Head Coach Kyle Whittingham - Press Conference 8.26.24

feel like uh we got a chance to to be uh competitive but we'll find out you know not all all that matters is what happens on the uh the game field and and so we'll find out uh this Thursday night get a good idea where we where we stand right now questions Kyle uh during your ten year you've had a excellent track record in season openers of of gting wins getting off on the right foot as the team what's been kind of the secret to that consistency regardless of opponent that you've been able to be that successful in the opening game I think it's the the mindset of our players you know we we've got a team that uh most every year works very hard and prepares the right way and this year is no exception um and that's really the you know the biggest key is good players that are that are ready to play on the you know in the opener and and every subsequent week week thereafter but but I would say that is the the biggest factor is the way our guys work in the uh in the in the fall camp and uh focus and concentrate and uh get themselves ready to compete right frame of mind you ready oh there we go Justin sorry go ahead okay ever since 1994 the university has historically kicked off on a Thursday night with the exception of last year against Florida it was on a Saturday do you feel like that helps with the exposure of the program good question I don't know what the uh you know what the ratings would say or or whatever but but I just know that uh it's been uh a habit of ours to especially when we open at home is to is to play on Thursday night I guess a lot of that has to do the with the holiday the you know that following Monday but but uh it it also is an advantage of sorts where we have the couple extra days to prepare for the second opponent so that that plays into it as much as anything else but uh that's just been something that's been uh in place for a lot of years and and it's worked for us and and uh far more years than than not we have opened on a Thursday so K Big 12 media day you said the biggest concern was the running back room uh how has that transpired during camp and how do you feel about it now yeah I feel good about it uh even though we don't have uh a clearcut rb1 that's not uh it's not the end of the world that we don't have that but we have uh the two tiers of running backs like I mentioned uh towards the end of of fall camp where McKai Bernard Jaylen Glover and uh Mitchell Mike Mitchell yeah I know I'm getting old Mike Mitchell have uh been in that first group and we'll see the vast majority of the playing time you'll also see dejon Stanley get some touches uh during the game and then Hunter Andrews has been a really good addition to the running back group and and uh we'll we'll add value and then Charlie Vincent Mr reliable that is such a weapon for us on special teams he's one of the the main stays on special teams but that that is the room that we're working with those six guys and and like I said that first tier has separated itself from the second tier with the exception of Dijon having a a package of plays that uh that he'll execute Kyle you've been pretty outspoken about you know entering a new conference has provided you a lot of energy heading into this season but when you look back at last season losing the bowl game having as much injuries as you guys had how much has it I guess sort of giving you a a burst of energy heading into this season uh and and so forth yeah everybody was disappointed last year and uh we uh use that as motivation during the offseason to you get bigger stronger more durable uh you know which comes with that and and uh looking forward to being the team that we know we can be last year was uh we were off the pace and had some things to overcome but that's not that uncommon in college football I mean you you go through years where you're not as fortunate injury-wise as other and there something you got to deal with but but right now we're a good place and and uh if we can continue to keep the quarterback upright for the course of the Season then that uh is going to be a big plus for us when Camp breaks you always hear coaches say it's hard for the third teamers to get a lot of reps and practice I was looking at your depth chart I think you have eight ores between second and third guys on there I'm wondering how do you balance those reps to make sure those or guys get enough when it comes time for practice yeah good question and we uh did more this fall Camp of running simultaneous drills so like for example we have the team period that's maybe 12 minutes 15 minutes long instead of just one group going against uh the other group we have two sets two complete sets going on simultaneously and that is really been enhanced by the rule change where everybody can coach now before you ran out of coaches and you didn't have enough supervision and enough eyeballs on the drills as they were happening to uh to make them as effective as they needed to be but with with uh analysts and everybody else being able to pitch in and Coach that has opened up a lot of opportunity for for getting a lot more done during practice because we have more sets of eyes on people and more people to to help facilitate the drills and Coach the drills so that was uh what we did this year uh you you had a couple uh position changes Jonathan Hall and uh John Randall Jr what was the reasoning behind moving those guys John oal start with him he is more of came to us as a safet he played Safety in high school but we projected that he would eventually get you know outgrow that position and and he has done so and and uh we feel like his ceiling His Highest ceiling is without a doubt at the uh linebacker spot we think he's going to be a really good one that combined with uh a little bit of a a lack of depth at linebacker I wouldn't say it's a problematic position but it's a position that wasn't maybe as deep as some of the others uh and So based on his ceiling where he's is going to ultimately be the best player and where he could F uh factor in sooner would be