FAMU Week: Mario Cristobal Weekly Press Conference | 9.2.24 | 3 PM

e e e e e e e e e e proud of our team really proud of our players um and coaches I mean they deserve all the credit certainly a total team win man total team win from top to bottom um really appreciate our fans they showed up strong uh it's why we took some time after the game to go over and thank them and greet them but uh their energy was real our guys felt it and they stayed there the entire time so it was good to see them after um but you know as it relates to the game I mean I think uh it's important to note that this game was won um in January through spring practice again in uh the summer workouts again in Spring practice summer workouts um fall camp and then game week I think our guys their practice and preparation became Game reality um did all the things necessary to start the season the right way against a very talented team um I think culture showed up strong in a couple different ways I mean we um we responded very well to any kind of adversity I mean we turn the ball over deep in our territory and our defense goes out there and holds them to a touchdown or to I'm sorry to a field goal but then they scor touchdown on a busted play and our offense comes right out scores a touchdown ends the half and then comes out in the second half and scores another touchdown so tremendous response um really proud of the fact that we had zero pre- snap penalties and zero post Snap penalties I think that's also a strong sign of culture developing and getting better discipline improving and getting better um I mean handling the environment the way our guys did made the noise a nonf factor and and also sort of a lot of self-control and you know moments where you know usually we haven't in the past so a lot of growth and development there and then also think in physicality and effort and toughness I mean at the end of the day they didn't affect our uh our quarterback as much as we affected theirs uh we had several yards after contact some of those muddy bloody yards that you get you know going through armed tackles so I think uh we handled and controlled the line of scrimmage well against a really physical and big front and um again affecting the QB and keeping ours clean was a big factor in the game we made some some big plays we also you know we dropped a couple touchdown passes that could have helped us also in the game we made some mental mistakes and and special teams wasn't up to par so a lot of things to clean up all in all a strong performance hard work went into that a lot of name it Talent acquisition Player Development personal use went into that so good start to the season and then moving on so questions please ask about cam Corman obviously all he's been through for him to be able to start the season off the touchdown you guys how special is that and were you able to share moment with him I don't think anybody expected that right I mean that was the winning ticket in Las Vegas for somebody that cam was going to score the first touchdown for the Miami Hurricanes this year you know what he's been through maybe one day it'd be good if you take some time and do a someone maybe you have a story on what he's actually been through physically and some of the surgical procedures he has had to be able to be where he's at he's 100% healthy I mean like better than ever but to get here he's been through a lot so a completely unselfish hardworking Real Deal human being who shows up every day and brings it so awesome to uh you know at his age you know getting hit over and toppling over backwards I was a little worried about him but uh no he um the guy is awesome and glad he started off the season that way I know all all the kids matter to understand six or kid but just because of the relationship you've had and the length of that relationship with how rewarding are you to see him just still first of all not just producing and Performing and contributing you just being happy I don't smile often it brings smile to you to your face I mean he's uh I mean I you how would imagine your own son going through all that stuff like he did so but again to go through it and complain as opposed to go through it and do what he does bring it every single day and make people around them better that guy's going to be successful in everything he does in life I think he'll be a great NFL player as well um he's just got the super bright future and is a great mentor an absolute awesome mentor to young players the idea of of handling success how does a program do that how do you keep a program on edge well I think it's pretty simple I mean you you stay mad you should be very driven and hungry and you should be you should be pissed you should be mad you know that's not our best football and you know no offense to Media but I'm sure the media had U you know one article written in our favor and had another article ready to hit send and Bash Miami and our people and our players you know so um they don't you know um they're so I would say focused on winning they're so um about the just having enough of years of Miami not reaching its supposed potential that it's not hard to point out the things that have caused issues in the past in Miami and to bring to light the things that must be done to avoid any setbacks so handling success is going to be as simple as realizing the truth we nowhere near as good as we could be we left a lot of plays out on the table on Saturday uh we're super excited about the progress that has been made and some things that were done but we've had enough experiences is going the other way knowing that this is the best time to be our best Mario the last time you were there as head coach of FIU obviously was a different set of circumstances how did it feel to return to Florida your monor and be able to win as decisively as you did because this was an excellent football game I understand when you have to bring a team like fi they trying to build their athletic department but this was unbelievable holy s Saturday yeah I mean it it points to the importance of Personnel in college football football I me you're right someone brought that up the other day you must have talked to a friend of mine we um yeah we went up there in was it 09 or something like that and it's Tim TBO at quarterback and it's um I remember because I think Aaron Hernandez had a touchdown he punted the ball to the crowd and you know we're trying to get the ball to T Y Hilton and you got guys you know intercepting the ball with one hand running it back for a touchdown and um I remember their coach actually telling me just stick to the plan you know you know hard work good people putting effort works out so to be able