Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's go from the Mariners to the Huskies. I was
out at you media day this morning, had a chance
to catch up with you. Had fish for the second
time in a couple of weeks. Last week at Big
ten Media Day in Chicago was kind of more of
a you know, overall state of the program, talking about
nil and and things like that. And we we caught
up this morning and talked about a lot of issues,
including what are the first things that he really wants
(00:22):
to see this team get done in the first few
days of a fall practice starting on Thursday.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Joy energy, guys that are willing to compete, but be smart.
I think that's really what we have to find. We
have to see We've got a lot of guys that
are very alpha right, okay, and a lot of guys
that were heavily recruited, and a lot of guys that
(00:48):
were the best and their team right, And we got
to make sure we don't come out of here on
the first day of second day of training camp in
those first couple of days flying a little too high.
So the big thing is bat and I think we
used springball. And the good part is is, you know,
we had so many of these guys here for spring,
but we use springball to teach them how to practice
(01:09):
like a pro, right, so we got to be able
to come out and do that.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Yeah, well, let's talk about some of those new faces,
and let's start with a running back room, because I
don't know if I've ever seen this kind of turnover
right at the running back spot. We're watching Jordan Washington,
Adam Mohammad, Jonah Coleman last year, thinking well, we're getting
two of those three guys back, and then bang, as
of now, none of them are available, so the job
seems to be up for grabs. When I asked you
last week who the running back one would be if
(01:33):
the Apple Cup were tonight, you said, look, I don't know,
and I appreciate the honesty. So Quad car Bonner, Jaden Lamar,
tell me what these guys bring to the table, and
maybe who's got kind of the upper hand right now
in that group.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Yeah, well, it's really hard for me to answer that
even today, because Jaden and Trey did not practice in
the spring, right, So it almost be an unfair evaluation
to just choose the guy because who started, who practiced
and who didn't in the spring.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Everybody is now cleared to practice.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Now there'll be some limitations on Trey and Jaden as
they're moving forward. Maybe we won't tackle them, maybe we'll
just stay, you know, keep them up. But I got
to see him cut, I got to see him catch,
I got to see him pass protect, and I got
to see him run through the tackles. So to be
able to make those evaluations, we need reps out there.
(02:27):
So we're gonna try to get those guys getting a
lot of reps along the same way. I mean, Quake
car every time he had a chance to run the
football last year in practice he shined and in the
spring he shined. But as we started losing running backs,
(02:47):
I had to be very protective of Kwaid, So I
kind of lost the evaluation of him the last four
practices or so because we had to make sure he
stayed healthy. So this will be a great chance for
him to step up as well and see what it
all look like.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Well, you last couple of years, it was obvious whose
position that was.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
It was number one? Right? Do you want to do
that again?
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Or you a running back by committee guy?
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Do you mind mat or do you want.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
To have a bell cow workhorse like you had? The
last couple of years.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
I think it would be it's not possible, yeah, to
have what we had the last two years. In regards
to there was never a doubt right like when the
series started.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
There was never a doubt.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
There was never a doubt on short yards, there was
never a doubt on goal line, There was never a
doubt when we needed to call the team up to
get him motivated, like where we would turn right.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
So that's gone.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
He's in Denver and he's doing a fantastic job there
and I'm so proud of him. Now, we don't have
the one guy, right, but you don't need the one guy.
There's a lot of teams out there that doesn't. So
we got to figure out who those guys are and
then go from there.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Well, the running back will take care of itself. We
kind of know what you're doing a quarterback, right. I mean,
you got a guy who was wearing a different number
this year. He's wearing Warren Moon's number, which is a
great honor for Demon Williams obviously, But let's talk about
the guy coaching him. You're coaching him obviously, JP Lossman's
coaching him as well. You've known him since his days
with the Seahawks former first round draft pick. I think,
what a buffalo out of Tulane back in the day.
