Spring Day 1: Sumlin, Jackson open the proceedings

Kevin Sumlin

On the energy on day one…

"I thought the energy was good — it’s been good. We’ve changed up the offseason a bit and done some things differently from the beginning this year. I’ve been really pleased. We’ve got a lot of young guys and a lot of guys that had a little success playing and I think they understand what we have to do to get better. They’ve been pretty critical of themselves and we’ve been honest with them as coaches, so the energy level has been good. We’ve got enough veterans here that understand some things, anytime you have that and have some new blood with new players and three new coaches, there is always some new energy."

On what he expects from Dave Christensen…

"He’s always been a guy that has been adaptable. You watch the transformation at Missouri to a really open scheme once he became a coordinator and was really effective. As a head coach he was a little different at Utah. He’s well versed in offensive football and line play, whether it is from a run game standpoint with running backs, one back, two back, quarterback run, he’s been efficient in all those areas. We’re looking to get better and there is no doubt that his experience schematically and physically will help us. He brings a lot of experience to this offense and maybe a different way of looking at things, which is always good."

On players being limited by injury…

"There’s a bunch of guys, we had a number of surgeries. There are guys that are out completely for spring. The question would be, why are we going spring this week? Based on the time they wouldn’t have been here at all. For us, it gives us roughly seven or eight weeks before of lifting. Really, we had a couple weeks in January and the whole month of February to be around our guys after Signing Day as coaches and players to get things going. Now, I know we stretch spring ball out as long as we can, couple weeks before spring break, take spring break off for those guys who might have twisted ankles and bruises, you still have a chance to get that guy back for a week or two with spring break.

"We have a number of guys like Mike Matthews who are out for the entire spring. Otaro Olaka, guys like that. What that does, is it gives us the ability to put some other guys in there. Who is going to be a backup center, what’s the rotation on the line? Josh Reynolds is another guy who had shoulder surgery, played all last year with a hurt shoulder. We knew about it during two-a-days but he elected as a tough guy to do it after the season and what did he have, 13 touchdowns? We know what he can do, too. It is going to give guys like Ratley and Christian Kirk, some of these young guys — we talk about Ricky and Speedy, who were high school quarterbacks — we’re going to get more reps of playing wide receiver and the technical part of it because of some of these guys being hurt."

On how Kyle Allen handled being the lone guy…

"I asked him that during stretches, 'Are you going to take spring off?' Every now and then he looks at me with that face like he doesn’t like me. I don’t see him doing that — he isn’t built that way. He wants to get better. I think him ending the season as MVP of the bowl game was good for him, from where he came in his first start. The way he’s wired, he isn’t just going to sit there, he wants to be great. That is one of the things that made him one of the top guys in high school. He understands what he’s worked on in this short offseason, a lot of explosive work, foot quickness and that next step of understanding conceptually instead of just play wise what is going on.

"There is a lot of things he can do, not just in here (the indoor field). This process started with him when he got back. The meetings we’re able to have in the offseason is one of the things, but when quarterbacks run the non-coaches 7-on-7, that is another part of developing leadership that he has been able to do for the last few weeks."

On the primary contenders at left tackle…

"Germain Ifedi is going to get a shot at it, he’s earned a right to do that. Avery Gennesy, that is one of the reasons we brought him here. He was one of the top guys in junior college. I’d say those two guys are the top guys. Koda (Martin) is a guy that will eventually be a great player here. He’s still a freshman. This will be a great spring for him. We have a number of guys here that we feel good about and the ability to move guys around. With Jermaine Elumenaor mainly working inside at guard, he’s about 325, big strong guy. He and Avery Gennesy were probably the two highest recruited JC linemen in the country this year. We’ll see what happens, its day one.

"Myles' (Garrett) back tightened up. The harness is a GPS deal; we’ve got some sport science going on with that, that is a whole different deal. We’ll see who the left tackle is and if he can block Myles every now and then. We’ve got a good guy to evaluate off of."

On Koda Martin getting reps at center…

"Little bit, he’s athletic enough and a team guy. He’s 290 something, runs like the wind, he’s a smart coach's kid. I’m not saying that’s what he is going to do, but we have a number of guys that we are playing around in there. We signed a really good high school center, but he won’t be here until June. Here’s a guy that who is 290, probably 300 when he gets here. It’ll probably be the same situation as Mike, where if he doesn’t redshirt, he plays as a back up center so a year from now so he won’t be completely green."

On Aaron Moorehead’s energy so far…

"It’s been really good. I saw him kind of showing off today. It wasn’t a complete route but it was a drill and I said, 'Wow, that looks pretty good.' If I said that, I’m sure the players did too. We were looking for a guy that was, number one, a technician. A guy who could help our guys take the next step from a technique standpoint and understands the game from that position. I don’t think you could get a better guy. That was the way he played at Illinois, undrafted free agent, just made the team and ended up with a Super Bowl ring. Here’s a guy that displays work ethic. I think our guys understand that, 'Here’s a guy that worked his way into being a super bowl champion and knows what it takes to develop and play at the next level.' I think that gives you instant credibility. The route that he went to achieve what he has achieved, he gets an open ear right way with that.

