Jax State Gamecocks College Football Pregame Quote, 08/22/2023

Finally, it’s game week. It is exciting to be part of week zero. The first games in college football, our first venture into full time FBS Division I and I think I’m sure our players are very excited about it. We had a good camp. They’ve worked really hard and I think we’ve gotten better. Obviously, you have more questions as a coach in your first game every year than any game because you’re playing a bunch of new guys and you’re not exactly sure what you have, but I like the way our guys work and I love the way our staff has come together. It’s going to be a nice warm day in Jacksonville, Alabama at 4:30 on Saturday afternoon. I hope we have a great crowd and it should be fun.

On having QB Zion Webb back this season:

It’s the first time he’s had a true whole offseason healthy in the summer and even last year when he played, you know, he had a couple of games where he wasn’t feeling well and was in and out. He has had a good camp, and obviously a veteran. He’s been aroun2d a little bit and, and this is his second year in the system. He is a lot more comfortable than he was a year ago and he’s done a great job of leadership as well and we’ve got good competition. I mean, Logan (Smothers) has come in here and provide good competition for Zion and we feel confident to play Logan and Te’Sean Smoot continues to get better. We get more and more confident with him, so we feel pretty good there. But Zion has shown that he understands what we want to do.

On kicker Alen Karajic:

I thought he had had a great year last year and was very consistent. He is right where he left off. He’s got a strong leg, he works hard at his craft and we’re pretty confident with him. Without wind conditions or weather conditions, he could probably hit from 50 yards and end and even maybe a little bit deeper than that. He has been pretty solid along with our specialist. They all work hard and as you would expect they would, they kind of take a lot of pride in their craft. We feel good with our kicking or punting situation.

On playing in a historic season opener:

I think there’s pressure no matter what level you’re at or what the circumstances are because that’s the biggest thing, particularly about college athletics. A lot of times you’re judged on wins and losses, even though it’s more than that. Are we are going to be one of the first teams to ever transition from Division I AA to Division I and make a bowl team because I don’t know if anybody has done it in the last 20 years. I don’t know, but that’s the goal and I don’t know if we’re big enough, deep enough, fast enough to win a conference title or to be that good out of the gates. We’re not going to forfeit anything and we’re going to try as hard as we can and the first game is a good measuring stick, but it’s not the only measuring stick. We have a lot of games, a lot of challenging games. I think we have seven or eight teams that went to bowl games on the schedule, so there’s going to be a lot of measuring sticks. The first one for us is always a big one every year because like I said earlier, you’re not really sure where you’re at until you play somebody. I told our guys and our coaches know this, they’re (UTEP) one of the best teams in conference. They had the No. 1 defense in the league last year and got most of those guys back. They’ve got a lot of veteran players, probably the most veteran team in our league. Tthey were picked as one of them to win it and we were picked way down the bottom and I certainly understand that. We put pressure on ourselves as coaches and players to just perform to our best and that’s what we want to do and take it from there.

His experience in working in the television industry:

I worked with them (CBS Sports Network) for a year way back when, so I know a lot of folks there and actually know some of the guys that are calling the game and that’s going to be fun to see them. It’s on a national network, not just on a streaming network. When you’re on a regular cable network and someone like CBS Sports, it is going to be a lot of fun. Our guys will see there’ll be a whole bunch of cameras, there will be a whole bunch of trucks with equipment So you can, you kind of sense it is a big deal. It’s new for Jax State. We may have had one or two here for a playoff game or something that’s been on national TV, but to have as many as we’re having this year and to have it to the scope that we’re having is a first for the school. I think it’s, it’s not only going be a boom for us, athletically and football wise, but also I think for our university. We want play well, of course. But I also want to show how, how Jacksonville State is important.

On UTEP:

Well, they’re a very big physical team up front and defensively they are extremely well coached. I know their coaches, they don’t make mistakes and they tackle really well. I suspect that with their size up front on offense that they’ll probably try to control the clock. The quarterback can throw the ball, they’ll take some shots deep shots. They have one of the best receivers in the league, so we have to be aware where he’s at, so they’ll probably try to control the game, take some deep shots on us and then defensively they’ll pressure on certain downs and do a good job of disguising it, but they’re big and strong enough up front.