to go back and play at because they have a really talented team they have a lot of talent I mean they they I think almost 20 you know um Senior Bowl invite candidates on their team very big long athletic guys and they have the environment in their favor so to go up there with um with our guys you know we feel that we are our roster has certainly become a lot more talented and has worked really hard and prepared well to go up there and be able to have that type of of success and a result is really um you know it's rewarding and encouraging more than anything it kind of it wets your appetite for better things to come in the future two of the coordinators being back what did you see just in terms of the job they did and you know the continuity cuz like you said it was a clean game and game one despite a bunch of new players just the job they did having the guys ready to go we're a little bit messy I me we had some some substitution errors um that we got to clean up but back to the main point that you mentioned as big as you can possibly get having cont nudity at the coordinator spots especially when both made such big jumps in year one CU year one yeah of course you evolve throughout the course of the year and you grow and develop some as as a system and as a staff but when you have an entire off season and you enhance personnel and those guys get to go to work and really evolve their systems and grow and learn and travel around the country and network and study opponents that's a massive difference to have your two coordinators in place especially of the caliber of both Lance gri and and Shannon Dawson those guys are elite elite human beings and Elite play callers and coordinators so very blessed to have both of them and they did a great job gentleman in Alabama had the term R do you address what's coming I mean know to beat Florida and oh my gosh you're unbelievable now and do you have to tell this team absolutely and you go right at it you don't sugarcoat it the best part about this team you can look him right in the eye and give it to them like right between the teeth man no holding back and they appreciate that I mean what better in this world and what what is a bigger sign or what can be a bigger sign of respect than con confronting and telling someone the truth right and giving them an opportunity to see things for what they are and then you know providing a path you know some clarity on what it needs to look like to be successful these guys get it you know um they're just they're very very driven they understand that the most important thing that we're doing right now is finishing up treatment you know and finishing up tutoring and whatnot and having a great practice tomorrow you know and if for us that's where we're staying along that and throughout the game it was that also Tim it was it was making sure we're just the next play you know just keep playing turnover just keep playing up by seven just keep playing up by 21 just keep playing you know if we do that you know we we'll keep getting better and better there's a video of you in crushing the theater Chomp and also the fans you know CH shouting your name obviously you said that it's about the program itself but how special is it to have a moment like that with the fans and with the community that supports you and supports this football program I don't remember much of any of that stuff um I'm happy for our fans I think uh I mean Miami has gotten off to a good start this season we're one and0 and Miami has been through a lot over the course of 20 years and it's um the major reason why when I was granted the blessing of the opportunity was the number one and there wasn't really a second reason of why um she Wasing to come to Miami that was always the most important thing um I think cameras are a little bit too intrusive you know I think the football world has been deprived of you know moments what you have to yourself you know what I mean like there's always a camera in a locker room there's this it's like man come on you know get out like this is not you you know I'm just saying in general you know I mean it's um you know we do a lot we sacrifice a lot we work to a level of man physicality and effort that most people can't fathom and sometimes you know media gets in there and makes more of things than what it is but I hope I hope what was captured was the utter just um gratitude and emotion of our players and our fans being together uh in a setting like that because you know they U they had had enough they had read enough of hey Miami has no chance it's a tough place on the road you're playing against the SEC and we respect every bit and all that but but you know they went there on a mission to handle business and they did marer sh always climbing up on the prer list for both reception and receivings in um history just now you're in year three of them just the strides that you've seen him made both on the field and what he means in theer as well he was always really really good right now he's he's really gone to a different level as a leader as a human being as a teammate he's doing things in practice that are just completely unselfish go out of your way to help someone else be better to impact someone in a positive way um with all those incredible catches and routes and moves that he made on Saturday one of his best plays was him when you know we had that that Speed play to a Royo when him and jacobe you know it's kind of funny the little guys blocking for the big guy should be the other way around but the way he ran out there and threw his body around to create an extra 10 12 yards for his teammate um I cannot say enough uh great things about you know X um and there's another guy he just you watch him you know I guess you guys don't see practice but the way he practices is the way he approaches everything he does in his life he's just a he's got no Governor he's full speed he's going to fixing to have an incredible year long that you know we want to do it last year man you know it's um kind of to the question you had mentioned about coordinators in year one and putting it all together you know it's you know it's kind of a um how would you say as all these things come together I we have a we have a strong tight end background here at Miami and the place that we had been in before and Coach Dawson has had just a really strong background in just about everything and when all that comes together and you know he's a coordinator and play caller and he put some unbelievable plans together with uh the rest of the staff it was highlighted you know right after the season it's like hey we have really good players they have to be involved um they're going to help us win games