September 9, 2025 • 20 mins
Head Coach Jim Mora meets the media every Tuesday, as he look back at the loss to Syracuse, previews Delaware and highlights some of the better individual efforts of the season so far
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
See you guys going in and out. Good morning. All right,
Well we've had I've had about sixty four hours. We've
had four meetings to walk through in a practice, to
learn the lessons in a really tough loss Saturday, and
now we're in the process applying those lessons and moving forward.
(00:23):
We're playing a good Delaware team. I mean they are tough,
they are physical, they are disciplined, they play with great effort.
They're stout, They've had a lot of success, they know
how to win. They're at home coming off of a
difficult loss on the road at Colorado, which when you
watch the film, the score is not indicative of the
(00:43):
way they played the game. They play an unorthodox type
of defense, they understand it, they play it well. I
think that their offense runs operates well with either quarterback,
but they do a nice job with misdirections stuff. They
do a nice job of involving the quarterback and in
the run game and the past game. I think that
(01:05):
their left tackle is an outstanding player. They've got a
really good running back, and so you know, going on
the road imposes on us a pretty pretty significant challenge.
But our guys have responded well, and like I said,
you know, it's been two and a half days. We've
had four meetings, walked through in a practice, and I
think that, uh, you know, they're focused on on how
(01:26):
we get better and improve as a football team every day.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
And just talk about played the day.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Malachi is doing well, ty Reese, Uh played well. He's
like everyone. We all have to, you know, focus on
getting better every single day, improving on the little things
that that that hurt us in the game. But he
brings a level of physicality to our defense in the
secondary that thinks really important, you know. I mean, there's
no fear in him. He flies in there. You know,
(02:01):
he sacrifices his body. He plays the game the way
you're supposed to play it. On defense. It's impressive to
watch the game.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
You seem to be in the right place.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Yeah, but you have to be in the right place
all the time if you wanna have success against good
football teams.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Haven't been on the other side of it.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Evaluated and a guy makes the kind of catch, not on.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
How much does that versus look at it? Calm when
you look at something like that, says fast as you you.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Know, I think you have to look at it. He's
got a winner's mentality, and he is a dom I'm
gonna tell you something that's one of the most impressive
things that none of us ever noticed because he's a
wide receiver, is Skyler Bell's willingness to block. Like he's
a very good and willing blocker. And if you go
back to the first play of our season, he went
(03:11):
and put his body on somebody hard, you know, And
so that along with his ability to make the clutch
catches in the key moments. I mean, that was a
one headed catch on fourth and ten. You know, that
says a lot just about his competitive makeup, about who
he is, how important it is for him to be
an all round good player, you know, the blocking and
the clutch plays. So and he doesn't have bad measurables.
(03:33):
I mean, he's one hundred and ninety eight pounds, I
believe right now he's done a really good job of
you know, increasing his body mass, and he hasn't lost
speed as we saw, you know when he broke it
down the sideline against CCSU. But I mean, you want
your team to be filled with guys that are like
Skyler Bell, you know, that have that makeup, that mental makeup,
and that competitive makeup.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
You mentioned the response, you know, I mean the guys
the last couple of years where you've been able to
respond to that.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Yeah, there's a confidence, you know, and we've got good
players and they take it very seriously. And I thought,
you know, from what I've seen, Uh, they it was
a very difficult loss, and it lingered and then they
flushed it. They didn't flush it without you know, like
I said, learning the lessons and then working to applying,
(04:28):
because that's the only way that you get better. And
you got to you got to spend all week. You
can't just say I got it, uh good enough. I
mean you got to just really dive into the details
every single day. And that's that's the message that you
have to give your football team is you know, I
I I. You got to keep applying those lessons and
we got to build consistency. We've got to make sure
(04:50):
that in pressure moments that we are consistent in doing
our job, all of us. You know, I'm not just
talking about the players, all of us. And that's how
you become a good football team. Consistency you stack routine
plays on top of each other.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
Is a lesson when after fun, right, So what have
you learned about the team or two weeks that you
feel like you continue to grow and.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Apply, or.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Well, you learned a lot of things. I'll tell you
what I'm impressed by is the fact that in two
games now, uh, in situations where we had to kind
of respond to a negative situation, you know, early versus
CCU and late vers Syracuses last week, is that we
were able to hold our composure offensively and move the
(05:37):
ball and score points and respond. And you know, that
to me is a sign of maturity and confidence and
guys believing in each other and trusting what we're doing.
