Rich Rodriguez Coastal Carolina Preview

All right, well, I gotta ask, uh, he gonna give us any hints on the depth chart or Yeah, I think uh, you released one mike Later this afternoon depth chart, uh If you're asking for certain positions uh or You know, there's there's some oars on there, but uh, yeah, we released that i'm Again, it's a little more anxious because we have so many new guys that even though a lot of them have played some College football they haven't played in this system. So Let's probably add them to the anxiety a little bit, but i'm anxious for those guys. They've worked hard We got a hard week coming up to get ready and and we'll see what we have You said there are a lot of oars on there as a coach. Is that good? You got guys that you think can play multiple guys or bad? That's a good question. You hope it's I think mostly for it's in a good way if you have it or because you're not sure either one of them are ready to do That that's that that makes it a little bit uh Not so good, but I think most of our oars that may probably all of them are because we feel good about You know multiple guys at those positions. I think we're a deeper team We're sure than we were a year ago and if if they're the right guys, which I think there was I was saying on a call earlier today that You know, we'll have the experience coming back Not just next year for the next couple years because we don't have as many seniors So that's you know, we'll always be a big developmental program and and I think we have the right guys And we'll keep adding to it next year. But to having this two years in a row this many turnover Do this much turnover in your rosh is kind of crazy And I don't nobody wants to go through that again But I like our team and the way they've worked and and I think they're ready to play a game Any run-ins with ryan beard or ties of their staff like through the no, not really. I mean, uh Uh, I guess coach patrino know him a little bit and so obviously that you know Their family what they've done in their his history and with his his, uh, son and son-in-law there So you could get a little bit of an idea maybe what they've done in the past but at the first game is You know, you'll you'll find out early in the first quarter or so exactly how their attack is going to be on both sides Really fun to watch what do you what do you kind of mean by that? Yeah, I think that there's uh, there's guys that have experience so you think that they're going to be guys that that's going to carry over Uh, I think we've got uh exciting skill players on offense You know, we have some explosive guys on defense I think our overall team speed is a little higher on both sides of the ball as well And and I think they'll really play hard. I think you know Again, we'll learn a lot in the first and in in You know in the first game probably more than any game we play simply because there's so many new guys playing But I think they've earned the right to play a game and have some fun on saturday so today's practice tomorrow's practice thursday's easy friday's a walk through and a saturday we wake up and And uh in a great atmosphere and let them have some fun How close did you get to your target number Oh ask me that, you know four o'clock on saturday, you know, I but I don't want to put all that on one game I I just I felt I felt after camp that hey this uh, This team is coming together pretty good. I felt that You know, there were a couple days. I didn't think we practiced really well Um, and so that goes you make makes you nervous again Our little dry run beanie ball that we had friday. I told the team, you know, I did I think it was You know, I couldn't judge anything but that's because it was so scripted that it was just really hard to play football So that I didn't feel comfortable after that but you know our guys for the most part have been Very receptive to all the stuff we've asked them to do and we've asked them to do a lot. I mean it's uh You know, it's a challenge when you have so many new guys to have them gel and you don't have as much time with them As you as you like i'd like i'd like to have a three-week camp but we only had a two-week camp, but You know, our guys have been around all summer We've we had a handful guys that joined us in the summer, but most of these guys have been here since january so we've worked a long time together and As I said, the staff is anxious for our players to have some fun how do you Judge kind of the intangibles going into week one game in terms of their their mental fortitude and things It's going to obviously be a big atmosphere pat white, etc How can you judge if someone's ready for that? And then will that will you be able to even judge during a game that someone's not ready? You got to switch it up I think uh the only way to do it is And again, my experience as a head coach is that you try to put some under pressure in practice to have a certain kind of practice intensity Particularly on tuesdays and wednesdays that that our guys have to focus so the game becomes I don't want to say easy but easier because of that and that's when all you know, I You know guys have been to our practices. It's it's you know It's no joke. I mean we don't go long but when we go we go and there's a certain level of intensity and focus and concentration that everybody in the program has to be at when we practice and I'm the same way when practice is going on. I don't know what's going on in the outside world, you know All of our focus is on that very next play or rep whatever we're doing at practice And so that that's always helped throughout the years that knowing our guys are gonna You know be under that. I don't want to say pressure, but that kind of intensity in practice and it should carry over to the game I know you brought in a lot of experience Uh, and we're looking looking for that but everything everything and you're high on it But everything that I've ever learned was that it takes a couple years for a lineup Match How do you how do you how are you gonna jump ahead? Yeah, you gotta accelerate the process and coach tricket has done this for a long time, but nobody has done it in this day and age of college Athletics when there's so much turnover all the time. And so even though a lot of these guys have played together You know, you