they are they do present you know mismatch issues for opponents and I think that was on display on Saturday and uh and The Best Is Yet To Come for those guys those guys are a be in the same vein um he went about cam I missed a lot of time with injuries Royo Miss better part years with injuries at him that's a big game his first game fully healthy against what did that mean to him and to the guys around him if uh all those that have watched him practiced knew that it was going to happen for him he's he is um that talented he is that heart of a worker and as from a performance standpoint he's just he's done it day in and day out I mean he's he's kind of a Freakazoid in terms of his specs his speed his explosiveness his power um and he's become a really really good blocker as well at the line of scrimmage on the perimeter so he's a really good weapon um and you saw how you know he got moved around a bunch of different spots we're going to continue to do that after the game Sorry after the game you said you know how you going to see this team handle the first win of success what are you guys preparing for with FAMU the home opener also players saying you know pack the rock getting everybody out there to for f absolutely well the first thing was making sure we took care of uh of business and practice today you know everybody early I mean the first thing you want to look for is anyone not going to get here early because for us early is on time is anyone not going to be taped is anyone not going to be wearing the right gear because that's always a sign right of just having a you know just an arrogance for not doing things the right way and that's not the case with this group this group was here early your work and they got after and had a great practice um and they're excited to come back home and play at home uh we want to make hard rock uh an intimidating place to play We want to make hard rock a true home field advantage we want to make our families our community our fan base we want to make everybody proud and and these guys feel equipped they feel prepared and ready to do so uh and they know that that they're they're playing against a team that's you know coming off an awesome season you know I believe they have 13 straight wins you know um defending HBCU national champions uh more than a handful of players that have been invited or going to be invited to the Senior Bowl um defensively last year they were top 10 in every single category just about offensively they I mean they present a lot of problems spread offense I mean a quarterback with a ton of experience has played all over the place lots of players from South Florida on the team as well um they have a really good football team and of course you know James Koh is a guy I have a tremendous amount of respect for local guy their head coach now um I know he's a not only a first class coach he's a first class human being and he's going to have his team prepared to play and we will be prepared to play as well what can you say about Ruben Bane how's how's he doing you know obviously you know everyone could see he has soft tissue injury it's going to be a couple of weeks um that's you know I I'll know more as these tests go on throughout the course of the day and in the week but uh he will not be playing this game I can tell you that the rest of uh the info regarding that you know I don't know if I can honestly say that I'll be transparent about it completely but I'll do my best Mario do you foresee your backup quarterbacks and that's game or two getting a little bit of playing time you know in the event of the situation presents itself we're trying to get everybody meaningful snaps you know um we also we like it so that if you play it's earned I think that's really important I think sometimes um people start talking about like playing somebody else we got to play our first team guys and go win this football game um I think anything other any statement uttered besides that any thought other than that I think is a complete disrespect to football and a opponents you know what I mean I think they're we're playing a really good football team we play one every single week um the guys that are capable of playing and have earned playing time we'll play when their time comes but we're our plan is to put our best 11 on the field every single time we got a chance after after getting a chance to you know evaluate the film and everything just what were your thoughts on the offensive line it seemed like cam had you know half an hour to throw on some place yeah well he had a lot of time to throw you know um the offensive line played an awesome game they really did they were physical um they found a way to I thought the the play that was the best um indicator of the type of day was was that last pass to Elijah Lofton when he was kind of all tied up and then you saw five giant humanoids sprinting into that pile and just you know pushing another six seven eight yards those guys have a lot of fun playing together they're really tight they have great culture um they were physical they were physical in the running game as well and it was going to be a muddy bloody yard game because of loaded boxes stacked boxes odd tight bare fronts right um and they just kept coming and coming and coming and they U they provided him with a lot of time you know we gave up a sack at the end there was kind of a covered sack and cam stepped up so um but aside from that yeah we um we felt we did a really good job speaking of the young guys uh two stand outs from South Florida contribute on both sides of the ball Jordan la O fed just talk about them what they've done to earn that play time just how special sou guys Mak impact early yeah you're talking about OJ and and Jordan La sorry I couldn't hear you yeah those guys you saw no Flinch in them whatsoever right um I don't know when's the last time a a true freshman started uh in a game of this caliber at either position but O.J did get the knot went out there and he did an unbelievable job sky's the limit for him he's long he's fast he's strong he's smart he's physical he is relentless uh and Jordan ly is the exact same thing you saw that one play where he gets wrapped up and Spins out and comes out with balance and gets another couple yards uh two really talented guys that have been raised the right way I mean you want to talk about mentality and what you look for in recruiting they are you draw them up just like those two guys right there strong-minded hardworking Relentless guys that have zero Flinch in them whatsoever they went in there it was like okay and they played for obviously for a great coach and a great program and like a bunch of our guys here in South Florida