(04:17):
So what is JP doing with demand that maybe gives
you some insight into what kind of player we're going
to see in September.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Well, the first thing that JP's doing is he has
built an incredible relationship with him, one in which they
spend a lot of time together out of the building,
They spend time together in the building. They have a
fun connection. Yeah, you know, it's cool to see JP
has done a great job when he's talking to him
of like any aspect of preparation he can always point
(04:51):
back to is like, hey, that wasn't fun for me either,
but I like getting drafted in the first round. Or
that wasn't fun for me me either, but I like
starting in the NFL. And you know, there's always that
nice ability to just kind of like that yin and yang.
I also think that he is very tolerant JP. So
(05:15):
like if I get frustrated, JP is able to say,
I kind of know it, dee, I got you right.
Just let him do his thing right and then we'll
get it worked out. And he has that nice balance.
And then last year. The role that JP had, he
was really able to integrate himself into the QB room.
(05:36):
So there was a comfort level. There wasn't a ton
of pressure. And now as he's upped his you know,
uh upped his coaching style, he's always working and you
watch him on the field. He's running with the guys.
He's you know, running over the bridge of the five
twenty to come to work. You know, he's they see
him while while they're driving. So he's a unique bird
(05:57):
and the same token all of his experience is playing
for so many different coaches, playing in the league, working
for other coaches, had a chance. He was at Clemson
with Trevor Lawrence, he was at Oklahoma with Jackson Arnold
and with Dylan Gabriel. He's seen a lot and it's
a huge asset for demand.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Yeah, well Jetfish is with us.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
And look, there's not a lot of great running quarterbacks
for the Big ten, right, not a lot of great
quarterbacks period.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
I think overall in the Big Ten.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
And you've got one, right, do you want to see
him be more of an athlete this year? Improvise more,
run more, take advantage of every toolbox he's got.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Well, he had six hundred yards rushing, Yeah here, yeah,
and can that be three thousand yards passing?
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Can that go over at six hundred? Can you see
a three thousand, one thousand guy this?
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Maybe maybe maybe he's a thirty. Maybe he's a thirty
four hundred, six hundred, Maybe he's a I don't know.
I think that. What you know, what we've got to
do is you got to keep him healthy, right, And
there were some times and there were some game aims
that he just let loose and just was able to
let it rip with his legs and just opportunities presented.
(07:08):
There were some other games where they just decided they
were going to take that away. And you know, it's
our responsibility. You know, they're going to take something away
every week. You know, do they want to take away
the vertical passing? And do they want to take away
his feet? Do they want to take away interior throat
that whatever it might be. We got to adjust quick
and then we got to see what we can get
(07:29):
out of the mom But yeah, I mean, the guy
special and he's just gonna be better than he.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Was last year.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Well, Jedfish is with us, And speaking of better than
last year, the offensive line to me looks like a
strength now compared to the weakness that I think we
all understand that it was a couple of years ago,
just because of what you guys were going through. You've
mentioned it's seven offensive linemen, a couple guys at ACLS.
Now you got what seventeen guys on the offensive line,
A bunch of guys coming back. Honestly, jed, what can
(07:54):
you do offensively now that you just couldn't do two
years ago?
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Well, I mean it all starts with that group, right,
So when you are capable of running the football, then
you're capable to have play action passes, Then you're capable
of having bootlegs and keepers. Then you're capable of, you know,
really imposing your will. So what this group does is
(08:22):
this group gives us an opportunity to stand up to anybody.
And you know, I mean it's different when you show
up to a party and you're bringing your bron with you.
You know, there is the bodyguards that have arrived, and
so you're walking into a room. You feel a little
confidence right when you're walking in somewhere and you've got
(08:43):
sixteen seventeen hundred pounds behind you, right, Well, in the
same token when you got sixteen seventeen hundred pounds in
front of you, you know whatever, You're like, Okay, I
feel good about sitting back here nextra half a second
and letting Rashid win on that route.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
I see.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
I feel good about, you know, check into this run
on third and five because I know these guys are
gonna make it work versus let's call it a couple
of years ago. When you're checking. If someone was checking
into a run on third and five, it's like, are
we really playing into our strength?
Speaker 3 (09:11):
Yeah? Right, So that's where I believe is the evolution.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Well, Jetfish is with us. I know you got to
run in a couple minutes. But it's funny because Jet
on the defensive side. I just don't have a lot
of questions about that group. With Ryan Walters back there, Right,
do we give up thirty points once laster to anybody?
