Spring Ball: Sumlin, Manziel, McKinney meet media after Day 2

HC Kevin Sumlin

On Johnny Manziel getting insurance for the 2013 season…

“He’s not the only player that does that. There are plenty of players that do that.”

On how many members of the team are insured…

“Last year, more than you think. There are not a dozen people that need it, but that’s not public information. You would have to go through and ask them. I talk to players all the time about different issues in their personal lives, and there are guys that for whatever reason feel like being protected for their interests professionally. There are ways to do that through the NCAA, and like I said, there are probably more people than you think that have done that over the course of the last few years. There is nothing wrong with that.”

On giving Manziel advice, post-Heisman Trophy…

“You talk to a lot of those guys that were at the Heisman ceremony. I’ve told the story a bunch, Tony Dorsett said that he’ll notice it when he goes downstairs and someone opens the door for him. Your life is forever changed and for me to tell him a lot, or for anyone else to tell him a lot, it’s kind of hard because no one has really ever been in those shoes. All we can do is give him advice. We have a great support system here for him and great communication. You can tell people whatever you want, but very few people have had that experience. There are a lot of people that would like to say what they would do in that situation, but unless you’re him, handling it day-to-day is probably a little different than what you think.”

On what Manziel needs to improve on…

“Even he has probably talked about his ability in the pocket. He got better last fall all year. [He needs to improve] his overall knowledge of the offense, being able to move to a point where we can put more on him at the line of scrimmage, footwork and mechanics … just things that most guys that are young need to continue to work on to get better. As much as we talk to him, he’s as hard on himself as any of the coaches are. He wants to be great, and because of that, he’ll work at it. He’s very honest, we’re honest with him about what we see. He continues to work to improve, and just like any offseason, he can continue to get better at a lot of other things. Like I said, he’ll be the first to admit that.”

On the transition to Clarence McKinney as offensive coordinator…

“The transition went well if you go back and look at the bowl game. He knows the offense, he’s been with us for five years in this offense. Everybody sees things from a different perspective. Clarence obviously from being with us starting with Dana (Holgorsen) and Kliff (Kingsbury), he understands what we’re doing from a protection standpoint and a play calling standpoint. You start to get a personality, and I think players will start to get a better feel as we get through spring. We had the bowl practices, we had one game, and we’ve had two practices now. Every team is different from a personality standpoint because we have new players. We have a situation where we will know a little bit more about where we are offensively towards the end of spring, where we are on the perimeter with a bunch of new guys, particularly with Cam Clear coming in here we have two decent sized tight ends now and we’ll see where they fit in.”

On the practices thus far…

“Yeah, it’s not been too bad. Today was a little bit different because we put some more stuff in. It will be interesting on Thursday because we’ll be in full pads for the first time. I say it every year, but there will be guys that look pretty good these first two practices because we’re in underwear and then they will disappear for the rest of spring when we put pads on. I’ll wait until Thursday to really see what’s going on. You have guys that are in new roles. This time of year in the spring is really fun for coaches because in college football, you have guys that are moving from role or redshirt players to having it all heaped on them. With that comes a lot more responsibility, a lot more knowledge and a lot more pressure. You don’t know how guys handle that until we really start getting into spring football. That’s why scrimmage situations become so important. That’s why we go into the stadium and try to get in front of people and get the coaches off the field. We’ll see how that goes, but what I think we’re trying to do now is just really give them the basis of offense and defense and our special teams plan so that we can go to spring break and then come back with pads on and really hone in on what our young players can do.”

On the current recruiting momentum…

“It’s hard to say that it is a bunch of momentum. I think our guys are working extremely hard. We have had two junior days that have been successful. I think that right now where we are and the excitement around the program, we probably do have some momentum. But you know how that goes, too. It goes with a lot of hard work by our assistant coaches and the energy that is around the program now. You know how I am about recruiting, right now it’s all on paper. We’re fortunate to have seven or eight guys here now in this class. A lot of things will change before the first Wednesday in February of 2014, but based on how we closed out last year, I don’t look for it to change very much. I think our guys have done a good job of communicating our vision, our plan and where we are. I think a lot of guys are buying into that.”

“I was obviously impressed with Jake Spavital before he got here, otherwise he wouldn’t be here. He was with us at Houston and has done a great job at Oklahoma State and West Virginia. He’s from a coaching family and is able to communicate and work mechanically [with the quarterbacks]. I think you guys are out here for the first 15-20 minutes and you see the kind of mechanic work that he is doing with our guys instead of just general overall scheme stuff. That’s what this time of year is for. In the fall, you’re putting in game plans, but in the spring we have a really long individual period which all of our coaches are using. You can see how he has been able to really help develop quarterbacks all over the country.”

