GT Football: Preseason Camp Media Availability - Weinke, Pyron, Gibson, King

Chris Weinke I got started with a quarterback's coach and co-offensive coordinator Chris weikely we'll arrive for questions Kelly if you want to get started so I guess the the question of the day is how the quarterbacks looked through the first four days yeah you know coming off of of day four second second day in pads um feel good about the progress that we're making right I'm one of those guys that says it's really hard to say we've we've ever arrived what I'm looking for is a little bit better each day right that's kind of the motto in our room to be disciplined and detailed in everything that we do to play with a sense of urgent urgency play Fast not in a hurry okay proud of the way the guys are approaching practice every day they've been locked in in terms of our installs very excited about really all of the guys in that room right now so pleased with where we're at the challenges always can we sustain it um and I believe that the character in that room will allow us to continue to do that and get better every day right coach Thacker talked yesterday about the safety position and he may have more good players than he has positions and I guess you have a similar situation he talked about the chemistry and the ego what are you seeing from your group yeah you know it's uh I'll tell you this I've had an opportunity to coach a lot of quarterbacks uh over the years and and I always look for makeup first right and uh you know this summer this is about as excited as I've been approaching a fall training camp and the reason I say that is because of the young men in that room um and to me the most fun being a coach is when you have competition it's always hard and to me gets boring when you don't have competition okay because human nature says there's going to be complacency but when you have guys that are in the In the Heat of the battle in the middle of a competition it raises everything it raises the level of the way they stay focused in meetings it level raises the level of the way they approach practice and that's all you really want as a coach I go out there every day with energy and enthusiasm because I'm so excited to get on the grass and Coach these guys and I'm looking forward to seeing how this thing unfolds for right now I'm enjoying the ride continuing to develop these guys each and every day and it's been a lot of fun [Music] hey coach Chad from the AJC uh Buster and Brent both said they want the quarterback to be the toughest if not one of the toughest on the team is that measurable or do you just know it when you see it yeah it's what I believe in um it's the first thing we talk about every day they walk in our room okay and historically the perception is the quarterback isn't the toughest guy okay from day one when you walk into my quarterback room that's what I talk about toughness mental and physical toughness to be successful at a high level and be able to compete you got to be mentally and physically tough um so I would Echo those sentiments um on a daily basis that my challenge is to my guys in my room is to be the toughest guy in the building okay yeah coach like you said it's only day four in pads you still got 20 something days where you're around that tunnel what's it going to take for one of these guys to separate themselves and win that job yeah I think it's um you know we go two days without pads you really don't know right um You continue to develop you install more information I think the biggest thing for me in terms of an evaluation is I want to find a functional thinker what does that mean that means hey they're in the they're in the classroom they're absorbing the information are they taking it from the from the classroom to the field that's where I truly believe when guys are are in essence on the same level who's going to separate themselves and that to me is that guy that can be a functional thinker process information and ultimately the number one job for this guy is who can take our team and move them down the field so when that time is we don't know okay we're not in a hurry we love the competition okay we love how they're approaching this um and I can't sit up here and say when that will happen Okay but I know this that the challenge is to get better every day and if they do that we're going to be in a good position when we start on September 1st Kelly I was just curious if maybe you could give us like one thing that separates each of the guys like one characteristic or something you've seen that maybe is different between each of them yeah I think the the unique thing is all three of them have played in college football games when you look at the experience of Haynes King played and started a lot of games in the SEC obviously battled and challenged with some some injuries but has overcome those uh I think his football IQ okay is off the charts he's the son of a a long time high school coach it's really important to him and there's no doubt he has toughness you know Zach pyron comes in last year okay as a true freshman after really being our scout team guy okay the guy won with his heart right I would never expect a freshman to know all the intricacies of playing successful football at a high level as a true freshman it's just at this position is too hard what you saw on the field from him was that competitive character okay Zach Gibson gets thrown into the battle okay and and at the end of the day goes and wins a big win has a big win on the road in North Carolina obviously um was proud of him the way he played against Georgia so at the end of the day they're all a little bit different but there are some similarities and I think I can say that the toughness okay is part of all three of them the skill level the talent a little bit different okay the