Speaker 3 (09:28):
No?
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Not many teams in college football did that last year? Right,
And this is a group that's gonna have some new faces,
obviously mostly in the secondary. But if you were sitting
in my position here, what would your questions be about
this defense? What are your kind of curiosities about the defense?
Before camp starts.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Yeah, Well, you know, first of all, I think it's
really important just to talk about what a fantastic job
Ryan did ye last year and how I even expected
and the whole staff, and the whole staff is back right,
So not only did he do a great job, not
only did our coaches do, but the continent of the
entire defensive staff. The second thing is, you know, we
outscored our opponents by two hundred points last year.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
There was not a game.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
I think the most amount of points that was scored
against us was twenty six and that was by Oregon
on that long ball at the at the end of
the game. Where we feel like we are very strong
is at linebacker. Where we feel great is at safety.
We've got two new corners, but when you look at them,
(10:31):
one of them started every game at Uva who went
ten and three, and we recruited from Arizona. One of
them started his very first game against Jeremiah Smith and
held into one catch. Dylan Robinson, Rashon Clark, Jaron Jones.
These guys are good ball players. And then our front.
That's what I'm most excited about because we were good
(10:53):
up front, but we weren't disruptive upfront, like we would
hold teams to not a lot of yards rushing, but
we weren't creating sacks.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
We weren't creating tackles for losses.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Yeah, and now with this group, that would be the
question I would ask would be who is going to
create those splash plays on.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Defense and who do you think it might be?
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Well, I think Alinius Davis is going to have an
elite year. I think that you're going to see if
we could have a healthy Deuce Davis, those would be
a lot of the sacks that we're missing. My hope
is that Isaiah Ward he's finally at two hundred and
forty two pounds after you know, being with me for
five years. He's gained thirty something pounds since walking from college,
(11:38):
thirty eight pounds I think, so where he's at makes
a big difference. And then like, don't sleep on the
logan George's of the world, don't sleep on Jacob Laine
having a you know, an elite year.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
So we're just set differently this year. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Well, the one guy that a lot of people before
you go are curious about it is the new kid
from Kennedy, Derek Coleman, Bruce saw who Ryan Walters told
us back in the spring ball he's too big to
play on the outside. Now he's got to play on
the inside. When we saw him playing high school, he
was playing on the outside, getting after quarterbacks.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
Now he's a defensive tackle.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
What are you thinking you're gonna get out of this
guy at the age of eighteen.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Years Now you're gonna see him start day one, play
one in practice. I love it.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
You know, tranny camp practice one. You know Derek will
go out there and be uh, you know, be our
starting three technique for that practice. Now, yeah, you know
that doesn't mean it's going to look like that in
the Apple Cup. But I mean his talent level is elite.
He's got Darren Conley, you know, snipping out his heels.
(12:38):
He's got Ki mcclennen, who can't wait to get back
coming from a knee injury. And then you got Alinias
who had an unbelievable summer. But Derek Brussa, Cody Green,
you know, I kind of tore our staff. I go, guys,
there are certain guys like if you draft Russell o'coon
in the first round, you're gonna play Russell Coon at
left tackle the first snap of the game. Right, if
you draft Joey Bosa or Nick Bosa, you're go and
(13:00):
play the Bosa brothers. If you're taking them the top five,
we need to look at the Bruces. We need the
Cody Greens of the world. As these guys were top five,
top ten picks of our program.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Love it and they're out. We're not gonna hide them. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Well, I mean you're not doing anything to slow the
hype train down. I can tell you that. But that's okay, right,
you think they can handle it.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
I do, nor do I worry about the hype.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Hey, listen, you were on last week, you're on this week.
Let's do it again next week.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
All right.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
It's actually in your contract. You may not have noticed
that you have to come on this show every week
starting in August.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
So really, we'll talk next week, all right. I'll be
back next week.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
All right, man, good stuff, Get fish with us on
the radio showre Gonna break a lot more to come
on a busy Tuesday right here on ninety three three KJRFM.