at the linebacker spot uh John Randall same thing Corner Spot was maybe our thinnest position on the football team and you know we lost couple guys that back in Spring that that and one during the summer Player Development that we weren't uh uh obviously counting on that happening but but he gives us he he was first of all he wasn't figuring into the the rotation in the running back room but he's a tremendous athlete you look at his testing scores and his vertical jump his 40- yard dash his shuttles are all among the best on the team and so uh that led us to the to the uh place where we said hey let's move you over to the defensive side and see how you do there and he responded he he's he's got all the tools you need to play a corner doesn't have the experience yet you're not going to see much of him early on at least but he is making a nice transition and and providing more depth and and a good you know six- foot body corners try to get all six-footers in the room you can't do that because there's just not enough of them to go around but but when you get some length at the corner position that uh that definitely helps you especially matching up against the bigger receivers and then uh Hunter Andrews we had him uh to help you know we didn't have Mike Mitchell's as close as we have to a big back he's about 215 220 but Hunter's 225 and and uh was in a situation where we when we it was almost like a domino effect knowing jonno was going to move forward allowed us to take Hunter and give him give us a chance to get a big back over on offense at least for for now that change is not necessarily permanent uh it will be for this season but down the road you know whether we switch him back to linebacker remains to be seen but he's a proven commodity at running back in high school he gained uh 1,200 plus yards as a senior almost 10 yards a carry so so it's not like it's new to him he's a very accomplished running back from his high school days Kyle in Spring we saw a lot of good stuff from cam Calhoun obviously much in Fall where his progress right now and where do you think he can maybe contribute this year he's uh going to be a big uh Factor at corner I believe before the season's over he had a setback during the uh the summer conditioning he's the player I was talking about during uh summer Player Development but uh he's scheduled to join us uh in practice very shortly as in next week and start to get uh back into the mix and so that's uh that's something that uh we're looking forward to cuz he's a good player Kyle Dori singer obviously had great stats at Arizona not so much at USC you've been very complimentary of him here can you spell out for the fans what it is you've seen and why You' given those compliments and what their expectations should be for him this season well first of all he is a exceptional football player I mean he he does things out on the practice field that that you just go wow you just look at each other as coaches and say yeah that's that's why we brought him here and so he's got uh maybe the certainly one of the best sets of hands that we've had ever in our program I mean he catches everything he's he's just as sure-handed as they come uh his body control on the contested ball up the field is second to none uh his route running you know he he's got exceptional ability to bend and and sink his hips and get in and out of breaks and uh right now he is our wide receiver one there's no doubt about it and the throw game goes through him at this point in time and and has from uh way back in Spring and uh we're hoping that uh and he is he's a proven commodity it's not like well we hope he shows up on game day because he has shown up you know a thousand yard receiver as you mentioned Arizona uh got a little bit lost in the crowd last year at SC with their unbelievable talent that they have across the board but but uh he is going to be a big factor for us and and uh him and cam have really developed a great chemistry together yeah we're all excited to see that play out Cam's obviously the leader on this team but we haven't seen him play for a long with rose B 2023 what's he look like and what can we expect this Thursday well uh physically about the same guy 220 PBS he's he's what he's been for uh the last several years um he is uh going to be very judicious in his running and we've we've had you know ad nauseum talks about that and and uh he's he's uh going to be a guy that really picks his spots and and uh and is going to be you know not trying to fight for that extra yard when you know you know there are situations where you know end of game or whatever where he's going to need to go ahead and throw it in there but preservation is is the key with him as far as when he decides to tuck the ball and run it uh very little QB Run game you're not going to see a whole lot of of QB Run game but uh he's he's right now functioning as well as he ever has his arm strength is back uh the leg feels great and uh just no limitations I mean he's ready to roll Southern Utah put a scare into Arizona State the season opener last year as that get your guys attention and then also Bron Whistler walk on at Utah Bingham high as one of their big weapons uh what's your history of him yeah well he was a great uh teammate for us and a hard worker and and was a scout team guy and and busted his butt every single day and he was a a guy that you know I'm elated to see him having the success he is and and being able to contribute and be their their lead back um so so good for him uh we don't Overlook anybody I mean every year uh one daa beats division one and usually multiple times you already saw it this past weekend Montana State got to win even though they were the favorite team it still you know it still happens and so uh we are very aware that uh we've got to play good football and our focus is on us completely this week and playing our our game and playing up to our potential and and uh making sure that we uh you know like I said don't get complacent and don't think that uh we don't need to show up because we do we're going to