Coach Golesh Weekly Presser - Alabama

so three police people come to the press conference Saturday shows you how far this programs come big time at uh at rers all of a sudden he's flanked at the podium by Troopers that's when you know state trooper start coming around you you hadit the big time I missed the greato era i' gotten kicked over the news at that point you didn't miss a whole lot State troop name what's up guys forcefully open the water bottle so no memes all right all right guys um appreciate y'all being here um quick recap I feel like it was a month ago we played uh from Saturday night uh similar what I said Saturday night um awesome to get a bunch of guys to play awesome to get a bunch of guys opportunities to to show what they can do it was a big test for us to see what young guys Under The Lights we're going to be able to go kind of who can help us as we go here out of those freshmen that came in played a ton of guys thought from an effort standpoint um it was really really solid thought from a technique fundamental standpoint after you watch it there's a bunch to clean up offensively on the perimeter a bunch to clean up uh defensively just some small adjustment deals we didn't adjust well at times uh to some new pictures we got um but I thought overall from an effort standpoint really solid um it's going to certainly take that this weekend uh moving forward to Alabama uh obviously just got done with our Tuesday practice was hot muggy it was exactly what we needed to get ready to roll um you know I think for a lot of these guys uh to go into an environment like it will be Saturday night um will be really cool um um you know we were prepping for the crowd noise uh certainly prepping schematically you have one game on on these guys in terms of all three coordinators obviously new uh coming with the head coach schematically uh some Washington um some defensively you know a mix of of what you saw last week a mix of South Alabama mix of Indiana there's a bunch of different things that you're you're getting ready for you have a small sample size with uh one game Western Kentucky uh so it'll be it'll be challenging in that regard obviously a really good football team um this is my fourth year in a row seeing the same football team so it's been interesting to see him evolve uh quarterback is playing lights out as he did as he finished the year uh defensively uh very different schematically than what it's been three years in a row so a challenge there cuz it's new um offensively you know they do so much to get your eyes wrong and and uh really really solid running the football um and then pressure um put pressure on your secondary because they will take it take it vertically and have guys on the perimeter that can go vertically so um really good challenge very well coached team you could tell the just just like it always has been very well coached team um play really hard um have really good team speed and are certainly big so big challenge for us I'm excited to see where we go um you know I just told our guys at the end I told him the same thing yesterday um you know in in life you got certain amount of opportunities and if your preparation can meet those opportunities you'll have a chance to do something really really great and uh that's in ball that's in life uh if your preparation doesn't meet the opportunity you you will let an opportunity go and you got no idea how many you got um so I think they're excited um I think we're just so kneed deep in the prep right now kind of can't see the Force Through the Trees yet but we'll get a better feel as we get into Thursday and Friday of of what we look like so questions obviously your your key I think is to win the conference Championship that's job one that being said what does a game like this mean to what you're trying to do here in this program to have some success on a game like this yeah Joey I don't think our job is to win the conference Championship I think our job is to to build a program uh one that's sustainable over time and to be the best version of us every Saturday um if um if this is the next step in that then then that's what it is I I don't and I'm not minimizing it I'm not making bigger than it is our job is to have our football team ready to go on Saturday our job is to be the best version of us on Saturday um at the end of it the better team will will win and then Sunday the sun will come up and we'll we'll get ready for the next challenge whatever that is but and I'm not again not minimizing the importance of the game it's certainly important more important than anything we're still in the process of building our own process and what does it look like to get ready week in week out again I refer to a year ago we we won back-to-back games and then it all went to complete crap well right now we're trying to win back-to-back games and so um that's challenge number one when we get to conference play Then certainly uh winning conference games will be really important we got three more weeks of of non-conference games which is awesome because MK keeps scheduling really good games for us speaking of process I think most people presume your process is trying to be elite in everything you guys do is that the process is there more to it yeah I I think you're you're trying to constantly find the