You know, it's it's you know, the the atmosphere on
a sideline is so different than it is even in
row one, you know, or up in the stands or
up in the press box or on TV. The intensity
(05:59):
of those moments is in credible and it's easy for
immature or younger players that haven't been in those environments
to kind of implode. And you know, there was some
implosion by certain members of our of our program last week.
But I'm proud of the way our players have been
able to maintain their composure and focus and go out
(06:19):
and make plays well. I personally, and I think our team,
we have a ton of confidence. And Zach, I think
he's a very very good snapper, and he understands how
(06:40):
serious those mistakes have and what they've have been and
what they've cost us, and he takes it very seriously
and he works very hard at it. You know, it's
just being consistent in his approach every day and the
routine going out on the field every day. You know,
I think it's kicker and snappers and punters said this before.
(07:03):
They're much like golfers. You know, you only get so
many swings in a tournament or snaps in a game,
and every single one is so important. It's different than
playing other positions where you might get sixty snaps, and
if you have a couple of bad snaps, you know
you can make up for it. So it takes a
really mentally strong, mentally tough person to do those things.
(07:26):
And I believe that Zach is very mentally strong, and
he's a mentally tough kid. And I think that he
will be really good going forward because he owns it.
You know, he doesn't rationalize it. He owns it, and
that's how you get better. I thought we were much
more physical and aggressive, and we flew to the football
the way that I think people that watched this last
(07:47):
year were used to seeing. Now that has to be
a sixty minute thing. You know, it can't be hit
and miss, it can't be here and there, and so
it was much much better. But there's a lot of
room for improvement.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
What does that say about what they're trying to do
that they can make that impression so quickly in their
first year, you know, playing FBS.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
You know how they can? For well, they've always been
a outstanding FCS school and they've always had you know, success,
They've alway, They've got continuity amongst their staff. They've always
had tough, physically tough physical, tough minded players you know
that play with with effort and discipline. And when you
(08:33):
have that, you have a chance to compete against people,
you know, and to beat people. So uh, I think that, Uh,
it's it's I don't like, I don't know what their
commitment is financially or I don't know anything about them.
All I know is when I watch them on film.
You know, there's no way I know those things. I'm
not saying I don't know anything about it. I know
a lot about them as a football team, but you
(08:54):
just are impressed. You're just like, Okay, that's a damn
good football team. I don't care that they just came
up from cus level. It doesn't matter. They're a really
good football team and that's what you would expect out
of them, you know, just tough, hard, nos, gritty, freaking
work hard kids, and I respect the hell out of that.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
You're as many people as you did defensively, botly growing pages.
It's the last thing become.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
The consistency is that, Yeah, the down to down consistency,
the ability in a really high pressure environment and a
critical moment to perform the way you've played up to that,
perform the way you've performed up to that moment, and
not let the.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Moment get too big for you, you know. And uh,
you know, there's a lot of guys on that defense
that came here to be the guy you know that
maybe weren't the guy at the last place that they were,
or they've leveled up from a lower level, and you'd
like to think just because they've been in college football
that they've been in those moments, but they haven't. Necessarily, Now,
(10:00):
we can't allow them to have excuses. We can't make
excuses for ourselves or at any point, and we just
have to get better at that. You know, we talked
about that. Uh, we talked about it constantly actually, and
that's one of the reasons we practice the way we
practice to try to create the maximum amount of pressure
we can't in practice, so that at least it's close
to what it's going to be like in a game,
(10:21):
and they react properly.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Like they so maybe they don't reacts individuals.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Maybe sometimes it's it's you can't really like put it
on one thing. You can use the word consistency and
be absolutely accurate, absolutely accurate, but it's like, what is
the inconsistent moment, Like it's hard for me to put
my finger on one thing, you know, it's it's multiple things.