the you know Haynes and Zach are going to be able to run a little bit better and I think uh you know Zach Gibson brings the ability to be able to to layer the football has good touch has good accuracy so they're all a little bit different and that's why this is so fun right on the sort of on the same subject are there physical abilities pretty similar enough where you don't have to change your play coin depending on who's in the game yeah and that's that's what's exciting we think that all three of these guys okay can operate this offense at a high level so we're not going to be in a situation where whoever ends up winning the job okay if the backup has to come in the game that our game plan changes okay we're asking them to do um really schematically okay what we've installed all three of them are capable we think all three of them can operate the offense okay and now the challenge is who's going to separate themselves Chad I mean any chance of playing two guys would you rather ride with one yeah yeah you know I sit here today after day four of Camp you just don't know right um I think if you historically look at college football okay you better have two guys okay and at the end of the day we feel very good that we've got three okay that can go in that have played in Big Time games um so those decisions will be made down the road but I feel comfortable that um you know we might play three anything else in the back Kelly if you want it all right sure I guess kind of what are the challenges obviously the two Zacks were here with you here goes they understand your your coaching mythology and all that what are kind of the challenges for Haynes as a newcomer to kind of the Chris winky way of doing things yeah I've got a relationship with with Haynes and and you know the ability to be able to go through Spring ball okay helped in that process um and then you spend the summer with them um these guys understand I am who I am I'm not changing I believe in what I believe in there's a standard in our room um all of those guys have accepted that um they know that I'm very passionate about uh every single day I go out there um there's been zero challenge Haynes King is wired the right way he understands what it takes to be successful that transition for him coming into that room um has not been there okay Coach thank you all right guys good Zach Pyron seeing y'all doing good doing good if so okay we'll go ahead and start with Zach pirate go ahead I guess the the big questions how are you feeling now with a lot of time between the the collarbone and now I'm feeling great you know uh Mark and the whole training staff did a great job getting me ready to be where I am right now um I probably feel better now than before Dr Jackson Dr X did a great job during the surgery and everything and you know everything went good so you know I'm feeling about as good as I can get right now and you know new Strength stuff and Coach artists and all of his guys got me feeling good got me added uh adding some weight muscles I'm feeling really good feeling a lot better right now than this time last year so across are you comfortable knowing that you may not find out whether you're going to start or not until right before the the first game and you know how does that affect the way you or maybe it doesn't affect the way you practice no I'm perfectly comfortable with that you know I prepare every day as you know as if I'm going to be a starter and you know that's the expectation coach winky sets in the quarterback room is no matter where you are in the depth chart you prepare every game and every practice has if you're the starter so you know I'm kind of just taking it one day at a time focus on how I can get one percent better every day and sustain over the course of fall Camp to become a better quarterback and you know put myself in the position to perform and hopefully lead this team and just focus on taking that one practice at a time and you know letting my work speak for myself and all that so more questions for Zach Chad hey Zach Chad from the AJC uh anything specific you worked on in the summer in the off season mechanically or anything like that or do you work with any specific coach over the summer in that regard oh yeah I just worked on you know accuracy wanted to be a lot more accurate you know putting that ball in the Tight Windows like it needs to be just becoming more of a pro and you know having the right mindset you know trying to study the game a lot better Master the offense and just kind of work on everything to become a better overall quarterback right now um you know I'm not to the point yet where I feel like I need to focus on one thing I need to get a lot of things better to become a better player and better quarterback so you know between coach winke and Coach Faulkner and all the guys and everybody in the room we collectively work together as a group to improve overall everything and you know all the receivers you know we did extra work throwing on days where we didn't have to and all that so just becoming a better quarterback collectively overall can you talk a little bit about I noticed and we have so I saw you in high school and then here in person as well it seems like your throws to the numbers kind of those out routes those quick NFL throws across your body there's more velocity and strength there is that something you worked on and kind of what did you do to improve that those throws I think that's just a testament to coach artist and his staff in the weight room you know getting me bigger stronger faster doing a bunch of uh rotational core work power you know to become stronger overall in the weight room uh throwing more the older I get the more I mature the stronger the ball is going to come out faster the ball is going to come out so I think it's just all the work