NDSU Football Press Conference - August 26, 2024

I appreciate you guys uh taking the time again um thank you for covering us um this moment brings um you know a bunch of uh emotions feelings and thoughts you know we're obviously uh with any first game there's just a great deal of anticipation um there's excitement but you know it makes you question fall Camp it makes you question you know who's going to be in the game at this time versus this play and and we've been going through that and reconstructing game plans you know and uh We've really had um awesome fall Camp you know I think the one thing that that first games bring you know fans support the coaching staff the players there's always so much hope um anticipation but there's always the unknown you know we're going to have some guys that are making their first starts and big moments and and quite frankly that's exciting because this is going to be a really fun Journey this is the first step in finding out if we can reach our full potential um you know this first game just happens to be on ESPN versus a very fast talented uh football team you know that we don't have a whole lot of film on um polarizing team with a lot of excitement and so our players you know are excited to to test themselves versus a different color jersey obviously block and tackle somebody else it's been a long camp for us um I think I I I really makes me wonder um you know if we could have started Colorado a little earlier or or pushed them back even a little bit but our guys are are really have transitioned from practicing and and just the the mundane of meeting into where we're preparing and we're preparing to go out west to be the best uh we can be um I think this W will be one that'll be very challenging to capture um but it's going to be exciting to see you know when and how this thing unfolds and and we really do believe in our our conditioning level right now we believe in our physical toughness and if this is a four quarter game um I I trust that our players are going to execu in big moments and and that's just it's you know how many times have you heard the word exciting in the last two or three weeks right like it's just the anticipation of it I'm as excited about the unknowns as I am about the predictors of things that you know we hope to get established in this ball game so with that I'd like to open it up for questions Tim do you have an update on Cole with neski status yeah Cole you know we we got the the news that we anticipating um Cole's going to be down for a significant amount of time um the surgery that he did have you know went well you know all things are are saying Cole will play football again some point but we're going to he's going to Mi Miss significant time and uh Cole will be a big part of our our extended staff now you know with a leadership role and um he's worked so hard to get back you know from the injury and it's always unfortunate when a guy finds out the news that he's not going to be able to help us here at least for the better half of the season for sure you anticipate him playing sometime in 2024 I don't I I I wouldn't even dare to answer that with the type of foot injury and the way feet are and the type of surgery they had to go back in there and kind of you know do um my anticipation is that within eight or 10 weeks we'll get more information that will allow us to start uh to cultivate a plan if he does come back and also cultivate a plan moving forward um in what his aspirations are as far as wanting to play more um continue with an NFL dream and we'll be very supportive of Cole he's uh been the ultimate bison and and like I said it's just Cole's handled this really well and he's already added to uh the safety room and he's helped Devin and I think he's going to we're going to find a role for him that he can make an impact on Saturdays got the offensive line spots figured out between Z and Miller just kind of what did you see from those guys that got those starting rols and how much of a relief is it to have uh those guys in there now well Miller that was kind of anticipated I mean it for me I just I never want to come in here and speak on things that I don't have knowledge on right I never saw him in person um he got up and running and um honestly he's been a rock you know and he's confident right now and so Mason was kind of penciled in at that spot um glad that he's healthy and we have him and those kind of things and then you know rock once Rock's kind of one of those guys that's an older guy that that does play best when he's on one side of the ball and he's able to focus on one position and so it's been great to see his continual Improvement or leveraging the fact that he's out there playing one spot you kind of got to see his his uh you know where where was his potential how good can he be you guys have had tall guards before I know a lot of say if you build a guard in a lab he's probably 6'4 65 why does Rock work inside even being as as long as he is well I think he's a natural Bender I mean he has the ability to play with good vertical leverage you know when we talk about vertical leverage um the black and white answer is if your pads aren't under the chin of the defender you're wrong and so he has that capability um I you know my time at Iowa again and and you know some of the struggles that we went through at Wyoming and finding what you would classify as prototypical I'm just here to tell you guys our tackles do not need to be 65 moving forward they have to move their feet stay in front of people stop them in pass bro and move people on the Run game okay they come in all shapes sizes and and for I like some of our guards are in the 6-3 range and they're athletic and they're really physical some of the guys that you'll see down the road here um and so I just think the best combination of five you know shook out that way um I I've seen lot of tackles and I'm thinking about Scott fols right now okay I've seen a lot of tackles be six7 that refuse to punch and use their length go play basketball CU we have to throw our hands violently and create separation in the p Pro game on the defensive line you know any of these guys could have been starters on this uh two deep here kind of how did you decide on these four and uh just kind of how much of a rotation is there going to be on the defensive front there I I'm