right balance of of everything in the program if you're talking about the the players individually then absolutely you're you're trying to be elite in every aspect of your life um and that's school that's ball that's personal life that that's what it looks like when you when you walk around how you present yourself um because I I truly believe and you've heard me say this before I truly believe when you when your process is right and you didn't cheat it in any way you've got Elite confidence uh you've got real authentic genuine confidence I think life is that way too um you know it it's we joke like there's football Gods know exactly what you're doing when nobody's looking uh always have always will and so that's what I mean in a in a player sense and in a coaching sense man like did we truly uncover every single Stone did we give our guys the every single resource imaginable to go be successful um and as a program and that's where my process comes in is am I overseeing the entirety of every single Department every single piece that touches our players is it right um and if it if it is then I should have confidence that we're ready to go in that same breath and so and there's so much that goes into it but that's what I mean by process I I think at the end of the day you have to you've got to go into every single opportunity with Elite confidence or you've got no shot and that's that's how you see lesser teams win all the time because one team is more prepared one team's process was better you don't control the outcome um and and I know I've said that before but I I think it's really really hard to believe especially when you're 18 to 22 man like you don't you your process could be awesome and that's what's great about football is your process can be totally awesome and you could be on it as coaches we could be on it but if half your team ain't doing ain't doing it the right way you got no shot and um and in in the same breath if your recruiting process is wrong you're you're not going to have the tools you need and your process could be as good as you want it to be if you don't have the players but um but it's just a continuous building of process within our program within our players to eventually have sustained confidence going into every game you're trying to get this program's process right like you said what is playing program like Alabama do to that process or do for it yeah I think it's a it's a really good test right it's a it's another measuring stick in where we are you know you look at a a program like Alabama Alabama has been the standard for man I don't want to diminish I I don't know 15 16 years it's been the standard of what Elite looks like what Elite recruiting looks like Elite facilities look like Elite fan base looks like funding uh the way that that those guys play and again it's four years of watching it going against it where you there's no mistakes in anything you know like it's really hard to trick them into something cheap on all three sides of the ball that's how you know it's elite um you know obviously a coaching change you look at like what that staff that's coming in there's there's a guy in kayin dor that's that's been this is his third head coaching job and all three places have well the previous two have either maintained or flipped to having a ton of success and certainly looks like well on their way through week one at Alabama so obviously there's somebody that's got their process right don't know but certainly looks that way from the outside and I'm not there so I don't know but that's to me what what it is it's that's the class of college football that's the elite of the elite and it's another test for us and I told our guys and I genuinely mean this at at Alabama's best are good to play with anybody in the country you've seen it for like I said I don't know 16 17 18 years I don't want to get misquoted on that at our best we could play with anybody in the country and I truly believe that if we're at our best so you hope Saturday night it's two teams at their best and then you see where we are how do you simulate you you talked about trying to prepare your players for the atmosphere and all that how do you simulate noise from 100,000 people and all the other stuff that goes on there yeah absolutely so you got crowd noise practice behind the offense and um and every play you're running is with that crowd noise the communication part of it that is is certainly a huge part of it um and so it's working through that those mechanics are built in they're built in through the spring built in through fall camp and now you're getting a chance to work the mechanics um and based on where you are on the field based on where you are in the game the best way to keep the crowd noise down is to is to be winning coach this week third down is going to be imperative not saying it's not imperative every week but your offense has to stay on the field and your defense has to get off because they're just going to get worn down on defense and your offense is going to get frustrated how important is it third down this week it's really important every week it's you answered your own question coach you didn't get a chance to play against Milton last year film is one thing but seeing him on the field is another how much of a disadvantage is that not knowing