know, that's the one unit that all five guys got to be on the same page all the time And coach tricket does a great job with them You know a couple guys that have played in the system guys coming from last year and nick and landon But also bubba grayson and cam griffith that's helped because they've they've been in games in our system before But it's it is I think we'll be a lot better football team You know in five weeks than we are in this week And but I think that's always should be the case, you know, and the more you guys play together if you stay healthy That's a big key. If you stay healthy, you'll continue to grow and get better and and but we didn't want to You know, we had to accelerate the process bob We had to get them all ready for this weekend and we got two more practice three more practices to get it going with those guys, but I think they're ready. They'll be ready to play a game How fluid is your plan from tuesday to fridays on an opener? Does it? fluctuate much it We try not to because they're always doing inevitably There'll be plays that we run in a game that maybe we didn't practice for a week or two Simply because this is how they're playing this and this is the answer to what they're doing but Uh, you you know, you have enough of a master plan and enough of a menu That you should be able to have answers to what they're doing But you'll find out a lot in the first couple series because you don't really know for sure They don't know for sure what we're going to do either So, you know in the first game you find out a lot of stuff and you guys got it You got it. You can't panic. You got to relax and say listen. Everything is Going to be okay, and it's just 11 guys. It's checkers not chess. So we try not to overload our guys with too much stuff Uh, whether it's this week in practice or or during game day But inevitably you got to have answers to certain problems that they'll give you Yeah, they're very they're going to be very well coached they very rarely give up big plays or easy cheap ones You know, they're going to be in the right spot all the time You can tell that by watching their games and their scheme and what they're doing Uh, you don't really know, you know what they got some really good football players You're not really sure where they're going to be lined up all the time So that's that's a little bit of challenge doing that and then offensively they could you know Be a whole lot of new stuff that we have not seen that coach alley hasn't seen and he's really good at adjusting stuff But in the first half, that's that's the biggest challenge that we face on defense Special teams probably more more so because you don't practice that live a lot And so that that's usually you're guesstimating how your guys are exactly going to perform So that's probably the biggest worry from that standpoint, but also You know, even though a lot of these guys may have played somewhere else most of them They're playing for the first time in in our stadium With our crowd and so they're gonna be excited They're gonna be a little nervous And so I want them to kind of get that out of the way in a hurry and just play ball They have i've you know coached the same way I have in the last, you know 40 years um and 29 as a head coach, you know trying to you know, it's You know Make our guys feel a certain level of intensity a certain level of focus and it's been really good at times And sometimes not as good as I want But if you've asked me Every team i've ever coached that's probably been the same answer going to the first game like sometimes in camp It's been really good and sometimes it's maybe not as good as I like so I don't never had i've never had a perfect one. I've never had one. That's really bad. No one's overly good So somewhere in between but these guys have been honestly, I think I told these they've been very very conscientious, you know as far as paying attention and and And correcting mistakes and and being aware of what we want to do And and so it's been a very coachable team to this point, which has really been Really neat to watch especially when you have so many new guys that are so eager to learn and and learn our stuff So it's been a been a good group to coach Well, just if they made a mistake on today will they make the same mistake tomorrow or if they made a mistake on that day everybody that position learns from the same Same kind of deal and that's that's part of teaching that you know, I want all our guys, you know, sometimes You know, i'll probably yell too much But sometimes when I yell it's because not just for that one person to understand what to do But everybody at that position or everybody that has that potential role Understands, you know how to correct or how to play and and like I said, these guys have been very coachable I've been i've been really enjoyed it. It hasn't been drama, you know any kind of drama Which is you would expect with I don't know how many new guys we got It's going to be a little bit of drama here and there It really hasn't been and so that's what's made us they made me feel good that they're going to keep progressing Speak to what beard went through like what is it like transitioning a team from the fcs to the fbs? Yeah, I think there's uh, you know, there's really good footballs everywhere the guys that you know When i've coached at jack state and we transitioned up and what you find out those guys kind of have a chip on their shoulder and want to prove themselves and there's a lot of really good football players, so You know, I can remember we were jack state and played south carolina, south carolina And we had a chance to beat them at the end our guys thought from the from the jump that hey, we you know, we could play with these guys and competed and and And uh about pulled it out. So there's there's really good football as coastal's got a lot of really good football players No from guys, they're returning and some guys they brought into the portal and uh, they've got great facilities a plate we've played up there they got a man brand new, uh indoor facility got good coaches and so It's it's not like you know, uh, we could go down there and mess around play poorly and win We're gonna have to play well to win the game and our guys know that you know, we we've talked about it before