UW Football Training Camp Press Conference

everybody and um good to see the crew and um I know some of you were able to make it out to Indianapolis which was um a really good day for University of Washington I think that it was an opportunity for us to understand the power of the Big 10 uh the media day was very professional uh it was all the top National writers and uh all the stations were there it was uh certainly a very cool experience and um it was just a great reminder about what we're walking into as a program um when you see some of the logos and you see the michigans the Ohio States Penn States Wisconsin Nebraska um Oregon USC ourselves and then Iowa and just uh and all the other programs that are in the Big 10 all 18 of them have uh some powerful logos behind it but um we have our work cut out for us in that conference I think when you look at the conference and you look at the type of teams that we're going to be going against every week um you're talking about great infrastructure you're talking about great financial um situations you're talking about programs that are extremely invested in their nil program in their facilities and uh in their football team and their operations so uh we're really excited about stepping on the field with them it's certainly different uh it's a different conference and it's a different group of uh competition on top of that I think there are some really really good players in this conference and uh we know that we have our work cut out for us in terms of uh defending uh some of the elite players on offense and also going against some of the elite players on defense uh it's a conference of size it's a conference where uh they've won in the trenches and stop people in the trenches and that's something that as we continue to build our recruiting class and our transfer class and our own team we're going to continue to see how big we can get and how fast we can get there uh on top of that uh there's some really good coaches in the conference so we're going to have some great challenges schematically on a weekly basis we're looking forward to um that opportunity as coaches that's what we uh we pride ourselves on the chance to go against uh some of the best coaches uh in the country week in and week out uh we certainly are bringing a different team this year um then years past I made the comment that it was uh certainly very different or I should say we the it's almost the first time ever that you would have 46 to 48 new players on a roster along with um 30 new staff members coming off of a 14in one season I think uh we have to remember that it's the trifecta of change it's the opportunity to not only have you know let's call it 50 some OD new players when it's all said and done but rarely or never has it ever happened coming off of a 14-1 team um I know that in Colorado they had a bunch of change a year ago but they were not coming off of a national championship game so uh certainly new and unique uh to college football the changes uh really excited about those opportunities that we have with our football team we'll have about 30 new faces that you haven't seen in Spring football that will be out practicing tomorrow and um we're looking forward to showcasing their skills and really getting a better understanding of what our team's going to look like I really don't know um I really don't know what our team's going to look like as a collective unit I've just seen a lot of individual players and a lot of individual workouts so the chance to get this group together to see what the offensive Line's going to look like the defensive line um to see you know how everybody works together uh will certainly be an awesome opportunity for uh practice so we love this time of year this is a time of year that uh we all we all work for football season and training camp is the start of what really is a um the best 30 days of the year it's a way to it's a day every day to get better there are no distractions we live in a submarine we get to focus in on football uh every minute of the day and uh I told our guys the schedule is wake up eat breakfast do football eat lunch do football have dinner do football and go to sleep so that's our schedule we don't need a calendar for that and that's what I'm uh looking forward to uh doing so I'll take questions you have semi what your starting offensive line like or you honestly have no the next two all about those guys uh I really don't have a great idea of what our offensive line is going to look like come August 31st I think a lot of it will have to do with Landon Hatchet and guard memar Health uh I'm very hopeful that both of them will be cleared to play for opening day uh a lot of it will have to do with where Enoch is most comfortable um where Max McCree fits into the equation where D'Angelo fits into the equation where um Drew as a party obviously fits into the equation and then where does the Pocky fenal and the swanes and the guys that um have been here for the spring and summer now and how much have they improved so really not sure how it's all going to look we're going to move guys around we're going to check all the different body types see where everybody fits in and then try to put our best five together said May recruit as many as five linen out of the portal and you settle on three is that because guys weren't available or just liked the younger guys could car um well I think you know uh the biggest thing was to get five new new guys we were able to bring in two freshmen three portals