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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCEAugust 25, 2014Kliff KingsburyQ. How do you feel like your work throughout camp was? COACH KINGSBURY: It was a good camp, mostly healthy, which is a positive. Probably able to pull back a little bit because of summer work we were able to do this year with the new NCAA rule. It was good. It went by fast, it was efficient, and got done what we needed to get done. Q. What can you expect to see (Indiscernible) out of the gate from your offense? Are you going to stretch it out right away? COACH KINGSBURY: He's ready to go, so I'm sure he'll come out with an attacking mindset and try to go at it. I know these guys. They've been going against the defense for what seems against June, really, 7 on 7 and team drills they've been doing on their own. So they're going to see another colored jersey and I'm sure they'll be ready to get after it. Q. Kliff, (indiscernible) told me the wide receiver O‑line, D‑line, he was feeling good about. Any others that you have on the short list from fall camp? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, I've been proud of the way the young corners have competed. That's a tough deal at that age to come in and be thrown into the fire, especially going against the guys we have, and the way we practice and the way we play and as much as we throw it, but they've stepped up and competed well. So I'm anxious to watch them play, but I would say that's a group that's been a pleasant surprise. Q. Coach, talk about the confidence you've had? COACH KINGSBURY: It is always subject to change, and we're practicing in practice as far as our two‑deep goes. We have a bunch of guys that have played a lot of football coming back. But there are some new guys we're anxious to see when the lights come on, so we'll figure that out. But as far as two deep, that's day‑to‑day for us. Q. (Indiscernible)? COACH KINGSBURY: I'm not sure yet. He's a guy that's really flashed this camp with his speed and what he can do with the football, but we have some other guys in that back field that can make it happen as well. So we'll see how the game's going and see how he does when the lights come on, but he's had a heck of a camp and we'll try to give him the ball a few times early and see how it goes. Q. You also (Indiscernible)? COACH KINGSBURY: Very natural, very poised young man. He's very cerebral in his approach, and he's worked really hard at it. It's just been fun to watch him do that, and he seems like a natural. Q. Will Pat Mahomes likely get some time? COACH KINGSBURY: I hope so. Since he's not red‑shirting, we're going to play him as much as we can. When we can find times that he can go in the game throughout the year, we're going to try to maximize that, because in an ideal world, like I said, you would like to red‑shirt him, but he's not afforded that luxury. So we'll get him out there, and as much as we can play Pat, we're going to play him. Q. I know you passed a lot more last season than maybe you wanted to. What sort of breakdown do you hope to put forward in this first game? COACH KINGSBURY: I don't have a number or percentage, but just be more confident in our run game leaving this game. You'd like to be able to hand it off more when you have the box to do so. So hopefully we can get that rolling a little bit. Q. Back on Patrick for a little bit. Is his situation where you'd like to plug him into every game or close to every game? COACH KINGSBURY: I don't think so. I wouldn't say that. When the opportunities arise, we're going to let him run the offense. We're not just going to have him hand off and run clock at him. We're going to have him execute the offense and get him ready to go. Q. You'll put him in games that are more or less decided or throw him out there for ten points, two touchdowns? COACH KINGSBURY: Just depends on the circumstance, but Davis is the quarterback. So I think as of right now our plan is if a game is decided one way or the other, then Pat would come in. Q. What are your couple goals that you would like to see both sides of the ball achieve? I know you had concerns about red zone offense, and I know that Matt has had some concerns about red zone defense. Can you talk about those goals? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, I think more than anything, especially early in the season, we've had a big emphasis as I've talked about a bunch on turnovers and penalties. So you'd like to see a clean game, especially at home. No presnap penalties, things of that nature, and then protecting the football. I think those are the two things this first week that we're really striving towards. Q. Coach, can you talk about the two deep linebackers in V.J. and Kenny? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, V.J.'s a guy that's come in as a transfer from Utah that's brought passion to the game. That's one word to define him. Every day he's yelling, screaming, hopping around and excited to be out there, and that's contagious to his teammates. Then Kenny's gotten better and better. He's ended this camp very strong. Our coaches have more confidence in him than we ever have watching him at that position. So I'm fired up for both those guys being seniors to watch them play on Saturday. Q. Could you talk about the offensive line, and Dominique Robertson and the movement there?  