But yes, it is a lack of consistency. I wouldn't
(10:56):
say that it has anything to do with not playing
with the man next to them at this point. Okay,
So it's just a focus it really it And I
said it after the game, and I'd say it after
any game. Is it's being able to line up play
after play after play after play after play after play
and have the discipline mentally to do your job no
(11:19):
matter what the situation is. You know, you're one of eleven,
Just do your job. And Matt talks about it all
the time. Is you know, being a good defense is
stacking the routine plays over and over and over again.
Just stacking up the routine plays and then when the
time comes to make an extraordinary play, being in position
to make it because you're doing what you're supposed to do.
(11:41):
And listen, that is every team, every player, every coach,
every sport. You know, every coach would tell you that.
And so I don't know what the magic formula is
other than to emphasize it and work at it. And
our guys do that. And they they they don't resist
when you tell them that. They know, they know you know,
they're trying. They're they're trying, they're trying. So I mean,
(12:04):
you guys, if you've had kids, you know, it's just
you know, the mind goes. You gotta pullem pull them
back in. So the a couple stops short in that
game is that it.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Defense is confusing for especially is that the guys, you know,
getting more familiar with it than being.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Able to the way that they're I it can be
a confusing defense to prepare for, you know, when you
only have three or four days to prepare for it
and you haven't seen things like this and the movement
and the disruption we try to cause up front, and
it's not it's not a defense that you know, guys
coming here have necessarily played in, you know. So there's
some different things that they're doing that they maybe haven't
(12:52):
done in the past. And the more that they do them,
then the more consistent they can become doing them, the
more violently they can do 'em. And you know when
I defense is a game of aggression, right, and physicality
and uh and and a violent effort. And when you're
more confident because you've done it more, then you're gonna
be able to act more efficiently. So yeah, I mean
(13:15):
we're going to grow together, you know. And I saw
a big step on Saturday. Now you got to back
it up by by taking another another step up this week.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Quarterback Joe.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Carriers Joe. You know, I think you kind of goes
to the really back to this that started the c
c SU game and then this week and then you
see it every day in practice. You know, we just
did a two minute drill and he's just poised. He
has composure as confidence. He understands situations. He's unflappable. And
that is experience and maturity, you know, and and intelligence.
(13:53):
And it's really nice to have that, really really nice
to have that, you know, to feel like you got
a guy back there. It's going to understand the situation
and he's not going to panic and he's going to
make the right decision.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
The outside zone scheme in.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
I think he's just a great fit. But like you said,
the outside zone stuff, the jet sweep stuff, the catching
the ball in the open field things that he can do.
You know, when you get Mel in space, he's he's
tough to deal with. Defensively, he's a great compliment to Cam.
You know, they have really different running styles and yet
they both fit the scheme that we run offensively. You know,
(14:34):
you got Cam who's a he's a he's a bully,
but he can break it. And you got you've got
Mel who's not as much of a bully. He's more
shifty in the hole, but he can break it as well,
you know. And then you're showing Victor throwing Victor, who's
combination of both of those guys in an outstanding receiver
out of the backfield. It's a it's a good, you know,
threesome right there. You know, you're always looking for way
(15:00):
to creatively put points on the board, force your opponent
to prepare for things that they see on film, involve players.
You know, you see us using Terrence a lot, you know,
using John a lot, rotating our receivers and our backs
through and our tight ends, you know, figuring out what
(15:21):
guys do well and putting them in a position to
do what they do well. And John, you know, it's
good to get him in there and get him that shot.