going to be honest I didn't spend one second looking at it I never would question coach gazer um sometime depth charts are just a Senor senority you know where are they at in their careers I mean Keenan Wilson's going to play for us and he on the 2D and I'm excited about that but Eli's an explosive guy I mean he's he's the the Bel in there and when he's on top of his game he's capable of making some tfls and and then you got a guy like duen he you know du heffer we're just we can't wait to watch him make a few more plays because he does his job extremely well and so there's just you know Brian shats become a playmaker all of a sudden in his career and heck I mean all he was in there was just to be a tough guy for a while you know and then all of a sudden like Ryan D you know so we'll see what what that looks like and how that shakes out but you guys know in this game they're going to play with some tempo they're going to play with some Pace we'll take our opportunities to rotate guys uh the one thing I've challenged the defense on okay we got another you know a two-minute warning now you know TV timeouts I don't want us rotating for the sake of rotating this is not intermurals and we need to go try to win a football game and play the guys to the proper amount of reps because it's going to be a long season speak changes how's the practice with the inh helmet communication gone and uh just kind of what's that process yeah it's it's gone extraordin I mean I just wish we had the inh helmet communication sooner than later and we're excited about we used it basically every day um one or two days there were some glitches but the quarterback letting our coordinator know that there's a problem um that went really good we got a solution for that and I've been really most Patty was right our our you know our uh commissioner you know we haven't had one glitch with our our iPads or our pads on the sideline with the the technology and so you know a big knock on wood because we're going to go in there and use our stuff and therefore if ours goes down they get to maintain their communication and their process and they can keep going and we'll have to get our stuff fixed you mentioned a little bit getting ready for a team without film from this year kind of what's your approach going into a game like that and uh kind of what does it come down to at that point it's comforting on a lot of levels because the the singular Focus stays with execution and us and I think first games are about playing clean clean football being opportunistic um good clean plays will always be the result of great fundamentals right so those are the things that coaches want to preach and and I want that more here I don't want our offensive call card to have 250 plays on it because it can you know I want us to narrow some things down to really lock into a game plan and be able to focus on us so I'd say that's the positive the negative is you know you got this whole list of I I was going to talk you know and you guys are going to ask questions I I don't know a whole a lot about these guys outside of being able to tell you their transfer from here or there we haven't seen them in their black and gold uniforms playing their Concepts and their um you know deployed plays I mean so it's all a little bit challenging that way um but I like the fact that we get to focus on ourselves and us and the people that play the cleanest will have a chance to win this game Tren uh earn his spot I think just consistently improve you know even like since the day he got here he's been bought in he's one of the stronger guys in the weight room you know coach Kramer had made comments early on like Tim you're going to like this guy he works the right way um he cares about his performance um therefore he's got a sense of Pride right and then I think you know he showed the ability to be a high football IQ guy and obviously his background helps him with that and therefore his talent was able to show through fast as a transfer kid and he flat won that job and we're excited about about him and I think the combination the way it shook out really allowed uh M to play faster quicker too you know not having to worry uh we're going to rock Hayden as the backup center and we believe in that um but pulling that off of him you know two weeks ago like I mentioned we would um really helped M as well can you add you know D the offensive line coach of the alliance can you add to how that does that make a difference uh well yeah I think so I think if you're around you know most kids walk into a their dad's office office or their dad's area and they see this that or the other thing and I'm sure he's been around playbooks or his dad watching film and if there's any interest at all I would imagine a father puts his arm around his son and says hey you see this Center he's pretty good and look at this and look at that um yeah that has to be part of it right um he seems to be like a a football junkie as well which I like and I think he's learning how to to study and he's embracing the whole group and you know Gray's really brought him in Gray brought him in early and I think you know it was not that we were predicting this but it was something you could picture and visualize do you plan on playing Just 50 linan you maybe some sort of rotation go seven or eight deep you see that yeah good question um you know we're going to get together tomorrow like we will when we get to the hotels on Fridays typically and we will talk about rotations and I'll be on the exact same page I would I would say this today I think Jack Lewinsky you know has earned the opportunity to play some snaps in this game and he provides a hard and a toughness um but I think in this game he would be the one that would rotate in and we'll try to rock the other other four Five Guys where's your your rank in terms of quarterbacks that you've seen yeah um you know four weeks ago getting started on this process everybody's asking about Colorado my mind you know just went to off schedule plays you know him making things happen um you know outside the pocket or you know off SKU SCH right he's the best player that NDSU has played yet okay and I really believe that this guy is process oriented he's progression based he's aware of footwork and timing and Rhythm he takes what the defense gives him okay he goes to the right