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PENN STATE UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCEAugust 26, 2014Mike HullQ. Mike, you've been through this a lot. You've been to a lot of away games. I'm just curious if you approach this any differently or maybe those suitcases are bigger than they usually are? MIKE HULL: Oh, yeah, definitely. It's going to be a lot longer of a plane ride than I'm used to, but we'll try to sleep and do everything they tell us to do as far as getting adjusted to the time zone differences. Q. James said a few minutes ago that you guys have had the countdown board, and he said it's going to be here sooner than you think. Now that it's just a few days away, not only is it an opener, but it's this kind of trip. So do you sense from yourself or teammates a different level or excitement for this game? MIKE HULL: Yeah, I think a lot of people are excited just because of where the game is being played. First game of the season every year you're really excited, a lot of emotions, especially with the new staff, you don't know what to expect a lot of times. Q. (Indiscernible)? MIKE HULL: Yeah, I think they've had a great camp each of them. Nyeem's gotten a lot better from last year. I think the experience on the field has really helped him a lot. He's had a solid camp. Brendan makes a lot of good plays. Always around the ball, has a lot of interceptions and forced fumbles and things like that which you guys saw last year when he was out on the field. So I think both of those guys have done a great job throughout camp. Q. What are the chances or how are they different this year? MIKE HULL: Yeah, I think Joe's camps were the most physical and demanding as far as hitting goes in live periods, and Coach O'Brien was run like an NFL camp, not as much hitting, not as much physicality. I think Coach Franklin's right in the middle. He did a good job preparing us this year as far as conditioning and also getting live reps in there. But he didn't take it over the top to the point where guys were banged up. Q. Your thoughts on Von Walker? MIKE HULL: Yeah, Von's a great dude, a really hard worker. He plays physical all the time. He's had a really good camp at linebacker. I think he's running with second teams. I could see him being a special teams player going down on all four units and creating a lot of problems for teams. Q. As a senior on the team, do you think it's your responsibility to have guys focused? MIKE HULL: Yeah, definitely got to keep everyone else focused. Got to make sure everyone's on the same page, doing all the right things all the time. For us this is a business trip. At the end of the day, winning will be the deciding factor whether or not the trip will be success or a failure. So we're really looking forward to the game and getting everybody on the same page is the responsibility of myself and the other seniors. Q. Was there much input from the players about practicing on Sunday? It's such a departure from the past, right? MIKE HULL: Yeah, I think we like the new schedule of practicing on Sundays, getting a little of the soreness out and then having all day off on Monday to kind of get your classes going for the week and having a full day to recover there. Q. Besides the football game on Saturday, what are you most looking forward to in Ireland? MIKE HULL: Probably just seeing a bunch of different places. We're going to the Guinness Factory and University of Dublin, I think right downtown, so I think that will be pretty cool. Q. Is it fair to say your career has been a wild ride and how would you like to see it conclude? MIKE HULL: Yeah, definitely been a little bit of a wild ride but I think that's what has made my experience so great. I want our defense and our whole team to have a really solid year, meet our potential, and we're going to take it one day at a time right now. Q. Talk about how you feel in terms of your confidence and the way you're walking around campus now compared to the way you stepped foot on the campus after the way the last four or five years have gone for you? MIKE HULL: Yeah, I definitely feel more confident now. I know the type of person I am, type of player I am whenever I first got here. Personally, you don't know what to expect coming into a Division 1 football program. So, yeah, I think really confident going into the season, and really excited for it. Q. What would be the biggest differences that you've seen from yourself? MIKE HULL: Just changing as a player and maturing a lot over my four years. You know, I've seen everything, so I think I've just gotten a little more mature just because of all of the experiences that I've had here. Q. In Coach Shoop's defense, what is the importance of you being on the same page with the safeties and making sure everybody's on the same page and getting the right checks and calls and things like that? How do you think you've done with that going into the season? MIKE HULL: I think we've done a great job throughout camp. Me and Ryan Keiser are very close. We talk all the time, so I think the communication aspect of it has been going really well this camp, and I think we're a lot further ahead than we were at this time last year. Q. Mike, (Indiscernible). What did you think of their progression? Do you think they can play if they need it? MIKE HULL: Yeah, I think Cabinda's gotten a lot better since we started camp. I think he's one of the guys that if he needs to he's going to play for us. He's done a really good job. Worked really hard and had good scrimmages. Reeder, the same thing. He's a hard worker, smart kid. It's a little harder at the Mike position just because you have a lot more calls to make, and a lot more responsibility. But I think if they had to, they could plug them in there. Q. (Indiscernible)? MIKE HULL: Yeah, the one kid I would say is Grant Haley and Marcus Allen. Both those guys have done a great job throughout camp. They're always popping up on film and making plays. Q. You just said Grant Hill. He's a guy that coaches have highlighted a lot from other teammates. Was there a moment when you knew that he made some kind of play that stood out? What have you seen that leads you to say that? MIKE HULL: Yeah, he comes out to practice every day and makes plays. The first week, first scrimmage he really jumped out and made a couple PBUs off some big hits. He's done a great job being consistent throughout camp and I think that's what coaches value. Q. He was a three‑star, and he's like 5'8", 5'9", you're kind of one of those underrated guys as well. Did that surprise you when he's coming out like you said, breaking up passes and playing bigger than you expect? MIKE HULL: Not really just because I've seen all summer how athletic he was. I think he ran a four‑three whenever he came in. We knew he was really athletic, and he's been able to translate that athleticism to the scheme. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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