The Full Court Press – Utah State Football – Bodie Reeder – October 12, 2020

Utah State Fall Camp has been underway now for a couple of weeks and certainly a lot of questions about what this 2020 season is going to look like for these agies after a lot of uncertainty in the off season uh but now we get a chance to find out a little bit more about the offense for this team this year bod reers the offensive coordinator for the aies coach thanks for spending some time with us today thank you for having me first of all I mean you were hired to come to Utah State you were excited to join the agies excited to get things going in Spring football and then boom all this hits and uh now all of a sudden you're forced with trying to make a lot of really important decisions about depth and development in a very short amount of time now now that we're in the fall how has that been going so far on your end oh it's been good you know um no one feel sorry for us you that's the that's the unique thing about this uh this year is everyone has had the same hurdles to get over so uh we just had to you know adjust on a fly obviously you want a spring ball and and some summertime to to work with guys and and you know allow them to you know get get comfortable with the the the changes that we've made on offense but didn't have it so we uh like you said just you got to speed up the process and the time that we have had together I thought it been really really good um you know the quarterbacks have been uh creating those you know relationships with the wide receivers and you know because the p game is a lot of timing and and know specifics and feel and and relationships between those two groups so just trying to get those guys caught up and then with the Run game coach Woods has done a tremendous job with the offensive line getting them ready to play and the coach sham with the backs uh guys are run run really well right now so just uh you had to adjust and adapt and and make the best of it so let's talk about that passing game start with the the quarterback position uh Jason Shelly coming from Utah how is he fitting in so far with with the rest of the team and then I know Peasley is also in the mix coach Anderson has praised his workout EIC and that he's been certainly part of the mix as to who that starter could be on on day one yeah uh well first of all Jason has done uh done a great job of coming in and and number one he's he's been great in the locker room and I you know that's always your your concern when you bring a transfer in how's he going to fit in how's he going to Jael well that transition has been really really good and uh his relationship with wide receivers and tight ends has has really blossomed here in the last last couple weeks and he's taken on more of a leadership role he's not not a vocal guy by nature but he understands the importance of being a leader and especially at that position and then Andrew peas he just gets better every day uh he just he just needs to play more football you know he had the injury last year that that didn't allow him to practice and and you know he's just a young guy and he needs to just play more football and get more and more comfortable but he is he's really playing good good ball and it's a good competition right now is Jason shell going to be the starter is he the designated starter at this point or is that still to be determined uh we we we'll probably make that make that decision here uh very very uh quickly but they're both getting run with the ones um he he's getting probably more more share of the ones right now but uh we'll we'll uh we'll make that that decision probably uh next day or two but you know we really have two two pretty good options and then who they're throwing it to uh there's a lot of wide receivers coming back um but there's not there wasn't a lot of size and position type receivers that were back with a lot of experience so what does that wide receiver core look like and how that's developing right now for USU well to to fix the problem with the you know the size and and getting some you know more length and uh on the outside we we added Jus him M Griff the transfer player from ASA Miami Junior College uh he's 66 you know 220 pounds so he's uh provides that you know what I think C had for the offense last year but he gives us a little bit more length and then Derrick R's did a nice job playing on the outside as well he's a bigger body but uh you know you got guys that can really run now and that's that's our strength is you know got Devin Tomkins and saon scarver guys that can really get down the field and they play well in space and you know guys like Jordan Nathan uh he he really understands the offense understands space and and timing so uh there there's a a good crew out there and then you add those tight ends in an experienced player like Carson Terrell and he's a a tremendous receiving tight end in and does a nice job in the passing game and then I think that uh people will be happy happy to see what those other tight ends do you know mo Manu and Bryce Morton and they they're both capable in the passing game as well now Gary Anderson made it pretty clear in the off season and when he brought you on board he was concerned about the pace of the offense how it was going so fast last year and if if a series didn't work out his defense didn't get a breather and we know he's a defensive-minded guy he wants to make sure his defense has enough fuel in the tank to go out and do their best so and he's made several comments since then about changing the style of offense a little bit to be more ball control clock control how is that so far coming along do you think for Utah State oh it's good I mean the ultimate goal is to play complimentary football you know all three phases helping each other uh to win the football game and uh you know I think the offensively understand that and and we know we're not going to play Slow now we still we're still going to have uh ability to