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UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEAugust 16, 2018David BeatyLawrence, Kansas DAVID BEATY: Thanks for coming. So just a couple things to start. Man, it's been a really good camp for us in preparation just because there's several things that we wanted to be able to do in work that you don't always get to because the weather doesn't cooperate. It's been great. We have had several different types of weather, heat, rain, we've had delay, all kind of things that are going to be things that we're going to have to deal. It's been great for our guys to really kind of learn about themselves, kind of figure out those are things you're going to deal with throughout the season. We've had a lot of heat, which is something we want to be in that. Our guys have done a great job, put a lot of emphasis on being in great shape coming into camp. It's really showed. We put a lot of emphasis on things we need to focus on. First and third down efficiency has been a critical area for us. We feel we have to be great on those downs. And lots of work there. Causing and preventing turnovers. The turnover margin has been something that has been an Achilles' heel for us. We have to manage that better. A lot of emphasis on that. A lot of new things that we're doing with regard to making sure the awareness is on down to down distance, down to down effect. We need to make sure we're really thinking about it every single play, about getting the ball out, creating an extra possession. I said a long time ago, Bill Self and those guys do a great job of valuing possession. We've learned a lot from those guys, some of the talks we had in the off-season about how you do it. Putting together first downs offensively. We do have some very athletic players I think on offense. The key to getting the ball in all their hands is not really as simple as you think. You have to string first downs so you get more calls, that way you can get the ball in their hands more. Obviously you'll take touchdowns, but you have to string first downs together. Some of the better teams in our conference, they lead the conference in first downs. That's big. Conversely, defensively we have to get off the field. We put a lot of pressure on our defense to get off the field on the first set of three, not the second set, the first set of three. That punter from Texas last year was such a weapon. There's so many of them. When you don't get off the field in the first three, the field flips dramatically. If they get more flips, becomes more dramatic, whole game backed up. That is not what you want. A lot of emphasis put there. Really a lot of emphasis on not giving up big plays late in the drive. I think we've done some things here where we played pretty good for a few snaps, then we give up a huge play. That's something we have to eliminate. A lot of that comes down to being in shape, being in terrific shape at that point of the drive. Our guys have really bought into that. We've worked them really hard on being in terrific shape. We believe this game rewards those that are in terrific shape. Our guys have done a terrific job of that. They kept their weight up. They've done a great job with their hydration. They've really grown into some young pros, which is what we've been working on. There's some good things there. Still a lot of mistakes that we're learning. We still have a lot of camp left. We're not done by any stretch of the imagination. We just moved out of the hotel last night. That's another thing we work with on our guys, how we're going to handle those situations. We have a full 'nother week and a few days before we get into the meat and potatoes for our first game. That's been good stuff. Let's take some questions. Q. Quarterback competition, you mentioned the plan. DAVID BEATY: I love the competition that we have going right now. This weekend is our second big scrimmage. We need that scrimmage. We need it. We need one more look at them to be able to kind of have a good idea. That will give us still two weeks. We feel like we're probably going to be good to go after that to make a decision. But once again, I won't do it just to make it, if it just goes off the charts. We have to give ourselves the best chance to win. Our fans deserve the best guy behind center being able to take care of the ball. This weekend will be kind of a telltale force. We're not at the point where we're ready to name it yet. If I had to make a choice today, I kind of know where I'd go. These next three or four days to me are the most important days at camp. A lot of people do well early. A lot of people can string along four, five days. When you get in the dog days, 12, 13, 14 practices, then we get to see who you really are. Tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday, critical for those guys. The next phase of evaluation. Q. Is it two or three right now? DAVID BEATY: No comment. Q. Can you say which guys? DAVID BEATY: No comment (laughter). Q. The hope would be to name one this weekend after everything plays out? DAVID BEATY: You know, not just there. Everywhere. In our game, I get it, I understand, but it's a very big responsibility to make sure that you get the right thing done for your team. It's every single position. We've got some decisions to make with guys that are returning starters that, man, these guys are learning a lot about themselves. We're learning a lot. We're learning a lot about who likes to compete, who likes to run from it. That's great. That means you got guys that compete and are able to compete for jobs. Some of these guys that have started, they may have a hard time keeping that job. That's good. That tells you where the growth of our program is. Q. Update on Jacobi? DAVID BEATY: I can't say much. He is not back with us yet, but he is still under evaluation with our doctors, and his doctors, as well. I will let you know when I can. I don't have any other updates other than he's stable, but he's not in a situation where it would be dire. He's in good position there. But he's still under evaluation. They're still running some tests that take a couple of