Kansas State Wildcats College Football Pregame Quote, 08/27/2019

Good afternoon. We’re excited for game week. We started our prep for Nicholls probably about a week ago, mixing in some scout-team work with some K-State/K-State stuff still. Then we turned our focus mainly to those guys probably last Thursday. Most of the game plan is in, we’re just kind of refining some things. We still need the remaining practices we have over the next three days to make sure that we’re getting guys into the right position and continuing to refine some of the things, red zone stuff, some situational things, goal line, third down, two minute, those sort of things over the next few days. I know the guys are excited about hitting someone else and playing somebody different. But as I told them the other day, we still have to do our work, still have to attack each day and continue to stack good days here. Saturday will get here soon enough.

On if they put any players on scholarship after fall camp:

Landry Weber we put on aid. Noah Johnson we put on aid, and Tyler Burns we put back on aid.

On what he looks for in leaders as captains were announced last Friday:

I want guys that can challenge their peers, challenge their brothers. Sometimes they make the unpopular decision, but it’s the right one for the team. It’s things I’ve seen in my years of coaching or just in this past year. I saw what some of these guys did from a leadership standpoint in the winter when it was new for everybody, to the spring when it was new for everybody, through the summer and fall that those guys make everybody around them better. I look for servant leaders, which is somebody that isn’t worried about his statistics, so to speak, he’s worried about making sure everybody around him is better, whether that’s on the field or off the field. I think we have some great captains this year.

On how he would define success this season for quarterback Skylar Thompson:

Just to continue to grow every game. I think that’s the biggest thing. I’ve been really pleased with his progress so far and the leaps he’s made from spring to summer and from summer to fall. The amount of things he’s able to process in the classroom and taking it from the classroom out onto the field. I think every week he’s going to feel more and more comfortable and every week we’re going to put more and more on his plate. I don’t have anything statistically. I think just him getting more and more comfortable on a week-to-week basis and us being allowed to add more things to his plate is going to determine his success.

On anticipating growing pains in week one:

You always worry about it in the first game. I think everybody does with false starts to delay of games to jumping offsides, having to call time out because we don’t have something right. We’ve tried to replicate as many of those things as we can in practice, but there’s going to be some anxiety. Kids are going to make mistakes. I think that’s the thing our coaches have talked about is we need to be patient. We’re still only a little over 40 practices with these guys, not even 40 practices. So we’re going to have some issues, but we’ll get those things ironed out. I think for us not to show that we’re anxious or have anxiety will make the kids a little bit more at ease as well. I also don’t want to take that excitement away. I don’t want to take that emotion away from that first game. So if somebody makes an aggressive penalty in the first game, we’re going to learn from those things and continue for those to be teaching moments.

On Joshua Youngblood’s playing time despite not being on two-deep:

I see him in the mix of six or seven guys. Whether you put a two-deep for us either at wide receiver or tight end, we’ve always played a lot of those guys anyway. I would envision Josh playing this week, yes.

On being the hunted vs. the hunter in the FCS/FBS match-up this time:

I don’t know because I’ve never been here before, but in the same respect, I know what those teams are going through and I know you prepare all summer and all fall camp for your opportunities to play an FBS opponent. We talked about that with the team that this is a big opportunity for Nicholls. But in the same respect, I think it’s a big opportunity for our players at Kansas State to put their best foot forward in what we hope to be a really successful season. I try not to get caught up in one game is any more important than another, but this is the game we’re at. I know we’re going to get Nicholls’ best. When you have a quarterback like they have with an amount of experience, you’re not going to rattle this guy. So you have to do a great job of showing different looks and being able to pressure, being able to play coverage and just let the game flow happen as it does. By no means are our guys going to overlook Nicholls.

On what Nicholls presents offensively:

A great quarterback, a guy that I have a ton of respect for. I’ve watched him play the last couple of years because we’ve played teams that they’ve played in the playoffs. He’s got a great bunch of moxy, he’s an athletic guy. He’s not a very big guy, but he plays big. He runs the ball extremely well. He throws it with accuracy. He’s just knows their system so well. The environment is going to be great and we need our fans to be really loud ‚Äì especially on third down ‚Äì but this guy has seen an awful lot. We have to be really precise on our coverages and really precise on our looks because I think he’s seen an awful lot of football.