you know they they do a great job with their players um and certainly they have a lot of Pride when they take the Feld we're in that you thank thanks guys thank you question for coachs Dawson lot has been always talking about tight end group and you know that position what are your thoughts about the performance and what they did this past weekend I thought they were very productive you know the ball found almost every one of them multiple times right so it's it's what's been going on at practice every day so you hope that when you go play the game the ball gets distributed like it has been in practice and so to me that's the key is from like people I guess balance is a word that people use and I don't balance to me is like everybody touching the ball you know and so but you know I think that's a testament to to cam because of the way he views the game the defense dictate a lot of times where the ball goes right and so you know he's he distributes the ball well months you know what you have I guess but you don't really know until somebody Li on the other side against you what was the one or two things you learned know that before well I mean I think I knew it but you hope that it shines through in real time is that they're resilient you know I mean they don't let bad things affect them there's been multiple times and look we've put them through some stuff at practice to where we knew the challenge going into that game and they were ready we were prepared for it every facet of The Challenge and you see in practice that you know certain things happen and we just go move on to the next play you know I mean there's bad things that happen we move on the next play and so you hope that that because that is really the key to success is like just moving on to the next play and if you let a bad play affect you then that's when the game starts you know rolling on you a little bit you know which one of the negatives in the game was the pick right but one of the extreme positives in the game after was the fact that the pick did not bother us we just went over there and we watched it and everybody talked made Corrections and our defense went out there and what a job to hold them to a field goal right that was key in the beginning of that game so very complimentary football by those guys but we also did not let that affect us we just went out and kept playing ball which is what you have to do obviously you've can for8 n months now but to see him call play for in a game what was that like what was that the whole experience of of his first game like for you and you know just it was calming it was I mean he's comfortable out there you can tell you know and so you know he does a really good job of protecting plays when the play isn't there you know and extending the play and that's the one thing cuz at practice whistles get blown you don't really get to see the extensions of plays a lot at practice you know and so in the game is different because you got to get him down you know and so he did do a a good job of extending plays in certain times and there was there was two or three times where you know he extended plays right there on the part of the field where it might have took us out of field goal range but he threw it away twice and one he threw it to jacobe in the back of the end zone and so you know that ability to just just to create some space and let the play develop is is crucial in my opinion how long did it take you to get comfortable with with that style that he will drop back five yards no I mean easy you know that that makes my job easier cuz I don't have to worry about calling a perfect play or anything he just you know if it isn't there then he'll he'll keep it alive you know everyone knew what he capable when he got here but I guess as as the play caller did you did you need any time to get us this kid just does things a little bit differently let him play ball man yeah with the offensive line being playing as well as did giv him as much CH you need if play yeah I mean I think that's the that's the key part of our offense you know is the fact that you know there isn't a lot of pressure you know there just isn't and honestly it was a key part of recruiting him you know one of the bigger reasons he's here is because of those guys up front and so they did a heck of a job I they did an unbelievable job in the Run game they're big up front and we got some bloody yards in the Run game which was it kept us in Phase you know as far as just you know methodically moving the ball down the field at times you know I thought our Run game was very productive uh with with what we were going against I want to in your quarterback room a little bit we know what cam brings to the table but do you think that he's also doing a good job mentoring the second third string quarterback and what are they drawing off of him as the goes on we know you have a good quarterback but you never know when they'll be called upon at some point if needed yeah and I think it's like you know people talk about mentorship and that's fine it's a good word to throw around but it's not like it's on them too to learn right it's not just on him to teach you know it's everybody's in the room is watching and listening to the same things and so I think people are paying attention to the way he goes about business every day and the way he interacts with his teammates and the way he practices and the way he plays and I think that that is rubbing off on them uh I don't necessarily put that all on him though I put that mostly on them you know you got x amount of time to watch a kid that plays high level I would take advantage of it if I was you have you ever installed an offense that's diverse in terms of formations and Personnel groupings um you know it's kind it's what we've evolved to over the past probably eight years I would say you know I mean it just keeps evolving I think it helps when when you have a tight end room that you really don't really care where they line up at I think that's crucial you know because we can be in 12 Personnel 13 or 14 but we might line up in 2 by two or 3x one they might be the single receiver they could be the slot and so to me you know having an ability just to call a formation regardless of the personnel and and not worry about where people are you know because if the ball goes to them fine you know that's great and I don't really dictate where the ball goes I just we just we have a plan and uh you go back and you go through the reads and the ball goes to who it goes to right the play um that uh aoya caught over the middle before the first first half you know I mean that play could have went to four four other people right and then but it went to him