how good this guy is no I think you got a pretty good idea you got a bunch of film you got a playoff run SEC Championship game playoff run you got last week um so you get to see exactly what it is uh that's who we prepped for a year ago as well um but really really special talent um really smart football player gets gets him in the right in the right plays uh physically uh really impressive both as a thrower as a as a runner as well like really really good football player older veteran has been been through it um you know an offensive change which I think suits really well for him they're so multiple in what they do um I think you know very similar to what you were watching with penck at uh at uh Washington a guy that that has got a really live arm really accurate and then can create with his legs so um but you've got so much film on on Jaylen that that I don't know if it's any harder that or would have been easier if we played him last year super Talent though really fun player to watch I know um guys played a lot of people Saturday but is it accurate to say you didn't brandish much of your playbook kind of play play close to the best um we did um we did I think keep it simple um I don't know about brandish a lot of the Playbook um as much as tried to keep it simple you know offensively we wanted to go play Fast um and I think the simpler you keep it the easier it is to play fast we as as veteran as it seems like we are you know for like you think offensively that was Kelly joiner's first start at running back in in a long time that was uh abdur Rockman yasin's first start for us that was Josh hardman's first real snaps uh here ever in front of a crowd you know Michael Brown Stevens was so on and off a year ago injury-wise for him that was that was as complete of a a game as it could be you know so you want to keep it simple offensively Jack wilty that was his first time in our offense you wanted to keep it really simple I think defensively um you know how we matched up we were able to keep it really simple um because we knew we were playing a Tempo offense we knew we matched up in terms of guy for guy really well so you didn't have to do just a ton uh to get accomplished what we wanted to we were able to load the Box we were able to take air out of it in the in the pass game and so you didn't have to do a ton uh so I don't know if we did it super intentionally as much as it you felt like man game planwise if we just played really fast and executed our base offense like installed one offense that we were going to be able to move the ball cuz we could play really fast and then defensively I think just matchup wise what it turned out to be um we had more probably ready to roll but we you know we played there wasn't a whole lot of extended drives defensively to where you didn't have to you were able to get off on the field get off the field on third down Alex a nice clean night from special teams and the punt return in particular was strong Shan had a great night you were able to get TK in there a couple weeks ago you you mentioned that he's been working a lot on the punt returns and he had one real nice return so You' be very pleased overall but as it pertains to TKS he kind of right behind Shawn in the punt return uh should we say depth chart right now yeah he is you know we wanted to get to a situation in the second half where we can get him a return and the the return he had was I mean like he essentially created all of it keeps his feet he's gone um but yeah absolutely you know he he didn't return Pon at Bowling Green he's worked it like crazy here we wanted to get him some kick return work too fortunately we didn't have we didn't have a whole lot of kick returns which is really nice we had two on the night um but yeah absolutely you know it's he as he develops and you have more trust in him um like like to get him out there more and more and more Sean's just so knock on wood sure-handed and you feel comfortable with him that as we get return opportunities I think both those guys can go and the young man we're going to be speaking with shortly Deshawn if you could you know talk about you of course you known him from Tennessee and if you could talk about what he brings to the table in terms of Versatility and the defensive back field and what kind of a young man he is yeah Ruck um I met Ruck when his grandpa dropped them off on campus in Knoxville you know that was the co year so you didn't get we didn't get to see those kids until they got there which is kind of crazy um but Ruck you know I watch Ruck as a freshman there come in this track star that wasn't very strong but could really really run and play a ton as a true freshman uh and learned a lot of lessons as a true freshman got banged up and really spent three years when he was healthy made a huge impact defensively and on special teams when he was hurt he was as down as you can imagine and you know I think he got to a point where he just needed a fresh start like kept getting banged up and needed a fresh start and came in man put weight on physically has just grown knock on wood also has stayed healthy I think him and Gio um are are literally besties um and Conor our our dietitian like truly he's learned what his process needs to be to take care of his body um man it was awesome I came up to the corners