Kansas State Wildcats College Football Pregame Quote, 09/03/2019

Good afternoon everybody. We’re excited about the win on Saturday. Going back and looking at the film a couple things, I thought the guys played really hard, we played really fast, played with great emotion. Some technique errors and alignment errors we talked about amongst the staff, amongst the players yesterday that we have to get cleaned up. Some of those things were first-game stuff, and some of them were just playing fast but without great technique at times and alignments and stuff. Those are going to happen in the first game. We’ve got to get those cleaned up moving forward. We are excited about having another home game, it was a great crowd, and electric crowd. I know the guys appreciated the fanbase coming out. We got a Bowling Green team that’s coming off a big win and playing with some confidence. So, we got to have a great game plan throughout the week and be ready for Saturday.

On the message to the team to repeat the performance this week:

One thing that I am a big believer in is whatever you did last Saturday has no bearing on the next Saturday, positive or negative. You are judged each week when you go out there on Saturdays, but in essence you need to win each day. You need to be able to prepare Monday through Friday to have a chance to be successful on Saturday. That’s kind of what we talked about with the guys. Our preparation, I thought, was really good against Nicholls. There is a reason why we had success on Saturday because we were prepared. We prepared for two weeks for Nicholls. Now we will only have five days for Bowling Green, but if we have that same kind of mindset within our preparation on a daily basis, we have a chance to be successful on Saturday.

On what he saw from the defense in the opener:

Some alignment errors we had on defense. We missed a couple of fits in a couple of gaps, missed a few tackles that we need to be able to clean up. Talking with the defense, I thought we had a few too many explosive plays that you want to try to eliminate. We didn’t have many snaps, so it is easy to find errors in those snaps. Obviously, for us, we need to play more snaps. You don’t want to play more, but we need to play more to have better evaluation on some guys. I just know that there was a lot of technique errors that Coach Haze (Scottie Hazelton) and the defensive staff talked about.

On individuals standing out in last week’s contest after watching film:

I was really pleased with (Josh) Rivas coming in and playing a number of snaps in a backup role, but he played enough. He played as many as probably some of the others. I thought Rivas did a really nice job playing really physical. So I was impressed with him. On the defensive, I thought Jordan Mittie did a really nice job. He did some good things. Jonathan Alexander made a really big play. We know he has big-play ability and was able to make a big play. So, those things stood out to me a little bit. Lance Robinson was really good on kickoff. He had three tackles and did everything technique wise we asked him to do and made some plays.

On Malik Knowles’ drops and attributing those to first-game nervousness:

Yeah, probably. He made some really tough catches, then a couple balls that I would say Malik would say himself that he needs to come down with. Obviously, we’ll continue to go to him because he’s a special player.

On Nicholls being able to execute a couple big plays:

More than anything a misfit. We were out of a gap. Maybe they motioned one time. On their touchdown run they motioned and we didn’t align correctly and they were able to crease one. Maybe one time late in the game they had a long run and we just got misaligned again. It is the little things that we keep harping on and talking about which will hurt you in a critical game when the score is a lot closer. So, those are things we just have to continue to work on and continue to clean up because we cannot get beat with our own mistakes of alignment errors. If someone makes a great play, they make a great play, but we can’t give them free yards.

On K-State’s offensive line:

I thought we played really well up front, you rush for as many yards as we did and protect the quarterback like we did. A number of guys played, which was another thing we were pleased with was to get as many guys in the game that we could because we needed experience behind the starters that we have. I thought that they played at a really high level, played with great energy, and they did a really good job of communicating.

On the difficulty of preparing for Bowling Green and their new staff:

It is difficult to prepare for those guys because we’re watching, obviously, their one game and watching other games from different staff where the coordinators were. In a blowout win like they had, it’s kind of difficult to say, ‚ÄòWell, this is what they do.’ There is some carryover from what we’ve seen from the coordinators at their other schools. It’ll be a work in progress. We’re watching film of past years, not just the last game.

On what Bowling Green does well:

Run the ball, try to outnumber you at the point of attack with a lot of things we would do offensively – a lot of motions and alignments. They do a good job with their receivers and tight ends blocking as well to try to just create mismatches and force your corners to be run players by cracking your safeties. There are so many multitudes of formations and running some similar plays, but doing it out of a lot of different formations. Whether it is a shift or a motion, trying to change your eyes. Our eyes on defense have to be right this week. We can’t look at some of the eye candy that is motion and cross in front of us. We have to focus on our keys.

