We talked to new offensive line coach Cody Kennedy last week, and he really loves New Orleans because of its food. He recommends the steak house Mr John's heavily and is a huge shrimp Po-boy fan. The talk of food put him in a good mood.
He's a big contrast to Alex Atkins, who was a great guy but simply hated talking about his players. In 30 years in this business, I've never come across a coach who chose to say less, so I stopped talking to him two years ago, again, not because I did not like him, but because I knew he was not going to say anything interesting.
What is your early impression of the offensive line?
"We are just exiting a learning phase. We have installed all of our concepts that we'll have for the year. The biggest thing I'm trying to build with all of my guys right now is we've got to have confidence in what we're doing. Confidence triggers speed. Speed equals power, so we have to connect those dots right there. The first part of it is the learning. That's the keys we're trying to cross off as we go through the learning process. Guys have done a phenomenal job. They take extra time out of their day to come up and see me on their own time to get better. It's a great testament to who they are. They want to be good, so it's easy to be there for them. You're not having to pester them. They are always at my door wanting to watch film when they have extra time. It really is a good start to what we're building. We've got some new faces rolling in there. Obviously had three contributors up there from last year that we're filling (John Leglue, Dominique Briggs, Noah Fisher), so there are some new faces and they are doing a great job learning the complex concepts we have up front. We are going to do a lot up front. There is going to be a lot of pulling, a lot of moving around up there. Those guys have to execute and communicate."
Christian Montano has been here about as long as you have. What do you like about him as a center?
"I like him because he's a real cerebral kid. You can read the stories about him. Obviously he's got a Brown degree. He's very smart. He's going to question everything in a positive manner. He's going to ask why it's that way, and not in a disrespectful manner. That's how he learns. He's done a great job picking up this offense. Obviously he's taken a majority of the center reps through spring and has done a great job managing coming into a new situation with new guys, which can be tough. He's shown great leadership coming in and running the show up there and getting all our calls and getting us in right situations. In that learning curve there's some tough stuff we've gotta pick up and we've got to do it on the fly against a great defense every day, which helps us. Multiple looks over there. Obviously great athletes as well, so that complicates the learning curve, too, as you're doing new things against a great, well coached defense. They've done a great job."
Corey Dublin played center last year but is probably more a natural guard. What are your impressions of him?
"Dub is very versatile. He's going to do everything you say, how you say to do it. He's a great team leader. I think guard kind of unlocks him a little bit to be who Corey Dublin is, which is a very gritty player. He's going to block through the whistle. He's a tough guy. He's what you want. He's a move-you offensive lineman. He fits the bill of who you want up there, and he's able to make calls from the guard spot, so he's learning center and guard. He can do it all on the interior there, and he's just that type of kid. He sees it, you tell him to do it and he's going to do it. He's a run-through-the-brick-wall type guy."
How does a guard make the calls?
"You're right there. You're seeing the same thing the center is, just from another angle, so he's able to solidify what Christian's seeing, and if sees something, he's smart enough to communicate it. As a center you're always communicating. You're the quarterback of the offensive line, and that never leaves you even though you may be playing a different position. You're constantly taking in the defensive looks and if there's something that maybe slips Christian, Dub's there, and he may say all right, I kind of like this call better, let's do this. Obviously the center rules the coop. He's the guy you listen to, but Dub is there to cement calls and different things like that, so it's good to have him there. He gets center reps, too, so he can be a good utility player inside."
Coach Fritz talked about Dublin's pulling ability.
"Absolutely. That plays right into him. He's a gritty player, so if you get guys moving around striking people, we've got some guys that can do that. We've got some guys that can move around. Dub's not the only one. He is good at it, getting around there, setting the edge on plays. We've got some good edge players out there, some elite edge players that he's having to compete against every day. He's doing a really good job of creating power through doing that. It will be a strong concept for us this year in the run game."
How much do you like having a defense like that to go up against every day?
"It is awesome. I would rather get thrown into the deep end 10 out of 10 times and swing my way out of it. They are having to prepare for multiple looks every day, so you can't spoon feed them. We're throwing them in the deep end with a lot of concepts, and some days they are doggie paddling through it. Other days they are on top of it and got it handled. I love it. Coach Curtis does a phenomenal job and we've got great athletes over there. You can walk out to practice and see that. They do a great job of giving you multiple looks, and what that does from an offensive lineman's standpoint is it gets you thinking, and when you're thinking, you slow down a little bit, so we have to fight through that aspect of it and hold true to our technique and concepts and play fast and create some power."
Your first-team line has pretty much been the same from day 1. Do you feel comfortable with that group right now?
