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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL KICKOFFJuly 18, 2018Paul JohnsonTaQuon MarshallBrant MitchellCharlotte, North Carolina Q. Just to speak on your weapons that you have in the run game this year, obviously Georgia Tech has a plethora of backs every single season. Just what you can say about what you're excited about this year with the guys in the room that you have running the ball with you in this option offense. TaQUON MARSHALL: Well, we've got a lot of guys returning, so we've got a lot of guys that are experienced. We have a lot of playmakers on the offensive end. So I'm really excited to see what the guys are going to bring to the table this year. I'm just going to put the ball in their hands and let them work. I'm really excited about that. Q. Eight of the top nine rushing teams in the ACC have running quarterbacks. Most assuredly you and Georgia Tech are in that group. From a defensive point of view, what makes it so much more difficult to stop a team with a running quarterback as opposed to one that just hands off or throws the deep ball? TaQUON MARSHALL: It's a bigger threat. I mean, when you have a guy that can sit in the pocket and throw but can also break away when he needs to, it just adds another aspect for the defense that they have to cover. That's one of the things that's hard. That's why a lot of teams are now going towards the dual threat guy who can run and pass. Q. How is it that you could have such a great year last year knowing that that is your first year under center? TaQUON MARSHALL: There's no pressure to it really. Just going out there, playing football, doing something that you've always done, something that you love to do. So you just go out there and try to do it to the best of your ability, try to help your team out and put them in the best position to win the game. Q. Obviously in this offense there's all of that emphasis on the run, but what have you done to improve your game, and what can you say about what you've really been focusing and zeroing on as you move into the fall as the leader of this offense? TaQUON MARSHALL: This off-season I've really been working on the pass game. Last year I struggled a lot hitting some of the guys that were wide open, just throwing the ball in general. So that's one of the main things that I've worked on this spring and one of the things we've been working on a lot this summer, so that's one of the main focuses that I've had going into fall camp. Q. How does one game affect your preparation to the next game? I ask because obviously you had a whale of a ballgame to start the season last year. Is there momentum? Is there reflection? How is it you process that first game before the next game? TaQUON MARSHALL: Well, you just take it one game at a time. You focus on the things that you need to know for that game, and then when that game is over, just have to flush everything and focus on the next opponent. You try not to linger on that game too much. You watch the film, see what you need to improve on, and then work on the next opponent. Q. As a student you have to retain so much information; how is it that you're able to flush it out after a game? TaQUON MARSHALL: Well, I mean, sometimes it's hard to flush it out, especially after a loss, but at the end of the day, you know you need to focus on the next opponent. So you just try to put that in the back of your mind and really just focus on the next opponent. Q. Y'all bring back a lot of offensive linemen, but when you did try to pass last year, you gave up a high number of sacks. What have you done to try to avoid giving up the sacks when you do try to pass? TaQUON MARSHALL: Well, we're always constantly working on the blocking schemes, better ways to do things, better ways to block up front. That's always going to be the case when we're working on the pass game. Q. So many years in Coach Johnson's offense there's been a big play deep receiving threat. Last year so many times defenses would start concentrating on whether you were going to pitch or keep, and then all of a sudden you would sleep Ricky Jeune deep and hit him for a touchdown. Who's going to be the new Ricky Jeune this year? TaQUON MARSHALL: Well, we have a couple guys. There's not going to be one specific person this we're going to target. He have a couple of guys that we can throw the ball to. There's not one specific person. We have some receivers that we're going to put the ball in their hands and let them work and do what they're able to do. Q. Nine months have gone by since you've felt that feel of victory. How do you process all of this during such a long layoff? TaQUON MARSHALL: Well, last season was last season. Coach Johnson says all the time, this is probably the only sport that you really get to start over completely. Everyone's record is 0-0. You get to start over. Going into September 1st, we know that's a game we get to start over with, so we're going to take it one game at a time and then work from there. Q. What's your favorite movie and why? TaQUON MARSHALL: I wouldn't say I have a favorite movie, but the one that I've seen recently that I really enjoyed was the new Avengers movie. It was really good. Me and some of my teammates went to go see it. It was one of those ones where you're like, dang, what's going to happen next. So I'm really excited to see what they're doing to do in the next one. Q. Tell us a little bit about what Brant Mitchell means to this program. TaQUON MARSHALL: Brant Mitchell is a great leader. He's been very vocal this offseason, been pushing me, pushing the rest of the guys on the team. He's a hard worker. I don't see one day when we're at workouts he's not pushing other people and pushing himself. I'm very honored to have him as a teammate. He's a great leader, and I mean, that's my boy Brant Mitchell. He's a leader on defense. Q. You just heard your teammate talk about who you are