Avery Johnson pregame Tennessee-Martin Press Conference | 08.26.24

entering week one as the guy what's kind of rolling through your your mind this week just excited to get back on the field um we've worked hard all summer and spring um really since the season ended last year to get to this point so I think all the guys are just excited to get back in the bill and um be around the fans and just go out there and um look to secure our first win of the season and as a complete offensive unit where do you think you guys got made the most Improvement throughout the last month just our depth at um positions everywhere I feel like our running back room and receiver room is really deep this year um and then like we have a lot of offens linemen that are young in a sense to where we have some some new guys taking the field for us this year but they did a really good job this spring um and and fall and we're a lot deeper in those positions than people think and then our quarterback room we we came together um we we came we came really close to fall camp and those guys in there push me every day to be the best version of myself so I really think um we're we're deeper than a lot of people might might think your coach was asked about having a Young quarterback making his first home start um how do you manage that and he said I don't need to manage Avery at all I just let him do his thing you are you worried about your nerves leading up to the game um no just based on the fact that um I've prepared for this moment my whole life and um if if I I wasn't prepared then there' probably be some nerves there but I'm just I I'm just super blessed to be able to go out there and you know be able to play the game that I love um and be able to play at a school like Kansas State where the fans um have so much support so I mean I I don't feel like there's any pressure pressure there to go out I just got to go out there and you know do what I've been doing my whole life and that's just having fun playing the game how fun is this offense to operate it's a bunch of fun I mean we have great coaches I have a whole bunch of pieces around me that just got that make my job um 10 times easier when I go out there and play so it's just pretty much just getting those guys the ball and letting them letting them do their thing from there is there anything you're looking to prove to people this season as a quarterback I feel like the the only battle is just you know me competing with myself every day and um I I wouldn't say there's anything I have to prove to anyone because I know what I'm capable of and and everybody inside this building knows what um I can do whenever I have the football in my hand so there's nothing really I have to prove to to anybody or do this certain thing on the field to show that I'm this type of player it's just going out there and playing my game and at the end of the day I just want to win football games so whatever I whatever I can do for the team to help us win also want to ask one about your offensive line you lost a couple guys from last season but Hadley is back I was wondering has he uh what kind of presence he's been for the front five during training camp he's been really a role model and a great leader um I Look to to him at at times whenever I get frustrated and you know he helps calm me down and um vice versa if ever if he has anything that he ever needs to get off his chest he can come to me and talk to me about it so it's great having um a leader right there next to me when whenever we take the field but I definitely think he's been doing his part and um helping those guys get those younger guys get ready for the season coach talked about how deep the tight end room is and sort of the players in that room how comfortable do you feel with that room and I guess how important are they for you as the quarterback yeah I love those guys and a lot of times you know people can kind of Overlook um you know the depth and growth we've made at tight end but I feel like that we Kansas State as a whole does a really good job of you know developing tight ends and um you know getting our tight ends involved in the game plan so I definitely think we're a lot deeper than people might um give us credit for but we have some some really good guys that can not only catch passes but really help us in the Run game um as far as blocking I know it's still early the week but what if you from UT Martin's defense and sort of what challenges do they present yeah they're they're a really talented team and you know people don't give them um enough credit for that they they won a bunch of games last year um and were really successful so they have uh a lot of talented pieces um at at all levels um secondary front line and um even second level they have a lot of talented guys it's just kind of going out there and um you know kind of letting coach ryles and Coach Wells kind of game plan and scheme up and then you know give my two cents here and there whenever they ask for it Avery is there someone on the team that you feel like isn't being talked about enough someone that's that's kind of floating under the radar that that you feel like should get more more pub um I feel like really the biggest person is DJ giddens and everybody every K State fan knows how talented um DJ is but I feel like he doesn't get talked enough uh talked about enough on a national level DJ is one of the best if not the the best running back in in college football and nobody gives him enough credit for that and it might just be because he just kind of goes about his business in a different way but um he's special when he gets the ball in his hands and um I I really think he's going to have a great year for us and just continue to you know be himself on Saturdays Avery when you have gone good on good against the defense how tough were they to compete against when you would go up against them yeah our our defense is is really tough just because um how many people we brought back and how experienced they are and how much college football that those those guys have played so they gave they did a great job of mixing up a whole bunch of different looks for me um this this spring and and fall and I got to take a bunch of different snaps and Reps against um some of the the better defenders in this league and luckily I get to go up against them every day in practice so um they definitely presented a whole bunch of different challenges to me but being able to to get that and in training camp would definitely help me as the season goes on with this being your first start is there extra people coming from home to see you in your in your first start or anything um to be honest I have no idea um I kind of just kind of let my parents handle all that and then if if people do end up showing then showing up then um I'll see him after the game but pretty much I kind of just handle out of my friends um who's going to come to the game and I have a handful of friends that are going to come up and make it to my first start but as far as different type of family members I know my grandpa will be here and uh and my my parents and brother so other than that I couldn't tell you finish Avery just real quick I would like for you if you would to describe for us what it was like getting to know Matt wells in the beginning and what your relationship is like now after these months yeah it's kind of weird because the first time I T talked to him was after the bow game um and I was actually in Puerto Rico I talked to him on FaceTime and I feel like it just kind of clicked right from there because he kind of um was giving me you know uh kind of a rundown of you know what he was excited for and different type of stuff like that so whenever we did hire him I was was really excited that we got um a mind like coach Wells and then just kind of growing with them through the spring and and fall it's weird because whenever I have a play that that I I take a rep and I'm like okay I need to talk about this play after I have a question about a play I'll come to the sideline and I'll ask him about the question and nine times out of 10 he has the same question written down so it's like um we're always on the same page and um it's almost like he's reading my mind out there at sometimes and that's definitely a great position to be in with your offense coordinator or co-offensive coordinator