Francisco Mauigoa, Wesley Bissainthe, Elijah Arroyo & Cam McCormick on Facing the Florida Gators

Francisco Mauigoa I'm curious to know because I know you were leading sack last year and you know you're the blitz guy merch say number one victim for this year what's that's going to look like on Saturday for you I mean we're just gonna play our game uh coach Coach G gonna handle all that he gonna you know put whatever plays that is you know adjust and you know good for us to run at at a certain certain play so all we're going to do is just execute uh our main focus is U focus on our main job and just do at a high level so if he send me on a blitz he send me on Blitz I'm going to do it at the best of my ability next we'll go to Adam from the Sun Sentinel Adam go ahead hey Kiko how are you I'm good how about you good good um so just in preparation for the Gator what what have been some of the things that have uh stood out about their offense to you I mean that's a good offense you know they got a a really experienced quarterback uh Merz um they got a you know good you know running back core and they got some good Playmakers too on the on the outside uh so you know all in preparation just being prepared for that challenge um those guys you know they got a good football team they got a good offense so just being able to prepare U take it a day by day and you know just lock in on on the plays that uh that we need to work on and you know drout practice too just being able to correct our mistakes uh watch film after and make sure that we don't make the same mistakes so it's been good though next we'll go to Jordan mcferon Jordan go ahead hey there Kiko how are how are you I'm good you doing good uh wanted to ask now that camp is basically done you've had you guys been working together for about a month now since getting back to Camp is just where do you feel the defense is and how much do you feel like the chemistry the continuity all that has come together throughout Camp I mean throughout fall Camp you know it was at a high level comp competition everybody was just competing at a high level we were going at it um defense and offense um and now it's time to you know shift our our our Focus to the know to our opponent and you know all that preparation from Fall cam just going at it with the offense you know it has prepared us like mentally and physically and not only that it created a lot of good uh good chemistry good relationship between us because you know everybody had the same mindset to compete at every player and compete at a high level so um I think everybody is at you know at a right pace and had in the right mindset to you know prepare and practice for you know the upcoming game and be able to you know to on a performance guess next we got to Marcus Benjamin Marcus go ahead hey Kiko how's it going good you good I just wanted to ask about the progress from scrimmage one to scrimmage two uh in your opinion just what specific areas on the defense have you seen progress from that first scrimmage to the second scrimmage and then also you know in your opinion who won the scrimmage on on on uh Saturday last Saturday I mean mean um from the first scrimmage um it was we were just competing at a high level um you know offense came out with their their fire with their hair on fire and those guys were performing um you know defense we had a bounce back and we go to got to learn from our mistakes um and execute our job at a high level um really focusing on a little details and the second scrimage you know we kind of went back and forth um you know the defense kind of started out fast and everybody was just going after the ball playing aggressive um and you know it just you know it went it got to the point um it just went back and forth the offense you know bounced back and had had a good mind um good adjustments and know they and then we we just competed at u a high level which we ended the fall C with a the good note so yeah let's wrap with Matt chel Matt go ahead all right save the worst for last uh Kiko I wanted to ask you about the defensive line so um you know it seems like a really deep talented group and you got a couple of new faces from the portal and the second portal window what's your take on how this defensive line compared to last year's because it's like it's sort of a whole different group with really only Ruben Bane returning yeah I mean you know you got the transfer portal and we got a lot of talent that came in um one thing that stood out to me for this defensive line is as how deep it is and how physical these guys are um these guys are willing to put in all the work and putting in um you know everything you know to to lay it all on the line for the defense so these guys you know are getting in playbooks getting their playbooks um you know working on staying extra or doing some extra reps and working on their hands and you know these guys play run really well too so I'm excited to play uh Behind These Guys and just being able to you know work together as a defense you know stop stop offenses yeah so we Wesley Bissainthe haven't talked to you guys in a little bit and wanted to get your sense the Florida game 8 days away you know the preparation the hard work you guys have put in how excited are you and this team to sort of show what the Miami Hurricanes 2024 are all about um I feel we've been working really hard man and I'm very excited to just go out there you know and let it all on the line man show show show what we've been doing and show how hard we've been working uh next let's go to Adam Stein from the Sun Sentinel Adam go ahead Hey Wesley how's it going what up um have you guys started like your game prep in like actual like opposition prep for Florida yet uh yes okay cool um then my next question will make sense um Graham Merz uh seems like he's really uh successful really good at that kind of short to medium passing game obviously playing in coverage as a linebacker um how are you guys preparing for for that kind of mid-range passing game um you know just just watching film and and picking up different Tendencies different things they do know he's a great player you know they