"It has but there's competition. I like to keep those guys in certain positions while they're learning. Now we'll get to the phase that coach Fritz addressed as far as pecking order and competition. You'll see a lot more in this next phase. I wanted to get guys in comfortable positions to learn concepts, and now that they know concepts they can play in multiple positions, so you'll see a little more of a shakeup. It's my job to create competition. If you want to be great, you've got to have competition. I can do that in two ways--developing and recruiting, and I've got to be good at both of those facets to create competition, and that's how you create a great unit. If everybody is coming out every day with their job on the line, you are going to have that extra you're going 110 percent to solidify your position as a starter, so we've got to create that."
The three guys who redshirted last year--Nik Hogan, Stephen Lewerenz and Michael Remondet--do they still have a lot more developing to do?
"They are right in the mix and right on cue with where they should be. There are some facets of their game they've got to get better at, and that's one thing I focus on every day with those guys. When they hit the turf out here, they've got to have something on their mind that they're getting better at. One thing. And you build on that every day, and that's kind of the phase those guys are in. In the fall it's not as much developing. You've got to go win games. You've got to go game plan, you've got to get it done, you've got to put your guys in the best position. In the spring you are able to develop your guys, so I think you'll see great leaps from those three guys just because of the focus in the spring on development from drills. We're just trying to get those confident in what they're doing so they can play with speed. Those guys are doing a lot of thinking and not a lot of playing with speed, but they are building to that and you'll see big strides from those guys."
How much stronger do they need to get?
"I don't think that's a huge issue for any of those kids. Coach Speer does a phenomenal job of developing those guys in the strength aspect of it. We just have to develop so they are thinking about football the right way and seeing the full landscape and playing with the speed. That's the biggest thing. They are capable of playing with speed. They just don't do it all the time. When you're learning a new activity, you are not going to do it 110 miles an hour. They haven't played a lot of college football reps, so this is all new for them. We're just trying to develop that."
Keyshawn McLeod is the only fifth-year senior on the team. What have you seen from him?
"Competition, man. He's nipping at some people's heels. Some days he'll be out here with the 1s. Some days he's nipping at somebody's heels, but he's that catalyst as far as competition goes. He's got to go win it, solidify it, just like everybody's got to go solidify a spot, so that's part of it. He's doing a good job in spring, taking control of the new system, learning. Everybody's got to develop up there. It's just a different level. Some guys have more reps and are developing in other aspects. it's individualized, but he's doing a good job. We just have to breed that competition. It needs to be everywhere."
He's a big contrast to Alex Atkins, who was a great guy but simply hated talking about his players. In 30 years in this business, I've never come across a coach who chose to say less, so I stopped talking to him two years ago, again, not because I did not like him, but because I knew he was not going to say anything interesting.
What is your early impression of the offensive line?
"We are just exiting a learning phase. We have installed all of our concepts that we'll have for the year. The biggest thing I'm trying to build with all of my guys right now is we've got to have confidence in what we're doing. Confidence triggers speed. Speed equals power, so we have to connect those dots right there. The first part of it is the learning. That's the keys we're trying to cross off as we go through the learning process. Guys have done a phenomenal job. They take extra time out of their day to come up and see me on their own time to get better. It's a great testament to who they are. They want to be good, so it's easy to be there for them. You're not having to pester them. They are always at my door wanting to watch film when they have extra time. It really is a good start to what we're building. We've got some new faces rolling in there. Obviously had three contributors up there from last year that we're filling (John Leglue, Dominique Briggs, Noah Fisher), so there are some new faces and they are doing a great job learning the complex concepts we have up front. We are going to do a lot up front. There is going to be a lot of pulling, a lot of moving around up there. Those guys have to execute and communicate."
Christian Montano has been here about as long as you have. What do you like about him as a center?
"I like him because he's a real cerebral kid. You can read the stories about him. Obviously he's got a Brown degree. He's very smart. He's going to question everything in a positive manner. He's going to ask why it's that way, and not in a disrespectful manner. That's how he learns. He's done a great job picking up this offense. Obviously he's taken a majority of the center reps through spring and has done a great job managing coming into a new situation with new guys, which can be tough. He's shown great leadership coming in and running the show up there and getting all our calls and getting us in right situations. In that learning curve there's some tough stuff we've gotta pick up and we've got to do it on the fly against a great defense every day, which helps us. Multiple looks over there. Obviously great athletes as well, so that complicates the learning curve, too, as you're doing new things against a great, well coached defense. They've done a great job."
Corey Dublin played center last year but is probably more a natural guard. What are your impressions of him?