in the weight room I'm putting in all the extra throwing I'm doing and you just trying to put more weight on and getting stronger and in that aspect is what's helping you know I'm not doing really anything extra I think it's just you know the new staff that came into the weight room and all the stuff and the philosophy they're bringing in is really helping been back there yeah I know it's early but how's this competition kind of helped you guys push each other and what do you think you have to do to win this job can you repeat the question I'm sorry I was saying you know I know it's early but how's this competition push you guys in different ways and what do you think you have to do to win the job oh you know it's pushing us you know coach winky says you know you know the team goes as the quarterback goes and you know in that room we know only one quarterback can play and we all understand that so we all push each other together to be better you know because we want this team to be the best it can be and you know only one quarterback can play so we want the best quarterback out there so um you know we're just pushing each other you know and every day it's making me come on top you know come come ready to practice and everything and you know just keep doing the small things you know it's the little things in the quarterback room you know being able to operate the offense conduct it we eat it you know Master the offense is everything you know you know just be a better quarterback is what I got to do you know just operate the offense put everybody in the right right place make the throws and I need to make the throws and know what I'm doing every play [Music] do you feel like the the guys that are playing around you this year do you feel that's you know the receivers running backs offensive line do you feel like that's been upgraded over what you had last year you know the guys we had last year were great you know you know between Malachi and EJ Hassan and all the guys that were there and you know now the guys that we brought in you know everybody's really stepping up this year um you know they're a lot different in their play style we're a lot faster this year than we were last year um you know they're working really hard I'm glad to see offensive line wise coach Wade came in and you know between him and you know coach key also is still often some background and you know uh offensive line is working really hard running backs with Coach coach McKenzie's a new running back coach you know you know Dante's leading that group really well and showing all the younger guys the ropes and you know I think it's just everybody's working really hard this year because we have a goal that we want to achieve as a team we know what that goal is and I think everybody's working hard to be as good as they can be and you know we're not really looking at last year of who was here last year versus this year this year it's kind of like you know it's a new team New Philosophy we're trying to set a standard as a team I didn't make a identity as an offense and just trying to figure that out through the course of fall camp and you know everybody's working really hard to achieve that after a couple more Improvement I was just curious we've heard from some of the other kids you've taken quite the leadership role um just kind of what has it been like for you and I know you were nervous I guess maybe last year without being a Freshman and stuff and I guess just have you embraced kind of taking that leadership roles as a quarterback and trying to lead guys yeah that's something coach winky also expects from us in the quarterback room is to be a leader everybody in there to be a leader no matter if you're the starter or you know somebody else you know everybody in that room's got to be a leader you know the team goes as the quarterback will go and you know we got to have energy every single day the team is influenced by our energy so I'm just trying to push everybody in the right direction and that's what a leader is a leader is able to bring people along to have the same end goal and you know bring people to where they didn't know they could be you know that's just what I'm trying to do you know I want to win a lot of games this year I want to win a lot of games and you know I think the team sees that so it's easy to lead a bunch of guys that are wanting to be followed and it's you know the team is working really hard this year and uh you know that's just something coach Winky he's really helping all the quarterbacks with is learning how to be a leader and um you know coach key also is doing the same thing and then with the championship mindset classes we've been doing the off season it's really helping the whole team learn how to you know change your mindset to be a win a football team anything else okay awesome exactly awesome thank you guys Rob Weinke obviously you know early in the year when you get the call to play for Jeff things didn't go as well but you really finish the season strong and it seems like maybe people aren't giving you as much credit as the other two quarterbacks is that something that motivates you as you go through workouts yeah for sure it's definitely the driving force I mean I hear the narrative it's hard not to hear you know because my dad sends me something like every two days you know but um I mean yeah it's definitely uh driven me to work you know really hard uh this off season and um but yeah I'm just I'm just trying to put last year in the past you know uh it is it is what it is I'm just trying to focus on what's next what's ahead this is this season and um obviously you know I had some some bad moments some really bad moments and some really good moments but that's just you know with anything uh you know the season is a long season there's 12 games and um you know