and get two healthy guys two injured guys back so that brought us up to seven we've got 15 scholarship offensive linemen now so 17 total I think uh with a team of 85 there was a chance to maybe get one more uh we battled for a couple and um you know for one reason or another traditionally financially um some guys might have ended up somewhere else uh maybe it was geography but uh we did our very best to get the best possible offensive lineman we could get in here guys with their us back all developed yeah well we we talked to our team about having a celebration dinner and um I wanted to I wanted to celebrate their success and it's kind of a unique world the way we're living in because of so much change on that team and that the staff wasn't there I would imagine that they would have done something um if it was the same coaching staff probably in the Springtime or whenever the Rings arrived I think the Rings arrived in like May um but um we needed to figure out a way how we were going to do it and um on the same token we have 28 players from and coaches from Arizona that uh won the Alamo Bowl and um I thought it would be right for them to get rings as well so um in our situation um our Collective and Amber and I bought the Rings for the Arizona players and coaches and um in their situation um the University was able to get the Rings uh for our team so when it all came together uh we wanted to make sure that we could celebrate it um it's kind of a weird deal because it's kayin deor football team that we were celebrating and I wanted him to uh receive the credit as well as their coaching staff and the team that was there so we were able to get all of the Washington players that were here and all the staff I think it was 74 total Rings we gave out last night times two because it was the Pack 12 championship and the sugar bowl and then we shipped out um I think we fedexed out to 66 other players and coaches um we wanted to make sure that everybody that participated um in the championship game and everybody that participated in the Sugar Bowl receive a ring so hopefully the entire coaching staff as well as all the players from Michael penck to Rome on down will be receiving their Rings here soon men of situation where you got essentially several different camps with the returning players and then freshman and transfers yeah well you know it really is um a challenge uh we're working very hard on as much culture building as we can build uh or do as much activities as we can do as a group uh trying to learn each other's names and where they came from and where their families came from and what their background and life stories are uh we'll do a lot of what we call mind time which is an activity once a week where we dig deep into each other's uh either family history or culture or belief system and try to share with each other uh different stories that can maybe help other people understand us um we do a lot of meals together one of the biggest things that I started when I got here was serving three meals a day mandatory uh breakfast lunch and dinner for every one of our players every day because I really believe that meals are the time that people share the most and um we're working very hard at it but it's not easy you know it is not an easy deal with 20s something transfers 20s something freshmen 40 let's call it Washington uh players from a year ago and then about another 20 or so people that were committed or went to Arizona so uh we're working really hard at it but I think we we'll get there you also mention Talent um I I would say not as much as I would like to I think it's really going to be practice is going to be critical and um I do believe we have a lot of good players on this team I believe we have a lot of Talent on this team we have a lot of young players on this team uh so we're kind of one of those groups that are like either old meaning fifth and sixth year players or young first and second year players uh we don't have a ton of players in the middle area so for us we've got to see how do they mix and match what is that going to look like how are we going to be able to get these guys to play together as quick as possible it's a great challenge for our two coordinators three coordinators uh to be able to get our special teams our offense and our defense all on the same page and then we're going to work really hard at at meeting time and practice and we're going to be on the field a long time we're going to be in meetings a long time um I've already warned them on that that you know I'm not looking to uh make it an easy training camp you know our goal would be to have seven hours of meetings a day and three hours of practice and an hour of walk through and three hours of meals and you know send them home and do it again and that's what we're going to that's going to be our plan as we get forward go forward one or two more please you mentioned you do you have te um I don't have a real timeline on it because over these next 30 days or so um I want those guys to just go out there and compete and see how good they can get uh Will's going to take the reps with the ones to start and um I would expect that as long as will stays healthy he'll continue to do that but to make an announcement that somebody's a starter and then not knowing how Camp's going to go over the next few weeks I don't think that's necessary but there's no surprise that Will's going to take the first uh the the first set of reps with the ones with the starters and um you know it's