spots and then on top of that he can play off a platform different platforms I think he has a great ability probably his in my opinion his strongest suit is that he can get his cleats in the ground and deliver the ball quickly when he has to you know and that effects that has a positive effect on rpos that has a positive effect on relief type plays you know a run with relief he's impressive um you know if you were to line up and show him a three-man rush he's going to buy time back there buy time and hit second and third level um throws that are uncommon you know with great accuracy and deep crossers and those kind of things um some of his best plays are the simple play of throwing the ball away as well I I admire uh shador from the standpoint that he's playing the position the way it's always been attended intended to play you know Rhythm timing footwork all matching up and then you put on top of that the ability to to extend plays looking to throw he's not a runner first but he is capable but extending plays and and keeping his eyes down field it's pretty impressive it's exciting I think our fans should be excited and should appreciate that they get to see one of the top you know a first round draft pick at quarterback get to play against the Bison is he better in the pocket than you thought then from out you know once you sit down right like I I um mentioned to Sam I think we were talking I Pro Football Focus has all these cool different cups and I was able to pull his best 250 plays and then you start to really have an appreciation for um he's playing the position there's a lot of guys that are really good they're really scary that just are making throws or they beat you with their feet he is playing the spot you know I several times found myself back in the quarterback coaching chair and like bump bump bump bum bu bu bu I mean he's there's some Rhythm there and there's some Temple and you got to appreciate it what you talk about you know anticipation you use the word excitement is it a little bit tough to start losing all Americans and we're not even playing games like have to have the next man up conversation before a game one and and kind of not let the air out of the balloon a little bit Yeah I think that's a great question right and I will answer it this way I have not seen Hunter brosio play football here so it just provides a little bit of man are we really losing a guy the person okay I feel terrible for getting to know this guy as a leader my heart breaks getting knowing what this guy has gone through to even try to get back or to get back multiple times and the impact that he has in not only his unit room but amongst the whole team is crushing okay we'll find ways to cultivate for him to still be part of it but from a player standpoint I was hoping I'd get to see more of him so I'd have a opinion on man we lose this element offensively and I think uh Jeff and I had a conversation I you know to me Truman's been out there the most right Huff say's just getting back and so I think we're still deep at that position I think that offensively we have to be creative enough and have enough Tools in our toolbox that that's not going to be this astronomical conceptual loss but from a person in his family my heart I mean I just we had a moment we shared a moment I I wish Hunter the best moving forward in vet school and he's going to be a good leader for us he means a lot freshman ear um yeah I think I think will will Washington has a shot he's practicing with us he's a corner big tall Corner he's picked things up faster than maybe we thought he would and that's not we didn't have a negative assumption about it but he's been pretty pretty quick to um pick some things up will Styles shows real promise on special teams um and from the safety spot he's ahead um football IQ wise he needs a tackle better um Peter hogo depending on circumstances will play potentially and then um I know I'm missing one guys I'm sorry Jacks Williams and and Jackson Williams is up practicing with us and I think right now our intent with where we're at healthwise which is pretty good I know you mentioned a couple guys but our intent would be to try to play those guys four games maybe get to the playoffs and play them some more but if we have to we'll keep pushing those guys up your first game as a head coach Deion Sanders is on the other sideline that's got to be kind of surreal right what's the feeling like there yeah I mean for sure but I you know I'm hopeful I get a chance to have a moment I I've talked to a lot of people that have played Colorado he may not come out for pregame and that's coach Sanders prog um it's a big deal to me just cuz I grew up I mean he broke our hearts as Packer fans a couple times um but he man he was the first guy to do any of this self-promotion stuff and then you know what he did as a baseball player and a football player all that just I to me you know I'd like to think I'm a football sports junkie I mean you can't deny what this guy has done as an athlete and so if anytime that that kind of person's in the building it's pretty cool I still remember Jerry Rice at the F the national championship being in the hotel and my mom you know walked right by him and didn't say anything I said Mom that's Jerry Rice you know best receiver ever before when you had to do it for 12 to 14 years not just a year um but no we got a football game and this isn't about me it's not about how I feel it's about these players going and playing fast and have we prepared them um I think for maybe a moment it'll be a big deal um but outside of that will be ready to rock and roll I don't think it's anything like Coach B talking about being 23 years old and being across from Bo shener and coaching at Wisconsin and getting beat by 40 or whatever it was coach for you you talk about the importance of the o line being one of the most physical teams in in the country you know what what does success look like you know on the offensive line side against you know Colorado for you guys success early just looks like productivity you know we have to be efficient and productive so that our our our conditioning and how we practice can have a chance to play a role in this game right like and I think if it's three and four early and and often I think that becomes five and six as time goes on it's very hard to break somebody's