all three quarterbacks are going to have an opportunity to play this year at some point so Rob I imagine though that last year helped prepare you for what you're going to do this year in terms of you know knowing how to be a starter knowing how to come off the bench and be ready and that type of thing is that what you saw last year yeah for sure well I mean that's that's kind of just been my case throughout my whole college career I've never uh I mean for the exception of the cover year I've never really been a day one starter so um you know I'm it's not that I've found comfort in it because obviously I you know nobody's comfortable with just being a backup but um it's not a position that I'm unfamiliar with and um yeah I'm just trying to take it day by day and help the other two guys push them as much as I can while pushing myself too so hey Zach I got two first of all you tell your dad to stop sending you that stuff or I mean like what's yeah we've had a couple we've had a couple conversations I've totaled to like just leave that let's just let it be you know like obviously there's been some things that have really you know hurt the nerve I guess you could say and but I mean that's it is what it is I'm not going to be happy with you know what everybody else has to say but I I'm not worried about that you know I'm just focused on you know how can I improve day to day and but yeah I've told them to stop sending me those for sure well how did you how did you spend your off season what were you working on trying to get better for this yeah well main thing for me was uh my speed um last year I think I topped out like at like 17 5 miles per hour which was like not fast enough at all and I've gotten it all the way up to 19.49 so uh that's something I've like really been focusing on is like working with uh like one of my fast twitch trainers um and that's helped me uh tremendously I think but I know it's early but how's the competition going how are you guys pushing each other and you know what do you feel like you got to do to win the job yeah I mean obviously it's day four uh but I mean I I love our room uh we got a good mojo right now um all three of us have our strengths and our strengths and our weaknesses um obviously there's some things that they may do better than me and some things that I may do better than them um but I mean day to day like we're just continuing to push each other the best we can help each other the best we can you know if I see something that somebody missed like I'll let them know and the same thing for me um like if I don't do something right somebody will will correct me and I mean obviously like it's in the coach's hands and in the lockers Locker Room's hands whoever they want the guy to be um it's not in our control but we can just control day-to-day like what our day-to-day actions you know it'll reflect you know it's it's hard to to sit here and say like that I'm I'm gonna be the you know day one guy because I don't I don't know I don't I'm not sure yet you know but I'm just focusing every day like I will be the day one guy you know and I think that's what's important right now so Kelly I was just curious kind of what are the differences with this offense compared to what you were doing last year yeah obviously uh it's a little simpler I think uh personally we carried a lot over of like the um maybe some of the calls that we have from last year but it's a it's really it's really helped us you know kind of grow because it doesn't feel like we're transitioning from like one offense to a completely different offense you know like it's not like the Paul Johnson the Jeff Collins transition it's you know it's been very smooth uh coach Buster and Coach winky they've done a great job um you know smoothing out that transition and uh putting as less stress on us as players and as quarterbacks and I think that this year will be one of our more productive years that we've had in a couple years uh offensively obviously the the offensive line plays a big role in your success in your ability to sit back there maybe a little bit uh coach Faulkner talked a little bit about you know some of the Improvement he's seen from the you know having all those guys back you know what are you saying there oh yeah I mean since day one of spring I really noticed that the the o-line they they got a lot faster a lot stronger up front and they're a lot more experienced they're a lot smarter um right now I mean it's kind of like a similar group to what we had last year um and they're dealing well and they're doing you know the best they can right now um so I'm very happy you know with their development and how they're coming along day to day and I think the fans will you know be really happy and really pleased with their development anything else for Zach thank you Mike Haynes King all right we've got Haynes King if you could uh when you ask a question go ahead and introduce yourself so uh Haynes can serpent names with faces so Kelly if you want to start hey I'm Kelly Quinlan I work for jackets online and Rivals um just curious kind of what the transition's been like and kind of what are the biggest changes for you working in this offense uh looking at it uh outside in and and going back on it uh that the transition was actually very fun very good at first coming here I'm like oh it's a big city never been in one uh always kind of like a little little small town vibe that I've always been in and uh when I got here I was very welcomed by all my teammates and stuff and that's really what made all the transition very fun and very good it was really easy uh probably the first month after I moved in I was like oh that like I can do this because I have everybody we go go out on weekends we uh we have a good time like go bowling or something we have these team events which