Arizona Football Press Conference - Duane Akina

just you know overall thoughts on game week after what you've seen out your team of the last seven months what's it like for you yeah I think I'm like everybody I'm excited to see where we are I think we've had a good camp um as a football team offensively and defensively it's been very competitive I think coach Brennan's done a good job of really merging this team and building a culture of we're going to practice hard and we're going to play with an edge about us and um so I'm excited to see where we are Michael and Brian uh football program announced a bunch of hires um this week for different roles in the in the front office and whatnot and one of them was one of your children your son what can you tell us about um him his background and what his role is going do guys well he's the youngest of five and um you know he had thought about this for a while while he had opportunities when he was done playing at the University of Hawaii to go with rolovich and then to go with Greg stutsman you know who is also you know ventured off and is now at San Jose State and GJ Kenny who is his quarterback coach you know went off to Central Florida he now the head coach at Texas State so he had opportunities to coach but he loved being back in the islands he loved being uh around his nephews and nieces and he had a good job with the Airlines and but he started thinking about making you know he's at that 26 year old maybe making um a move and uh and with this opportunity came up because he's always wanted to be in Personnel the coaching thing and so when this was because he had reached out to a number of NBA teams you know to get into the front office in basketball and that is uh you know as we know young coaches you hear know a lot more than you say yes and he interviewed and he got it on his own so I'm proud of him Brian and Matt how valuable has it been having someone with head coach and uh defensive coordinator experience on your staff in Danny Gonzalez yeah Danny I didn't know I knew of Danny because you know when we were here me Rich and Rocky long um they had a kind of a you we all had a unique system and so we used to visit quite a bit I I've known KN of Danny's reputation but I never knew him personally uh and he's got a great reputation as a football coach you know out in the coaching uh community so then when I had a chance to get together with him uh he's been a great addition somebody that I can bounce some ideas off with the front you know we're very similar in being aggressive defensively so it's really been a good blend and then with Joe Calo and RC who really trained you know I just just had them in my room a year ago that really kind of understood our language and our system uh and coach viney has come in it's really an outstanding defensive staff I think which you know to me growing up under coach Tomy he used to always say you know never hire an idea you hire people and uh I think coach Brandon has done really a nice job with his staff of blending people that are we're all moving in the same direction I think we all understand if this football team successful we all are successful you know you got your titles you financially it all works out for everybody so it's been really a pleasure to work with Danny and the rest of the staff Matt you Elite defensive back fields but how how rare is it to come out of fall camp with this mix of guys that have really accomplished a lot at this level and also death too yeah so I I really I really thought by the end of the Year our secondary was really playing well and um you know and then what was nice is the the heart of it called Dalton's um stooks Gunner and Bobo have not Stood Still They continue to work to grow their game you know and I always talk about a standard and for me you have to coach the best players the hardest because they've never finished I don't care if you become a 10-year Pro you're still going to learn in in this game this game is always moving forward so having the ability to have really good players that had had some success is yet still allowing you to coach them hard because as they go the room chases them because they all want to be the starter and I've had that since I was here the first time you know and so they've really raised the level of the room which has improved the younger players to chase them and they've really all bought into the intellectual side of the game you know me moving to offense you know where I had my feet in the my heels in the ground with dick but he kept wanting me to move um but now I teach from an offensive perspective you know so it's a class so we understand offensive Theory as much as anything and they've really bought into the mental side of the game and now that's with Bobo Many Times Corners don't buy into that they they just been great athletes tell me what to do safeties you know where I say you don't want your paycheck in their mouth you know you want to know what to do so if you are blessed to go to the senior bow or to get to the combine where you have that 15minute interview that's a job interview you want to be able to express offensive theory about how routs relate how this release can tell you what this guy is doing and so it's wonderful that they've bought into that and the older guys are the ones that have really set the example Jason how was it coaching Chris mower at Arizona what what about him was the the standard quarterback oh man Chris Mack was different and I've coached a lot of great ones now but Chris Mack was just different the number one thing in the Common Thread with all the great ones I've coached it hasn't been height it hasn't been speed those are those are all different but it's a competitive spirit and nobody was more competitive than Chris I mean he was at that Elite and you know I've had a couple others but I have used him when I left here I brought all of Chris's one-on-one tapes I have this thing I don't know if you guys have heard you know I built these gold reels that this is what it looks like and many times I'll just take an individual's best one-on ones where he wins every single time I just took Chris's whole spring going into his senior year every rep he had and and it's then North cut it's Jeremy McDaniel I mean these are all NFL players that he is just