certainly Will's Will's job there um to start Camp coach we talked about um just how this coaching staff has spent time together and developed some chemistry with you during your time in Arizona how's having an experienced coaching staff team is as expc I think it makes a huge difference it would be a it would have been an ex extraordinary challenge if we didn't work together on offense or defense before if we didn't have a recruiting department we have 22 staff members that were with us um we had 21 at the media day and then we just hired our former nutritionist as our 22nd so we have 22 staff members that were with us um when we were in Tucson the idea that they understand the way we do things and that I understand the way they do things has really helped us uh spend more time with our players and less time as a staff together and I um that that is huge for our success mention are you get here at 5 and at midnight sometimes sleep in the office kind of guy oh um I work a lot I don't know the exact times but um I love the sure sure but I love the game of football um but I love my family too um Coach Peterson sent me a text the other day of an article that was on espn.com talking about uh how sleep is not overrated and uh how important it is for coaches to uh get sleep and that was a big article written on ESPN about um I think Shawn McVey and Matt laflor and some of the other guys were quoted in there so I appreciated coach Peterson's reminder that we need to have balance in our life and um we need to be awake for these kids so I'll get my sleep and um but I will commit uh everything I have to making sure that our players are uh serve the best possible way okay thanks everybody all right thank you guys we'll see you how we doing uh I'd like to start off by thanking uh amber fish and uh coach fish and the mon Lake for taking care of uh the ring ceremony last night that's a it's a really cool deal that they uh they wouldn't got started for us so um I know the boys had a blast last night and the staff did as well so right way to kick this thing off coach how how daunting a task is what you're inheriting with this off compared to other jobs that you had um yeah this I mean obviously a lot starts with the offensive line and uh this is not unsimilar to other things that we've done before um coaching offensive line had huge changes at the Seattle Seahawks uh when we got there coming off uh you know their two Super Bowl run um and so we had to kind of rebuild it there uh University Arizona had to do a lot of rebuilding there so just the third time around Comfort level for your level for your offense so many new faces and new sches new everything where you where do you stand right now what's the biggest challenge for a month yeah uh the our our goal this summer was really just to connect um in terms of offense and defense and uh making sure these guys really feel connected um as teammates and as uh as partners in this in this situation um and the spring was really to get him started uh just learning the basics and getting to know the basic fundamentals and now we'll kind of take the Advan steps of that right now so uh really excited for these next you know two three weeks to really dig into the fundamentals and then we'll kind of start getting ready uh you know kind of at the end of this thing but uh we're in a great spot right now I love where our guys are mentally uh they're all excited uh they're really ready to go take on this task um so they've got a they got to Edge about them so it's kind of fun when you start out tomorrow I know starters are a long way off you got guys that need to be medically clear but who who you start with tomorrow with five guys just when we're actually going to do a little bit bit of a rotation we're going to get a couple different groups in there um it's h we're still in the process of getting in nailed out we're going to kind of kind of go period by period um to get a couple different uh formats in there so um there's going to be a lot of rotation there'll be a lot of competition which is really when it's the central theme that's kind of how you got to run this thing so um but uh yeah we'll see a lot of different looks how do you see Justin H that mix uh uh he's a good young player um from Northern California and uh would love to see uh when he gets out there and it's kind of live and full speed um he looked great last year uh in his high school days um and I just expect him to come out and compete right away how did you think was differenter by the end started out yeah a lot of it had to do with uh just the confidence of uh guy that's going out there uh each and every day um you know taking those reps with the ones and um you know there was some there was a little bit of uh you know pause early on with him just getting started having the confidence but then that's what having these opportunities to get 15 practices in uh gives you gives him the strength and confidence to know that he can go out and do it at a high level um really excited for him this Camp I think he's going to have a heck of a camp he's ready to go uh best shape of his life strong can't wait to see it mentioned that you've been in this situation before what lessons you take from Arizona days to bring to this new uh patience patience is not going to happen on day one day two um but but that's all the process of development is just letting these guys develop take take their time not expect uh Perfection on day one um but uh just expect great effort and for these