um right during warm-ups and gave him a hug and he said man thanks coach I'm like dude thank you like it super cool moment I told my wife uh after the game I'm like man Ruck Ruck had himself a game Ruck said thank you for bringing me here and I'm grateful he came here but just honestly what college football is all about like that that relationship is super cool to me because here's a young man that that really needed a fresh start wanted to come home be close to home and is grateful for the opportunity and has taken advantage of the opportunity he's playing lights out he's made that whole room better um but like his energ it's the same it's the Freshman Ruck that I remember that um that literally just smile on his face bubbly all the time just geek to go play ball and I said said something to him and warm-ups to him like man like going back to Tuscaloosa dog he's like I know you know and he's he's he's one that his process is going to meet preparation he's going to have a hell of a night Saturday night starting against Salama I think in 2022 remember notes correctly seis notd in his head so you got about 60 % chance that it's right you alluded to Alabama's success consistently over time and we we've all seen it your kids have grown up watching it they're on TV all the time so as you go into this setting uh which can be larger than life to some do you seek to normalize it like this is football just calm this down or how do you just approach it where the eyes might be really big man that that's why I say the preparation part you know we're we're dealing with the crowd noise I I man I don't know if anybody's eyes are going to be big it's it's it's a cool opportunity um the dudes that are going to be on that plane are are ones that are going to be ready to ready to go I think it's like any Saturday I mean we play at Ray J to me every time I walk in there I'm like man how cool is this you look up there and Derek Brooks and freaking all those names I ring out like Warren Sab like man these dudes played here I guess they played at the at the old stadium but like how cool is that I so I think just like that like you go and and now you're on the road and you kind of soak it in for a second then you go man I I don't know if I don't know if anybody's eyes will be big I sure hope not your fans are wondering the status of Jaylen Schuler do you have an update yeah Shu um Shu we got some really incredible news on Sunday after the MRI he's he's um moving around um no Sur y uh rehab it out and the hope is to have them back here in the next couple of weeks um man um it won't be this week it probably certainly won't be next week but we're hoping uh Miami uh to lane somewhere in there uh and his his energy has been awesome he's super positive so nothing structurally crazy but obviously um a bad deal that like I said Sunday morning I was like whoa this is awesome news so he'll be back here within I would guess three weeks okay you talked about Rucker but you know there's a lot of new faces in the secondary that started and played a lot and you you know gave us a preview saying you can't wait for the fans to see these guys so uh you know do you feel like you've you've just added a considerable amount of ability back there with all these new guys I think so um I I think we've added some ability but we've also added some competition and depth at the same time you know you saw you saw Bren Austin opposite of Ruck thought he he's had an incredible Camp really had a great spring incredible Camp he's playing with a high level of confidence um you saw tavin Ward move to safety which we feel like is really his natural home I thought he played really well it allowed Barry Hill and him to rotate which gave us gave us a bunch of depth and those kept those guys fresh you saw tafi Bard I think his his best days are ahead of him he's a really special player but it allowed us to rotate him and DeMarco Augustin and um and Jaylen Stokes all three of those guys where everybody could just stay fresh like we haven't had that here uh in in the year and a half I've been here um you know it allowed us to then in the second half you saw AB come in um you saw uh chanal play which chanal is a freshman got a ways to go but man I think there's so much upside there then you saw dalen Platt play play like these young guys that are creating competition and depth I think just keeping bodies fresh is bigger than anything that we've had and you saw at the nickel spot kanwan Banks and and Jarvis Lee kind of rotating there and Jarvis coming off a hand but uh man I thought kanwan did a really good job um and then Jarvis came in and had a monster hit and created a bunch of energy there so like just depth if you can go too deep in the secondary especially when you're playing teams that'll that'll that'll shoot the ball vertically it's huge for us their freshman receiver Ryan Williams had two long touchdowns there night what what were your impressions of him as you watch the tape yeah he can run I know everybody can see that he could run out of high school too I mean man um long can run um really really really impressive we and it'll be a really good challenge but he can roll at two for two touchdowns and take the top off it'll be that dude's going to be a monster as he gets stronger and bigger and it's impressive let me