And you know, I went up and I went and
looked at his high school stats. They were pretty darn impressive.
I think his senior year did he throw like thirty
something touchdowns and run for a lot of yards as
(15:42):
a quarterback. So you know, he's you talk about a
success story, I mean, still still developing success story. But
John Nider walked on here. I think it was in
the Connecticut State Player of the Year walks on here
as a quarterback. We moved the receiver. Nobody can cover
him on the scout team. And now he's a scholarship athlete.
You know, helping us win games. So you know, guys
(16:04):
like that, they make it fun to coach, you guys. Yeah,
he still got so much potential to get better. That's
what's exciting is to see the progress that he's made.
(16:25):
And I can't even overstate this, and I've told you
guys this before. When we looked at the film of
him playing football in the Bronx, all right, you couldn't
even hardly find him on the film because that it
was like somebody you know, taking their their phone out
and videotaped it, you know. But Sriki went and saw
(16:45):
him and spent time with him and learned about him
in his background and how he grew up and you know,
what his goals were, and there was just something in
there that kind of spoke to Serriki. They had, you
know a little bit of a similar background, and uh,
Serriku was right, and his kid's got a chance as
he develops to be a really really special player here. Uh,
(17:08):
you know, Jackson Mitchell. I only got to coach Jackson
for one year, I think was it one year the
first year, you know, and I'm getting to spend a
lot of time with Jackson now because he's he's my
living at my house as one of my sons. But uh,
you know, Jackson, I think is a really good judge
of talent and uh Jackson's you know, spent some time
(17:30):
in the NFL and he he he agrees and he
sees special things in umar you know. So, uh, yeah,
we're excited about the direction he's going. Jackson's doing a
fantastic job, by the way. He's he's built for this.
He told me the other day, he said, this is
what I want to do. I love I love coaching.
So it's really fun to have him and Dante and
(17:51):
Caleb and all those guys around. Like they they give
you juice, you know, and when you bring it in
a lot of transfers, they can kind of confirm for
the new guys like this is what it's about, and
this is where we were and this is where we're headed.
So it's nice to have those guys around. So why, well,
he's hard working, he's smart, he understands the game. He
(18:13):
really works at it. You know, I mean, listen, he's
out the door at five twenty am every morning, you know,
I mean, I hear the ringer go off. He's very
disciplined when he comes home, he gets a bottle of water,
and he goes and puts his head down. You know,
when he's here, he's always working, you know, whether it's
looking at high school players or you know, he takes
(18:34):
a scout team out at seven thirty in the morning
and gets them prepared. He takes the backup linebackers out
in the afternoon and just walks through some things with him.
So there's just a complete dedication. And he wants he
wants to be a good football He wants to be
a football coach, but he wants to be a really
good football coach. When you look at him, you know,
you see traits in him that say, not only will
(18:56):
he be a really good football coach, but at some
point in his life, he will be a really good
head football coach, hopefully here at the University of Connecticut.
You know, mister Connecticut, great player here becoming the head
coach here. And he has all those qualities that he'd
make this state really proud. Not too soon, okay, not
too soon, all right, but I think that highly of them.
(19:20):
So why oh, we got it's a fraternity over there.
It's a fraternity, I got right now, there's four four
we got four of the staff standing there, and it fluctuates,
it might end up being five some days and six.
And you know, it was really cool when Chase and
Val we're going through the pre draft process to have
those two big guys living with us. And I don't
(19:41):
know if I've told you the stories about like Val
cooking for us, and you know, his grandma's favorite recipe
made for Kathy and I on Super Bowl Sunday. You know,
we come in and he's got Austrian music playing and
he's got the food out, and you know, of course
she loved it because she loves to cook. And she's
got to six seven, three hundred and ten pound guys
that will eat anything thing. So it's been pretty cool.
