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OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 9, 2013Ed WarrinerQ. Obviously you're worried with this year and this offensive line, and what you guys are doing now, but knowing that you have four starters on the offensive line, what are you looking at in practice with the young guys who you're going to need down the line, and are you trying to get them in games whenever you can to get some experience for the backups early in the year, if you can? COACH WARINNER: Yeah, we are working really hard to develop our depth. We did that in August. We do that in practice, and then whenever we can, we are trying to get them in the games. I think, you know, Jacoby Boren has played a lot of snaps in the first two games. Pat Elflein has played. We have Darryl Baldwin in the game and we'll continue to do that. So we have a plan in place to develop players, so that next year, the next wave of guys are ready to go, and so that plan is in place. But yeah, part of it is what we did in training camp, they have got a lot of work there and they get a lot of work in practice, too, because we rep the second unit quite a bit, and then I rotate them in the first unit during practice, as well. So, yeah, there's a plan in place for player development and to get guys ready. Q. As you guys looked at Kenny Guiton's game and stuff, did y'all skip a beat? Did y'all miss a beat with him in there? Give me a summation of what you guys saw as you looked at it offensively. COACH WARINNER: No, really, when Kenny goes into the game, there's an extreme amount of confidence by the coaching staff and the players in his ability to execute the plan. So at that point in time, playing against San Diego State, the key was just stick with the game plan, stick with what he's practiced, and know that if we need to make adjustments as we progress, he's a smart player and he understands and can make adjustments, but really, we didn't plan on changing anything. And you even saw, I mean, Kenny had that long run; I mean, that was a play that obviously had been designed for Braxton and we still called it with Kenny and he broke it and scored. So we didn't really change much in that regard. But yeah, he just brings‑‑ yeah, there's a lot of confidence. You don't feel like all of a sudden half of the game plan page is eliminated because your second team quarterback goes in. We feel like that he's still very capable of executing just about everything on there. And obviously nobody is the same. We are not trying to say they are the same guy. So there are certain plays you might stay away from, but 90 percent of that game plan is still in play when Kenny is in the game. Q. They ran a 3‑4 last year and have gone to a 4‑3 this year, does that fit more what you guys like to see? Just talk about switching up and going against a different front this week. COACH WARINNER: Yeah, they play a different defense this year than last year. Their new coaching staff has a different defensive package. You know, but the odd‑defensive three‑man front has become more common in NFL and college football, so you have to be prepared for that. Our defense does both. But our defense is more of a four‑down, so we will practice against more of a four‑down in practice just because that's what our defense is going to play more often. But again, you do have to shift and you have to adjust, so they look like they are predominately going to be a four‑down front. I think our kids will have great confidence in how to block that, and so just go back to that‑‑ just changes up a little bit for the offensive line fundamentals, blocking three‑man versus four‑man fronts so, that's something that we'll work on this week. It doesn't change a lot for other players outside the O‑line. Q. You referenced the ability you've had maybe to build some depth; when you go back to when Corey has surgery, did you have any concern then about the time line for getting him back‑‑ the decision to miss camp or early season games, how did you respond to that initially when it was laid out? COACH WARINNER: Well, a lot of things you can't control, so you have to figure out how‑‑ the best way to manage them and move forward. But all the decisions were made with a plan in place that would allow him to start the first game and play and be ready to go. So that plan was put in place, and it was executed by he and the medical staff and the training staff. So I think we are right where we thought we would be at this point in time. But it does, you know, get some other guys involved in the process, more reps and so forth, because we monitored how much he did in the off‑season and how much he did in training camp to make sure. Q. Has he been a guy who has been pressing to get ahead of schedule or coming out after 17 plays in the opener, for instance? COACH WARINNER: Yeah, he wanted to play more in the opener. He wanted to play more in the last game. But circumstances were such that we were in a good situation where we didn't have to do that, and so we didn't. But we also had kind of a pitch count for him, and we knew what that pitch count was, and when he got to his number, we said, you know, what do we want to do here and we got him out of the game. And we put a good player in backing him up in Jacoby, so we are fine there. Everything has progressed there fine and he's 100 percent, and had we needed to play him more than that in the first two games, we could have, but the situation was such that we didn't feel like we needed to and that we could move forward and not do that. Q. Can you quantify how important Corey is to that offensive line? Urban has referred to him as the apex, being in that position‑‑ COACH WARINNER: Your center for your offensive line is kind of your quarterback of that position