guys to fly around and and uh give it their all and then we'll make the tweaks and corrections as we need to as we go how did the uh yeah coach Switzer had a a relationship with his uh with his coach um uh from uh a couple years back and that kind of started off but uh really excited about Max um you know he's uh he's gone through a uh a tough trial um getting here in terms of uh you know he had to leave football to go support his family it's a beautiful thing and I'm glad he's back at it so um excited to see what he can do um we haven't got a haven't got any looks with pads yet so uh we'll see what that looks like here pretty quick uh according to this uh roster right here uh it's I somewhere in the 65 66 probably 285 295 range coach J made it clear that Will's the number one guy for now a quarterback would you be surprised if Deon did not have some kind of role with this offense as a year one on um I would I would definitely wouldn't rule that out um I feel like you always need to have two to three quarterbacks ready to go in any given season um you know as lucky as you can be to have a guy like will in there you need to have a guy ready to go um at all times at all positions um but I think deont is going to have a great camp and we'll see how that develops and sale it flourishes so we're excited about him Coach just settling John seaw started last week this college football schedule is totally different have you settled in oh yeah it's great we're back at it now we had a great Break um got a chance to uh kind of reconnect with family and uh uh get back uh with my family and get them all up here and moved up in uh in the Pacific Northwest so they're glad to be back I wish your dad bug leave alone uh bug me personally not very much um but um no he's uh he's taken some interest in some local high schools so um we'll see how that develops but uh no he's he's itching a little bit he stopped by the other day just to kind of walk around a football office is he is he volunteering somewhere oh no no no absolutely not scho just that's all that's that's as far as we're going with that one um speaking of you know local high school you have dangelo coming back to the area after starting e side what did you guys really like about him State you see um you know just as leadership his his energy his juice um this is so important for him um and it's a beautiful thing about recruiting kids from the Pacific Northwest they understand what Husky football is all about and D'Angelo is a prime example of that um you know he couldn't be more excited to be here um we're really excited to have him I think he's going to be able to have a big role for us um we'll figure figure out what that is but um really excited about D'Angelo you mentioned you know you rebuilt in subways other places but curious the uniqueness of the situation where there's a gr coming championship and bring in you know 30 40 transfers and there's a freshman class how unique is this situation and what's the challenge in building um I I that's part of what the summer was all about is making sure these guys would be uh cohesive and would be connected and it doesn't necessarily just have to be with you know your calls and what you're doing on the field and your schemes it's having to you know be close with your brother and playing with the guy next to you and being able to communicate with them uh on and off the field um so it is a it's a tall task um but these kids have been so great about it that's why I have confidence in this uh in this process and I think they're going to do uh they're do fantastic um it looks different you know we went out there in Spring and at times we had eight players uh at the offensive line two of them being high school seniors in their freshman year um you know kids that just didn't have you know the time at this level yet so now it feels like running out there with you know 15 to 17 guys depending on injuries um it'll it'll look more normal so um I'm excited for some normaly do you share's opinion that yes B he said that you know he has no idea what this is going to look like toque just because there are so many players coming and there's that age Gap where you have a lot of Fifth and six year guys and a lot of first and second guys it could be anything correct um I I think if you if you try to put a cap on it or try to you know Point your finger at it right now and say what it's going to be you're going to you're going to kind of hamstring yourself you're not going to you put a cap on it and uh and we don't want to do that to any of these kids you know we don't know what these kids um are going to be able to to look like in three four weeks and so if we you know kind of make the decision now we're not going to get the best out of them so we want to just give these guys a chance to flourish and uh fly around and have some fun uh I think they're ready to do so so kind of excited about it all right we break it up here we will move to this table here so a little more time with him and thoughts on the defense go ahead take some questions uh yeah just excited to uh to get it started here um for training camp and uh it's good to be back and yeah not much else to it than that it's football season as you incorporate a KN Patriots defense or an NFL defense what are we going to see that's different from what watch at Wasington how how different will it be uh yeah I mean I'm we're not really running the Patriots defense we're not running NFL defense we're just running the udub defense so um I