know if you find one I will okay thank you coach awesome thank you guys good luck thank you thank you you ready back ride play Alabama for the fourth time9 y question for well I'll start it off then I don't know if you're a wrestling fan but Ric Flair says if you're going to be the man you got to beat the man well if you're going to be the best you got to play the best going into Tuscaloosa Big Challenge right yes sir when you look at Alabama on film what do you see I just see a unit uh defense-wise a unit that play hard chase the ball physical uh those type of things what I love man you know what I mean week out week out we got opponents that do the same thing these type of shows that that I like man I I enjoy playing these type of games man treat like no other week prepare the same keep my process the same if not perfected one more thing you're going to have a spotlight on you after you truck that guy last year I bet that in the Alabama film coach is saying that can't happen again how important is it you're going to be the center of attention that's kind of what you want is it yeah man I mean I don't mind it man all week I'm just preparing perfecting my process and when the opportunity come is going to come man thank you thank you um coach wanted y'all to play fast and physical last week did y'all keep it simple would you agree with that how simple did you keep it yeah I think we kept it simple uh so that we can go out there and play fast and physical uh we kind kind of didn't play as fast as we wanted to but it's week one you've been going against each other for a while you get a new opportunity to go against someone else so you kind of get away from your fundamentals so I mean everything now has settled in this week too and we in practice now so we we working our Tempo even more n what would you like to see maybe cleaned up from Saturday night going into week as the running back room man we need to make better decisions and keep our feet we got away from some some good runs man and if we just press it one more or keep our feet and finish the Run man from a running back as a whole running back unit different Alabama team you're going to be going up against and you did previously from the standpoint that coach sabin's obviously not there anymore uh I don't know have you given that any thought at all just a just to be a little maybe different looks and so forth than you were accustomed to saying no I actually didn't give it any thought man just the next opponent just continue to prepare perfect my process that's it um Nan we hear so much coach goish talks about process all the time you guys' process fans are a little cloudy on what it is how would you define usf's process that's an interesting question uh I would just say our process man taking it one day at a time and just one in a day that's really key for us one in a day don't Focus about tomorrow the next day Saturday Sunday just win a day like we try to win every day and once you continue to win every day in the end when Saturday gets here you have a great opportunity to be prep prepared for the opponent you feel like if you guys excel at your process you can play with anyone in the country no doubt I feel like as as we can as we prepare as a unit as a team that we can compete with anybody in a country all right a great one yall doing for anyone that's got questions Sean coach spoke about the relationship that you two had up in Knoxville can you talk about that relationship and how he's helped you get to this point in your career yes sir um it was a crazy relationship so I'll say I did commit to the previous staff before hype when goers got there and so they ended up getting released and fired and it just my spirit told me to stay I feel like we're going to get a good coaching staff and so the first coach I actually met when I got on campus was goish he was up there at the dorms so ever since then we were always tight even though he was the offensive coordinator then and I was on defense and he was always watching me he seen me play at Tennessee and things like that and so once I decided to get into the portal he was like my first call uh just saying like hey we got an opportunity here for you you can make the best of it and things like that so I trust him I've seen what he's done on the big stage and so I just believed in him and decided to come down here so our relationship is very good I can say that when you entered the portal was it a hope that you would come back to your home state or did that really matter at all it didn't it didn't honestly matter I was just looking for the best opportunity for me to see where I play and show my skill set on the field it just could incidentally happened just somebody I knew in coach goish came back home and that's really why I felt like it was the best fit for me to come home your first career start was at uh Alabama two years ago sir you have any feelings now that you're returning to Tuscaloosa or does it you know does it uh you get you thinking at all in that regard um honestly it's I just think it's a great game um I always know they go hard that's one thing I've learned so playing for 3 years I know we're going to get their best they always going to go out there and give our best to the fourth quarter so once I was at Tennessee IID say my first year there we were