"Dub is very versatile. He's going to do everything you say, how you say to do it. He's a great team leader. I think guard kind of unlocks him a little bit to be who Corey Dublin is, which is a very gritty player. He's going to block through the whistle. He's a tough guy. He's what you want. He's a move-you offensive lineman. He fits the bill of who you want up there, and he's able to make calls from the guard spot, so he's learning center and guard. He can do it all on the interior there, and he's just that type of kid. He sees it, you tell him to do it and he's going to do it. He's a run-through-the-brick-wall type guy."
How does a guard make the calls?
"You're right there. You're seeing the same thing the center is, just from another angle, so he's able to solidify what Christian's seeing, and if sees something, he's smart enough to communicate it. As a center you're always communicating. You're the quarterback of the offensive line, and that never leaves you even though you may be playing a different position. You're constantly taking in the defensive looks and if there's something that maybe slips Christian, Dub's there, and he may say all right, I kind of like this call better, let's do this. Obviously the center rules the coop. He's the guy you listen to, but Dub is there to cement calls and different things like that, so it's good to have him there. He gets center reps, too, so he can be a good utility player inside."
Coach Fritz talked about Dublin's pulling ability.
"Absolutely. That plays right into him. He's a gritty player, so if you get guys moving around striking people, we've got some guys that can do that. We've got some guys that can move around. Dub's not the only one. He is good at it, getting around there, setting the edge on plays. We've got some good edge players out there, some elite edge players that he's having to compete against every day. He's doing a really good job of creating power through doing that. It will be a strong concept for us this year in the run game."
How much do you like having a defense like that to go up against every day?
"It is awesome. I would rather get thrown into the deep end 10 out of 10 times and swing my way out of it. They are having to prepare for multiple looks every day, so you can't spoon feed them. We're throwing them in the deep end with a lot of concepts, and some days they are doggie paddling through it. Other days they are on top of it and got it handled. I love it. Coach Curtis does a phenomenal job and we've got great athletes over there. You can walk out to practice and see that. They do a great job of giving you multiple looks, and what that does from an offensive lineman's standpoint is it gets you thinking, and when you're thinking, you slow down a little bit, so we have to fight through that aspect of it and hold true to our technique and concepts and play fast and create some power."
Your first-team line has pretty much been the same from day 1. Do you feel comfortable with that group right now?
"It has but there's competition. I like to keep those guys in certain positions while they're learning. Now we'll get to the phase that coach Fritz addressed as far as pecking order and competition. You'll see a lot more in this next phase. I wanted to get guys in comfortable positions to learn concepts, and now that they know concepts they can play in multiple positions, so you'll see a little more of a shakeup. It's my job to create competition. If you want to be great, you've got to have competition. I can do that in two ways--developing and recruiting, and I've got to be good at both of those facets to create competition, and that's how you create a great unit. If everybody is coming out every day with their job on the line, you are going to have that extra you're going 110 percent to solidify your position as a starter, so we've got to create that."
The three guys who redshirted last year--Nik Hogan, Stephen Lewerenz and Michael Remondet--do they still have a lot more developing to do?
"They are right in the mix and right on cue with where they should be. There are some facets of their game they've got to get better at, and that's one thing I focus on every day with those guys. When they hit the turf out here, they've got to have something on their mind that they're getting better at. One thing. And you build on that every day, and that's kind of the phase those guys are in. In the fall it's not as much developing. You've got to go win games. You've got to go game plan, you've got to get it done, you've got to put your guys in the best position. In the spring you are able to develop your guys, so I think you'll see great leaps from those three guys just because of the focus in the spring on development from drills. We're just trying to get those confident in what they're doing so they can play with speed. Those guys are doing a lot of thinking and not a lot of playing with speed, but they are building to that and you'll see big strides from those guys."
How much stronger do they need to get?
"I don't think that's a huge issue for any of those kids. Coach Speer does a phenomenal job of developing those guys in the strength aspect of it. We just have to develop so they are thinking about football the right way and seeing the full landscape and playing with the speed. That's the biggest thing. They are capable of playing with speed. They just don't do it all the time. When you're learning a new activity, you are not going to do it 110 miles an hour. They haven't played a lot of college football reps, so this is all new for them. We're just trying to develop that."
Keyshawn McLeod is the only fifth-year senior on the team. What have you seen from him?
"Competition, man. He's nipping at some people's heels. Some days he'll be out here with the 1s. Some days he's nipping at somebody's heels, but he's that catalyst as far as competition goes. He's got to go win it, solidify it, just like everybody's got to go solidify a spot, so that's part of it. He's doing a good job in spring, taking control of the new system, learning. Everybody's got to develop up there. It's just a different level. Some guys have more reps and are developing in other aspects. it's individualized, but he's doing a good job. We just have to breed that competition. It needs to be everywhere."