and so you better be ready um and have your eyes around but just calling plays and formations and and letting people line up and play ball you know everybody understands that um the way that the the pass game is is set up you know it don't matter where you're at you know everybody knows the route tree based on the number they line up at so a big question into how was your experience first time using it with C it was good I mean it it cut out way more it practice and it did in the game I don't think it cut out one time in the game it cuts out at practice you know a lot and so we were ready for for everything when it came to communication we had we had a lot of systems set up you know because that's the problem I I hear other people not using it because they worry about it cutting out right I mean we just have we have some fail safes in place where if it cuts out we know what to do he knows where to go with his eyes but he didn't have to use it you know we were it was the communication was good and part of that probably I told our group going into the game is you know I've never heard a crowd really loud when the opposing offense is executing if you execute they're probably not going to be too loud and so we executed pretty early you know the first drive we took it down so I do think that you know that executing helps with that I ask just what was going to your mind on that touch Jobe Geor and went out hit him on the what were you thinking I was thinking don't get me out of field goal range you know and ultimately um you know I thought that he would probably throw it away but he extended enough and you know it was a a decent throw in the back of the end zone right earlier in Camp that you thought like there was some meat on the bone year-over year for improving in Yak how do you feel like that went on Saturday I think the stat was like 170 right after contact was that right or 174 that's what I heard yeah and I think part of that too is just just really practicing on you know we have certain drills that we've done for 20 years that like you get up the field fast right and I think that's a element of the pass game that people Overlook is like what happens when you catch the ball right A lot of people like go lateral and like ooze out of it like we focus hard on getting up the field real fast and I think just strain you know just being hard to tackle and then we sell that every day it's like look just be hard to tackle you know don't don't go down easy and so and our running backs are big physical guys you know and so you know I just I just think that if you have them anality of don't go down easy then then defenses struggle ask one more thing on the radio the Alabama question ky's radi went out a couple of times so Alabama had to the coordinator had to come down did you think with the radio did you think about going to the Box see no no I didn't because of the the way that we have everything in place I don't really worry if if it cut out or theirs cut out we would be perfectly fine I mean U we can we can get plays in and communicate uh I like and I've always liked throughout my whole career of the communication on the sideline interpersonal communication I think it's important to to look at a guy in his eyes and have a conversation with him face to face now um you know opinions matter like their opinions matter so I like to like hey and now with the iPad it makes it a little different because you actually watch the last drive and last play good or bad and so you know it's that's a refreshing deal you know the NFL has been using it for years and now you know I'm like damn you know we get to you know usually you don't do that till Sunday you know and so but that that's a that's a good part of what we're doing right now but I do like the communication on the sideline I like seeing the guy you know and and being able to communicate with him when he comes off the field that was a big game um and Jordan L took a lot of snaps what did he do to gain your trust so fast I mean he's that way every day in practice to be quite honest with you he he's had a great camp and there was no doubt in my mind that that you know when you talk about kids playing especially young kids it has everything to do with just trust right you got to trust that that kid is going to go out there and in the the situation is not going to be too big for him you know because for a freshman that's a big that's a big arena that's a that's a little different feel right than than probably high school games that they've had and so they can't be big eyed you got to just trust that the Communist will be there with running backs more specifically you worry about protection you know typically they've been handed the ball their whole life protection is where you know when they come in you know our protections are a little little more complicated than prob what he's been used to and we switch protections like the center might switch it cam might switch it so all those guys have to be interconnected and they got to be dialed in and if you miss one thing then it's a blind slot you know so protection is where you know the biggest hurdle comes in a lot of times with a young running back and he's a very cerebral kid very calm very smart and he picked up on all that very very quickly so the trust level in him was very high coach you know EX jier and cam look like a pitcher and catcher out there what how much better can this tandem get and let alone the fact that you have a lot of wide receivers that you can go to Le two here obviously it seems like their chemistry began to develop earlier now it seems to be carrying over and you have a full season what what to go yeah I mean look you know we're going to keep repping and and hopefully we keep getting better and that's part of the process is not letting a little bit of the success soften your mentality or or differ your approach Monday tu Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday and so and that's what's been stressed here today you know I mean look we won the game great move on Monday's Monday right and so we do have a lot of guys out there that we trust to make plays and we're rotating more guys this year than we did last year because of that trust and so but I will say one thing about seven is like that dude showed up every Saturday since I've been here you know he shows up every day at practice he does the same thing and he makes plays and so players respect players and that dude makes plays and he makes plays in crucial situations he makes plays when you need him he's just there you know and so uh I can't say enough about him and his mentality but he is he's a guy that's been extremely steady since I've been here a little