think the guys are excited about it I'm excited about it and um yeah we'll see we'll see how it looks but it's a 2024 season and um things are different things change every year um new players new coaches every team goes through that so um it'll be this year and then it'll change next year just like it change from the previous years will it be more aggressive per than you know will that be the idea of being really super aggressive um no I mean you know we just we just got to see how it is our minds aren't made up on anything we haven't even got on the practice field yet uh in training camp so U we got a lot of work to do uh a long way to go and um we'll create our own identity and and see what it looks like Steve how much are you relying on guys like Caron or elah that were here a year ago to kind system uh yeah I mean we're we're leaning on everybody um you know everybody's going out there um everybody will compete uh best players are going to play um guys who have been here for a little bit longer uh are more comfortable with um just college football in general um they just have more experience than uh than the guys who just got here the freshman and stuff like that but uh it doesn't matter how old you are it's it's just how you perform on the field how would you characterize your particular style of of play calling if you had a way to describe it uh call the best plays to help us win are the principles of a defense as you see it so far uh yeah I mean I think that um training camp will tell a lot um about where where we're going to go what direction we go but um always starts with the fundamentals um and really to me that's just you know you got to start with with tackling got to get the ball carrier on the ground seems like a big a big thing you guys trans was Versa play is that something that you think is going to be really valuable to you this fall um yeah I mean you know we had to go out and get a lot of guys I wasn't um very familiar with the college landscape um and how all that stuff works uh from what I you know gathered being here obviously a lot of guys left um a lot of guys went to the NFL a lot of guys uh transferred out and stuff like that so have to fill out the roster got to get somebody and uh we felt good about those players um based on uh who else was out there and and we're excited to see what it looks like when we get out on the field like do uh yeah you know that's kind of the fun part about coaching um obviously the coaches myself included we're not going to make any plays out there on the field this year so um it's our job to fit uh fit the pieces in the right place and give those guys a chance to uh succeed on the field Steve do you have any idea what this will like players to uh no I mean you know the the spring was great it was a lot different than um you know the springs that I've had in the past being able to go full pads and um stuff like that but uh at the same time um we got a lot of new guys uh with the freshman and the transfers um who weren't out there in the spring so uh we'll see how it looks like going forward but uh we're excitedc practice starts tomorrow yes sir of the see out there certain position that game on uh I think all across the def defense um you know we just got to see uh see how everybody fits in like I was saying but um know hopefully everybody should be battling and competing for spot that's that's the mark of a good team specifically back uh yeah I mean that's definitely a uh strong position group for us but I think every every position group out there has has good competition good players um so yeah I'm excited hopefully everybody comes out ready to compete um and try and earn a spot is it almost four people on each rusher spot looks like each guy all the eight guys have played and some of them started Arizona are here looks like that might be the most heavy set position almost bodies got experience uh yeah I mean we we got to try and get everybody ready to go um you can never predict how how the season's going to go um with injuries and and all those types of things so um the more dep you have the better AR you are know you've been here for six months's what's the biggest adjustment that's stood out to you about the difference between coaching in the NFL verus coaching College uh I mean football is football um that was kind of my mindset coming in but I would just say the um the recruiting was big um and just kind of the general General calendar of uh of how the you know the days operate and the weeks and the months and how it's all it's all put together I was swimming a little bit um when I started just uh trying to figure out the schedule and new place and you know moving the family and all that type of stuff but uh become more comfortable and um just figuring figuring that stuff out football is football um these guys did a great job learning the scheme and and doing all that stuff in the in the spring but the the recruiting was was definitely new coach you joked about FaceTiming with high schoolers was not something that you were accustom to like college recruiting stuff but what did you find you must found something pretty special because this 2025 class is top 20 and a lot of defens conne uh yeah I mean I think it's it's like anything for anybody you know the more you do it the better off you get um if you work at it so uh it was definitely new and different but um it's just all about building relationships and stuff like that so um that's always been a big thing for me building relationships