On Nicholls’ defense:

I think they’re going to be aggressive. They’re going to give you a lot of different pictures, a lot of different blitz looks. They’re going to try to show you the same picture then all of a sudden play coverage out of it. Then the next time, pressure out of it. I like a number of the returning players they have, whether it’s secondary, linebacker or D-Line, they’re very active. They don’t give up the explosive play. We have to find ways to find a few of those explosive plays. We believe we can methodically move the ball down the field, but we need to have some explosive plays as well.

On what he expects out of Nick Lenners due to being listed as both tight end and fullback on the depth chart:

To play both tight end and fullback, just like all those guys. If you look at us over the years, it didn’t matter. Our guys have to be able to be multiple spots. When I say he’s going to be an on-the-ball tight end, he’s going to be in the backfield, he may be flexed out. I could go through that list of tight ends and fullbacks that we would list on our depth chart. They have to be able to do all those things in Coach Mess’ (Courtney Messingham) system to be versatile. The more that those guys can do, the better off our offense will be.

On Kyle Ball’s preseason camp:

I was excited for Kyle because he missed so much football in the spring coming off of injury. He didn’t get an opportunity to participate. I told him I didn’t know a whole lot about him (as) a player, but I knew about him as a person. They don’t come much better than Kyle. He’s had a great camp, he’s healthy, he’s playing fast, he’s a really smart player, but he’s also very, very aggressive. He’s a very strong and excellent pass rusher, but he can play the run. He’s a complete defensive end. That’s what I like about Kyle. He can play all the downs.

On the safety position and youth/veteran mix with Wayne Jones and Denzel Goolsby:

Well, I think Wayne might know as much about football as anybody we have on defense. Wayne is somebody that jumped out to me right away in the spring. He’s a real cerebral guy that just gets the game. He’s one of those guys that’s a football junkie and understands it. I think it will help having Denzel ‚Äì who has played a bunch of football ‚Äì maybe to calm his nerves a little bit. But from the standpoint of understanding what we’re doing defensively, I think they’re all pretty equal coming in because none of them knew what our systems were about. Wayne has picked it up probably as well as anybody we’ve had on defense. He’ll be a leader for us back there. That’s something that, as a young player, you say sometimes, ‚ÄòBoy, I don’t want a young guy leading a back end.’ But this kid’s got that. Wayne has that ‚Äòit’ factor. The players know it too. You see that kid flying around making plays. I expect a really big season out of Wayne.

On Denzel Goolsby’s growth in the new defensive system:

He’s done really well. We played him at the strong safety where Wayne (Jones) has been playing for three-fourths of spring ball. But now we have him settled in at free safety, which is a more comfortable position for him and more of what he probably played last year. He’s done a really nice job. I’m really pleased with the growth that Denzel has made from spring to summer to fall. You can tell he’s put an awful lot of effort in and work on his own to learn the system, to watch film, to visit with Coach (Joe) Klanderman so that he feels really comfortable. I think Denzel is playing really fast right now. The other thing I’m learning about Denzel (is that) he’s healthy. He’s not always been that way. He’s really healthy right now, and when he’s healthy, he’s playing with a lot of confidence.

On freshman running back Joe Ervin:

He’s really wise beyond his years for a freshman. The game has slowed down for him. He’s still not a guy that we’re going to play 50 snaps back there. We have too much talent at the running back spot. He’ll have a spot. Where that is will still be determined because Mess (Courtney Messingham) and the guys are still kind of going through the plan. As far as understanding the blocking schemes and understanding the protections, I think he’s done a really good job. He’s got a great knack to have some vision in and out of breaks and in and out of the hole to be able to hit some things quickly, and he has really good hands out of the backfield. We’ll play an awful lot of running backs. We’ve talked about this at length before. Whether or not Joe plays a lot in the first game or a little in the first game is still to be determined, but I’m excited about his progress.