bit backing off that particular question is the fact that you have these players that never played together and have bought in and were able to have connections like that on the field on Saturday you know I mean when cam got here and that was you know he understands he's he's been at a few places he's played in a few systems so he understands the level of connections specifically that receivers uh skilled guys and quarterbacks have to have and so those guys spent an enormous amount of time on Green Tree you know haunting that and just developing that and so that's a testament to them and the work they put in and and they meet together like in the summer they're meeting together they're in those meeting rooms together they're out there throwing it takes a long time to develop that Rapport and so but when you have the right people um and the right leadership then time is is not a problem you know because really that's the biggest issue is like you got to give your time right nobody wants to give their time well when the goal matters enough to the to the most important people you'll give your time of handling success specifically to as it relates to cam Ward how have you seen in terms of how he's wired in that way say that one more time with Cam Ward Ling success yeah he's a pretty even kill guy you know I mean he's he was the very first guy to be honest with you that that threw the message out there that look man look enjoy it but get over it quickly right and so he's played enough football and been in enough games where he knows that look it's no different than what I told our group yeah I mean everybody's praising you now and go out and play Bad and see how those people talk you know so you got to be some somewhere in the middle in this deal we we live in 7-Day increments in college football and so those seven days went well you know and so if you want the next seven days to go well at the end then prepare the same way and so you really got to have shortterm memory and just move on good bad or indiff obviously you know Mark Fletcher worked through a bunch a couple injuries in the offseason to see him come back uh not really run with any trepidation you know fight through a pile to get a touchdown and stuff just what how did you see him progress through that that rehab and recovery and you know I know he's 100 now you know how important is to utilize him in the Run yeah I mean the dude's a stud right and so and even more so you know he even when he wasn't practicing his leadership is unbelievable he's just a great kid and so we sit you sit here and a kid gets injured you know and he has surgery and they give you a timeline right well he blew that timeline out the water because of how he's wired his DNA right and so it's a testament to him really of how quick he came back and I don't think anybody would have thought that he would have been ready for that game months ago but I mean he lived down there in the training room and he did everything over and above to get back and look some people try to hide in that training room he's trying to that's awesome for that for that kid when cam goes in in the transfer portal he's coming off like a 500 team the NFL is kind of shrug in their shoulders um I'm sure you watched a ton of film The Division of what he could be with a better cast a better plan come to you right away you know I don't know about right away but I did have a feeling of how he was wired what he was made up of you know and I do know because you know I played quarterback although it's hard to believe but quarterbacks a very dependent position you know you got to have certain things in place and you got to have people no different than he was asking me about up front like good luck playing at a high level without the Five Guys up front doing their job right good luck doing your job without a guy like Restrepo working his ass off getting open right and all the other receivers and so there was an element of me understanding that yeah you know I think that cam had the mindset and talent of what I was looking for within our system but I also knew that we were going to surround him with really good players and so my my goal to him was just to realize that look man I'm not asking you to come in here and be Superman I'm asking you to come in here and be a part of this deal be be a big part of it but be a part of it and so and that was the the same thing going into the game I told him I said look trust your teammates just trust your teammates you know we got good players out there around you check the ball down when the ball gets checked down and he did we threw it to the running back in the flats a lot I said you trust your teammates and take care of the football and and play smart football I said we'll we'll win the game and we'll win it by few and so and he does I mean he understands that he's surrounded by talented dudes and he's going to trust them awesome thanks awesome and by the way you know how many Kane's fans were there was amazing right you look up in the crowd and everybody talked about how many tickets we got I don't know how many were there but I appreciate those guys apprciate coordinator Lance we'll go straight into question for Coach Coach G headed into the season some people myself not included had questions about the secondary just how do you think they perform Saturday what are your biggest takeways from that group uh I thought they were really focused uh they knew it the types of things they had to defend we thought going in that we was really worried about a lot of the crossing routes the Deep overs that was his favorite throw so we spent a lot of time for about three weeks working on that uh the free safety coming out of the post and really jumping the Crosser and the corner climbing and it probably happened twice in the game Meese picked one of them right by the goal line and other time we got a sack so thought they played well um OJ competed really hard you know I was laughing OJ uh on that first motion that went across the field they completed a bootleg and he knew what he had to do but he said his legs wouldn't move so uh we kind of laughed but we kind of settled him down but I thought Porter played well everybody on the back end they challenged us early Brown broke up a ball deep and then uh Richard broke one up deep and I think it kind of broke their confidence of going down field a lot and uh started trying to run the ball and do other things kind of played into our hands coach you talked a lot throughout fall Camp about the dep of the defensive line once Ruben goes down after that first drive just what did they show you throughout the game about just what you guys have even when he's not better yeah we