On the new recruiting rule changes…

“They haven’t been passed yet. There is some different language out there about overrides, there is some different language out there about what’s going to happen as far as mail-outs. There is different language about what’s going to happen between now and August or September. We have a plan in place for when we get a final word as to … the worst thing I think you can do is hire a bunch of people, and then oops, they changed the rule. Now what are you going to do? I think some other people are going to do it differently, but we’re not doing it that way. We do have a plan in place for the rule changes, and when we get a definite word from the NCAA in which direction we’re going to go and how far we’re going to be able to go, that’s when we will put that plan into action.”

OC Clarence McKinney

On his relationship with Johnny…

“My relationship with Johnny hasn’t really changed. I just let Coach Spavital coach him and Johnny and I just talk about off-the-field things. Hopefully I can give him some insight on growing up.”

On how he has settled into his new role as offensive coordinator…

“I’ve settled in pretty good. I’m doing things a little differently than some guys have probably done in the past. Every coach on the offensive staff has input, and then we all put it all together. It seems to work pretty good for us.”

On the smoothness of his transition…

“This’ll be my sixth year of installing this offense, so I’ve seen it, I’ve done it. It’s pretty natural for me right now.”

On the Cotton Bowl and calling plays for the first time…

“It was a great experience. We won the game, so that’s always pretty good. I’ve always been a part of them game plan, as well as the play calling. It just so happened that I got an opportunity to call all of the plays instead of just a couple.”

On if he saw the Cotton Bowl as an audition…

“I’ve been with Coach Sumlin long enough to know that whatever he does, he’s doing it because he thinks it’s what’s best for the team. I just looked at it as an opportunity for us to win game eleven. He sold the team on winning game eleven. Not a lot of teams around here have won eleven games. I just looked at it as an opportunity for us to win another game.”

On if he has had a group of running backs like he has now…

“These guys are all competitive. They’re very talented. We just hope we have enough balls for them. The good thing about them is they all bring something different to the table, so we’ll find things for those guys to do.”

On how he approaches the challenge of having enough balls to go around…

“Well, we’ve had a number of backs in the past. When we were at Houston, we played about three really, really good guys. Came here last year, we had an opportunity to play three guys. We got four guys right now. We’ll do some two-back stuff and we’ll do some things. Brandon Williams is a guy who is as fast as any receiver that we have, so we can move him around a little bit. We’ll make it work.”

On what off-the-field things he is worried about with Johnny…

“I don’t worry about Johnny. I just know that when Johnny’s on the field, he is, in his mind, he’s the best player on the field, and I like that mentality.”

On what makes Johnny so good…

“I think the big thing about Johnny is that he’s a winner. He does what it takes to win. Whether that’s drop-back, throwing the ball, or running with the ball, he does what it takes for us to win.”

On what Coach Spavital is like personally…

“I’ve known Spav for about five years. He’s a great guy to work with. He’s a little like Johnny. I think those guys kind of get along pretty well. We’re comfortable with each other because we’ve worked close together previously. He’s a young guy who likes to have fun.”

On how Coach Spavital is like Johnny…

“Because he’s a young guy and he likes to have fun (laughter)."

On how he thinks the players have dealt with the increased attention and expectations…

“I’m not sure how guys have really dealt with it. I’d rather be in the position we are now than in the position we were in last year. We would rather be on top getting hunted, so that means we’re always out front, as opposed to not being ranked and having to climb so far.”

On if the offense will look any different this year…

“The offense is going to look the same. We will probably be a lot more up-tempo than what we were in the past, if that’s possible. But we will have some tight end plays, because we have a couple guys that we feel comfortable with playing out there. We went out and recruited a guy who we think is one of the best in the country in Cam (Clear). He’s a big guy, he gives you an extra offensive lineman body, and he runs well, and catches the ball well.”

On how the new guys factor into the offensive line…

“Those guys are really learning a new position. We only have one guy returning that’s in the same position he was in last year, and that’s Jarvis Harrison. This spring we want to use as a tool for Jake (Matthews) to get comfortable at left tackle, Ced (Ogbuehi) to get comfortable at right tackle. Whoever our center and right guards are, we want those guys to get comfortable with making our calls and protecting our quarterback.”

“Every day is a competition at every position. We want those guys to compete and competition brings out the best in you.”

QB Johnny Manziel

On how it feels to be practicing again...

"It's good to be back. I think everybody has a lot of energy. They're ready to be back out here. It's better than lifting every day and getting into that same routine over and over again. It gets a little old for us, so to get back out there, throwing the football again, it feels good."

