Ole Miss Rebels College Football Pregame Quote, 08/29/2022

We’re into game week. Obviously, as you guys know, one day at a time. We walked through today. A lot of times Monday are shorter practices, but we’ve grinded them pretty hard and wanted to have them have two physical days off in a row after the mock game to make sure we’re getting their legs back before we go our normal Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday routine.

On Saturday’s mock game:

In the mock game, in general I don’t think we played great. As much as we try to create a gameday atmosphere and routine and get players to play really hard, sometimes this happens without a crowd. I did not think we played great in all three phases by any means. Actually, the other team played harder. So we showed them that today. That’s why you’ve got to show up every game no matter who you’re playing. That was our service team, and the game was a lot closer than it should’ve been.

On the quarterbacks:

We still have not made a quarterback decision. I thought they both played ok. I would’ve thought, again, we would’ve performed better in that situation against the other team. So we’ll keep plugging away. I do not know when I’ll have that answer. We haven’t even discussed the timeline as coaches because it has not emerged at all.

On the program beginning his third year:

Sometimes you reflect on things, going on your third year and the first year being strange for everybody with COVID ‚Äî we couldn’t really recruit, the town was kind of shut down. Won the Outback Bowl, then last year to win all the home games and have success and go to the Sugar Bowl was really cool. Now it’s a new year. As I thought about that, I kind of thought, maybe if you look at my background where I’ve been, this statement may surprise you, probably would have surprised me if I said it a long time ago. I look at it as, you go around town, there’s so much excitement around the program, season ticket sales and everything ‚Äî but I feel like I needed Oxford and Ole Miss a lot more than it needed me. I enjoy it here. It’s been awesome. It’s been really cool. Now we’ve got to take off from last year and rebuild like we have and go perform on gamedays and keep our home winning streak alive. I don’t know the stats, but it’s got to be one of the longer ones around.

On if both QBs will play Saturday:

I would certainly think we’d go with one or the other, but I don’t know that for sure. Again, we don’t really do things that are set in stone no matter what ‚Äî we’re always looking at whatever’s the best for the team.

On Oxford:

I just think maybe that statement might not surprise people. Just when I thought of it the other day, I don’t know I would’ve said that in the beginning. Just living in the different cities I’ve lived in. As you guys know, here with Landry moving here and Juice and everything, just how people are here. It’s been really awesome for me. It’s been part of a lot of changes that have taken place personally. It just didn’t happen in these two years by chance, I think a lot of it had to do with coming here.

On preparing for a new coaching staff at Troy:

That’s difficult, because you have to watch film from other teams, and that’s always a problem in the opener when it’s a staff from somewhere else. You’re watching the film for scheme, then you get lost in the players, and you’re not even playing these players, it’s some other school. That’s always challenging. I remind our coaches, in games like this, it’s more about making sure we preform really well and do things we’re really good at. So regardless of what they do, because we don’t exactly know what they’ll do, our guys know what to do and aren’t surprised.

On his confidence in this team:

We just kind of went through, the first year being COVID, no spring. We really hardly had any idea. Second year, I’m a lot more confident with a lot of guys returning, especially the quarterback. Knew the defense was going to be improved. This one is a wild card because you just have so many new players. We go out to Friday, and it’s their first Friday with us. We go out Saturday, and all of a sudden, some guy wants to wear a different color shoelaces because that’s what he did at another school. Well we don’t do that. We have ways we do things here. It’s a constant coaching every day of these guys because everything’s new. This is their first real Monday with us, so tomorrow will be their first real Tuesday, and Saturday will be their first game. I don’t know that confidence is the right word, because there are so many wild cards, especially on defense.

On getting all the new players to mesh together:

I think it was really good. I thought they bought in. They did a good job when it came to meetings. Understand how we do things. It’s just everything is new because they haven’t gone through a game week. I think where I was feeling better, it’s just a reminder. You go out to warmups and guys don’t even know where to go to warmups. Obviously we told them before, but until Saturday morning, they don’t even know how we warm up for a game. It’s very unusual because normally in these things, you just have your high school kids coming in for the most part, and they don’t play significant roles, 90 percent of them usually. They just kind of look and follow. Now we have guys starting who everything is a first for them.

On the Troy defense:

The unknown of exactly what scheme they’re doing. These guys forever have had really good players. A lot of Alabama kids. (Vestavia Hills, Alabama native) Jonathan Hess liked that today when I told the team that this morning. ‘Hey Alabama kids are tough, you’re going to see a lot of them.’ So Hess got excited even though he’s not playing. He said he appreciated that. What was it, three years ago or whenever they beat LSU. These guys always have really good players who play physical and have good length. They’re always one of those teams you’re not really excited about scheduling.

On players ruled out due to injury:

Kyndrich Breedlove would definitely be out for a while. You would already know Jakivuan Brown and Jaden Dicks and Rayf Vinson.

On fall camp injuries:

Today was a walkthrough, we will know more tomorrow. We anticipate the guys who have been hurt a little bit in camp all being able to play Saturday.

On replacing Sam Williams, Mark Robinson and Chance Campbell on defense:

Those guys were great players. You look at our scores, and at the end of the year, we played really good defense and won a number of games because of our defense at the end. We were not playing like we normally play on offense. A lot had to do with the receiver injuries. That does not surprise me (that they’re finding success in the NFL). People probably point more to the offensive guys you lose, just because it’s a quarterback, those are really good defensive players. You watch Mark Robinson miss a half of the bowl game, then how he played in there. There’s a reason he got drafted from a walk-on running back just two years ago. Chance obviously was a special player all around, and Sam’s really like our poster child, we preach to these guys about maturity and how to practice and how to play ‚Äî compared to how he was initially and how kids can change.

On a normal season opener after going through COVID years:

I actually forgot I wasn’t at the opener (in 2021) until you just said that. I have not thought about that. We just didn’t play really well Saturday, and it was very concerning. That has all our attention right now.

On the crowd at the season opener:

I don’t know the numbers. Just trying to get us to line up and score points and stop them. It’d be awesome to have a great crowd and continue our home winning streak. It’s always special to win at home. The Walk of Champions is awesome. It’s one of the coolest traditions in college football. Look forward to that too. I think I told our new coaches, this will be pretty cool for you.

On Troy:

They’ve got really good players. They have a new staff different people on it from different places. It’s not like the whole staff came from somewhere and you can just watch that place. It’s very challenging. At times last year, they played really competitive. Like I said, they have always had good players.

On the issues from Saturday’s scrimmage:

I think it was‚Äîwhich happens in this mock game unfortunately ‚Äî some years you’ve got players who have played a bunch, especially these guys coming from other places. No matter what we say, no matter what we create, they still know it’s not a real game, and it shows up. They screw up plays in the openers and basic things on defense and special teams and don’t play with great effort. That part was frustrating.