Overall thoughts on first practice:
"It's exciting, a lot of new faces. We're a little rusty here and there but a lot of the new guys got a taste of D1 football and what we expect (as a team), so it was really good."
About the talent level:
"We have a lot of talent. Even our walk-ons are higher tier players. Every year we're raising the bar higher and higher. We have more size. David (Anzaldua) is a big man. I'm really glad the coaching staff went and found Vontrell (King-Williams), he is going to make my job a lot easier. The size and speed are really noticeable."
On the defensive tackles:
"When they left I was really worried. We have a lot of depth and athleticism there with the size. We're going to get a four-man rotation and do what we normally do there so I'm not too worried about it."
On the linebacker position:
"We have eight guys strong right now. It is all a competition. We have a lot of athleticism. La'Kel (Bass) already got an interception today and he is doing well. The young guys are picking up the defense a lot faster and that will really help."
On the edge of the team:
"We definitely did have a different mindset and that hurt us, no doubt. We still have a lot of those players that were here when we played our first game as a program and we have to come back to having that chip on shoulder and be the underdog. We're definitely going to go find that. With a lot of new players we're going to have that underdog mentality."
On the schedule:
"I dream about it. It is exciting. It is a tough four games to start the season. We're focused on Arizona, we let one slip last year. I'm excited to go out there and prove them wrong."
This post was edited on 3/18 11:36 AM by Mike Craven
"It's exciting, a lot of new faces. We're a little rusty here and there but a lot of the new guys got a taste of D1 football and what we expect (as a team), so it was really good."
About the talent level:
"We have a lot of talent. Even our walk-ons are higher tier players. Every year we're raising the bar higher and higher. We have more size. David (Anzaldua) is a big man. I'm really glad the coaching staff went and found Vontrell (King-Williams), he is going to make my job a lot easier. The size and speed are really noticeable."
On the defensive tackles:
"When they left I was really worried. We have a lot of depth and athleticism there with the size. We're going to get a four-man rotation and do what we normally do there so I'm not too worried about it."
On the linebacker position:
"We have eight guys strong right now. It is all a competition. We have a lot of athleticism. La'Kel (Bass) already got an interception today and he is doing well. The young guys are picking up the defense a lot faster and that will really help."
On the edge of the team:
"We definitely did have a different mindset and that hurt us, no doubt. We still have a lot of those players that were here when we played our first game as a program and we have to come back to having that chip on shoulder and be the underdog. We're definitely going to go find that. With a lot of new players we're going to have that underdog mentality."
On the schedule:
"I dream about it. It is exciting. It is a tough four games to start the season. We're focused on Arizona, we let one slip last year. I'm excited to go out there and prove them wrong."
This post was edited on 3/18 11:36 AM by Mike Craven