On his whirlwind offseason and then coming back to work...

"It's good to be back, doing what we all love to do. Everybody's been eager to get back on the field. That's what everybody loves to do. They love to do that more than lifting, running, all the bad stuff. It's good for everybody to be back out here."

On what he hopes to accomplish this spring...

"We need to get a lot better. We need to figure out what the pieces are, what you have with which guys. There's a lot of new guys coming in. Trying to play guys on the offensive line, defensive line we're missing some people. The first few weeks we'll sit here and try to evaluate and try to make sure we get everybody plugged into the right places. From there it's just trying to make sure we get better every week."

On questions about his NFL Draft ambitions...

"It'll just come with it, I guess. I'll try to answer it the same way I try to answer every time, that it's always been a dream of mine, but right now I'm very happy and very content where I'm at in Aggieland."

On whether he's reflected on the last few months...

"There hasn't been much time to reflect, it's all been going so fast. It's one thing to the next. Then you get time to say, 'Wow, what we did last season was incredible.' The Heisman and all the things we did as a team, once you sit back and really get to think about it, it's awesome."

On the changes on the offensive coaching staff...

"Coach Spav being there, we've started to bond a bit and get a really good relationship between me and him. That's big for us because that's what I had with Coach Kingsbury. [Spavital]'s really easy to get along with and he's a brilliant mind, so having him and Coach McKinney both at the helm of the offense will be good."

On what he has to do personally to get better...

"There's things I need to do throughout here and the summer. I took a little time off because I feel like the Cotton Bowl was just two weeks ago. So for me, a little time off, not throwing and not doing some stuff, [now] it's kind of getting back into the routine. We'll look at some stuff with Coach Spav film-wise and do that, then come out here and work on footwork, work on things like that to get better."

On being involved in controversies about his name and image, and whether he wants a share of the pie of profits off his name...

"Nah, the rules are the rules and there's nothing I can really do to change that. For me, I'm always more than glad to take pictures, sign autographs. I enjoy signing autographs for people if that's what they come up and ask."

On whether he'd sign an endorsement if it were OK by college rules...

"I think it's a tough situation and that's why it's how it is today."

On whether he has pursued an insurance policy now that he's draft eligible...

"In the process of doing it now. It's just a precaution. I think there's a lot of players out there that have done it in the past and you never know what can happen. Football's a dangerous sport, so you have to make sure you take precaution in that regard. My parents are doing most of it, along with A&M. I'm here to play football and go to school, so that's what I'm trying to do."

"I'm alright with it. It's part of what happened this year and how that went. For me, I'm just enjoying being back out here with my teammates, enjoying getting to spend time with them, not going anywhere anymore. And making sure everybody knows that."

On embracing a leadership role...

"It's big. I think to be at the quarterback position you have to be a leader, especially on the offense. Guys like Jake Matthews, Ced, Mike Evans and Ben Malena need to be there to help out as well. Especially on the offensive side of the ball, we feel like we really have that locked down leadership-wise."

On handling expectations this year...

"I feel like we're doing alright. We're still out here playing football and doing the same things we did last year. We didn't have a lot of expectations last year; there's a lot more talk this year. So it's just making sure we continue to do the things that got us where we are today."

On SEC coaches having an offseason to prepare for him...

"Coaches are going to scheme just like they always do. Some may have one game scheduled out of their calendar, but I highly doubt it. This was the same talk in the Cotton Bowl when they said they had a month to prepare, and that didn't really work out for them. So if they want three months, four months, whatever, we're going to be here trying to get better and trying to make sure we outplay them on Saturday."

On whether he has a different mindset this spring as the starter...

"It's different now only in the regard that I remember last year, once I got the starting job, I was kind of nervous, and every snap, every play I kind of felt like I had to continue to prove myself and do something. Until Coach Sumlin said, 'You've got the job, just relax and do what got you to this point.' Now I can relax, now I know that there's not really any competition or anything like that, but I'm still going to try to work on being better than everybody else."

On whether he wants to be in position to make the NFL decision next offseason...

"I'm not leaning anywhere. Whenever that decision comes, it'll have to sit there and you'll have to evaluate just like anything else you do in your life. Just like anything else you have going on in your life, if the NFL ... if you have the opportunity to go, then you look at it. But like I said, I love this place, I love Coach Sumlin and all my teammates here. I'm very happy with being in Aggieland for five, six, however many years I'm here. I'm not in any rush to make a decision like that. But if you have a decision like that, you have to evaluate it. You have to."

On the test he had coming up after practice...

"I'm going to take it, on campus (laughter). I'm going on campus right now. Getting ready to go do my test."