have to come out and play well do you have a third team quarterback we do uh right now it be Brandon Rose and uh it's uh you know Sam Huard has been uh really making progress but again it's you know this we're established at one and two right now but Sam is pressing for that number three spot and if something happened where we got to that spot it would probably be a competition between Brandon and Sam to see who ultimately is the guy Kyle inh helmet communication has been something that's been newly adopted into college football I'm curious as somebody that's been coaching for such a long time how are you guys sort of navigating that this season on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball yeah we've been using it uh from day one of fall camp and I think it's a a very positive thing it should have been implemented years ago in my opinion uh as should have the two-minute warning and everything else were behind on in college football with the NFL eventually if the NFL is doing it eventually we'll do it and I don't know why there's such a lag period but there is but uh we see it as a big positive and again we've been doing it not only in scrimmages but every practice uh we've got the the communication going both offensively and defensively and it's much more uh advantageous offensively for us it's not as big a deal defensively because we signal in the whole you know we don't huddle on defense so everyone's got to look over and see the signals because you can only have the one guy with the with the uh earpiece but but on offense it's been a a real Plus for us I'm not going to say it's a game changer or anything like like that cuz we've uh we're we're not a no huddle team and and so we'll we'll uh you know we've had good communication in the past with our signals and we don't feel like we've had been compromised with signal stealing but it just makes it a cleaner process and and uh better for the quarterback to be able to hear exactly what the offensive coordinator is thinking Kyle back here I know that we've spoken about it at fall camp or spoken about him but the return of a healthy BR keithy I know also camer ising as well but how are you feeling going into a week one of your season knowing that you've got these guys healthy on your offensive side yeah well it's it's a he's a weapon for us and he's looked great in practice uh we've been trying to be uh not trying to be we have been intelligent with how we've used him we have given him a few practices off here and there just to make sure that we don't overdo it but uh he is arguably you know one of the top two or three receiving tight end in the nation and uh he's a a hard a tough matchup for defenses and when you look at that position that position room is is loaded we got six guys that could maybe start anywhere in the Big 12 right now that's how how deep that is the two deepest positions on our football team defensive end and tight end and uh between uh and the Caleb loner kid has really done some exceptional things in Fall camp now we got to you know see how he'll react in a game and and uh you know what what uh what he can do there but but between brand uh Caleb uh Carson Ryan Darren Bentley uh Landon king um Miss ju I believe hey we got a we got a whole room full of guys that uh are very talented and and uh you're going to see a bunch of multiple tight end formations in our in our schemes this year belong the same lines of the NFL question a little bit ago the importance of a general manager Tanga that's the other guy I'm sorry racking my brain was just spinning it it's slow speed that it goes at um but the importance of a general manager now in college football and in embracing more player Personnel how have you guys handled that and embraced that it's an absolute necessity now it it I don't know how you could do it without it unless you were a team that had no nil resources I guess maybe they don't need one but but uh in this day and age of college football you not only need a general manager but a chief of staff which we hired um couple weeks back and so uh general manager is invaluable to uh well it's it's it's the same uh on the same level and the same uh equivalency as the GMS in the NFL I mean you couldn't do without them and so it's uh it's been a huge Plus for us Robert bin is our GM uh it has been from you know since we filled the position I guess it's going on three years now two or three years but but uh in order to keep all the finances and everything straight and all the you know make sure everything's operating as it should in that space and namely the nil space it's it's an absolute must and then like I said chief chief of uh chief of operations is uh or or chief of staff is a uh uh all-encompassing what it does is takes a lot off my plate all the all the subdivision you know football Ops recruiting social media uh everything can be overseen by the chief of staff and so our our or chart or whatever you call them is is really uh streamlined things and and fortunately our Administration has has allowed us to bring in a general manager and a chief of staff and and that's where it's heading it's the more again it's looking more like the NFL you know everything continues to look more like the NFL on and off the field final question to Josh oh I'm just getting on a roll okay I need to wear shades my future so bright yeah Kyle obviously a win is important but what what do as a coach are you looking for to show success in that first game clean football game executing the way that we should execute uh limiting penalties uh just the whole mechan ISM of substitution uh the Special Teams functions everything the whole the whole uh the whole operation needs to be clean and that's what we're really looking for is you know no delay of games you minimize FSE starts just those sloppy penalties that that can show up uh particularly early in the season we'd like to get a great start on all that stuff thank you everybody yep are the Eagles playing at the sphere yet anybody know not yet when is that going to happen next month that's my burning question