"He’s a little bit younger, so he is able to see through some things that other guys can't. He has some great energy too. All three guys have been great additions. It’s like I said, when you get new players and coaches, there is great new energy. Not just today, but I think it will carry through to the spring."

On having John Chavis…

"It is great. He has been excited since he has been here. We’ve had a lot of great conversations. We were standing out there today and looking around at the white helmets and he said, 'Coach, I can’t tell how excited I am about today.' I said, 'I can’t tell you how excited I am, too.' It’s good. Pace at practice today, we changed it a bit today, a teaching pace. At the end, before I could say anything, he said, 'Coach, that was good but we can go faster, don’t worry about that.' I said, 'Alright. Be careful what you wish for, we can go really fast here.'

"We’ve got new concepts and are just trying to get better as a team. Fundamentally, there are some things we are doing that make sense. He brings a lot of experience, not just in this league but overall. Right now, it is one of those situations where guys are learning a new defense. We’ve got a couple days before we scrimmage, so we’ll see where we are, but right now I’m really pleased with the energy."

Larry Jackson

On the focus of the guys during offseason…

“The new comers are doing really well. I think about the JUCO transfers that just got in here: (Damion) Ratley, Claude George. Those guys are doing really well, real strong, put together really well, and getting after it every day. The freshman, Christian Kirk, he just walked out of here doing a lot of extra work. He’s doing great. You can tell he’s the workhorse that he said he was. So it’s really exciting to watch him and see where he’s going to go. I’m thinking about Richard Moore; he’s doing really well, young guy, just trying to learn all the rules of college, that kind of deal. Those guys are looking really good.

"Some of the vets that are kind of rolling through this deal: Jermaine Eluemunor, Avery Gennesy, looking really good. Jermaine is really strong, might be the strongest guy on the team. He had an offseason to come in here and not have to get right in the fire, so that’s making him really step up and really be a leader. Alonzo Williams is really stepping up taking on his leadership role. Ricky (Seals-Jones) is doing a really good job stepping up. So, I’m really excited to watch him and see what he’s going to do.”
 

On the offensive side having to step up as leaders…

“I think it’s huge. We have a lot of leaders. They just need to have the opportunity to lead and have us in some instances teach them how to lead. The guys absolutely want to do it so it’s really exciting to train those guys and watch them kind of gel each day together and get better together. It’s been fun. We have been having a good time in there.”
 

On this season compared to previous years…

“We’re always looking for leaders, that’s the biggest thing, guys that are going to step up when things are rough. When things are going great it’s really easy for everybody to be excited and be in it. I’m as excited about this class and what we have going on as ever. I’m really excited about the direction we’re going in. There’s a lot of energy in the room. There’s problem more energy, or at least just as much as the first year that we got here. So that’s exciting to see that much energy in the offseason workouts knowing we’re going to grind like that.”
 

On what the biggest change is in the weight room since practices have started…

“Now we’ll focus more since we don’t have a lot of time. We have to obviously devote more time to practicing what they came here to do. We need to make sure that we hold on to our strength while we’re in the middle of spring ball. The time is short, the number of lifts kind of goes down a little bit, but the intensity of the lift and how much weight they are lifting is going to increase so that we can hold that strength. We can kind of make a shift a little bit while we still hold on to that strength because they’re getting the rest of it while they’re playing ball.”
 

On easing injured players back into workouts…

“Each guy is individual. We have a protocol. They let me know who can go, at what time, and that’s pretty much how we flow. Once they come back in, they know when you get back in front of me its 100 percent go and if you can’t then you’re not with me yet. We don’t want to injure a guy that’s just been released by doing something that he can’t handle so we kind of have to roll with it that way.”
 

On Kyle Allen coming back for his second year…

“Kyle has a lot of energy. The guys really enjoy working for Kyle. Kyle really pushes himself. He pushes other players. He has a big smile. You can tell he’s loving what he’s doing. He’s loving the role that he has here. When you have a freshman that played the way he did. He’s making plays and he’s smiling. He doesn’t have that deer-in-the-headlight look. It’s easy for the players to get behind him and really rally with us. So, they really want to play hard for him. Not to mention, all the receivers, you better work for him or otherwise you won’t get the ball. We have a lot of receivers so you better eat.”
 

On players changing with new coaches…

“Oh, absolutely. If you’re on defense and you just got a new DC, you’re flying around here right now because you get to basically start over again. Him and Coach Sumlin will make the final calls on who is out there. So, if you’re a guy and you’ve kind of been in the shadows and you step up and he doesn’t know who you are, I know if it was me I’d be flying around trying to put people on their back just so I could get a look. I’m really seeing a whole lot of that with these guys out here and they’re really excited. They’re flying around having a good time.”