got great players we got great players um you know just drawing up different schemes different things you know to match up what what they do just got to go out there and execute and then just how are you guys preparing for the crowd noise you know you got 990,000 people on that Stadium just how are you guys preparing for that kind of environment um no at our practices our coach um plays loud noise and the endo outside um uh before the ball gets snapped so they try to do that for us so we can kind of get used to it um when we come to the game all right next let's go to Jordan mcferson from the heral Jordan go ahead hey there Wesley how are you I'm doing good how are you doing good uh sort of to build off of Matt's question with season opener getting getting closer as Camp moves on do you guys sense it do you guys feel the excitement do you guys feel just as the basically as the gam as it gets closer to open to season openers just what's the excitement level like as you guys try as you guys get ready to finally get this thing started oh man the excitement level is through the roof man uh just just just just hearing about everything over the summer and and and finally getting down to the business man guys are ex guys are very excited and you just ready to get to work that's it yeah sorry and just wanted to ask you about Kiko just what do he bring you that linebacker room and just how important is he going to be for you guys this season man Keo brings experience um leadership uh just just leading by example and you know even I look at him sometimes you know you know we feed off each other the whole lb room feed off each other and it's gonna be one for the Buss and we just can't wait to get to work uh next we'll go to Cass Clayton Cass go ahead hey West with2 how are you how are you doing good um so I you sound very excited the team is very excited about you know playing game one and in the swamp I just kind of want to compare and contrast from last year's hype to this year what's the difference in just the hype and just starting this season um I'll say you know just just just just taking a day out of time just being where your feet are man um it's not good to you know uh think too much in the P think too much in the future just be where your feet are um you know let the day come and just work work every single day till it leads up to game day and um hopefully you get the results you you want next we go to Marcus Benjamin Marcus go ahead how's it going Wes what up Marcus nothing much uh just wanted to ask you about the scrimmage the second one uh just your opinion on who kind of won the scrimmage on on last Saturday and just tell me about about the progression of the team from scrimmage one to scrimmage two and anything that you've seen from the offense as far as progression is concerned from from the two scrimmages um I don't I don't really like like to look who won or who lost because at the end of day we we not playing each other um we playing opposing team so uh I feel like I feel like you know both sides have good plays um and we compete you know that's good for the team and I feel like that's going to help us in the long run in the season so I I don't really like to look at who won and who lost I feel like you know we both make plays we both compete and you know it is what it is uh Matt Baker with the rowing puns and also the Tampa Bay Times go ahead Hey Wesley what after this whole offseason what's giving you a lot of confidence that you guys can take a big step forward on the field with your production and ultimately in the scoreboard say it again yeah after this whole offseason what's given you a lot of confidence that you guys can take a step forward on the field this year compared to where you were last year man I feel like we put in the work um that's where your confidence come from putting in the work every day um studying you know working out just just having your mental right all that contributes to to you know on the field I feel like we put in the work I feel like we ready and I think we got one more from Adam Adam go ahead we do do indeed um just thanks thanks um Carter uh after uh about a month of Camp Wesley just how have you seen um just all the younger linebackers improve um I feel like the the young linebackers came a long way um Cameron Bobby pu um Bobby Washington um they came a long way from the spring um and I'm excited uh to see what they do this season man and um you know I I'll continue being the leader for them and being the example for them um and answer whatever question they have for me good good um obviously you know Games Elijah Arroyo first games a week away it's a you know big environment 990,000 people in the swamp how are you guys on offense kind of preparing for uh what will probably be a very loud crowd I mean we've been practicing with the speakers every day you know turn it up to the Max uh but you know we're just getting used to that because you know we know it's going to be a hostile environment uh you know we're just grateful for the opportunity you know we want to go out there and uh do our best uh next we'll go to Jordan mcferson Jordan go ahead hey there Elijah how are you doing good man uh well know with Camp basically wrapping up you guys moving on the game prep just from your Vantage Point what do you think stood out the most about what you guys were able to do throughout Camp to get ready for the season um there's so much honestly but biggest thing I'll probably say is the competition you know just the way we go out there and work every day on the field uh you know offense going at the defense defense coming back at us uh just the intensity of practice and yeah just how hard we play next we're got to Matt showell Matt go ahead yeah hey Elijah so you know obviously we've talked about this before but the tight ends without you uh without the other Elijah Lofton didn't have a lot of production last year um can you talk about how excited you are to maybe be able to Showcase tight end you once again this year uh yeah man I'm I'm really just excited for the opportunity man uh it's been a while since I've been able to you know be out there on the