On if he will know the back-up quarterback spot in practice this week or until they play in a live game:

We’re not going to know. We think that both of them have some different skill sets. Both of them are doing things well enough that both of them deserve the opportunity to take equal reps. Out at practice, obviously Skylar (Thompson) takes the one reps, then we split up those two reps. Now, it’s great because of the double rep (system) that they get a ton of opportunities, but that will stay fluid. It will be a work in progress until they get an opportunity to compete.

On what this opportunity means now he has reached game week:

I’ll let you know Saturday at six o’clock. There are so many things you have to do as a head coach in a place that is unfamiliar to you as far as how we go about preparation, pregame warmups, things we’re doing at the hotel and stuff that I’m caught up in administratively that I want to get squared away with Hank (Jacobs). I’m excited. I’m thrilled, obviously, to be the head coach here and to run out of the tunnel. I can’t wait for that. I’m no different than the guys, but I can’t worry about Saturday. I have to worry about today and making sure we have a great practice, making sure that our guys are on point with our red zone period today and our third down period. I think that’s what keeps all of us humble and keeps all of us on edge. Let’s just handle Tuesday. Let’s attack Tuesday and stack Tuesday on top of Monday. Monday was a pretty good practice, which typically on the first day of school it’s tough to have a really good practice. I was really pleased with the guys with the effort and energy that came out Monday. Now let’s go attack Tuesday and we’ll keep working through that week.

On if he wants to team entrance to be a spectacle like he had it at North Dakota State:

I hope so. I hope the guys are excited about it. Once again, this is a players’ game and they’ve had some input into what we’re doing, too. I think that’s important. It doesn’t matter how I perform or how the coaches perform ‚Äì we have our jobs to do on Saturday ‚Äì but it’s the players that have the biggest job and it’s the players’ game. I want those guys to have excitement and energy when they’re coming out. I know they will. We’ve talked about some things, but we’ll kind of let that unfold on Saturday.

On the attitude on defense and if he has a good tacking defense:

I love the attitude of our defense. Let’s be honest, it starts with Coach Haze (Scottie Hazelton) because he has an infectious energy that it’s the same whether it’s a Monday practice or a Friday practice. That’s why I was so excited to get Scottie here because that’s something I remember about Coach Haze that he’s excited about this game all the time. The kids see that, then they get the energy and excitement.

Tackling is something you’re always worried about the first game because we’re not hitting every day in practice. You can’t. We’re not tackling to the ground every day in practice. We’re simulating drills where we’re running through our correct leverage. If you run through your correct leverage, you’re going to be a really good tackling team. If you hesitate and you cut somebody off or don’t keep the cup in what we talk about in our tackling leverage, then you’re going to struggle. I’ve been pleased because we have so many good running backs. We brought eight running backs into camp and we filter them in and out, whether it’s been K-State versus K-State stuff or scout-team stuff. We have really good backs that challenge, especially in the secondary and linebackers who have the most difficult tackles. So, we’re planning on being a really good tackling team, but I know that that’s a work in progress just the way practices go anymore.

On if Chabastin Taylor is in the mix and wide receiver:

You bet. He’ll be a big part of the package and the game plan. It will all depend on what personnel groups we have, but I’ve been excited about what Chabastin has done. He’s had a really good camp and continues to gain confidence. He’s such a mismatch because of his size. Not only his height, but he’s a strong, physical guy. I’m excited because I think he’s going to have a really big year.

On if he has any game day rituals:

Not really. I try to get a workout in if I can. No, I don’t (have any rituals). I think the guys will learn. That’s why this week I want to ask the players what rituals do they have. I don’t want to bug with what they have. I want to keep the things they think are really important. The things I think are really important, we’re going to implement those things. That’s why it’s a collective effort between really the leadership council, the captains and myself. (We’re) trying to eliminate the anxiety and try to have fun. Shoot, we only get 12 of these opportunities every year. We better to tee it up and have a good time.

On how many freshmen he expects to play this week:

I would say that it will be small, probably, this week. Under six, probably, this week. I think Josh (Youngblood) is in there. I think Joe (Ervin) could be in there. Jax Dineen could be in there a little bit. Then there are some other guys that we’re still working in, but we haven’t had practice on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I want to see how close they are from a special teams standpoint.

