The Full Court Press – Frank Maile – Utah State Football – October 1, 2020

hey we're going to Mid uh interrupt our programming right now as we have a co-defensive coordinator Coach Frank mle is on the phone with us uh we have just a few quick minutes as he is getting his uh his defensive side of the ball ready for a scrimmage tomorrow coach thanks for taking the time no I appreciate you guys having me on I guess coach for you what's this week been like since you guys got the green light you can start practicing again I know you've been doing some drills with the guys but now you can go full steam yeah it's been pretty good man it's been a long time coming and uh you know I think the kids done a great job when they weren't here uh just staying in shape and trying to keep their head in the books as far as the Playbook goes so uh just putting the pads on there's a lot of juice there's a lot of excitement about what we're doing and where we're headed and so the kids are excited and so are we as coaches when we talked to Gary Anderson last week when this announcement came through he said one of the F the the biggest questions on his mind was what that defensive line was going to look like for you guys I know that's an area that's that you take a lot of pride in how is that developing so far uh it's been coming along it's still a work in progress but I feel like we're talented enough to get the job done uh I just got to I got got to get their minds and and their bodies ready to go as far as the fundamentals of what I'm asking them to do but uh I'm excited about them we have the talent I just got to get them ready to go uh he said that he's got some uh he there could be some bright spots in the linebacker Corp but there's still some tweaks that are going on there are some changes of positions how does that linebacker group look like right now for USU they're coming along it's very similar to the dline where we have some Talent there it's really about finding the right guys to place them in the right positions and uh set them up for success and so uh there's a number of guys there the scrimmage is big for them uh just to see what they really can do in life situations when the bullets are flying so uh we're excited to see what they can do and I think it'll clean it up tomorrow after the scrimmage as far as uh who's further ahead who's ready to go and uh building depth off of that yeah you guys were robbed of an opportunity in the spring to have a lot of these evaluation periods and scrimmages you haven't had those scrimmages here in the fall either how just how nice is it to have a scrimmage where you can evaluate these guys as they go head to-head so it's huge for us it's huge man as you already know man it's it's one thing to talk about stuff walk through stuff and uh and watch film but you can only do that so much I think the learning comes in actually doing things at a at maximum effort at full speed with contact and so uh it's going to be a great learning experience especially for these young guys and the new guys that are here that are transfers in of how we play ball and the expectations here so it's huge for everybody to to be able to see where they actually sit hey coach uh the mount West Conference schedule came out today Boise State it'ss the top your schedule on October 24th when you start prepping for them and what is what is the excitement like to get ready for the defending champs we're we're excited we're excited man we already know that you know the road to the championship goes through this team right here uh and then their track record speaks for itself so for us we're probably going to start on Boise we we've already started game plan those guys when uh when we're in the summer uh so we are we have somewhat of a game plan already it's really about find find uh combing through it and making sure it's clean uh and probably probably introducing it a little bit more uh to our guys next week uh but we've already have a preliminary game plan for what we think they're going to do and and what they've been known to do in the past so coach when uh you just to go continue down the line here we talked about the defensive line and the linebackers there looks to be a lot of experience and talent in that secondary for Utah State that really seems to be one of the strengths of the defense what are you seeing from them so far and how are they going to be playing a really important role in how that defense overall developed for you most definitely so that that's probably what we feel like our strong uh the core of our defense is really the secondary right now and so for us we almost got to tailor things to to what's their strengths uh and be able to match that up with the front seven so we're excited about those guys there's a lot of talent there's a lot of speed back there uh like you said there's a lot of experience coming back and so we're excited about the secondary and so we just got to catch up the front seven to to their pace and so we can play Elite defense Are there specific things you're looking for in the in the scrimmage tomorrow when that runs through like how guys are are are are competing or or playing their positions or uh whether this guy is going to fit that specific role I know that kind of throws a lot into one kind of a bucket there but what are some of the specific things you're looking for in this in the scrimmage tomorrow from some of the guys that you have questions about to just really how they adaptt to full speed play you know we haven't really we we got a little a couple live reps uh for the first time this year in 2020 uh yesterday and so it's really about how fast can they process things on the Move uh versus a very fast offense uh there's a lot of great players and mass out of the ball so it's really how do they adjust to that when they get tired where does their thought process go uh how tough are they mentally uh as well as where's their physical uh where are we physically in shape you know so I think it's going to test a lot of things physically and mentally for us uh and be able to tell us you know who's ready right and who still who still a year away and who can we depend on and for us because of Co it's really about building depth uh you know just in case things happen which probably will it's been happening all through the NFL and in college so far so it's really that's that's the tricky part about this year is creating depth at all positions and just making sure we have a plan uh and prepping guys that we might not feel ready uh probably have to play this year so hey coach one last quick question before we let you go because we know you got to run um this you've been seeing in game planning against your own offense and seeing them what what are you seeing from Utah State offensively so far you know what I love what what I see from them man they're very you know who they remind me of is very similar to Boise there's a there's a lot of uh formations that that we don't see often from a lot of teams but they they've given us pretty much any formation that we'll probably see this season from all the offenses that we'll see so it's been great preparation for us it's forced our kids to really think fast make adjustments um and so I don't think we're going to see anything out of the ordinary from what our offense hasn't already shown us and so they've done a great job uh try trying to match up their formations and and figure out we in man or in zone and uh you know they've done a great job running the football I think with our with all our returning old lineman coming back uh there's they've been very physical up front so it's been really good for the dine to see and feel that and so very excited about the speed in the back field uh the skills positions uh lot of lot of great speed on the perimeter uh and then quarterback you know the quarterback position we got uh a couple dual threat quarterbacks so I think that's going to cause a lot of problems for defenses this year hey coach thanks for your time greatly appreciate you it's great to talk football we look forward to hearing from where you're from and uh ready to see you on the field on October 24th likewise thanks for having me God bless thanks coach care Coach Frank mile co-defensive coordinator for Utah State he shares duties with Stacy Collins