On running back Tyler Burns:

I don’t know everything that transpired with Tyler. I know that he wanted to visit with me in the spring about having an opportunity. I told him that’s what he would get is an opportunity to come back to the football team. I didn’t promise him playing time, I didn’t promise him an opportunity to get aid or anything. We just invited him to come back. I think he’s got a lot of close friends on the team. I thought he did a nice job in the spring. He was nicked up a little bit in the spring, and then in the fall he continued to progress. Where Tyler has made a difference for me is on special teams, more so than running back. We put him on a number of special teams, and he really showed the ability and, more than that, want to be a part of them. Sometimes that’s hard for guys that just, ‚ÄòYou know, I just want to be the running back. I just want the carries.’ Well, he just wanted to know how he could help the team, and that’s through special teams. I know he played a number of snaps on special teams and had an opportunity to play some tailback late in the game. So, I was just pleased with his whole body of work throughout the summer and the month of August. We’re excited to have him back.

On what wide receiver Landry Weber did to earn a scholarship:

Competitiveness, I love watching him compete on a daily basis. It doesn’t matter if it is a Monday in April or a Tuesday in August, the kid comes to work every day. He doesn’t have bad days. He stacks good days on top of good days, and he is always a guy you recognize. He is a phenomenal special teams player that takes a lot of pride. (He is) a guy who worked hard this summer to refine some of his route running. He caught a ton of balls and had a couple big catches for us on Saturday. (He is) a guy that we feel is somebody that we can rely on, no matter if its first down, third down or special teams. When you can have that kind of contribution, you are going to deserve a scholarship.

On the importance of recruiting Wichita and the state of Kansas:

It’s really important. We need to win across the whole state of Kansas. People need to understand that takes time, too. You do not just come in here and all of a sudden have great relationships. We are fortunate that Taylor Braet is around that has all of relationships, but all of the new guys, with the exception of Collin (Klein), are building relationships. That’s recruiting in itself. You’re not just, ‚ÄòHey, because we’re at Kansas State, we’re new, you’re going to come here from the state of Kansas.’ We have to build relationships, we have to invite them in, we have to treat them great when they’re here, so that when guys go back and say, You know what? That staff is pretty good. They take care of you, they challenge you.’ That’s something that doesn’t happen overnight, but it is something we’re striving to do so we can win in the state.

On Denzel Goolsby and Skylar Thompson and what they mean as captains:

They care so much about their teammates. They care so much about Kansas State football. They’ve been a part of this journey for an awful long time together. They are really close, and I know that guys look up to those two guys for what they do on the field and, more importantly, what they do off the field. They conduct themselves the right way, being servant leaders, making everyone around them better. Those are two guys that I was excited when the vote came out that they those two guys were captains because they are two guys I really look up to. They are two guys that I can bounce a lot of things off them because I trust those two guys and know that they’re going to give me not what I want to hear, but what I need to hear.

On Jonathan Alexander’s focus and perseverance:

When he’s focused, he is a really good player, but he’s also, for us, young into our program and young into Kansas State. Yet, he’s still making some mistakes and some of that can be focus. It is something that we’re harping on, but I think it is great when Jonathan is around the Denzel Goolsbys and the AJ Parkers and the guys that have been around here that have played a lot of snaps for us because Jonathan is an impact guy. He is learning our defense. He’s learning the way we do things around here. We saw it all spring, too, as far as the big-play capabilities, whether it was an interception or a strip. He got his hands on balls because he has so much length. I am excited because the longer he’s with us, the longer he’s practicing, the more he understands things, the better he is going to be. I know one thing, Jonathan has a lot of pride and he wants to be great. We’re going to continue to challenge him, because for us to be successful, he has to be a playmaker.

On quarterback John Holcombe’s production against Nicholls:

He did a really nice job. We had a set of plays that we wanted to try to run with him to accentuate his skill set. I thought he ran really hard. I thought he ran really determined. It’s something that down the line may become a part of package for that we can utilize him in certain situations, red zone, third down, goal line, whatever it may be. Time will tell, but I was really pleased that, when he got in there, he didn’t care when he got it he was like, ‚ÄòOK, I have an opportunity. I have to make the most of it.’ That’s one thing that we did talk about with the team – I don’t care when your opportunity is, if it’s because of an injury, because of us being up late or because you’re the starter, when your opportunity comes, you have to make the most of it, and you have to be productive. That’s the one thing John was, is productive.

