Tulane is not doing interviews or having an open practice today or tomorrow, which I believe will be an off day, but I cleared up some special teams stuff after practice yesterday. Darian Mensah continued to take the first-team reps, and Ty Thompson was in next.
JON SUMRALL
On run-through practice:
"I thought it was good. We had 20 minutes of O/D, 20 minutes of kicking and 20 (more) minutes of O/D, full speed, helmets, spiders. No contact, really a lot of situational stuff. This is our Friday practice today, what we'll do every day before the game. It's obviously Wednesday, not Friday, but for the game week it's Friday. I like the work we got. A lot of this is about working out the kinks so next week I'm not losing my mind in practice because I've only got like a page full of notes and things we've got to do to clean some of the stuff up. It's for the coaches and the players so that next week we know what to do. Tomorrow (Thursday) we'll come out and do a mock game. It will be every situation, and some of them won't come up but every five years. Take a safety in the game. End of game don't want to score a touchdown, first down, go down for your running backs. There are times you don't want to score a touchdown, and you have to work that because it's not natural, so end of game stuff we'll work on a lot of that stuff tomorrow and just fine tune some things. A lot of it's for the coaches. Some of it's for the players. Some of it is for all of us."
On Tulane running backs practicing the fall-down to avoid scoring a TD in Wednesday's practice and Shaadie Clayton-Johnson sliding down fast and hard just before the goal line:
"It's so unnatural. Even in the huddle when you say down-down and then you give the play, it's like hang on, I'm not supposed to score? Because if there's 30 seconds left on the clock and you're up by 1 and then have no timeouts, you don't want to score because some crazy stuff could happen. It's happened a lot. I've seen a lot of crazy things happen. Some of them I've been a part of."
On kicker and kickoff specialist competition:
"Field goals we'll go Jacob Barnes. I like the two youngsters. And then the two youngsters are probably going to alternate kicks for game 1. Mac (special teams coach) Greg McMahon and G Hud (special teams analyst Gunner Hudspeth) met yesterday and looked at all the numbers. Both of them are booming it pretty good, so we're going to let them both roll and we may game 1 just alternate kickoffs. They both kick it deep. They both have good hang. I like where both those guys are. Both of them have done a nice job with field goal. It's nice to not have to throw them in the fire of kicking a game field goal, but I feel confident in them if we have to. You'll see both of them on game 1 in kickoff."
On his emphasis on special teams:
"I've been a special teams coordinator, so I probably naturally talk about it a lot. There's a lot of hidden yardage there within a game. We probably spend as much time on it as anybody in the country because it will win you or lose you a game faster than anything. Most games are lost, not won, and the coverage teams in particular--punt and kickoff cover--you've got to be really detailed and be good, and the kickoff and field goal guys are new. The punt returners and kickoff returners are new, so there's been a decent amount of turnover in those areas. Other than snapper and punter, everybody's new."
On kickoff returners:
"As of right now, Shaadie's No. 1 if we played a game tomorrow. Dontae (Fleming)'s No. 2. I like Rayshawn Pleasant. I like (Bryce) Bohanon). Jamauri McClure back there I kind of like. There's some things that kind of scare me with putting a freshman back there, but I like his explosiveness and his physicality when he hits it. And then punt returner, the same type guys. Dontae, Mario (Williams), Bryce, Yul (Yulkeith Brown)'s worked it some. I would guess Dontae may take the first one, but if we played tomorrow, Dontae probably would take the first one."
On Clayton-Johnson kickoff returning ability:
"He and Rayshawn both have shown a knack for seeing it. A lot of times on kickoff returns running backs have a good feel for it because its similar. There's a lot of things coming at you in front of you, and that's similar playing running back. Shaadie catches the ball well. That's one thing he does on offense that doesn't get talked about enough (he has not been reading my stuff) is he could really if he had to go play receiver in a pinch, so I feel comfortable with him back there returning kickoff. I think we've got some good stuff dialed up to maybe help those guys get some good returns."
DAN ROUSHAR
On offensive line experience:
"It's been really good and yet there's been challenges with just getting guys to be comfortable playing next to each other. I would say the addition of Derrick Graham has been a super positive for us. He’s got a really high football I.Q. He’s played a lot of snaps. He played in the Troy system. The language is a little bit different, but much of what we’re doing is very similar to what he did. He’s really had a good camp. Getting Vinny in there has been a big part of what we've done, and certainly having Caleb (Thomas) in a position to back him up and rotate in there, those guys have done a really good job as well. Vinny has a really high football I.Q. as well. He's got a great passion for it. He leads and directs very well, and Caleb's done all the same things. And then it's getting Rashad (Green) back here the last couple weeks. He missed a lot of time in the spring (all of it) due to the medical situation he was in (labrum surgery), but I've seen a lot of grown in the last couple practices and expect him to be back to full form here shortly, so I'm excited about that group going out there together."