weeks to get fixed. We should know a little bit more in a few days. Q. He's up walking? DAVID BEATY: Yeah, I can say that. He's not in the hospital, I can say that. I can't say much about anything else. I have seen him. We've seen him up here with his parents. We've seen him around. We're still in that evaluation mode. We just want to make sure, make totally sure. Q. What would you like to see in the next scrimmage that maybe was lacking in the first? DAVID BEATY: Man, we talked about it yesterday. Really down and distance awareness and understanding just as we move the ball, we have a Sherman period, got it Mike Sherman, those guys, where we put seven, eight minutes on the clock, we play it. We flip back and forth. I think that's been one of the best situations we've done. We want to see how our guys handle all situations without us being there to coach them. They're going to be out there on their own. It's been good to see them grow over the last week. We feel they've got a pretty good handle on certain situations. That's going to be something big. I'd like to see our defense create more ball strip, search, rip, interception opportunities. As a head coach, you're trying to look for a balance of both. We did get a little bit of both last scrimmage. I think we had two interceptions last scrimmage. We also had a few touchdown throws, a few touchdown runs. It's been pleasantly back and forth. As a head coach, you want to see that. That's something we haven't had. We're looking forward to continue to be back and forth. I want to see if one side or another can establish some dominance Saturday, really finish a side off, not let them back up. Q. Some of the new offensive linemen you have in the program, do they play different? DAVID BEATY: They do. One of the reasons, in all fairness, is that they're older. They're more developed. Their bodies are bigger. They're stronger. There's two years more of bone density in them, from lifting. Some of them three, some of them one, but most of them two or three years of bone density. That makes a big different. They do play with a little bit more power than our guys had in the past. In fairness, the guys in the past were fairly young and they had to be called onto play a lot early. The good news is watching those young guys that are here with us still, like Hakeem, Chris Hughes, they look like them, too, which is good. That's good. Q. You've had several interceptions last year on tipped balls. Is that something you're working with the wide receivers on or is it fluky? DAVID BEATY: It's certainly not fluky. From a wide receiver position, we talk about it all the time. Tips equal picks. You have two choices: every time that ball comes towards you, it's catch it or catch it. That's it. Those are your two choices. If you don't make that play, it's going to be a turnover. It's often looked at that it's all the quarterback's fault, but it's very seldom that. Sometimes it's protection that ties into that. A lot of times it's balls that go off people's hands. There's been a huge emphasis put on tipped balls, making sure they understand the two choices they have and they make the right choice when the ball comes their way. I think it's pretty clear, but we'll see. Q. (Question regarding Codey Cole and Jesse Williams.) DAVID BEATY: He's got a lot more toys on the side of his ball right now. Azur is a guy that sticks out to me. He was a 20-plus sack guy last year at Arizona Western. He really looks a lot body-wise like Dorance. He's not quite as thick as him yet, but long arms. I like him. He's got a motor. Really good. Codey Cole is another guy. I didn't realize he has as good of hands as he has. He's been fighting a little injury, but he continues to get back in there, which shows me he's got some toughness to him. We have a number of new guys in there that are really doing some good things for us. A couple of guys that really stick out to me, Jelani Brown is a guy that has quietly been good for us. Brian Lipscomb, he's a guy that played linebacker at VMI. A good player. We really like him. Got a motor. Najee Stephens has been battling a little injury, but another guy with a great motor. Darius, I love that guy. He is a big dude. He's playing well. He's playing well. Codey Cole. Sam Burt, a walk-on guy, he's done a nice job for us inside at the nose. I think Coach Williams has done a really good job of making sure that we create depth there. Vaughn Taylor, Willie McCaleb, hurt all year last year, shoulder surgery, he's back. We got some depth there. Kyron Johnson has moved from the linebacker to walk away in type guy. He has really taken on that position a lot better than I thought he would. He's a lot stronger than I thought he was. He's really fast, I didn't realize how powerful a guy he is. Coach Williams has got some pieces. We saw that when we watched him coach against us, coach over there at Ohio. The guy is a talented coach, no doubt. I think he's done a great job with them. Q. Did you pick Coach Self's brain about turnovers, ball security? DAVID BEATY: We've done that a number of different times, talking to him about how amazing it is. I go back to a couple of West Virginia games where they were down I want to say it was over 15 points a couple times with not very much time to go. But he talked so specifically about valuing every possession, making sure there's poise throughout that possession, that you value it. You can just watch his teams do that. When they get down, they value possession. It's been fun to watch, it really has been fun to watch. Our guys start to understand kind of the value of each and every possession that we have, where the pitfalls come into a possession that can cause you to lose the ball. Unforced errors, so to speak. We haven't talked a whole lot this year. Every time we talk, I just kind of make mention of what are you doing now for unforced errors, what are you doing for some of that stuff that we can pick up on. They do a hell of a job with it, I mean a great job with it. All right, guys. Y'all have a good one now. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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