Do you envision him playing some at left tackle on Saturday? COACH KINGSBURY: We'll see how the game goes. Dom's still getting adjusted to the speed of the game, but he's shown some serious flashes and we think if he keeps coming he's going to be a big contributor for us on that line. So we'll play him as much as we can, whether it's inside or outside. The rest of that group is going to be starting this first week that all played last year, so they've come together and gelled. Dom's a piece that we hope we'll be able to push him in there soon. Q. What is your outlook on J.J. Gaines, a guy that is now the veteran voice in the secondary? COACH KINGSBURY: I know he's excited to be back after that injury. He's come a long way. That rehab was an extensive process, so you can tell he's appreciating the game more. He's working harder than he ever has. He's studying harder than he ever has. Sometimes injuries are the best things that can happen to a player, and he's a guy that's taken a second chance and has run with it. Q. With Justin Murphy and Castaneda listed as two deep, do you think they'll play or is it a situation where (Indiscernible)? COACH KINGSBURY: I think with the numbers we have, you'd like to red‑shirt at least one of them, but we'll see how it goes. We're not deep enough to lose many bodies and not have those guys play, so we'll see how this first game goes early and go from there. Q. Coach, you have Tevin Madison at that point position. Is there anything that separated him from the rest of the group in fall camp? COACH KINGSBURY: Having played in high school and he's got great ball skills and I think he just picked up the system a little bit quicker, but all those guys are tremendous athletes at that position. So you kind of have a youth movement over there at that one corner and rotate them through, and they know that. We'll just do it as a group effort. Q. How close is the competition between Madison and JahÂ’Shawn Johnson? COACH KINGSBURY: It was close. We feel comfortable with both those guys. And JahÂ’Shawn was most impressive. He was a safety most of his high school career and that is probably his best position, but with some incidents we had, felt like we needed to move him over there and he's done a great job. Q. What was the talk between Matt and Davis, and you mentioned it a little bit, but (Indiscernible)? COACH KINGSBURY: Just more comfortable catching the football. With our offense, that's our main point is securing the football on special teams because we'll be able to move the football, we just can't turn it over. We felt like Cam came in and did a great job of being steady. Q. I realize they have a new staff, but anybody from Central Arkansas or defense kind of catch your eye? COACH KINGSBURY: There is a defensive end named Woodard that flashes on film, great player for them. And then a safety, No. 7 that shows up. But Coach Campbell has done a tremendous job at Gulf Coast, and his record speaks for itself. So they'll come in here fired up expecting to win the game and our players know that. Q. Coach, Dominique Robertson, is it getting him up to speed with the offense or conditioning or little of both? COACH KINGSBURY: I'd say a little bit of both. Our practices are more up tempo than most in the country as many plays as we rep and as fast as we go, especially as an offensive lineman. So getting a call, figuring out what you have to do and being in shape to play at that pace just takes a little bit of time. Q. Talk about game week and the procedure? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, as far as? Q. Like, Tuesday, Thursday, game day. COACH KINGSBURY: It's a normal game week. I don't know that it's different than anywhere else in the country. We meet as a staff in the morning, meet with the players in the afternoon at practice and do it again the next day. Q. Has there been any one wide receiver that's stood out in fall camp that Davis is looking to, or do you view this as a collective group? COACH KINGSBURY: I think it will be more spread out than last year. You have two guys that really caught a bunch of passes and we feel like we have‑‑ we lost a lot of production with those two. We feel like we have a deeper group I'd say as far as speed goes and ability to make plays. So I think it would be more spread out. Jakeem Grant, I keep saying it, but he's been phenomenal in spring and summer, so I expect him to have a great season. Q. Coach, how much more is the offense just in terms of knowing your system now? Are you more comfortable not thinking just playing, can you see that going into the season? