Tuesday at UTSA practice was the first chance to talk with players after the win over Baylor. Most of the talk was about Southern. Coach Wilson also spoke.
Frank Wilson
Frank Wilson
- Got some guys back today. Good to see Marquez McNair back and hopping around active. Robert Ursua was back today and it was good to see him out there.
- It was a very productive day today. It's always tough because today is normal down and distance, first and second down. It is the most frequent play of the game and so it's vast in volume. Its a lot that they have to take in as we try to decipher game planning against it. There are some mental gymnastics that you have to overcome but our effort and energy was in the right place today.
- Mayor of San Antonio came out to visit today. He had his jersey on. I gave him a helmet and he said he had some eligibility. We're going to put him in bird cage. I just don't know who we're going to put against him. No one wants to volunteer (Wilson then asked media if any of them wanted to volunteer to go against the Mayor in bird cage).
- Still wait and see on Kyle McKinney. Still trying to figure it out.
- The players realize there's no room for complacency (after a big win) because it's told to them way before the game ever happens. No different from having humility and grace when you finish second. We won one game. We have a whole season ahead of us. Our ability to be focused on the next task at hand is critical. I think we did that today. That game is behind us and we are totally focused on the Southern Jaguars and the rich history of that program.
- They've won 14 plus SWAC championships, 11 plus black national championships. We did a little history to enlighten our guys. 75 players have been drafted into the NFL from that school, two hall of famers. They have a prideful program that we need to recognize and be ready to play against.
- Southern plays extremely hard. Their linebackers are thumpers. They're six footers and 250, 248, 235. They're stout at the linebacker position. Their defensive line is extremely active. They play relentlessly, they run to the ball. They have a defensive back that led the conference last year with nine interceptions, seven passes broken up. They have range and athleticism on the perimeter.
- We have guys like Levine and Rhodes who played reserve roles in the past and now the opportunity presented itself for them to step up in a lead role where they'll be called upon to do a job most frequently. Both played extensively last year but in a different role and capacity. They embraced (the new role) and they prepared for it. I thought they played extremely well on Saturday.
- La Kel Bass is a hard hat guy who comes to work with his lunch pail every day. Irregardless of whether people talk about him more or less is irrelevant to him. He's recognized within this team for his contribution and how much we value him. He's everything that we need him to be.
- We've constantly tried to improve the depth of our roster and the quality of our roster. That guys can go in and we not miss a beat. Even with as many that we played on Saturday, we played 40-50, we'll need to play even more, we need to be in the 60 range for us to be at our best. We need more contributors out on the field.