head tight with them until the fourth quarter my second year we were up 28 to 10 I Believe by the end of the fourth quarter they were up 4942 and then my last year there we were up 27 at halftime and they ended up winning the game 3520 so I know it's going to be a battle at the end of the day and they're just going to keep fighting keep fighting so that's why I just been preaching to the guys cuz you know they ask me how I feel about this game and I just say we got to go out execute and play at a high level that's really it so yes sir that's how I feel coach wanted y'all to play fast and physical Saturday that was his primary objective Playbook Playbook wise how simple did y'all keep it um I'll say coach did keep it pretty simple um Tio he loves to just see us fly around and things like that so he likes to see us be confident in oursel and just fly around have fun with each other and just Embrace each other on the so if we make plays on the field celebrate with your teammates that's the biggest thing we say so we flew around kept things pretty simple and just wanted to play ball have fun out there on Saturday so there are things in your scheme your game plan y'all haven't revealed yet uh yes sir I'll say that yes sir we got we got we got some things in our Playbook I love since I've been here coach Tio he showed me a lot of things I didn't know and just opened up my eyes in so many ways with defense so I'm just happy to be with him and just see how he plays the game and that's what coach roow and DVD as well they just open my eyes as a DB once I got here in the few months you've been here what have you learned about usf's process coach go pre process what is that to you right so um I feel like process the biggest thing is just seeing where we came from and just keeping our head on our shoulders so always just having a chip on our shoulders so I know like previously the program wasn't where it was at like I I can say that I wasn't here I don't know what happened but I know coming here I know the mindset goish has and it's to win and it's just to play the best ball we can so it's every day it's just getting better every day and it's nonstop like today he was on us like he's on us hard and it's not just because it's Alabama it's just because it's the next day and that's why I fully trust coach goess it's just he pushes us every day I'm going to use a wrestling analogy real quick sir Ric Flair says to beat a man you got to beat the man right Alabama's the man that's beon yes sir going in to play in Tuscaloosa it's a hell of a challenge right yes sir um I say they hold about 90 to 100,000 so it's a big crowd bigger than um some of the guys seen on the field but it's just opportunity for us to play I feel like when you go to college go to Big Time football this is what the games you look for so we're just looking for this opportunity preparing our best for this opportunity and just going out there having fun and biggest thing for both sides of the ball is communication we know it'll get loud in there we're expecting that dog fight so crowd's going to be into it it's going to be a lot of noise and things like that so just communication a big piece that we're Haring on you played in Tennessee 100,000 plus there right yes sir faton Rouge it's not a place to go Alabama there's some really tough places you've experienced that you can tell these guys what to expect can yes sir yes sir um like I like I said before they always come ask me like how is this feel how was this stadium and I just tell him like it's a big difference I can say that but honestly if we prepare and practice is it's nothing like we can go out there and just execute that's why I was harping on communication and things like that like we communicate and things like that don't let the noise get to you I feel like we'll be we'll be in good shape when you look at their quarterback what jumps out to you about his skill set yes sir um well we know everybody knows milro right um he's a poised guy have a lot of respect for him so just been watching him on tape he's got a great arm Good Feet on him so we're just looking to make plays out in the field we know they're going to try us deep and things like that we know he's going to run the ball and things like that so big thing just containing him in there and then watching for those deep balls we know he's going to want to throw those and get confidence so that's a big thing we've been looking at Sean this first time you've obviously met with us uh any hobbies interest or some things you would like us to know about you oh um I'm a pretty boring guy I don't really do a lot um uh when I got here so at Tennessee we didn't have like a game room there so we got uh game stuff in the locker room so I've been like big on ping pong with the guys like they've been having me play ping pong so I say like I've jumped on that and I feel like I'm like one of the best at the ping pong table in the room but we got some real good ping pong players though I can say that like like they're pretty legit like uh Sean Atkins he's one Mike Williams uh Byrum they're all pretty good Bryce Archie we if you watch us play ping pong it's a great competition in there but it's just another time to bond with my teammates and stuff like that in there so it's a good time to be with them anything else I