Football: Bill O'Brien Media Availability (Aug. 23, 2024)

uh just Florida state is actually 10 days now finally it's getting close just you started preparing for them or not too much no no we um you know they play tomorrow so we'll watch that game we're still in training camp because like you said it's 10 days away so we this was practice 18 we'll go uh tomorrow on Sunday and then we'll start getting ready for those guys next week early next week with this being practiced 17 or 18 in in the summer how do you keep prevent the monotony and the The Grind from like getting the players to not play at their highest level yeah it's a it's a challenge but we try to change it up every day the practice schedule basically stays the same in the beginning but then we throw different situations at them every day um It's a Grind though like that's part of it like there's the there's the drudgery of football that you have to uh you know wrap your brain around that you that's part of building a mentally tough team it's kind of like your question you know it is the same every day and so can you approach it in a way that's going to help you be better every single day you know because there is so many things that are repetitive that's what football's all about so but we definitely try to change up situations and keep them thinking but at the end of the day you you you've got to embrace that grind every single day you're able to find success at Penn State and with the Texans right away and you're one can you describe what you learned from the experience that can carry forward to this one it's all about people you know it's all about the people around you um you know Penn State when we got there that was uh I mean it was probably the most challenging thing that ever happened to me in my career personally but we had great people we had a great staff and we had awesome players that stuck around and uh similar to here you know we we have we have a really really good staff uh we have a bunch of guys that are playing that are really grinding and and trying to get better every day we kept 98% of the team after we really kept the whole team uh I think one guy transferred maybe so we kept 99% of the team from when I got the job to where we are now so I I give a lot of credit to the players and I think that's what it's all about like so if you're going to you know embrace the process which what it is then hopefully the outcomes you know result in positive outcomes but the the process is is what it's all about and that's what we're trying to get through to these guys every day uh you know with Tommy you're he his uh you know what he what he tries to do is to try to run the ball a lot can you talk a little bit about during practice what you are kind of looking at with him are you trying to keep him in the pocket more trying to have him work that during practice or are you kind of letting him do what he does naturally we we have to let him be who he is right so yeah we've tried to improve his knowledge of our passing game and and you know coverages and our protections and things like that but and he's gotten a lot better at that he's doing really well but at the end of the day like I'm never going to tell him hey you have to stand in the pocket and you have to do this like that's not that's not how you coach a player like Tommy you you've got to teach him your system and then he's a he's a very very instinctive player so you got to let his instincts you you know uh take over and let let him play be who he is uh last year BC had 13 sacks obviously it needs to be higher how do you get that yeah I think look I think we're on the right road with that we've got a lot of different ways to get it higher whether it's fourman Rush sometimes a three-man rush sometimes pressure simulated pressure we kind of do it all on defense so um it's very much of a pro style defense so you know hopefully that that that leads to to more sacks but you know the the sack stat just so you know is like very misleading you know there's pressures there's coverage you know how good is the coverage like if the ball can just come out quickly like you're never going to get a sack so you might as well just try to bat the ball if the coverage ties in with the rush and the coverage is tight then that allows guys to get home like there's a lot to do with that so it's not just the rush it's the coverage it's the scheme it's everybody working together to produce sacks pressures are just as good as sacks too like if the guy's forcing it out early get a batted ball get a turnover um the guy feels the pressure maybe he's not a guy that can take the pressure relative to the quarterback position so a lot more goes into it than just the sack total any updates on Logan Taylor right now yeah he's doing he's doing better we feel good about where he's at potentially for the first game um it's been a long road for him uh but but he's definitely improving and and but it's it's certainly like dayto day um today he said he felt really good so we'll see where it is you know over the weekend how about Alex broom there heni comes back this year uh I would probably say no um based on when he did that that was an ACL at the end of uh spring practice so I I would probably like I think it was the last practice or second to last practice so I I would say it' be tough for him to come back this year that's good thank you very much appreciate it guys thanks for being a good player