On his expectations for the team on Saturday:

I expect the seniors that have played an awful lot of Big 12 football to really shine when the lights come on. I really do. I expect those same guys to handle the young guys that haven’t with great energy for those kids, to let them know that they belong on this stage and that they’re there to help them. This is a sport where you better rely on your brother next to you. I’ve been really pleased because I think we have a really close-knit group of guys and they’ve encouraged one another. There’s going to be some freshmen that are going to make a mistake or sophomores that haven’t played, and that’s football. They’re going to make mistakes. As coaches, we’re going to make mistakes. We just can’t make the big mistake, and we have to be sure that we can correct that mistake so that kid or coach doesn’t feel, ‚ÄòOh boy, I made that big error,’ because we have some guys that can make plays that are young players. They just need the opportunity. Then, confidence always breeds self-taught abilities that, ‚ÄòHey, I can do this.’ There are a lot of guys that feel that can. They just have to get on that stage, have success and say, ‚ÄòYeah, I belong at this level.’

On there being an expectation to win because of an FCS opponent:

Nobody can say that anymore. And I have to be honest with you, I don’t think that’s said anymore. I really don’t. Appalachian State started this thing a long time ago. They went and beat Michigan at their own game. I’ve been a part of a number of those things where when you’re in that locker room, and it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. This is mano e mano, me against the guy across from you. I don’t think that that’s said anymore. I talk to the guys about playing Nicholls. I talk to the guys about playing a quarterback that has been there going on his fourth year. I talk about playing a team that is used to winning, that has that pedigree of expecting to win. I don’t talk about we’re playing an FCS team. That just doesn’t get talked about. You talk about the task at hand and the opponent you have. There are too many good football players across the country to worry about divisions and level of play.

On if he has gained the sense of the personality of the captains:

We haven’t had many captains’ meetings yet. We’ve had all leadership council meetings. Now we’ll transition to captains’ meetings. I just see the way they interact with their peers and their teammates. It was all team voted on. Not coaches voted on it. We have the team vote and we take it from there. It was pretty evident that the guys in the room had a great amount of respect for the seven guys that we did name.

On if there is a vocal leader of the defense:

No, it’s a work in progress. It should be all of them. Eli (Elijah Sullivan) is going to be one we’re going to count on. It has to be Trey Dishon. It has to be Reggie (Walker). It has to be Wyatt (Hubert). It has to be Wayne (Jones). It has to be Walt (Walter Neil Jr.). It has to be AJ (Parker). I’m excited because we have a number of guys. It has to be Denzel (Goolsby). There are so many guys that it can be, but they have to feed off each other. Maybe it’s segmented a little bit too. Maybe somebody controls the DBs, linebackers and defensive line. We’ll find out who the alpha-guy is out there. But you’re right, Justin Hughes was that guy throughout spring ball. It was so late when he got injured that we’re still trying to identify.

On Jahron McPherson starting at nickelback:

I’ve been pleased with how well he’s really understood our system. It goes back to things we were even talking about with Wayne (Jones). Jahron really gets the game. (He) understands what we’re doing. Johnathan Durham is going to play as well there. I think both of them have had really good camps. I’m excited that we have depth at that position. Both are just really good football players. Both are going to play a lot of special teams for us. I wasn’t worried about who had played and who hadn’t play. He’s kind of risen to the top as far as being one of our best guys, so I’m excited to watch and see what he can do.

On what Phillip Brooks did to separate himself as the primary return man:

Consistency catching the football is one. He’s got a knack back there of just finding open space, whether it’s on punt or kickoff return. He just has a knack for being patient and finding the seams. Once he does get one, he hits it hard. He has a lot of confidence, too. That’s what you’re always looking for in a punt returner or a kick returner is somebody that wants the ball in their hands and is confident to say, ‚ÄòJust give me a crease.’ We’ve spent an awful lot of time on the return units this fall camp, and I’m excited to see what Phillip can do.