just kept rolling different guys in there we played different guys at tackle position of course we was able to play five defensive ends which was good and we rode mesidor inside as well so we stayed fresh and I thought it helped us in the second half you know so um I do think that's the strength of our defense and if we can continue to play a lot of people I think we'll be able to play a little bit more as we go get more guys experience so uh that' be good cuz it really helps on the back end with us being a little slight with numbers first game and you know in your defense had a pick played really well gred out really well um just what did you expect from him coming into that game and and how I Liv up expectation yeah he's a he's got a demeanor a lot like cam had you know he kind of calms the storm back there he's he's vocal he knows a lot of football of course it's the first year in this scheme but so it was cams you know and uh just just a guy back there that's played a lot of football played in a lot of big games so this one wasn't as big as some of the games he's been in of course so um yeah he's he's helping lead that secondary and just a solid performance by him and uh wish he could have got in the end zone on an interception but uh really solid play by him J with Jaden you mentioned you know he had to get a pick early you know he got one in kind of a weird way but he got one um what do you think of him in his first game you know in the first big game as as a starter yeah he played really really fast uh he played it thought we he played the way we thought he could uh with his skill sets uh but he's a confidence guy and he had a lot of confidence going into the game he got a a partial sack I guess I call it but uh he missed an interception he could end up with two but uh just played really fast back there you know even on that long run that wasn't really his fault it was a it was a busted Blitz uh by a linebacker and uh he couldn't make him right he was supposed to cover the tight end so everybody thinks it was his fault but it really wasn't it was a structure of a blitz pattern that didn't get done so uh played he grayed out high as well coach what was your reaction to that 71 yd run knowing that it was a big play earlier but then as the game went on you didn't allow another touchdown toward the latter part of it so was there something that you said like get get over it and then later on toward the end boom yeah they they didn't really earn it we gave it to them because we didn't we didn't run a defense right we were supposed to be blitzing off the edge of that tight end and we didn't get it done so we didn't have the edge to the defense so the kids really wouldn't that shook up because they felt like they didn't earn it we gave it to them so kind of settled them down at halftime and at halftime always coming out our our goal is to get a third quarter shutout we feel like if we get a third quarter shut out if we're out of the game we can get back in or if we're ahead of a game we feel like we'll increase the lead and that's exactly what happened so we came out of the locker room had third quarter shut out and kind of set the tone for the rest of the way even field you yelled something about KN one how to slay a gator or something like that that wasn't even me that was an impostor flash back to the childhood days I never killed a gator in my life I watch a lot of small people just like y um So Pro Football Focus I don't know how much gospel you put in what they do in their grades or whatever but they were pretty harsh on the DBS um in their grading system and stuff did did you see a lot of that room for improvement in terms of coverage and they have no idea what we're doing on defense right none so what they say what they might have gave Jaden a minus on that long run which it wasn't even he was covering the guy manto man we should have blissed off the outside so they don't know what the scheme is they just trying to guess if they played it right you were pretty happy with Oh I thought we played receptional I mean how many yards they had passing the football 10 what low hundreds if you keep somebody at low hundreds I mean in the modern day football they had 263 total offense and 70 something came off for one play I think we played pretty good if there's there room for improvement sure we going to have to improve throughout the year but I was really happy with the first game much does the defense feed off when an offense your own offense is is performing to that level well I think they don't panic because they know what our offense can do they know who's behind that Center and it also takes a lot off of my plate you know sometimes when you play across from uh offense that you know that is sputtering a little bit you feel like you can't make a mistake on defense we don't feel like that uh not to say that we don't want to be perfect but we got a lot of faith in our offensive personnel and our play caller um you know we got good backs we got good offensive line we got good wide outs tight ends quarterbacks exceptional and Coach Dawson's called a lot of football gam so we feel really good on defense that we have a good offense on the other side from usach a lot of 100 PR so far this year but how valuable is the film from week one to week two when it's the first time that you're going against somebody that doesn't know do like how how and you don't know really what they're doing either how how valuable is the film from from the first game of any season uh you know it's it's give and take because you you really don't know what the other side's thinking uh a lot of people try to copy what other people do um a lot of guys change up and they hold things back for certain offenses certain defenses so you really don't know from week to week the worst thing you can do is have a lot a lot of film on somebody and you practice on everything you don't get good at anything so uh last week going against Florida of course we took like their five to top seven plays uh that showed up in every game a reverse the crossing routes a tailback screen and just certain things I'll be dang within the first 10 plays probably four or five of them showed up so yeah they showed up so uh that was good but it it's hard sometime you just got to try to train you guys to play with clean eyes and I thought we did probably the best defensively is we played situational football good we were really good on third down and when we got in certain areas of the field we kind of sniffed out a lot of stuff that they were doing a lot of trick stuff so I thought that was good I thought we played clean football Lance you guys had only five Miss tackles on Saturday against a pretty