. Each year he’s gotten better and better. Very driven. Gets better and better. Speaks to who he is as a person. Hope he has a great year.
- (NCAA extra year of eligibility) First of all I think it’s fair thing to do for our kids. That’s first and foremost. After that don’t want to make comment until I think through everything. Right now what we’re worried about is just playing. Will put some thought into it on some off days and when we get into recruiting.
- (effect 10-game SEC schedule has on roster) Definitely does affect management of team. This league is as physical as any. Very physical league with grown men up front. Depth and development of young players is very important this season. Not only because of COVID situation but the caliber of teams you will play. Developing players is very critical and the older guys teaching them how to take care of their bodies each and every week, rest, rehab, all the things that go on in a schedule like this.
- (More likely to play freshmen this year) With the way things are this year almost everything will be on the table. You have to make freshmen aware they could lose (redshirt) because of COVID situation or injuries or schedules. Don’t want to play guys before they’re ready, but at same time we’ll make decisions for team based on what’s best for us to be successful. We’ll have to live in that world daily and figure it out.
- (Kellen’s growth) Seen tremendous confidence from him. This guy is maturing like it used to be. You’d see guys develop each year as they get older in the old days, when they’d stay in school and not leave early. His confidence, awareness, presence around our team with coaches and players, you guys are seeing it in talks with him. Really maturing. Not that he wasn’t mature before. When you’re in this world today it’s a whole different world. Very proud of him. Has practiced really, really well. Not just himself but how he’s affecting other guys on the team.
- (chance to get Achane and Smith on field at same time) Got to see more of Achane. Ainias’ skill set is excellent. Achane has all those skills, we’ll see as he goes forward and grasps offense. We’ll see in time. Don’t forget Isaiah (Spiller), he’s doing great job too. Can see a difference in year two. Don’t know yet about Achane. Ainias was a very polished route-runner as a receiver. Haven’t seen that out of Achane yet, but he catches the ball really, really well. We’ll see.
- (Kellen & Jhamon relationship and Jhamon’s development in offseason) Out of Jhamon I see a more explosive guy. Gets in and out of cuts better. Just another step of quickness. Still strong. Has power. Lighter footed might be a word you’d use. Those guys are very close. Think alike. See everything alike. Discuss a lot of situations with our team, themselves, and the offense. Very, very driven together. You see two guys who are doing an excellent job of leading.
- (Demarvin Leal) I see an unbelievable competitive nature. See a guy, when he’s on that field, don’t ever see him loaf one second. Don’t care what drill it is. Those guys change cultures of an organization. They’re great players, highly recruited, but play in effort and toughness like they have no ability. Learns extremely well. Great teammate. Has all the size features to play well. God’s blessed him with a great skill set but he’s blessed himself with the family he’s around and the intangibles. Very intelligent football player that processes things very well.
- (Baylor Cupp) He’s good. Running well. Big, physical. No problems with ankle and if he did have them he wouldn’t tell you. One tough son of gun. Competitive. Great heart. Ton of respect. Goes about the game. If he makes mistake, he feels he let you down as a coach because you were counting on him. Very hard worker.
- (more optimistic about this team than others) It’s early. I like this football team. Work ethic. Enthusiasm at practice. Comes from old guys but the new guys brought some juice to this too. Personalities have mixed very well.
- (competition at corner and nickel) Getting lot of guys reps. Moving guys around. Myles Jones been extremely happy with him and his offseason and leadership. Put himself in a great place. Elijah (Blades) getting back on field. Devin (Morris) and Travon (Fuller). Jaylon Jones has jumped out at me at different times already. Brian George has jumped out already. Don’t mean to be missing anybody. All guys have been competitive. Moved them interchangeably to see how the communication goes. It’s very, very encouraging, I’m going to say that.
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