On importance of getting Graham:
"it was big. I’ve been so impressed with his transition. He’s been really willing to adapt to techniques and things we’re trying to get done in our communication. He's picked it up from the very beginning. He was here the entire summer, so that helped him grow in the system, but getting him was big because Trey was really playing well for us and it was very unfortunate (his season-ending knee injury near the end of spring). I expect him to make a full recovery, and next year he's going to be a heck of a player."
On young backups:
"Its really an interesting room. We have I would consider four veterans, guys that are seniors playing in what would be their last year. Derrick has the ability to have another year, so you have all that experience there, and then there's just a significant drop. It goes to all either true or redshirt freshmen in this room. It's a very talented group, but like young kids, every day is a new learning experience for them, and I've seen a lot of growth with them. It's concerning because here we are, a week out from playing the first game, and they're still freshmen. You don't know what they're going to do in a live situation until they are put out there, but I like the group a lot. It's very talented as a group. There's a bright, bright future with this group."
On breaking down the pecking order among the backups:
"Darion (Reed) and Dom Steward have been getting reps on the right side, and Reese Baker, a true freshman, has been backing up at the left tackle. We have some other players we can expand in that role if we have to, but right now for continuity and consistency, lining up at the same position practice after practice you can start to see improvement. It's really challenging for a player to go from left to right. That's not an easy thing. Communication's different. Technique's different. There's a lot of things that go into that."
On Caleb Thomas:
"He would go in first at center or guard, and quite frankly he's had the type of camp that I consider him a starter. He'll play and he'll contribute. We're going to need every one of those guys, and he's had an outstanding camp. He's really done a great job."
On Landry Cannon and Jayce Mitchell:
"Landry's growing. I would say Jayce is like a lot of the freshmen. Every day you see some improvement. Probably not going to press him into action yet, but he continues to grow. Elijah Baker has a chance to contribute as a true freshman, as does Reece, and them Dom Steward, the nice thing is we got him here last spring, so he's familiar with what we're doing and he's going to have a bright future as well."
JON SUMRALL
On run-through practice:
"I thought it was good. We had 20 minutes of O/D, 20 minutes of kicking and 20 (more) minutes of O/D, full speed, helmets, spiders. No contact, really a lot of situational stuff. This is our Friday practice today, what we'll do every day before the game. It's obviously Wednesday, not Friday, but for the game week it's Friday. I like the work we got. A lot of this is about working out the kinks so next week I'm not losing my mind in practice because I've only got like a page full of notes and things we've got to do to clean some of the stuff up. It's for the coaches and the players so that next week we know what to do. Tomorrow (Thursday) we'll come out and do a mock game. It will be every situation, and some of them won't come up but every five years. Take a safety in the game. End of game don't want to score a touchdown, first down, go down for your running backs. There are times you don't want to score a touchdown, and you have to work that because it's not natural, so end of game stuff we'll work on a lot of that stuff tomorrow and just fine tune some things. A lot of it's for the coaches. Some of it's for the players. Some of it is for all of us."
On Tulane running backs practicing the fall-down to avoid scoring a TD in Wednesday's practice and Shaadie Clayton-Johnson sliding down fast and hard just before the goal line:
"It's so unnatural. Even in the huddle when you say down-down and then you give the play, it's like hang on, I'm not supposed to score? Because if there's 30 seconds left on the clock and you're up by 1 and then have no timeouts, you don't want to score because some crazy stuff could happen. It's happened a lot. I've seen a lot of crazy things happen. Some of them I've been a part of."
On kicker and kickoff specialist competition:
"Field goals we'll go Jacob Barnes. I like the two youngsters. And then the two youngsters are probably going to alternate kicks for game 1. Mac (special teams coach) Greg McMahon and G Hud (special teams analyst Gunner Hudspeth) met yesterday and looked at all the numbers. Both of them are booming it pretty good, so we're going to let them both roll and we may game 1 just alternate kickoffs. They both kick it deep. They both have good hang. I like where both those guys are. Both of them have done a nice job with field goal. It's nice to not have to throw them in the fire of kicking a game field goal, but I feel confident in them if we have to. You'll see both of them on game 1 in kickoff."