It's pretty cool. So all right, you guys have a
(20:04):
great day. Appreciate it.
See you guys going in and out. Good morning. All right,
Well we've had I've had about sixty four hours. We've
had four meetings to walk through in a practice, to
learn the lessons in a really tough loss Saturday, and
now we're in the process applying those lessons and moving forward.
(00:23):
We're playing a good Delaware team. I mean they are tough,
they are physical, they are disciplined, they play with great effort.
They're stout, They've had a lot of success, they know
how to win. They're at home coming off of a
difficult loss on the road at Colorado, which when you
watch the film, the score is not indicative of the
(00:43):
way they played the game. They play an unorthodox type
of defense, they understand it, they play it well. I
think that their offense runs operates well with either quarterback,
but they do a nice job with misdirections stuff. They
do a nice job of involving the quarterback and in
the run game and the past game. I think that
(01:05):
their left tackle is an outstanding player. They've got a
really good running back, and so you know, going on
the road imposes on us a pretty pretty significant challenge.
But our guys have responded well, and like I said,
you know, it's been two and a half days. We've
had four meetings, walked through in a practice, and I
think that, uh, you know, they're focused on on how
(01:26):
we get better and improve as a football team every day.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
And just talk about played the day.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Malachi is doing well, ty Reese, Uh played well. He's
like everyone. We all have to, you know, focus on
getting better every single day, improving on the little things
that that that hurt us in the game. But he
brings a level of physicality to our defense in the
secondary that thinks really important, you know. I mean, there's
no fear in him. He flies in there. You know,
(02:01):
he sacrifices his body. He plays the game the way
you're supposed to play it. On defense. It's impressive to
watch the game.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
You seem to be in the right place.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Yeah, but you have to be in the right place
all the time if you wanna have success against good
football teams.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Haven't been on the other side of it.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Evaluated and a guy makes the kind of catch, not on.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
How much does that versus look at it? Calm when
you look at something like that, says fast as you you.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Know, I think you have to look at it. He's
got a winner's mentality, and he is a dom I'm
gonna tell you something that's one of the most impressive
things that none of us ever noticed because he's a
wide receiver, is Skyler Bell's willingness to block. Like he's
a very good and willing blocker. And if you go
back to the first play of our season, he went
(03:11):
and put his body on somebody hard, you know, And
so that along with his ability to make the clutch
catches in the key moments. I mean, that was a
one headed catch on fourth and ten. You know, that
says a lot just about his competitive makeup, about who
he is, how important it is for him to be
an all round good player, you know, the blocking and
the clutch plays. So and he doesn't have bad measurables.
(03:33):
I mean, he's one hundred and ninety eight pounds, I
believe right now he's done a really good job of
you know, increasing his body mass, and he hasn't lost
speed as we saw, you know when he broke it
down the sideline against CCSU. But I mean, you want
your team to be filled with guys that are like
Skyler Bell, you know, that have that makeup, that mental makeup,
and that competitive makeup.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
You mentioned the response, you know, I mean the guys
the last couple of years where you've been able to
respond to that.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Yeah, there's a confidence, you know, and we've got good
players and they take it very seriously. And I thought,
you know, from what I've seen, Uh, they it was
a very difficult loss, and it lingered and then they
flushed it. They didn't flush it without you know, like
I said, learning the lessons and then working to applying,
(04:28):
because that's the only way that you get better. And
you got to you got to spend all week. You
can't just say I got it, uh good enough. I
mean you got to just really dive into the details
every single day. And that's that's the message that you
have to give your football team is you know, I
I I. You got to keep applying those lessons and
we got to build consistency. We've got to make sure
(04:50):
that in pressure moments that we are consistent in doing
our job, all of us. You know, I'm not just
talking about the players, all of us. And that's how
you become a good football team. Consistency you stack routine
plays on top of each other.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
Is a lesson when after fun, right, So what have
you learned about the team or two weeks that you
feel like you continue to grow and.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Apply, or.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Well, you learned a lot of things. I'll tell you
what I'm impressed by is the fact that in two
games now, uh, in situations where we had to kind
of respond to a negative situation, you know, early versus
CCU and late vers Syracuses last week, is that we
were able to hold our composure offensively and move the
(05:37):
ball and score points and respond. And you know, that
to me is a sign of maturity and confidence and
guys believing in each other and trusting what we're doing.