to this team and the leadership that you have and what he thinks of you. What can you say about him? BRANT MITCHELL: He really -- I mean, he's a great athlete. I mean, he's a great person off the field, too. Anybody that has anything to say about TaQuon, it's always going to be good. He's a stand-up guy, works harder than most. You know, I think a lot of people on our team look up to him and look up to the way he plays and the way he carries himself. It's great to have him on the team, and it's refreshing to know that on the other side of the ball that things are going to be taken care of over there by TaQuon. Q. Brandt, you have a new defensive coordinator and from what I understand a whole new defensive philosophy. How will that translate to what we see on the field on Saturdays? BRANT MITCHELL: We're really excited about it. I mean, coming into this season, the guys are extremely energetic, very excited, and guys are buying in. I mean, we believe in it. We've been introduced to it. Now it's time to start translating the things that we've learned from past defenses and bringing it over to what we're running now. I think as we work into fall camp coming soon, the transition is going to be -- it'll be a challenge. Obviously there will be a learning curve. But we're excited about it, and we're excited what it's going to do to our opponents. Q. (No microphone.) BRANT MITCHELL: Oh, absolutely. It's an attack-style defense. We're going to be moving a lot more. I mean, I think our defense is a little bit more unpredictable than it has been in the past, I mean, which will help us against the offenses that we go against. I think it's going to help our guys just kind of let loose a little bit and play fast and show how athletic we are and just go out there and play as hard as we can. Q. Last year three games were decided by a total of six points. That means nine points going the other way and the record is 8-3. Your reaction? BRANT MITCHELL: It's frustrating. My freshman year when we had the 3-9 season, it was tough then, too, because we still -- I mean, just like you said, we were one possession here, one possession there, one step, one missed tackle away from having a successful season and going to a really good bowl game or even further than that. But yeah, to look back on it, it's really about the details in the game and what you can do to prevent the big plays from happening because that's really what it is. I mean, we go up against every opponent just the same, and we hang in there with everybody, and we compete just as hard as anybody else. But that's just what football is. It's a game of inches, and it's a game of big plays and whether or not you can stop them or not. Q. What's possible this year based on what happened last year? BRANT MITCHELL: I think the sky's the limit. If we can come out and focus, like I said, on the details and not giving up those big plays that in turn lead to touchdowns scored and ultimately losses, if we can prevent that from happening, I think we can go as far as we want to go. Q. I'm interested to know, your injury last year actually led to an off-chance conversation for you to establish your summer internship. How did that all happen? BRANT MITCHELL: So it wasn't my injury really, it was my boss's injury. I was getting some treatment down there, just regular maintenance work in the training room, and our head trainer, Jay Shoop, came over to me and said, hey, I want you to meet somebody, and it turned out to be John Dewberry. We got to talking, and one thing led to another, and ended up with a job offer. Q. It turned out pretty well, huh? BRANT MITCHELL: Absolutely. Q. You've got some experience on this team. What is it that you're telling the younger kids about the long haul, about the short-term, all of that? BRANT MITCHELL: Right now for the younger guys, I mean, it's -- everybody that comes to college, that comes to play college football, everybody is athletic, and everybody is on scholarship. And regardless if you're a walk-on or a scholarship player, you're going to work hard and you're going to be athletic. But the thing that's going to set you apart is getting in the film room and being able to understand the game mentally. And it's not all about who can make the hardest hits or all this stuff. It's about understanding why is it what it is, why we're lined up this way or why we're lined up that way or what's going on behind you as a linebacker. The young guys that come in think it's all about how many tackles I can make, but it's really about the guys beside you, as well. As a linebacker, it's your responsibility to get the guys in front of you to play just as hard as you're playing and the guys behind you to join in, too. It's a team effort. I guess the biggest thing to the young players is to just be the guy that knows what's going on and the guy that you can depend on to -- when chaos is going on on the field, who can we turn to. And it all goes back to learning the fundamentals and learning what to do and when to do it and paying attention to the little things. Q. Coach, Nate Woody, you heard a little bit from Brandt what he had to say about this explosive type defense, that there's going to be more energy and more brought to the table. What have you seen from Nate Woody and what has this 3-4 done to expand what you want to do defensively with Georgia Tech? PAUL JOHNSON: Well, I think to start with, let me say that certainly I have a lot of confidence in Nate. I've known him through the years, all the way back to when I was coaching at Georgia Southern and he was at Wofford College. I've watched from afar for the last few years and watched how his career has gone. He's been very successful at Appalachian State. And I think the philosophies kind of mesh. I felt like we needed a shake-up on defense a little bit. I wanted to be more aggressive and simpler so that the guys could utilize their speed and quickness and could play fast. I