absolutely locking up and then you see into about play nine or 10 Brandon Nash okay catches this 10 yard comeback Stop Route where he ends up catching it at six yards and you just see Chris running off the screen and he just snaps his his chin strap off cuz somebody caught a six-yard stop route on him in one-on-one you you know when there's no pass rush but that's what made him a lead now you throw in 62 208 run 43 low three years 22 interceptions and now my whole senior year when you know Chris could have come out early but at that time if you weren't a top 10 pick so you know we decided to come on back and uh so everything was built for him to be at the point of attack so when we played David Boston he had him one on one and I took the middle safety that way the hope to keep them involved when we played Kade mcnown that year you do a hit chart 83% of the throws were from the left guard over for Kate so we just played them at right corner because they had poly Mitch um poly Dixon and Freddy Mitchell and sure enough it was going to be interesting to see what what mcnown did well he he threw to his right side he threw away from Chris he had his worst statistical day um you know his senior year but that's what Chris Mack could do it just changed the game you know as a dominant quarter so uh he was fun and we had really a close uh close relationship while he was here Jason two questions for you number one what do you see from New Mexico's offense you know I see a a very very talented quarterback that um you know it looks like he's got a nice throwing motion uh but but his legs is what's concerning to us so we got to take that out I think they do a good job with a lot of their forming and uh getting into some unbalanced things that which and then there's a lot of misdirection which will challenge your eyes and so we're really working hard on that and um you know as you saw there's some big play they have big play potential 15 does a really nice job of getting vertical and uh so you know obvious obiously they put up a lot of points on a good football team there so it's going to be a good challenge for us coming into the opener and then you've spoken very highly of rep RC in the past what is it about him that makes you trust him so much and that why I think you called him a superstar you know we have to keep up yeah so so RC I've been around a lot of really young coaches you know I can drop some names on you um and he kind of falls into that category I think first of all his work ethic just outstanding work ethic and I think very early on he kind of knew how I how how I teach and and you know this isn't to be egotistical because we're all got our own ways of doing things but he was able to understand and he comes from some good coaching background ahead of him but what I look for um he picked up the language very quickly and that was one reason I had all the corners and safeties and nickels get back in one room after I think it was the SC game because I've never been around a Corners coach a Nicholls coach you know I think the secondary they have to hear one voice and I think I might have used the example in here be like an offensive line coach telling the tackles go with a tackle coach go go here Center go there communication is just too important so he speaks the same language but what really got me like when we were putting together scripts and uh say we would be playing SC cuz he's been in this conference he says hey coach cuz of what we were doing SC C ran this you know against us in 2016 you know and he'd go back and grab that play you know just very thorough because you got to be back there because you never know what you're going to get but he could understand that this might be a way to attack whatever we're playing that week so he was able to think ahead which is uh I think that's a gift in this profession that you got to just be able to solve the puzzle as I say you last question um two of them kind of following the RC question there um is that kind of what makes him because we heard I think it was Jacob Manu say that he was going to be the coach with the headset is that what makes him the perfect fit for that position being the headset guy yeah so he has a great grass for the whole defense and so you know rather than me being on that you know I trust Brett that he can give information hey it's third and long deep in your alignments or you know whatever there may be some Tendencies cuz he has great grasp of what's going on so um he's a natural fit for it uh if I have to I can get on but I prefer just to remove myself from some of that and um I just have a lot of confidence in him and early on in the season a lot of college football teams like to rotate a numerous guys kind of see what works in terms of backups rotation and all that is there a set number that you guys are looking at as a staff for the defense or does it kind of go by feel yeah it goes for me it goes by feel um and and you know there may be times my thought process is get get somebody in on the third series but let's just say it's three and out and three and out this is my old little league days when I play baseball I am uh you know it was a tradition not a Superstition right I'm on a roll so I don't want to mess around with things but if I really believe a young man needs to get get out there I will tell him before the game you're going in on the third series and that forces me to put him in U because once player loses trust in his coach you know then it's hard to coach them hard every day so that's that's when if it's three and out and it's three and out I have to put them in because I told him that so but we're going to play it by fi and see what they're doing you know because this brand new game brand new staff and so we just got to feel this thing out and make sure that our eyes are right and we'll see where it goes all right that's thank you guys yep yeah Chris ma love talking about oh Chris Mack he's a he was different and it was so comforting to have him out there I still remember his first game utap he lunges he's playing uh press corner and he is beat and somebody up in the Box says he's beat I said no he ain't and he just could recover finds the ball and intercepts it I mean that was even when he first got here you know he didn't when we were out at Coes he came late