will in the first quarter that typically happens late in the third or going into the fourth so we have to be productive enough on third down okay and and we have to eliminate third and seven plus that's a a a better situation for for them than it is for us the more we're playing in 50/50 Downs where it's run pass play action quarterback run the whole nine yards um the better for better our chances are and I think that always will and no matter what kind of offense you have it always starts up front and they have to they have to go out there and be very productive and they know that with Ryan Jones stepping in going against little Shephard and Travis Hunter and the whole Jimmy horn how do you kind of prepare those guys in a moment like that stepping in for we'd be in different spots if I could say do you have the answer for I mean honestly like just they have to Value technique and fundamentals and Trust the matchups that they've had um I I think that question though like back in 14 and 13 and 12 maybe would have you know would have been a little bit more scary to answer I I like that we have some ability at receiver now and some size and some you know some pitchers that our defensive backs can can play through you know we play with a little bit of tempo we're able to go with the temple period And so uh Ryan uh just like everybody else is going to have to go out there and leverage and Trust his preparation and and play fast and then I got news for everybody we are going to get beat we are going to give up some yards in this game can our defense stay confident enough to break on the ball and make a big play when it matters have you talked to the kids or the team about handling the moment and handling the stage CU it's going to be a little bit different I think than what a lot of these guys have been through we've talked a lot about what game is going to look like um what the hoop law is going to look like I've asked them to eliminate or limit social media starting yesterday you know there's just no reason for us to be on that right now we should be in our notes we should be in our um we should be sleeping um those kind of things so we've talked a lot about um just what's going to be going on pregame I mean there could be it could be a concert going on there could be multiple Superstars you know we're going to bring Tyrone Braxton with us and he'll be down there with us and but they could have 50 60 people on the sideline that could all be distractions for us and we've got to stay very focused on our routines individually and then just stay connection oriented with our own players I want to see a lot of connection a lot of high-fiving a lot of patting on the butt you know a lot of fist pumping and those kind of things and then as far as the game environment goes um just rely on bringing crowd noise to the to the Forefront at practice you you bring in music you try to change it up make it quiet those kind of things and so hopefully we prepare them the best we can it's it's no different than Iowa going into Penn State you can't replicate thatony the corner I he end up winning this job oh just consistency um being a great teammate you know what by applying all five of our core values or our standards and being competitive Improvement and tough all the way through it he is just a great kid he has taken advantage of the opportunity and and therefore he's won the job I mean he shows up versus The Run game you know you like his length you know coverage and Zone coverages specifically you know that's that's hard to deal with when the corners have some length um I don't know he just Tony attacked the process and Will's doing a good job coaching the group will was open to okay these jobs are open right and I think Tony capitalized on it but it's it probably starts with Tony's attitude and approach each and every day is pretty consistent Tim is Travis more dangerous a wide receiver give her a corner I tried to get the scouts to tell me today I you know what I really I don't know and he's listed as the nickel you know so will he will he defend the slot or will he defend the X you know those are two critical areas for um defense you know to consider um gosh he can make game-changing plays on both sides um I think you know when he's at corner we got to be really conscious of the matchup what kind of rout are we throwing at him um and then I think you know also if we can make him play a bunch of reps you know make them go the long hard way on offense you know make them stay out there on defense that'll have an effect or you know on the young man but as a as a DB as talented and as skilled as he is and and being able to eliminate somebody that's sure a big positive how important is it to run the ball possession yeah you know I would most times probably say really don't matter as long as we're you efficient right you got to get to this magic number of 50 you know whether that's you know rushes plus completions that's been a deal here for a long time but I think it's really important for a couple reasons I think it can take the air out of the stadium I think it could it can keep shador on the sideline um when those guys are are used to playing and having the ball in their hands that's the best um way to frustrate them I think um but the bottom line is efficient plays is what matters most whether we have to throw it or run it um I'm anticipating a big box um you know seven they're going to have seven versus R six they're going to have eight versus r s and it's probably going to come with man coverage you know that's kind of the way of the NFL and that's where this guy comes from um and so we'll have to displace the line of scrimmage and the point of attack to make yards but running the ball will be critical to Our Success coach you have a lot of uh renewed excitement in the program especially here in the area with fans and a lot of them are heading down to to Boulder to to watch this game you what does it mean to see though that the the commitment and the excitement around your program with these fans you know wanting to support you guys whether it's here in Fargo or down in Boulder you know it's you I guess you take a sense of pride in it but I think Matt and Todd and Derek are back there I think that they would say we've worked hard at it too you know they've laid out some really good opportunities