You know, it's it's you know, the the atmosphere on
a sideline is so different than it is even in
row one, you know, or up in the stands or
up in the press box or on TV. The intensity
(05:59):
of those moments is in credible and it's easy for
immature or younger players that haven't been in those environments
to kind of implode. And you know, there was some
implosion by certain members of our of our program last week.
But I'm proud of the way our players have been
able to maintain their composure and focus and go out
(06:19):
and make plays well. I personally, and I think our team,
we have a ton of confidence. And Zach, I think
he's a very very good snapper, and he understands how
(06:40):
serious those mistakes have and what they've have been and
what they've cost us, and he takes it very seriously
and he works very hard at it. You know, it's
just being consistent in his approach every day and the
routine going out on the field every day. You know,
I think it's kicker and snappers and punters said this before.
(07:03):
They're much like golfers. You know, you only get so
many swings in a tournament or snaps in a game,
and every single one is so important. It's different than
playing other positions where you might get sixty snaps, and
if you have a couple of bad snaps, you know
you can make up for it. So it takes a
really mentally strong, mentally tough person to do those things.
(07:26):
And I believe that Zach is very mentally strong, and
he's a mentally tough kid. And I think that he
will be really good going forward because he owns it.
You know, he doesn't rationalize it. He owns it, and
that's how you get better. I thought we were much
more physical and aggressive, and we flew to the football
the way that I think people that watched this last
(07:47):
year were used to seeing. Now that has to be
a sixty minute thing. You know, it can't be hit
and miss, it can't be here and there, and so
it was much much better. But there's a lot of
room for improvement.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
What does that say about what they're trying to do
that they can make that impression so quickly in their
first year, you know, playing FBS.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
You know how they can? For well, they've always been
a outstanding FCS school and they've always had you know, success,
They've alway, They've got continuity amongst their staff. They've always
had tough, physically tough physical, tough minded players you know
that play with with effort and discipline. And when you
(08:33):
have that, you have a chance to compete against people,
you know, and to beat people. So uh, I think that, Uh,
it's it's I don't like, I don't know what their
commitment is financially or I don't know anything about them.
All I know is when I watch them on film.
You know, there's no way I know those things. I'm
not saying I don't know anything about it. I know
a lot about them as a football team, but you
(08:54):
just are impressed. You're just like, Okay, that's a damn
good football team. I don't care that they just came
up from cus level. It doesn't matter. They're a really
good football team and that's what you would expect out
of them, you know, just tough, hard, nos, gritty, freaking
work hard kids, and I respect the hell out of that.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
You're as many people as you did defensively, botly growing pages.
It's the last thing become.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
The consistency is that, Yeah, the down to down consistency,
the ability in a really high pressure environment and a
critical moment to perform the way you've played up to that,
perform the way you've performed up to that moment, and
not let the.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Moment get too big for you, you know. And uh,
you know, there's a lot of guys on that defense
that came here to be the guy you know that
maybe weren't the guy at the last place that they were,
or they've leveled up from a lower level, and you'd
like to think just because they've been in college football
that they've been in those moments, but they haven't. Necessarily, Now,
(10:00):
we can't allow them to have excuses. We can't make
excuses for ourselves or at any point, and we just
have to get better at that. You know, we talked
about that. Uh, we talked about it constantly actually, and
that's one of the reasons we practice the way we
practice to try to create the maximum amount of pressure
we can't in practice, so that at least it's close
to what it's going to be like in a game,
(10:21):
and they react properly.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Like they so maybe they don't reacts individuals.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Maybe sometimes it's it's you can't really like put it
on one thing. You can use the word consistency and
be absolutely accurate, absolutely accurate, but it's like, what is
the inconsistent moment, Like it's hard for me to put
my finger on one thing, you know, it's it's multiple things.