On his emphasis on special teams:
"I've been a special teams coordinator, so I probably naturally talk about it a lot. There's a lot of hidden yardage there within a game. We probably spend as much time on it as anybody in the country because it will win you or lose you a game faster than anything. Most games are lost, not won, and the coverage teams in particular--punt and kickoff cover--you've got to be really detailed and be good, and the kickoff and field goal guys are new. The punt returners and kickoff returners are new, so there's been a decent amount of turnover in those areas. Other than snapper and punter, everybody's new."
On kickoff returners:
"As of right now, Shaadie's No. 1 if we played a game tomorrow. Dontae (Fleming)'s No. 2. I like Rayshawn Pleasant. I like (Bryce) Bohanon). Jamauri McClure back there I kind of like. There's some things that kind of scare me with putting a freshman back there, but I like his explosiveness and his physicality when he hits it. And then punt returner, the same type guys. Dontae, Mario (Williams), Bryce, Yul (Yulkeith Brown)'s worked it some. I would guess Dontae may take the first one, but if we played tomorrow, Dontae probably would take the first one."
On Clayton-Johnson kickoff returning ability:
"He and Rayshawn both have shown a knack for seeing it. A lot of times on kickoff returns running backs have a good feel for it because its similar. There's a lot of things coming at you in front of you, and that's similar playing running back. Shaadie catches the ball well. That's one thing he does on offense that doesn't get talked about enough (he has not been reading my stuff) is he could really if he had to go play receiver in a pinch, so I feel comfortable with him back there returning kickoff. I think we've got some good stuff dialed up to maybe help those guys get some good returns."
DAN ROUSHAR
On offensive line experience:
"It's been really good and yet there's been challenges with just getting guys to be comfortable playing next to each other. I would say the addition of Derrick Graham has been a super positive for us. He’s got a really high football I.Q. He’s played a lot of snaps. He played in the Troy system. The language is a little bit different, but much of what we’re doing is very similar to what he did. He’s really had a good camp. Getting Vinny in there has been a big part of what we've done, and certainly having Caleb (Thomas) in a position to back him up and rotate in there, those guys have done a really good job as well. Vinny has a really high football I.Q. as well. He's got a great passion for it. He leads and directs very well, and Caleb's done all the same things. And then it's getting Rashad (Green) back here the last couple weeks. He missed a lot of time in the spring (all of it) due to the medical situation he was in (labrum surgery), but I've seen a lot of grown in the last couple practices and expect him to be back to full form here shortly, so I'm excited about that group going out there together."
On importance of getting Graham:
"it was big. I’ve been so impressed with his transition. He’s been really willing to adapt to techniques and things we’re trying to get done in our communication. He's picked it up from the very beginning. He was here the entire summer, so that helped him grow in the system, but getting him was big because Trey was really playing well for us and it was very unfortunate (his season-ending knee injury near the end of spring). I expect him to make a full recovery, and next year he's going to be a heck of a player."
On young backups:
"Its really an interesting room. We have I would consider four veterans, guys that are seniors playing in what would be their last year. Derrick has the ability to have another year, so you have all that experience there, and then there's just a significant drop. It goes to all either true or redshirt freshmen in this room. It's a very talented group, but like young kids, every day is a new learning experience for them, and I've seen a lot of growth with them. It's concerning because here we are, a week out from playing the first game, and they're still freshmen. You don't know what they're going to do in a live situation until they are put out there, but I like the group a lot. It's very talented as a group. There's a bright, bright future with this group."
On breaking down the pecking order among the backups:
"Darion (Reed) and Dom Steward have been getting reps on the right side, and Reese Baker, a true freshman, has been backing up at the left tackle. We have some other players we can expand in that role if we have to, but right now for continuity and consistency, lining up at the same position practice after practice you can start to see improvement. It's really challenging for a player to go from left to right. That's not an easy thing. Communication's different. Technique's different. There's a lot of things that go into that."
On Caleb Thomas:
"He would go in first at center or guard, and quite frankly he's had the type of camp that I consider him a starter. He'll play and he'll contribute. We're going to need every one of those guys, and he's had an outstanding camp. He's really done a great job."
On Landry Cannon and Jayce Mitchell:
"Landry's growing. I would say Jayce is like a lot of the freshmen. Every day you see some improvement. Probably not going to press him into action yet, but he continues to grow. Elijah Baker has a chance to contribute as a true freshman, as does Reece, and them Dom Steward, the nice thing is we got him here last spring, so he's familiar with what we're doing and he's going to have a bright future as well."