think it's important no matter what you do to be able to play fast, and hopefully he will bring that. We're in the infancy of it, early stages, but I think our players really enjoyed spring ball. They really enjoyed being around the defensive staff and kind of the energy and the positivity that they brought. And the proof is in the pudding. We'll see when you start playing. But I think the offenses are too good today -- if you can't create some negative plays, and we've really struggled with that the last few years, and you've got to be able to finish games and create negative plays I think to be successful. Q. TaQuon mentioned that he needed to work on his passing a little bit. Given the style of offense that you run, where do you find that balance of having passing time in practice and everything else that he needs to do to run that style of offense? PAUL JOHNSON: Well, you know, it's a big misconception. We probably spend as much time passing in practice as any team in the country. I mean, we go through practice every day where we throw one-on-ones and we throw 7-on-7, we go through 3rd downs in team. So it's not like we don't work on passing. I think balance is crazy. That's my opinion. I think if you looked at the two teams who played in the National Championship game a year ago, they weren't very balanced. They were both run-first. If you go back to when Auburn won the National Championship, they threw the ball less than we do. But because they were in the gun, nobody thought about it. So I think you have to be good at what you do. You have to be efficient. And the one thing that I'm a firm believer in, you asked TaQuon a little earlier, how do you flush -- you go from one game to the next game to the next game. Well, it certainly becomes a little easier if your system stays the same. So each game plan you're going to have the six basic plays that are always in it, so hopefully you get better and better and better at understanding those, and you don't have to just take a board and start over. So that's been my philosophy throughout. This will be my 40th year, I guess, getting started. We've had some success. Certainly some years have been better than others. But I'm looking forward to this year. I think we've got a good group of seniors, a good nucleus returning. We've got a really tough schedule again, but anxious to get out there and get started and see what we can do. Q. Can you talk about that nucleus that is returning? You obviously talk about having consistency, repetition, doing things the same way. It's got to give you good comfort heading into the season. PAUL JOHNSON: Yeah, well, we've got nine starters on offense returning and really will return Andrew Marshall who would have probably been a starting offensive lineman had he not gotten hurt and missed the year. That gives you a lot of experience. I think that we're probably better in the two-deep than we've been in a while in case someone gets hurt. Defensively we have to replace the secondary, but we have some guys who have played up front and at linebacker. Certainly Brant Mitchell, this will be his third year being a starter. Bruce Swilling, who's playing the other linebacker, got to play a whole lot a year ago as a true freshman. We've got guys who have played up front, and I think of all the people who have enjoyed the change defensively, they've probably enjoyed it more than anybody else because it's not so much cancelling gaps and taking on blockers. They're getting up field and having a chance to make some negative plays. You know, we'll see when we start playing. We feel like we've got some guys that can be good enough in the secondary, but all that's going to depend on can you get pressure and all the things that evolve. But I really believe if we stay healthy, we've got a chance to have a pretty good team. Q. We've come to this event some years where you've been replacing most of your offensive line. We've come to this event some years where you've been replacing almost all of your backs or your quarterback. This year you have three of your five offensive linemen back, and from what I can tell the entire backfield other than Ricky Jeune. I don't really see any gaping holes. What's your comfort level running this offense to have this much experience? PAUL JOHNSON: Well, I don't know that I ever have a comfort level. But it's great to have some experience. And we've got -- you said three of five. I could make a case that we've got five of five. We've got a lot of offensive linemen if they can stay healthy that have started and played. Like I said, we're excited to get Andrew Marshall back. I think he gives us more depth. And you know, depending on how it works staying healthy and if guys will work hard, I think we have a chance to be a pretty productive offense. Q. 40 years, really? What have you learned in your time as a coach? PAUL JOHNSON: Wow. It's flown by really fast. I started out back at my high school where I'd played, coaching, and it's just kind of one's led to the other. I think this will be -- I was trying to count my 22nd year as a head coach, and each year you learn something. I think that certainly as you go through expectations -- a lot of things change. I think that on our level of football, sometimes it's turned into a little bit of an arms race, and there's a lot of different factors that go into it. But the bottom line, I think, to win football games hasn't changed that much; you need to be able to run the ball and win the turnover battle and play good defense. And if you'll do that, be sound in the kicking game, you've got a chance to win games. It hasn't changed much. Q. You just mentioned the arms race; do you feel like Clemson building that multimillion dollar facility gives them a leg up competitively? And then how do schools that maybe don't have that compete on the field with schools that are throwing that kind of money at it? PAUL JOHNSON: Well, it certainly doesn't