field 100% uh I'm just excited I'm blessed uh next let's go to Marcus Benjamin Marcus go ahead Hi Elijah how's it going good man how you doing good man just uh wanted to ask you about the the scrimmage uh the last one uh in your opinion did the offense or the defense one uh that last scrimmage and just the overall progression that you've seen uh from from both sides of the ball from scrimmage one to scrimmage two it's kind of hard to tell who won honestly uh I I really couldn't tell you that but um no we had fun out there you know the second scrimmage we kind of you know we've been going at it for two weeks so kind of familiar with each other and you know how everybody plays uh but I'll say you know the competition was much higher you know uh you know we kind of got used to the weather and we're just going at it and we'll go back to Adam for one more Adam go ahead hey again um so after you know a month of fall Camp just how have you seen uh the younger tight ends Jackson Riley Elijah uh all them progress through fall Camp um do everybody comes in ready to work ready to learn and I think uh with the mindset that they have you know Sky's a limit for all of them good um so I asked Elijah you know the same Cam McCormick question but um just how have you guys been preparing for you know a rockus environment in the swamp and um you know how how have you guys been handling the the you know pip In Crowd noise during practice and stuff yeah I think obviously we uh we practice with crowd noise as well and it's hard to replicate 90,000 people but um at the end of the day it's about honing into to the quarterback to the offense and being on the same page um so just trying to put ourselves in situations to where you know we can um succeed when we get get there and and you know the crowd noise isn't going to be a factor to us um that's that's what we try to replicate at practice so um by just putting ourselves in those positions to you know I guess try and get the most game like here in at practice next we'll go to Jordan mcf and Jordan go ahead hey there cam how are you I'm great uh wanted to ask with after month of Camp all the hype all the excitement just what's your guys' eagerness level to finally get this thing started again with the season just opener being just a week away yeah I think as a team we're um we're excited um you know we've been going against each other for a long time now and um we get to play actual an actual game coming up so um we're excited for that opportunity um to go down there to Gainesville um play the Gators um we're super excited to just get back into playing football you know the season I think that's what all the guys are you know around the locker room is just talks of like being excited to you know play football again you know next we got a Marcus Benjamin Marcus go ahead hey cam how's it going good how you doing good uh just kind of wanted to ask about uh the offense's progress uh from scrimmage one to scrim scrimmage two uh what specifically have you kind of seen as far as uh the progress with the offense and who do you think won scrimmage two offense or defense that's hard to tell who who won uh scrimage two I feel like obviously the offense will say we did but the defense will say they did so um it's it's more so who's getting like are we're getting the offense is getting the defense better and that's all that matters when it comes to the you know the game day that you know we play as as a whole um and um I think as a offense I think that the guys are we're playing together we're playing fast we're playing confident and um I feel like that's all that you can ask for from the coaching staff and even as the players is like guys go out there and give it give it their all and and buy into you know the offense and and the guys around us next we go to Matt showell Matt go ahead yeah hey cam um so you know you you sort of are a one of the older wiser guys and I was curious have you noted maybe a change in mentality as as Mario Chris balls really sought to instill his culture which you remember obvious from Oregon as well onto this program can repeat the question yeah I was curious if you've noted you know Mario chrisal obviously has talked a lot about the culture and getting the culture right at Miami as part of his blueprint for getting this team to a championship level you know it from Oregon when you were there with him are you seeing what he laid down at Oregon starting to replicate itself here you know in year three for him I mean I think it's it's different you know from Oregon to here um I'm not like I don't think just like and printing what he did org trying to do over here like it's there's different people there's different people he has to kind of um you know work with and everything so I think that but but you know his culture is his culture and he stands by that so it's really a process of getting guys to just buy into that culture over the offseason and I think that the guys on this team have done a really good job of buying in um and kind of seeing the vision and and understanding of you know where he sees this team going and and where he believes that we can go so ultimately it's you know that he believes in all of us and we have to sit there and now go perform on Saturdays because we're the ones on the field and we'll go excuse me we'll go to Adam for one last question Adam go ahead hey again um just in you know your early preparations for the gator just what have you seen uh you know from their their defense and particularly their front seven yeah they're they're they're fast they're physical and they're big they're big guys um I'm excited for you know to play them um obviously it's the first game and and I guess you look back on film from last year and those are guys that are some of them are there some of them are gone so we're not sure really I guess what to expect but we know that they're going to be a good group of guys they're going to be physical they're going to be big and they're going to fly the football so you know when we get out there we we got to play hard we got to play fast we got to play physical and then we got to you know be ready to go e