But yes, it is a lack of consistency. I wouldn't
(10:56):
say that it has anything to do with not playing
with the man next to them at this point. Okay,
So it's just a focus it really it And I
said it after the game, and I'd say it after
any game. Is it's being able to line up play
after play after play after play after play after play
and have the discipline mentally to do your job no
(11:19):
matter what the situation is. You know, you're one of eleven,
Just do your job. And Matt talks about it all
the time. Is you know, being a good defense is
stacking the routine plays over and over and over again.
Just stacking up the routine plays and then when the
time comes to make an extraordinary play, being in position
to make it because you're doing what you're supposed to do.
(11:41):
And listen, that is every team, every player, every coach,
every sport. You know, every coach would tell you that.
And so I don't know what the magic formula is
other than to emphasize it and work at it. And
our guys do that. And they they they don't resist
when you tell them that. They know, they know you know,
they're trying. They're they're trying, they're trying. So I mean,
(12:04):
you guys, if you've had kids, you know, it's just
you know, the mind goes. You gotta pullem pull them
back in. So the a couple stops short in that
game is that it.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Defense is confusing for especially is that the guys, you know,
getting more familiar with it than being.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Able to the way that they're I it can be
a confusing defense to prepare for, you know, when you
only have three or four days to prepare for it
and you haven't seen things like this and the movement
and the disruption we try to cause up front, and
it's not it's not a defense that you know, guys
coming here have necessarily played in, you know. So there's
some different things that they're doing that they maybe haven't
(12:52):
done in the past. And the more that they do them,
then the more consistent they can become doing them, the
more violently they can do 'em. And you know when
I defense is a game of aggression, right, and physicality
and uh and and a violent effort. And when you're
more confident because you've done it more, then you're gonna
be able to act more efficiently. So yeah, I mean
(13:15):
we're going to grow together, you know. And I saw
a big step on Saturday. Now you got to back
it up by by taking another another step up this week.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Quarterback Joe.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Carriers Joe. You know, I think you kind of goes
to the really back to this that started the c
c SU game and then this week and then you
see it every day in practice. You know, we just
did a two minute drill and he's just poised. He
has composure as confidence. He understands situations. He's unflappable. And
that is experience and maturity, you know, and and intelligence.
(13:53):
And it's really nice to have that, really really nice
to have that, you know, to feel like you got
a guy back there. It's going to understand the situation
and he's not going to panic and he's going to
make the right decision.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
The outside zone scheme in.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
I think he's just a great fit. But like you said,
the outside zone stuff, the jet sweep stuff, the catching
the ball in the open field things that he can do.
You know, when you get Mel in space, he's he's
tough to deal with. Defensively, he's a great compliment to Cam.
You know, they have really different running styles and yet
they both fit the scheme that we run offensively. You know,
(14:34):
you got Cam who's a he's a he's a bully,
but he can break it. And you got you've got
Mel who's not as much of a bully. He's more
shifty in the hole, but he can break it as well,
you know. And then you're showing Victor throwing Victor, who's
combination of both of those guys in an outstanding receiver
out of the backfield. It's a it's a good, you know,
threesome right there. You know, you're always looking for way
(15:00):
to creatively put points on the board, force your opponent
to prepare for things that they see on film, involve players.
You know, you see us using Terrence a lot, you know,
using John a lot, rotating our receivers and our backs
through and our tight ends, you know, figuring out what
(15:21):
guys do well and putting them in a position to
do what they do well. And John, you know, it's
good to get him in there and get him that shot.