On Jax Dineen and Josh Youngblood playing as true freshmen:

Jax became a part of the mix when (Adam) Harter got hurt. We didn’t know if we were going to play Jax or not. Then when we lost Adam, we were short a little bit at fullback and we pressed him into some time to see how he would respond. He’s a guy that I think has a chance to be really good. He just has to fine tune-some techniques and some fundamentals, focus and all those things, but he has loads of ability. He’s a really good athlete, moves his feet really well, really productive with the ball in his hands. But, he also has to be a dominant blocker and has to know who he’s blocking and have the right technique. So, I’m excited because I think Jax has his best football in front of him. He’ll be a guy that will play more than the four (game) and will probably play most of the year. Youngblood is continuing to learn what we’re doing offensively. He has tremendous speed, tremendous athleticism. We’re just trying to design some things to make it a maybe a little bit simpler on him because he doesn’t have the experience that Malik (Knowles) does and Wykeen (Gill) does and Dalton (Schoen) does or Landry (Weber) where he can play multiple positions. But, we also know at that position, you need to have more than five guys, four guys, throughout a whole season. We thought Josh’s body of work was good enough throughout the month of August that we know his best football is in front of him. So, even though he didn’t catch any balls, we thought he had some productive plays out there. We’ll continue to push the envelope with him as far as giving him more of the playbook.

On the inside access and the importance of social media:

We have a great fan base. To give people that really want to be a part of these guys’ story, these guys’ journey. In the right setting, I think it’s a great thing for our fans and people to be a part of the journey that these guys are going on is pretty cool.

On communication among the K-State staff during the game:

I thought our communication was pretty good. At halftime, there was pretty simple adjustments. There weren’t many adjustments on defensive simply because we hadn’t played very many snaps. Offensively, we were talking about a number of things, but I liked the communication. Scottie (Hazelton) and Mess (Courtney Messingham) are real veteran guys that can take over, accept input, calculate the input and decide what they are going to use. Those two guys were exceptional as far as the play calling as well as just listening to the input that guys were having between series. Obviously it was a first game, there’s some kinks we need to get ironed out. I think, operationally, offensively, we need to be faster calling plays. We need to be faster in and out of the huddle. I kind of anticipated that a little bit. They weren’t going fast, Nicholls wasn’t, so it’s not like we weren’t getting calls in. Those are things you’re concerned about, but we didn’t have those issues. It’s going to still be a work in progress each week. I know that they, probably, are talking about more things that they need to improve upon than even I am giving you just with their own conversations amongst each other.

On the health of linebacker Cody Fletcher defensive back Johnathan Durham:

We’re hoping that Cody gets to practice late this week. That’s the plan for him. Now, whether that makes him available I am not sure. JD is probable for this week. There’s a chance he could play. If not, it’s not long term for him for sure.

On his overall sense on how the special teams played against Nicholls:

I thought our kickoff team was really good. We made some plays, Lance (Robinson) in particular, made some really good plays. So, that was encouraging. Our kick return, I know that we were a little disappointed because I thought we had some creases and we didn’t quite return them as far as we would like. I think we missed a couple assignments that we need to clean up. The punt, we didn’t have one, so that was encouraging. Tell Mess (Courtney Messingham) we would like to keep that going if we could. Then, punt return we were fine. We need to catch the ball. We talked about that. We misjudged a couple, but I’m confident with Phillip (Brooks) because once he gets the ball in his hands, as you guys saw out there, whether it was punt or catching the ball or on a jet sweep, the kid is pretty electric. So, he’ll learn from that.

On changing formations and personnel frequently on the first drive:

That’s kind of what we do. That’s just what we do. It’s like a hockey line change with Coach Mess (Courtney Messingham). Trust me, on defense, that’s difficult because you are trying to decide who’s coming in and coming out. There’s certain plays that he wants to get in or different personnels, and I think that makes it challenging on a defense when you are not saying, ‚ÄòI’m just defending one thing or one group of people.’ Also, we want to get more guys in. I’ve seen him do this now for a few years and that is kind of what we’ve done.

On his own role on game day:

Overseeing both sides but I am not getting into the play calling. I’ll make suggestions or ask, ‚ÄòHey, we missed the back on this blitz,’ or, ‚ÄòWe didn’t pick up this one. Make sure we get that covered.’ Things that we see that if I want to make sure that if I see it out of a naked eye. I asked Coach Haze (Scottie Hazelton) one time, ‚ÄòWe blitzed, we lost contain. Let’s make sure we address that.’ (He said), ‚ÄòYep, we have that written down.’ If it is something with Mess (Courtney Messingham) personnel grouping, ‚ÄòI thought we’re trying to get this guy in the game,’ and (he said), ‚ÄòYeah, we did, but he was getting something fixed. We’re trying to get him in the next series.’ I’m not big into the game plan to say, ‚ÄòHey, here is what we need to do now.’ It was a game that was out of reach, I thought, too. So, each week will be a little bit different. When we’re on offense, I’m quiet. When we’re on defense, I’m quiet. When we flip over, then I’ll flip over and get a chance to talk to them while the other group is out there.

On who coaches the safeties on the field with Joe Klanderman in the booth:

Van (Malone) still does lead with those guys. I may grab somebody when they come off the and visit with them a little bit, but Van will do that.