I talked to Monroe briefly on the phone last week for my Advocate story while I was in Denver. Here's what he said.
On low outside expectations
"I try not to look at that stuff this year. I just want to take a new look on the season this year, but I am going to hear a lot when I go to Rhode Island this week. I plan on hearing it a lot, but right now I’m just not looking at those things. I really don’t care right now."
Talented guys on defense
"I think we’ll be much better. We lost some guys, but we also brought back a lot of guys. A lot of guys who could have played last year are playing this year, so we are going to have a lot of depth at different positions."
Do people understand how good Tanzel Smart is?
"They are going to understand this year. That guy’s an animal, but not too many people know how good he is."
On Parry Nickerson
"He’s going to get even better with his coverages and with his eyes. He’s going to be even better this year because he’s going to do the little things better."
Same number of returning starters as 2013 with 16
"Yeah, I could see that as the same as my sophomore year. The same things are happening, and it looks like it’s going to be a better year than that."
How good do you feel about the team overall?
“Much better than I’ve ever felt. Our athleticism has really increased. I don’t know if we’re ready to win every game, but just the experience from last year with everybody having 12 games under their belt, I’m just excited about competing in training camp and playing the games.”
On low outside expectations
"I try not to look at that stuff this year. I just want to take a new look on the season this year, but I am going to hear a lot when I go to Rhode Island this week. I plan on hearing it a lot, but right now I’m just not looking at those things. I really don’t care right now."
Talented guys on defense
"I think we’ll be much better. We lost some guys, but we also brought back a lot of guys. A lot of guys who could have played last year are playing this year, so we are going to have a lot of depth at different positions."
Do people understand how good Tanzel Smart is?
"They are going to understand this year. That guy’s an animal, but not too many people know how good he is."
On Parry Nickerson
"He’s going to get even better with his coverages and with his eyes. He’s going to be even better this year because he’s going to do the little things better."
Same number of returning starters as 2013 with 16
"Yeah, I could see that as the same as my sophomore year. The same things are happening, and it looks like it’s going to be a better year than that."
How good do you feel about the team overall?
“Much better than I’ve ever felt. Our athleticism has really increased. I don’t know if we’re ready to win every game, but just the experience from last year with everybody having 12 games under their belt, I’m just excited about competing in training camp and playing the games.”