or your point guard of that position, so to speak. I mean, he calls out the starting point for what we are going to do, identifying defenses, identifying protections, making adjustments. He's in the middle, hence the apex, hence the fact he can see both sides; so that's why most people have their center be the voice of communication in their offensive system. So he does that, and he does it very well. He's a very smart guy. Studies the game, understands conceptually what we're trying to do. So, you know, having him out there and his knowledge base and the fact that he's physically talented and a good football player; that combination, you know, it's great to have him. You know, so it just makes you feel like you know you're going to be on the right page. Now, you know, in hindsight, Jacoby Boren is a 4.0 student here, and he's really smart, too, so he isn't putting us in the wrong calls or anything like that. He just didn't have quite as much experience. Q. Has he continued to improve‑‑ in what ways has he‑‑ COACH WARINNER: Who, Corey? Q. Yeah. COACH WARINNER: I think so. He did make a tremendous jump. I mean, he had not played, and he played a lot and played very well, and was very consistent. And you try to build on that. The only thing that set back some of that progress has been battling through the injury and not working as much as you would like, because he's doing rehab. But you know, he's a very gifted player who, you know, gives us a great chance in the middle to open holes and run the ball inside. He's good at what he does. And the players, you know, there's camaraderie amongst all those guys, because there's four seniors and he's been the apex and so they let him run the show up there. You don't have the other guys trying to tell him, no, no, no, and trying to override him and make the calls for him. I mean, he's the head of the show and he runs the show and he does a good job of it, so it's good. So they like having him in there because they know that he'll put them on the right plan. Q. You mentioned that Braxton and Kenny are not the same player; playing the same offense, how do the guys around them adjust? Do the offensive linemen have to adjust differently when Kenny is in there, because Braxton may do A, B or C; whereas, Kenny may do X, Y or Z? COACH WARINNER: Not really. I don't think the offensive line‑‑ we don't talk to them about any adjustments or anything different. We don't have a mentality that, okay, we are going to a different type of offense or a different type of mentality when Kenny is in there. I just think like anything, you know, when one of your marquis players goes down, the mentality of every guy that's on the field is, I've got to play just a little bit better. I've got to be a little bit more locked in, do a better job to help pick up any slack that may be there. And not that there is a lot of slack, you know what I mean. I'm not trying to insinuate that. What I'm saying is that everybody, when a good player goes down, has to pick up their game a little bit. I just think that Kenny is so charismatic; he has leadership skills and guys like him, they are ecstatic to go out and block their butt off for him. Q. How has the move of Billy Price to offensive line gone so far? I know talking to him in recruitment, he wanted to play D‑tackle, but he's playing O‑line, how's that going? COACH WARINNER: It's going great. Billy, again, is a very smart kid, understands football, has natural blocking talents that you don't have to coach some of the things that he's good at already. The fact that he's going to learn the craft of playing center behind Corey Linsley, who is another Youngstown guy, and they have become pretty good buddies, so he's learning how to play that position; so he's a center or a guard, but he can be pretty good at both. It's been real smooth. I mean, he's a natural there, just so we're clear on that. He's a real natural there. It's not like there's a lot of work to be done, just keep him our system and continue to get stronger and understand how to play at this level. Q. In a perfect world, would you like to redshirt him so you could get two years between him and Jacoby at that position? COACH WARINNER: Yeah, probably, unless things happen that we can't control. You know, possibly, that could be where that's headed, yeah. Q. Decker obviously was singled out a little bit in the opening game, had some problems. Last game he was quiet, which I assume was a good sign‑‑ COACH WARINNER: That was a good sign, yeah. He played much better, much more confident in the second game. You guys know, and we know, and I've talked to former head coaches who wander around in this building about guy's whose first game in the shoe sometimes can be very stressful and they can get worked up, and I think he was just a little too excited. You know, nerves, whatever, pressure, tried to play outside of himself. He looked more like what I saw in August in the second game, and he settled in and he played a solid game. You know, really was very productive. So what he did against San Diego State is what we thought we would get out of him and hopefully he'll continue that trend. He bounced back‑‑ he had a couple bad plays. He didn't play awful, but the problem is if you're a corner and if you get beat twice in 70 plays, that's a bad game. If you're a tackle and you get beat twice in 70 play, that's a bad game. Hopefully everyone understands that, because when you get beat at tackle, the quarterback goes down on the ground. When you get beat at corner, it's a touchdown. That's the thing is he didn't play, you know, grade out at 50 percent in the first game. He had a few bad plays against a really good player. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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