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, it's night and day. Davis will wave me off on play calls now if he sees stuff. So they're taking control of it as a group, and that's when it gets really fun. Q. What is Tony's status? COACH KINGSBURY: Tony will be out for a little bit. We're not sure exactly what his status is right now at this moment, but he won't play in this first week. Q. What did he hurt? COACH KINGSBURY: His knee. Q. It seemed like last year Davis would get in trouble and he'd look for Jace and kind of help him out in those situations. Anything you noticed over camp is Bradley a guy that can help him out in situations or is there one guy he looks to when he needs a big play? COACH KINGSBURY: I think it will be more spread out. Jace is a phenomenal player, but a lot of it has to do with his second year in the offense, and last year it was just finding the big guy over the middle and that is part of being a true freshman. But now he has a better grasp of the offense, and has done a much better job of getting us out of plays and protecting the football. Q. Coach, can you talk about the excitement this year? Season tickets sold out, 3,000 tickets left for this Saturday, and it's going to be rocking? COACH KINGSBURY: That's incredible for our program to have that kind of energy behind it. It gives us a lot of credibility on a national level that we sold out a program on a season ticket basis. Recruits love that and our players love it. It's a credit to this community and how passionate these fans are. Q. What was Baylen's camp like? COACH KINGSBURY: We moved Baylen around. He's a guy that's going to have to be ready to play center and guard, left guard, right guard, and he's developed a lot. He's another guy last year we would have liked to red‑shirt him and weren't able to. He's made great strides this fall camp. Q. Talk about your two freshmen offensive linemen and how they've done? COACH KINGSBURY: Way ahead of schedule. I think they both came with great attitudes, both tough kids, love to compete, love to play football, young still. You'd like to red‑shirt them if possible, but I have a feeling they'll both be asked to play this year. Q. Talking outside wide receivers, what was the competition like between Polite‑Bray and Lauderdale? COACH KINGSBURY: It was good. It was friendly competition. They both pushed each other. Both guys have great speed, both young, haven't played a lot. I thought they went at it and didn't back down, so we feel comfortable playing both those guys this year, and I expect them to make big plays for us. Q. What was the separation between the two in the end? COACH KINGSBURY: Probably just knowing the system better. Being here a little bit longer than the other guy, but like I said, we feel comfortable with both guys. Q. Could you talk about Talor and his progression to that position and taking that over? COACH KINGSBURY: He's been good. He's been good. We've just got to get it from the practice field on to the playing field. He sat for a number of years and watched and waited his time and he seems calm and poised. I'm anxious to watch him punt in a live game. Q. Any freshmen, barring anything catastrophic that will for sure red‑shirt? COACH KINGSBURY: I wouldn't say we have any for sure. I think a lot of these guys are up and ready to go. Q. What kind of impact did you see during the fall special teams? COACH KINGSBURY: It was huge just to have a face on that phase of the ball where those guys looked at and he brings a different level of passion, different level of energy to that phase. The kids bought in and they've been playing hard and flying around and taking pride. Instead of trying to skip reps on special teams, they're trying to get in and get extra reps. That's much different than it was last year. Q. What is the feedback conversely for Coach Haverty? COACH KINGSBURY: He's excited about it. That was a deal that kind of got thrust upon him last year, and he took it on. He's anxious to focus more on the defense and more on his safeties. Q. Coach, how about you overall? What's been the difference for you over the last year? Do you feel settled in and a lot more comfortable than a year ago at this time? COACH KINGSBURY: I wouldn't say settled in, but I'd say more comfortable, definitely. The first year you're just installing everything and trying to get it installed. The second year you can figure out where you made mistakes what you can do better and change things. So that's been the biggest thing I've tried to do. Q. Have you done anything different as far as committing turnovers and not losing things like that or have you taken a different approach as far as those two things? COACH KINGSBURY: We've stepped back a little bit and put the onus on the team. Last year we probably backfired because we put so much talk and thought into turnovers and penalties and harped on it, and harped on it, and it didn't help. So we kind of took a step back and put the emphasis on the team to handle it. Q. Just like any other year, defense is going to be big. Talk about your defense going into this game really quick? COACH KINGSBURY: We'll find out what we've got. There are a lot of good players returning on that group. Having to plug some new bodies in on the D‑line and going to have to get caught up quick. I know they're more comfortable in the system. There's been a different attitude on that side of the ball in year two and some good leadership emerged, so I'm excited to watch them play. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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