will also help it and uh I feel like everybody even in the locker room I can talk to anybody we can we can have a great good conversation I can go out outside here I can I can go go eat a meal with them eat lunch uh go bowling everybody shows up goes bowling all that stuff is uh it makes the transition really easy because because you get a camaraderie with the team uh you develop relationships like that and then on top of that because you develop relationships on the field and even in workouts you can you can check each other you can you can like hey you're you're not doing doing what you're capable of doing like step it up let's let's work so uh that transition has has really been fine and really good and it is a lot smoother than what I thought it would have been okay Rod McKenzie with gojackets.com on the 247 Network obviously you're coming in and playing for a new quarterback coach snow and Coach winke what has that been like for you and you know has he tried to change anything you're doing or is he like what what he saw for me and everything's the same uh I mean he hadn't changed much because I mean at the end of the day what what do you change at this level uh there's a couple tweaks and tweaks here and there that that you can change to improve but uh the the main deal is just simplify everything in your head and it allows you to play fast and that that's the big deal just just playing fast and knowing knowing what's going on uh you you see stuff you react and let's go that it's this or that is it's not a lot of gray areas with with Coach Winky chat oh hey and uh Chad with the with AJC I know it's day four how is the competition going what's it like going out there every day no you're competing for that starting job always it's great uh I mean all of us we're we're tight closely bonded like I said all the locker room I feel like we can talk to anybody have a conversation with anybody so that that bond between all of us are are really smooth uh really close so so that makes it even better and then I mean just having a good QB room is going to upgrade and it's gonna um that that competition level was just gonna be out the roof and it makes a whole room better uh competition it it makes everybody better and uh because you're you know you're going to get the best from them and they're going to get the best from you um so that that happens and then it just raises everybody else's level around you with the receivers with the offensive line tight ends running backs and heck even defense because nobody wants to lose you know and we're trying to trying to start that mentality here where where we hate losing and that's the deal so uh I feel like everything is is improving in that direction anything in the back [Music] back from Kelly I'm just curious kind of what do you I guess for people who haven't seen you play kind of how would you describe your game and how do you feel like you fit into this offense uh how would I describe my game uh you know I I feel like I can play in multiple offenses like going back to high school I I was my dad he would he would run like a like a pro style offense but we'd still get in the gun we we'd go Zone read we go we get back into affirmation go triple option uh hand the ball off throw throw play action off power we we do all that stuff so I feel like most offense I can fit in regardless uh in the knowledge of the game uh the sadness on that is will will help me as well but I'm liking this offense uh my game on a short notice I I can move uh but I don't like to move when it's not necessarily like you you don't want a quarterback just just scrambling takes taking a lot of hits you're gonna sit in a pocket nowhere where everybody's going distribute the ball here and there to the right places and um on top of that if I do need to move I'll move I'll scramble get up vertical get what I need [Music] um but other than that that's that's it on that is the the pace of the game that coach Walter is going to ask you to play in is that any different than what you played in at a m uh uh just a little bit um this last year at a m we we tried to up the tempo but uh now this is probably uh we probably have more Tempo it's uh we're gonna play fast and it simplifies it a little bit uh and he's big on Tempo even in practice like we started doing the play clock out there now so we're we're moving through practice like this so uh we we uh he probably has an idea of where we need to snap the ball on on the play clock um so Tempo is big on him uh it's not too much of a big ask because at the same time if if you know everything know what you're doing and know what you're looking at as I said with with Coach winky coaching us everything should should work out and be fun sure but you know seeing chase out there and you obviously had a chance to work with him a lot and um he's you know a guy that catches your eye just how's that Bond helped you and then also how have you are you bonding with the other receivers uh I mean that Bond's always good we were tight when we were at a m uh same goes for here um so so we have a natural connection and I mean what helps you at a quarterback at the quarterback position is having a Savvy receiver where you can read him easily coming in and out of breaks uh you can just it's that trust Factor right there everybody talks about trust trust trust we're running great routes where hey he triggers at the top of the route you know exactly where he's going based off leverage so that that's a good trust factor and uh I mean same deal like back in the spring we had we had player-led throwing sessions that's going to increase the the camaraderie the the connection right there the trust Factor so the more you throw the more experience you get with them the better it's going to be every time anything else good hey it's nice but thank you