for me um to show up and to be myself and it's just been really good to get reunited with a lot of good people I wish I could say they're all friends and hopefully they become friends but um I just have tried to get here and never change you know as far as not being myself and I think most people would tell you Tim's going to tell you what's on his mind um he's pretty passionate about whatever it is that he's talking about I don't engage in a lot of things that I don't have interest in it doesn't make me feel very smart number one number two um I don't think it's that much fun and so it's just been really cool to to be back back in the great Community um we need everybody in this community you know especially when we get home but it's going to be really cool to see another road game well attended by the Bison you guys are you guys doing anything to prepare for the altitude difference we did we just went and practice hard I mean I you know I I kind of wish we had you know elevation chamber or something those are expensive you know I used to work out at the deal in Wyoming because they actually would decrease it for track and wrestling when they would leave and then you could increase it to a certain amount guys all I mean there's no replacement from from from breathing hard and working hard and we do that as good as anybody in the country everybody keeps asking how's it going we practice well our kids work really hard we have good Blue Collar kids in Jim again really feels good about where our weight is um our intentional attitude towards sleep um and conditioning and working out is all on par and it's it's 5,000 fet it's not 7200 um and we've done everything we can to be in in great shape and I like the kickoff time too you know if it was maybe in the middle of the day maybe you would have done some post practice conditioning but I like what we executed this fall you having fun yet I yeah well I was having a bunch of fun and then like I said last Sunday I woke up and uh you know just things changed right like are we going to position these guys how can we position these but that's why my opening statement I didn't mean like we're questioning anything that we did but did we leave anything anything out there that we needed to cover um could we have done more of this or more of that and looking back at the plan and the the plans each and every day um I thought the the fall Camp schedule was well received by our Leadership Council um you know we had that meeting and talk at my house the other night um yeah we're I'm still having fun it is it's fun to see what's fun is to see Devin clim and continue to grow you know watching Grant operate and continuing to grow um you know seeing Randy Hedberg get to be part of this technology and those things that you know I took great joy in and then I've been trying to find ways this week um you know to get around our seniors and some of our guys that have been through the fire just to let them know we believe in them make sure that they bring everybody else along with them that's been Fun's reaction to the in helmet communication how is he enjoying that you know he's a big football guy and so I know he's talked to e and Carson and those guys um Trey Lance you know about it and so he was pretty excited about it because you can get a little bit more information uh to the quarterback we've had the conversation already I guess about shapes and sizes but a lot of your returning activity out wide is guys you would normally see kind of in the slot you speak to to Bryce and and maai and even Tyler ter as the bigger guys that can sort of diversify your room for you and their progress this fall well I think that's um it's probably twofold right like couple of those guys aren't far from being you know capable guys to block line of scrimmage guys with their size you know Makai um Chris Harris you know Tyler tart's a really tough special teams player and so I think they can impact some of this perimeter Run game and they can also protect us from safeties and Corners supporting our inside Run game that's where I would start brillan has had unbelievable eight months of growth productivity I mean he's been an Iron Man he's been out there every day he just goes goes goes goes his teammates reward him with being voted a captain he's been super productive and it was really good to get Raj back for the last seven or eight days cuz you see his playmaking ability not only on offense but uh special teams and so we've got some diverse bodies I mean gors has had a great spring again um you know Jackson Williams provides a little bit different body type and then I'll say this Silas Evans is coming on you know it's just it's going to take some time for him to learn the ins and outs but I like the diversity of the group and then um you know Bryce Lance has had a really good fall camp and I'm excited he's one of the guys I'm excited about I mean I I'm just shocked he's got one career catch I'm I'm excited to see this guy go play because that's not the guy that I I the guy I've been around all right is a heck of a football player and I believe in him and I can't wait to watch Bryce Lance play this season and see where his his body of work and what that looks like is there up on B uh bka will be a Wednesday decision and everything that we've asked him to do he's looked solid guys Peter hogo okay is up with us right now and if we have some injuries Peter hogo will have to play because we'll get to a certain point of our our depth it may run out BK um will get you know addressed on Wednesday morning early with Dr Patt Marty Brown and TK Marshall have had great great fall camps okay I don't think there's a story there yet for Peter hogo being a Freshman that's going to play a bunch orning of that kind of stuff okay I think we have Raj Who's Back healthy now that would get consideration at running back and this Cole Payton kid based on last year is a pretty darn good runner and again we have creative minds that have been in a lot of different offensive systems I think we have more options there I I really do I think Peter's done a wonderful job Peter's going to be a real productive player he gets better and better every day at running back at being decisive and and running behind his pads but he's still a young guy learning that these guys all can run around him pretty good too thank you