talented you know teams good skill players how have you seen the tackling improve on this team since you got here last year Well each year is a new year we got new guys trying to make tackles in space I thought we played extremely hard uh even when somebody missed a guy it seemed like there was two three more there but I think it's the way you practice I think it's how fast you go at practice and how quick you rep plays and get a lot in because you cannot practice live tackling unless you live tackle and we only tackled against our offense two scrimmages the first one we were God awful the second one we were okay we tackled our best in the game the other day and we hadn't tackled probably two weeks out but our scout team gave us a really good look and we just ran a bunch of plays as fast as as we could and our kids played with a lot of confidence I thought I didn't make a lot of calls on defense so it wasn't like an extreme big game plan so that it could just play fast and free and we just kind of tried to uh recognize plays that they were running that we had seen before and then since you know like you said you only get to practice it a couple times and the first time it wasn't great like as a DC he just like okay like we're in pretty good shape yeah we got a chance to get better you know it's wasn't Perfect by any means but uh game two you just want to get better than you were before the opponent doesn't matter um you know I'm a FCS guy and I've been on the other side of the coin to where I've gone into venues that were a lot bigger and our kids play their butts off you know and uh we've beaten some big teams before when I I was at FCS so uh being at a power five school now you know it's to me it's it's just all the same everybody you got 11 players on the field they got 11 players and you going to need to go out and try and play the best that you can and uh just get beat get better every week you know are you surprised that the Gators and the have only played four times in the last 20 years and can you imagine whether the Florida want to play Miami anytime soon after what took place on Saturday I'm sure they'd want to play us next next year you know everybody wants to play somebody that's that's beat them you know so you want revenge but uh you know I I really didn't know how many times they had played I thought they' played a lot more times than that and uh but I'll take this one and we'll just wait till the next one coming in uh this weekend what are your thoughts on that offense Dynamic quarterback and how was the communication systems I know that was kind of a big topic with you Lineback it kind of went out a little bit at times uh D Nick couldn't talk to linebackers and we had to signant in um so I call it through the headset and a lot of times uh coach Nickerson he'll he'll he's a one talking to the linebackers give them the call just some reminders but there was times in the game probably about uh 15 to 20% of the time they couldn't hear uh for whatever reason so we had to Signal it in but uh for the most part it's a lot better than signaling the whole thing but uh I thought it was pretty clean on our end uh it's a lot worse at practice it's a lot louder at practice you know what we did at you know in the indoor facility so for the most part I thought it was good and thoughts on C Richard coming in Dynamic quarterback that offense you're going up against it's a lot a lot of the plays they run this week are like the ones last week just looking at him um you know he's he's a competitive son of a gun you know uh he makes their offense go they got good tight ends and they got a couple wide receivers that uh they're going to cause a little bit of problem so we're going to have to do what we did last week we try have to beat them at the line scrimmage and then uh just play with great eyes cuz I'm sure they'll have a lot of different things different tricks they'll try to do on us you lost Bane and deari early in that game what did you learn about your depth in your defense after that you know it's always been a mentality everywhere I've kind of been is just you know the 11 guys out there playing as one so try to mix as many people up at practice as you can playing with each other so um you know as a coach you hate to lose your good ones like that in the game but the next guy got up there and played and you just kind of get over it you know it's kind of like being a high school football coach and all those seniors walk out the door and you left with the junior sophomores and freshman and they got to step up you don't know how you're going to do it but somehow some way somebody steps up that's how it kind of happened the other day you know we know we had a lot of depth at defensive line but in the secondary it was kind of scary when Brown went down because then you say okay well what if Porter goes down who's going to play nickel he's running out of corner so it's just that whole deal but uh I thought they was up for the challenge and I was proud of him's first game back since he got hurt last year how do you feel like he performing he he played hard he played good he he uh I'm sure he thinks he could play better but I mean it's been a long time since he played football uh he played some inside played some outside but I think you'll see him get better through the next probably two three games to where he'll be back in stride um you he looked a little looked a little tired at their times but he's been Limited at practice he hasn't practiced whole practices so he's really not in total game shape yet what were your thoughts on on Tyler be in his first game in your defense and you know first game with you made a bunch of good plays made a good play on the quarterback of course when he tried to pull it uh hit the quarterback like three times you know um had a big hit on the interception that meech got so U real instinctive player but probably the most impressive play was him trying to run down the running back you know he was chasing he couldn't catch him but he made a swipe at him and that's what winning football's about because if he makes that stop right there we hold him a field goal you never know how that you know that goes so I was really proud how hard he played and uh he's gonna have a good year talk this about Chase Chase Chase is getting a lot better man Chase is uh played some good meaningful snaps he's goingon to get better through the course of year it seems like he's getting further and further away from that knee injury it looks like you know so playing with a lot of confidence happy for him he's had a long road and uh you know it's time for that pays off awesome you no problem you're the best brother no problem e