We'll talk about it more this week As you checked out some of the missouri state stuff, did you see things that You could relate to like what it's like going up a level and hey, this looks yeah They did a great job to go their first year. They were the first year in in fbs last year and made a bowl game and Had an experience at a jack state. We knew how difficult it was I mean, it's it's hard because you're playing against all of a sudden teams that are deeper rosters and You know a little bigger a little faster and stronger and they they uh, they're very close to winning the league last year And they had a lot of close ball games and Very easy could have won conference usa Uh, but they did get in a bowl game So we're you know, I got a lot of respect for the coach beard and his staff and what they've got put together down there coastal How much does having more depth this year which you've talked about repeatedly? Benefit you even schematically or even what you can do with the depth chart or roster or if something doesn't go well in one game You can switch it up on an easier tip than if you don't have the depth. How big of a deal is that? Well, I think just judged on last year We saw what happened our running back situation our quarterback situation and the wide out I mean the depth got tested way too early And you hope you never have to go through a year like that again, you know So we know you know the depth and you know the game start right now but hopefully our our depth will be a quality depth and I think that was part of our Focus when we were bringing guys into portal or signing guys out of high school but it's uh, you got to have a little luck, too, you know, and you hopefully you don't have two years in a row where you have you're playing four or five quarterbacks or five or six running backs and You can't avoid it, you know, and it's sometimes it's just bad luck. But you know, we'll hope for good luck this year Pat white talked about how do you feel how close he feels the team is this year? Can you speak a little bit to how you feel this team is bonded and how that will impact you? Yeah, I think it always you always want a team that bonds together and again these guys are most of them are so new so I think they'll bond over time even better like throughout the season and the next year and a year after that because a lot of These guys have more than just one year coming back. They get two or three or four So i'm excited to see how that That goes but they've done a good like I said further. There's not been any drama. They've been a good group and sometimes when you go through tougher stuff, it's not like our Our camp is that hard but when When you get challenged a little bit whether it's practices or workouts and you go through hard stuff together It bonds them a little bit and our guys have done that we've told them from the start. We're going to coach you hard We're going to be demanding and and you're going to make through it be your be a better player because of it but also be a better teammate and I think Our guys do like each other. I think they've Enjoyed making each other better, you know, the practices have been You know really good really competitive Offensive and defensively, you know all camp and all spring And I know they're anxious to play against somebody else And this is that's the big thing is like golly all this practice against each other They're anxious right now to play against somebody else Watch any of the week zero games and if so, did you watch it as a coach or as a fan? I wish I could watch it as a fan Inevitably you watch it then you start looking at schemes and what they're doing and and like making notes and and what have you I do, you know, that's uh I'd rather just watch the game as a fan. I want everybody to lose but us and that doesn't happen I say everybody well everybody we play want them to lose but uh, it's um It's it's that that was the only good thing about some of those so many midweek games I was coached it before that if you won the midweek game boy, saturday saturday was like gold because you watch everybody else suffer, you know, I mean, but uh, it's uh, that's a good part of early kickoff noon game if you happen to win then you can enjoy saturday night a little bit There was games where there was a lot of mistakes and you know things was that going through your mind too? Oh, yeah, there's yeah, you're taking notes down I was like, ah, they look at this this this one particular situation costed team or whether it was a penalty or what have you? and so you can use them as teaching moments and our guys watch it too, but every Our coaches I think all are all my coaches are probably the same way if they saw something in a particular game That's a teachable moment. You got to You can't you can't ever just if you're a college coach You can't I don't anybody ever watches a game just to enjoy watching the game. I think you're watching it, you know analytically and You know taking notes Yeah, one one play one moment one conversation anything like that that stands out in your mind it sums up what that was Yeah, there's been so many bob. I think the uh I can remember The sugar bowl you know that was playing the sec and playing georgia and we had pat was a redshirt freshman stevie was a true freshman we had a lot of young guys and uh You know throughout the way. I was a little nervous like okay now the game was moved to like a home game for georgia and they all this sec got stuff and they got experience and And all that kind of stuff and and I can remember during practice that week. It was almost like Uncanny how dialed in the guys were I don't know if they made a single mental mistake all week And I remember even the day of the game I was like a lot more nervous than pat was and pat I can remember going pat like You ready and he could tell I was a little nervous. He's like coach. We're good You know, I mean he was just as calm as can be couldn't wait to get out there. There was no anxiety whatsoever And he play lights out. So it was kind of like this guy's a redshirt freshman playing in this big arena and He kind of calmed my nerves that a little bit uh going out there and doing what he does You have any uh thoughts ahead of the jersey retirement this weekend on just what it means to you to be able to honor