with my players um um dealing with a different group of guys obviously being high schoolers and not college players and pro players but um kind of shifted down a little bit but uh yeah we just trying to get the best players we can and um glad that they they liked it here and uh looking forward to uh the future but most importantly uh training camp coach with how much flexibility you have at a variety of different positions do that make it easy for you as a play caller to pick different schemes depending on just what the game plan is uh yeah I mean uh the more that that the players can do um you know it kind of gives gives some natural depth uh to the defense um but once you kind of identify your best best players and uh find different ways to get them on the field then uh that stuff sorts itself out but everybody's going to get a chance everybody's going to go out there and compete and um we'll see how how the chips fall you can from Miami as offensive line play defensive line how was the evaluation there you have uh yeah I just think that you got to kind of um try and look at the uh at the skill sets of the players um uh reference you know football is football and the same not offensive defensive players but the same is true um when you look at guys coming from high school to college or or college to the NFL the the schemes are are different but um you just got to identify the traits of of the player and um see see how uh how you can use them going forward and what they do well what they need to improve on and and if you think you can uh improve what they do one everybody seems to be fixated on is a guy who hasn't played much Z dery sorry say start the question over just one of the guys that the fans seem to be focus on the guy who hasn't played much in Zack gy where do you see his role and maybe give us a little bit of a scouting report on what to expect to see out yeah he's been uh he's been great just like you know everybody else on defense uh um you know keeps getting better like pretty much everybody else uh throughout the spring and and we're looking forward to getting him out on the field and um and see him where he fits but uh has a lot of lot of good traits to work with that's for sure Steve how would you characterize what it's like to play for you are you a hard ass a players coach how would you kind of characterize your your style what what players would say about you uh well you you would have to ask them um but no I just want to try and um teach guys and um give them give them uh tools and and freedom to go out there and make plays you know I'm not going to make any plays this year those guys are going to be the ones making plays so um trying to get them to play Fast play aggressive um know what to do out there and um have some freedom to uh fix problems if they identify them on the field um and you know go out there and uh play fast like I was saying how much of your dad style you think you you picked up over the years or is it just everything that just came from you yeah I mean you got to uh you you always want to be learning and um and improving and stuff like that uh I try and be myself um you know you can't be anybody else you just got to be yourself uh I've taken stuff from from every coach I've been around I took stuff from uh coach fish when when he was with the Patriots and and how he operated as a coach um obviously being you know with my dad for my entire life you know I've had a lot of exposure to him more than someone like coach fish but um you just try and and pick from from everybody around play caller do you have to do that from the Press Box the reason I asked that question is because I've seen photos of you with the Patriots being on the sidelines pumping up guys you know slapping shoulder pads and things are you going to do that up above or on the sideline um yeah we haven't you know gotten that far um right now but um I like to be down on the field for the most part um feel the energy of the game um but there's a lot a lot of good things about being up in the booth um back when earlier uh when I started being up in the booth doing the personnel and and being up there it's obviously a calmer environment that me down on the field um but there's you know positives and negatives to both what were some of the things took when coach um you know just like how he dealt with players um how he ran his room um how he taught his style of of teaching uh I wasn't in his like actual position meetings and stuff like that um but being able to pick his brain um how he how he's able to relate to different guys you know everybody's different everybody receives information differently um and so just you know him you know coaching cam um was different than the guys he coached before that um you have different personalities in the room um and so just kind of you know those types of things as well as him coming from different schemes um that you know I haven't uh or that we didn't really run in New England um on offense so picking his brain about uh you know what what other teams do and what other styles of offense uh are out there and uh just trying to learn as a says EnV I'm looking forward to it yeah looking forward to it um haven't been to very many college games um so yeah we'll we'll see how it goes I've heard a lot of good things um they don't call it the greatest setting for for no reason um I haven't experienced it but I'm definitely looking forward to it all right we'll go ahead and break this up coach is gonna g to move right here