And you know, I went up and I went and
looked at his high school stats. They were pretty darn impressive.
I think his senior year did he throw like thirty
something touchdowns and run for a lot of yards as
(15:42):
a quarterback. So you know, he's you talk about a
success story, I mean, still still developing success story. But
John Nider walked on here. I think it was in
the Connecticut State Player of the Year walks on here
as a quarterback. We moved the receiver. Nobody can cover
him on the scout team. And now he's a scholarship athlete.
You know, helping us win games. So you know, guys
(16:04):
like that, they make it fun to coach, you guys. Yeah,
he still got so much potential to get better. That's
what's exciting is to see the progress that he's made.
(16:25):
And I can't even overstate this, and I've told you
guys this before. When we looked at the film of
him playing football in the Bronx, all right, you couldn't
even hardly find him on the film because that it
was like somebody you know, taking their their phone out
and videotaped it, you know. But Sriki went and saw
(16:45):
him and spent time with him and learned about him
in his background and how he grew up and you know,
what his goals were, and there was just something in
there that kind of spoke to Serriki. They had, you
know a little bit of a similar background, and uh,
Serriku was right, and his kid's got a chance as
he develops to be a really really special player here. Uh,
(17:08):
you know, Jackson Mitchell. I only got to coach Jackson
for one year, I think was it one year the
first year, you know, and I'm getting to spend a
lot of time with Jackson now because he's he's my
living at my house as one of my sons. But uh,
you know, Jackson, I think is a really good judge
of talent and uh Jackson's you know, spent some time
(17:30):
in the NFL and he he he agrees and he
sees special things in umar you know. So, uh, yeah,
we're excited about the direction he's going. Jackson's doing a
fantastic job, by the way. He's he's built for this.
He told me the other day, he said, this is
what I want to do. I love I love coaching.
So it's really fun to have him and Dante and
(17:51):
Caleb and all those guys around. Like they they give
you juice, you know, and when you bring it in
a lot of transfers, they can kind of confirm for
the new guys like this is what it's about, and
this is where we were and this is where we're headed.
So it's nice to have those guys around. So why, well,
he's hard working, he's smart, he understands the game. He
(18:13):
really works at it. You know, I mean, listen, he's
out the door at five twenty am every morning, you know,
I mean, I hear the ringer go off. He's very
disciplined when he comes home, he gets a bottle of water,
and he goes and puts his head down. You know,
when he's here, he's always working, you know, whether it's
looking at high school players or you know, he takes
(18:34):
a scout team out at seven thirty in the morning
and gets them prepared. He takes the backup linebackers out
in the afternoon and just walks through some things with him.
So there's just a complete dedication. And he wants he
wants to be a good football He wants to be
a football coach, but he wants to be a really
good football coach. When you look at him, you know,
you see traits in him that say, not only will
(18:56):
he be a really good football coach, but at some
point in his life, he will be a really good
head football coach, hopefully here at the University of Connecticut.
You know, mister Connecticut, great player here becoming the head
coach here. And he has all those qualities that he'd
make this state really proud. Not too soon, okay, not
too soon, all right, but I think that highly of them.
(19:20):
So why oh, we got it's a fraternity over there.
It's a fraternity, I got right now, there's four four
we got four of the staff standing there, and it fluctuates,
it might end up being five some days and six.
And you know, it was really cool when Chase and
Val we're going through the pre draft process to have
those two big guys living with us. And I don't
(19:41):
know if I've told you the stories about like Val
cooking for us, and you know, his grandma's favorite recipe
made for Kathy and I on Super Bowl Sunday. You know,
we come in and he's got Austrian music playing and
he's got the food out, and you know, of course
she loved it because she loves to cook. And she's
got to six seven, three hundred and ten pound guys
that will eat anything thing. So it's been pretty cool.
It's pretty cool. So all right, you guys have a
(20:04):
great day. Appreciate it.
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