Pat white that way and what it means to the program. Yeah, that's a great honor You think about that's one of the greatest honors any athlete could ever have at the universities have you've done so well there that they wanted to put your retire your number forever and not just as a An athlete but who you met how they met to the program and everybody gets their Their their number retired probably made an indelible impact on that program, you know for decades and that's what patrick did I mean he he made an impact while he was here, of course, but he's made an impact where people still talking about it You know 20 years ago, you know 20 years later. They're still talking about what what he did and his teammates did so that's that's the neat part about me to watch it because I know what kind of person he was and He was always about he was always to that day and to this day he was always about the team first and what what What what do I need to do to have west virginia have success? So i'm really proud of it On your radio show you mentioned that you're going to switch from coming out from the weight room behind the goalpost tunnel What kind of went into that decision? And you know, what is that more of like for the fan experience with the the time? Yeah, I mean, I don't like I didn't write that wasn't like something I had to thought or stress over You know, I mean it's like hey, you know somebody recommended like hey, why am I coming out of the tunnel? I'm like that's kind of neat you know, it's like the gladiators the old days they come out of the tunnel and you didn't see them until they Stepped into the arena. I always kind of thought that was pretty neat and uh, then my daughter raquel she got a great idea of putting the the tunnel cam in there and had the camera so the fans can see the guys walking in the tunnel and Uh, I think the guys like it. You're still going to have the the fire and you know, the band lead us out so it'll be fun that way and Kind of be go back to that tradition of of being gladiators coming out of the huddle out of the tunnel I should say john brought up week zero and a lot of these rules that you've been talking about all off season got past recent of The schedule change and then even now having otas as extra practices as part of spring so your thoughts on how that maybe will even impact your recruiting or how you plan for next year and All of that because you kind of got your wish and some of these rules well, you can see it coming For the american football coach association, which i've been closely involved with for years, you know It makes some suggestions the last couple years about getting more to like a pro model From a practice standpoint having some practices in june And you know not as many in the spring and so I knew it was coming down Most coaches knew it was coming down. That's that makes sense because most of our players are here So if you get a few practices in june now, june's already a hectic month because recruiting So the calendar ain't completely fixed because you know pro guys are having mini camps in june, but they ain't recruiting, you know We're still recruiting and bringing on official visits on so I think there's there's still some work to be done Uh, I don't think the major problems in college football is not the calendar even though that could help It's all the other stuff. It's the salary cap. It's nil. It's the tampering. It's uh, The court rulings and all that kind of stuff that's crazy creating the chaos. I think the practice structure is everybody can agree on A couple of players at least the roster late last week. I don't know how long they've been practicing but little insight another punter safety from illinois Yeah, we got brought a couple athletes in they're young guys, uh that we think got a chance to play we still have Uh a spot or two That we could we had a school start tryout. We still have a spot maybe to bring a guy in Uh, some of the guys that have tried out and we may do that. We're kind of waiting Uh to get through this week before we determine that part of it, but we're always on the look for players you know now we're not looking at nfl rosters right now or or any guys are you know that just got cut, you know, I guess they just all had to make their cuts, but it's uh Um, it's certainly hectic to be thinking about what's going on but You got to control what you can control and I like our team right now I'm, not trying to trick you here, but you put together too deep and you're going to have it out in a couple hours um Are there players positions that you feel? Good about or even better about now having gone through all this and you know You can actually you can speak freely not worry about them and say hey these guys are going to be out there They're going to be good. They've proved themselves and they're ready to go So what's the question? Sorry? Yeah, just anybody that has Gotten your attention that you know We're going to see on saturday and beyond that has made the most of camp that you can say. Hey these guys That's a fair question. But this uh But it's hard for me to just zero in on one or two because i'll leave out somebody and I don't want to do that Without looking at the whole roster you know our my challenge to the guys In spring ball and then five weeks ago or four weeks ago when camp started saying don't be concerned where you're at in depth chart Just show that you're good enough to win with That we can play you and not be nervous that you know how we It diminishes our chances to have success. So I think they've done that, you know, I didn't see guys like worried about who's first or second out there In fact, we've had guys that are on that been on the scout team The last three or four days that have done a great job to the point where I said listen You're gonna you're showing us enough on the scout team And now you got a chance to maybe play On the other side of ball for real on offense or defense and so that part it was really good There's a couple others i'm trying to motivate they got to go they pick it up But there were a couple guys that didn't pout when they got on the scout team Had really good practice that showed us that maybe we can play them this year And they did that in practice. So, uh, i'm really proud of them for that Okay. All right. Thank you