hurt them. I'm not sure that just that one aspect changes anything, but I think that just the overall commitment to the program, not just with facilities, but with budgets, with personnel, with all those kind of things. You know, every school is different. Georgia Tech and Clemson are set up differently as far as the schools go. We have far less students. Our fan base is probably not as big. We're not going to have as many people at the game. So we're not going to win an arms race with Clemson. But what we've got to do is sell what we have that's positive. And if I look, they're our natural rival from the other side. I think we're 5-6 against Clemson. We'd like to be better. So certainly it's not impossible for us to win. I think the last time they came to Atlanta, they were ranked in the top 5, and I think we did win. But you know, I think that what Dan and Dabo have done at Clemson is remarkable. They've been really consistent, and the commitment that they have to their football program is certainly visible. You can see that, not only with facilities but with personnel, with whatever you would need. But I don't think that everybody has to try to do that to compete. Everybody has to be positive with what they have. We've got a great school academically. We're in a great city. We have a lot of positives that we can sell rather than facilities sometimes. But you want -- certainly it's not going to hurt you to have those kind of facilities, that's for sure. Q. In a lot of the preseason and the way-too-early polls, the emphasis is on returning players or maybe recruiting classes. You know it's a lot more complicated than that. What factors come to your mind when you think about whether a team wins or doesn't win? PAUL JOHNSON: Well, I think preseason polls are ludicrous anyway because each team is different. If you go back out, I would be willing to bet if you go back and look for the last 10 years, you could probably find the same 15 or 16 teams in the preseason polls every year. What constitutes winning and losing? I think that you have to have a system that you believe in and the players believe in. You have to have good players, and you have to be fortunate. So much of it is staying healthy, getting the right bounce, getting the right thing. I mean, I look a year ago at our season, and it's hard to go back and pick games, but the very first game of the year, the opener, I felt like we were pretty dominant for most of the whole game. We found a way to lose at the end, to blow a lead in the fourth quarter and not execute. We came back, we go down to Miami, who won our division, and we have them 4th and 16 with a minute to go, and they throw a ball into double coverage, our safety mistimes, the ball hits our corner in the helmet and their guy catches it laying on his back. Well, you can say that's skill level; I say that's luck. So if the ball hits our guy in the helmet and bounces the other way, who knows, maybe we're in Charlotte instead of Miami. You can never gauge. It changes the whole thing. I want to clarify, I'm not taking anything away from Miami, they had a great year. But I'm just saying that's the way kind of games go. There's a really razor thin margin for most teams between winning and losing. There are very few teams who can trot out and win the game without their "A" game. There are a few but very few. Q. I may have this mistaken, but it seems like the recruiting rules as far as visits in the summer have changed and a lot more kids are making a lot more commitments during the summer. What do you make of those changes? PAUL JOHNSON: You know, I would rather see the recruiting slow down rather than speed up. But we'll see how many of those commitments stick. Unfortunately in our business, the guys who get all the press and all the notoriety are the ones who commit four or five times. If a guy goes through recruiting and he commits in July and doesn't take any other trips and signs in December, nobody ever talks about him again. But if a guy commits to school A and then he changes to school B and then he goes over to C and D, those guys get all the publicity and all the notoriety. It's really sped up, but I don't know, we've talked about, as coaches, a lot on how you slow it down, and that's the gorilla in the room. I don't know how you slow it down now. But you're right, it has sped up, and I don't think it's good for anybody, certainly not for the assistant coaches. I know that when we proposed an early signing period as a league a couple of years ago, what we talked about was having a signing period in like August to clean up the guys who were -- who knew they wanted to go to school there forever, you know, legacies, guys who grew up as fans. So you would have signed seven or eight guys, and it would have cleaned it up. But what happened is they felt like, well, if you move up the signing date, now you've got to move up the visits and you've got to do this and then we can take parents on the visits, and then we can -- so now every kid -- and you can't blame them, they all want to take five visits. It's a vacation for the family. Sometimes we create our own mess. Q. I was just curious about TaQuon Marshall and what you've seen from him as far as growth both as a player and as a leader throughout this off-season. PAUL JOHNSON: Well, I think the best thing I can say about TaQuon Marshall is he's a really good person, and I think he has the confidence of our football team. He's very dynamic. He's athletic. He can create a lot of big plays with his athleticism, and I'm hopeful and I really believe that after having a year in the system, he's going to be more comfortable and just be better than he was even a year ago. You know, I think he brings a lot to our team, and he's tried to take on a role as more of a leader, and I think our guys look to him to do that. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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