play fast and we will play fast but it just it won't be all the time um you know when I talk to the players how I like to uh reckon it to or compare it to is I I was a high school basketball player you know some guys wrestled but if if you're guarding a basketball player wrestling a guy that goes the same the whole game whether that's fast or whether that's slow your your body and your mind eventually adjust so then it's not as shocking but if you're guarding a guy or wrestling guy that will change Paces on you you know uh in football it's huddle then go fast you know muddle huddle and and change that then I think it affects the defense more so we're going to be more of a change of pace uh offense but uh you know we can we can play complimentary football as well at the same time we can go fast and you feel like you've got the Personnel to execute that properly oh yeah yep another part of that question too is is the running situation Devonte Henry Cole is another transfer from Utah that's come in Jaylen Warren a back that was doing nice things a year ago continues to improve what does that running back situation look like how are those guys developing well those two top guys are are are really playing good football right now um Jaylen had a tremendous scrimmage last week and and we call him DHC uh he had a really nice day on Friday as well um they're they're uh they're running running really really hard behind their pads they're understanding their keys and and where to where to take the football but they're being pushed at the same time too we have five guys we feel like can carry carry the ball in a game and two freshman uh L El on Noah and John Gentry uh two guys are new program are are really really running the ball well and understanding it's just with them just making sure that you know ball security is is there and then you know in in your protection in your pass game that's that's where those freshmen uh no matter where they are what program it is where they have the biggest learning curve is and then we have uh you know L makona who who has done a really good job too running the football and as a physical presence so we feel like we have depth that spot which you're going to need in a year like this obviously with the with the virus and just PL old football injuries you need depth at tail back and we feel like we have it do you plan on using the the running backs in the in the passing game much yeah yeah yep yep they'll they'll they'll uh they'll for sure be a a great resource for the quarterback uh and then I guess the last part of the offense to discuss is that offensive line do you feel settled with positions or guys still maybe being tweaked a little bit about where they'll line up and there seems to be a lot of experience coming back for this offensive unit that's uh a positive is those those guys up front played a lot of football and they're coached extremely well by by TJ Woods I think for the most part we have it you know pretty dialed in as what what we're going to do uh in regards to the the five starters but there's there's enough depth where that those guys are getting pushed and we can have some position flexibility that you know some tackles can play guard some guards can can bump outside we got a couple different you know guys that can snap it so uh the their biggest strength right now is their versatility and their depth what do you want to see in the in the next scrimmage that you guys have in these uh offense against defense you know the strength against strength what what are you looking forward to in your next scrimmage that you're going to have for Utah State well last last scrimmage last Friday we ran the ball extremely well uh what was lacking was was some consistency in the passing game and what I would like to see our our offense do is to get more consistent uh throwing the throwing the rock um they you know there's days where they we we light it up okay and then there's other days we feel like we set football back by uh just just connecting the dots and you know part of that is without a spring or a summer these guys haven't played a lot of catch they haven't thrown throwing the ball a whole lot with each other and especially when you bring in a brand new quarterback uh well really both of them you know because Teasley didn't didn't didn't play last year with those two guys in just Comfort level and and uh you know creating that bond with those wide receivers you know and uh just connecting the dot so I would I would encourage our guys and I I will continue to just be more efficient and and more consistent in the passing game and you I guess the last question for me is you see that defense on a regular basis when you're going against them how does that the the other side look I know you're you're paying close attention to how your guys are are executing but what is that defense looking like as they're trying to compete against you as well I think Coach Collins and Coach Miley are doing a great job the the benefit of going against a defense like ours is the multip you see multiple things so you're not just practicing the same thing every day you know they'll give you some front variations and odd and even front and you know play some Zone and play some man and and different pressures so it's really good for our offensive players because you have to be on your toes because they have the ability to to do several things on defense but I think that their guys are playing really really hard they they uh search the football out and and I think that uh it's been really really a blessing for our offense to get a chance to go against the defense every day well coach we're excited to see how this continues to develop we look forward to the day where we can uh go see what's going on with USU football uh that's quickly approaching as yies have their first game on the the road at Boise State later this month so thanks thanks for your time and best of luck through the rest of Camp all right thank you