UAB Blazers College Football Pregame Quote, 09/23/2019

Going back to last week with Saturday’s game, I’m obviously really proud of the guys and their effort. There are so many different things that go into a performance like that. We talk about the guys that give us a look like the scout team guys and the preparation. We obviously were coming off an open date, so you never know exactly how that’s going to work out. I thought we had two good weeks. It was really good to get out on the field and show that. I thought we had a really good crowd for Saturday. It was just a really good day for football. It’s always good to see our guys come out and perform like you hope they will, then be able to get some of our younger guys in and work on our depth at the end of the game. It always helps spirits as we move forward. We always say every game is a championship game in conference play. We’re going on the road to face Western Kentucky. I have a lot of respect for Coach Helton and what kind of coach he is. I’ve known him a long time going back in my UAB days and really even before that. He would be out on the road recruiting when I was at Prattville. I really have a lot of respect for him and know that staff pretty well. I know they’re going to be ready. They’re coming off an open date, which is scary for us since they’re in the same boat we were a week ago. It’s extra preparation that they have to go against us, so I know they’ll do a good job with it.

On preparing for a new quarterback:

‚ÄúI think the good and the bad of that is you feel like you know whoever that is before. At least there are some good tendencies and things he may not do as well. Then they bring in another guy, so what do you do with that? Along with having an open date, there’s always that cat and mouse game of what they do for him and what fits him. What are the things that if something happened to the first guy they wouldn’t do for the new guy? We can go back and look at film from Arkansas and watch them a little bit, but it’s kind of hard when you don’t have a lot to go on. We really just have to go on what they’ve done up to this point.

On Tyler Johnston III:

‚ÄúI think we talked a lot about improvement from last year to this year. Being a winner and having the toughness, the deep ball, the running ability ‚Äì those were the things he had. Now we wanted to take the next steps as far as all those other throws he needed to make. We had such a good summer. The great thing about Tyler is his teammates like to play with him. All summer work is really them. The work he and the receivers did over the summer really is a testament to him as a leader. To see him take those steps to be the complete quarterback we’ve been looking for – he already had the intangibles, so to put that together with making all the throws we want him to make has really been fun to watch.

On recruiting quarterbacks:

‚ÄúI think you always have to start with ability. That’s the first thing we do when we turn on the film. Can this guy do X for us? We want a guy that can throw the ball, but we want to have an athlete that can run the zone reads and all the other things we’re looking for. We’re looking for this athletic thrower, and they come in a bunch of different shapes. Then it goes to that next step. How does he interact with his teammates? What kind of leader is he? He is the face of the offense and a lot of times, your whole program. We kind of say we go as the quarterback goes, so how does he handle criticism? How does he handle the spotlight? Is he a guy that you can count on? There’s a lot of pressure on that guy. I think looking at the intangibles and trusting the high school coaches that I once was is big. How is he? Has he been in big games? There are a million things that go into that, but I think you look at every ounce of that to see who the guy is.

On recruiting in the early stages of The Return:

‚ÄúI’ll tell you what was amazing about that time frame. We really had done some good recruiting. I think we’ve talked about getting non-local guys in 2014. We had some guys that really liked what was going on in Birmingham and where we were headed. That kind of reminds me of 2014 when I thought we didn’t have as good of a presence here because of our facilities, but we were doing some good things around it. We thought we had a really good recruiting class coming in.

On evaluating quarterbacks:

‚ÄúI think for us, it’s casting a wide net. It’s also about fit. Quarterback is such a different position because you’re really going to take one. I go back to Dylan Hopkins. Dylan had a lot of really good offers. There were a bunch of guys interested, and he wanted to be here. I think even before we had the turnaround, that’s the point about a fit. What are we doing offensively? How are we going to use you? How do we coach you? What is our history? What have we done before? I think that’s a big sell. Then it goes back to this relationship. I think that’s what recruiting is. It’s about relationships. I think obviously now with a new stadium on the way and our facilities changing like they have, we have all these other things too, but the relationship and what we do offensively is big. That’s where you go fit that guy, whether it’s Tyler or Bryson Lucero or any of those guys.

On the run game opening up:

‚ÄúThat was a thing we talked about when we talked about balance. They’re going to say you can’t do X by numbers, by alignments or whatever, and we have to be able to do the other. Then there are some times we have to be able to run the ball when they know it’s coming. I think that’s what we were able to do Saturday that was different. I think you saw a little difference in Spencer (Brown). I think you saw a little difference in our O-line. I think we did a better job of scheming it up. I always say about a team ‚Äì can we see improvement week to week? Can you improve on an open date or are you surviving? Do you think we have to rest or try to get better? That’s the big balancing act for coaches. Can you get the most out of them and still say healthy? I think we did that, and you saw us offensively have the combination of both, which is what we’re looking for.

On Spencer Brown:

‚ÄúJust early on, we needed him so much. Now, for us, it’s when we have him at his best. It’s that one component that they can’t just say, ‚ÄòWe’re going to stop the passing game.’ That’s beside the fact of pass protection and all the other things he brings to the table. Him at his best is pretty good. He wants more. Coach Brigham, our running backs coach, wants more. That looked like him Saturday. It’s fun to have him back.

On field position:

‚ÄúIt’s hard to prepare for, but it is one of those things as the games go on. We could go out and pull the statistics that show how much harder it is to score for the opponent and how much better it is for us, defensively, when they have to work an extra 10 yards. That’s just one more first down they have to go make. As the old saying goes, ‚ÄòThe hidden yardage is what wins games for us.’ That’s why having (Nick) Vogel really helps. He just makes it so much easier. We were bragging on the kickoff team this morning. They cover every one of them like it’s not going to be a touchback. The punt team and the defense – all of those things lead to them having worse starting field position and us having better. That has made a big difference for us.

On replacing defensive players from last season:

“From the first game to the second, we had big improvements. You saw another step Saturday. It is a weekly thing. Here we go again. We are talking about Spencer looking like himself. That, defensively, is what we want to look like. We want to run to the football and be aggressive and physical. All those things are starting to characterize what UAB defense looks like. I have been excited to watch them improve, and hopefully we can keep it going.

On the play of Jordan Smith:

‚ÄúCoach Gentry really does a good job with those outside linebackers. They’re really aggressive. We are attack first, read second. Some people are read first, attack second. We kind of go the other way, which lends itself to us rushing the passer and getting big plays. I was just talking to Jordan about God-given ability. For him, it’s taking that and discipline and seeing him do it. It’s starting to show up. You can do your job in the framework of our defense and still make big plays. He’s starting to come on. He is very talented and wants to get better.