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PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE MEDIA DAYJuly 24, 2012David ShawStepfan TaylorChase ThomasUNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA COACH SHAW: Let's just open it up to questions. Q. Could you give us an update on Shane's rehab? COACH SHAW: I haven't seen him, but Shane has been cleared as of last week. He's done with his rehab. He's not ready to play a football game yet but he's physically ready to do everything in the weight room and everything we will ask him to do on the field. Come the beginning of training camp we will be smart. As I told Shane, he has to play smart. He doesn't have to prove that he can come back faster than we need him to. He won't play the first game but come that game against Duke we believe he will be there. Q. Stepfan, how much of an added pressure to you deal you need to produce, with a lot of guys being gone. STEPFAN TAYLOR: I don't feel the pressure, I feel we have to just go out there and play our best game every game. Q. We have been soliciting questions from Facebook and Twitter, moving away from Andrew Luck, which story line is the biggest this season? COACH SHAW: That's tough to say because there are a lot of story lines. We have the most under rated running back in the nation to my left with back‑to‑back 1,000 yard years and this gone be a third straight, I think we have a great front 7, as good as college football has had year, Derek Mason has done a phenomenal job and will continue to do that side, and losing the most explosive tight end in football but bringing back the best combination maybe in college football is exciting as well, so I think there are a lot of story lines that don't involve the quarterback position but once again we will put the pressure on our leadership. As Stepfan mentioned, we take this very seriously, and they have the leadership to lead our guys into the season. Q. Coach, how much will the offense change, if any, with Kobe being gone, because the three tight ends were such a big part of what you guys did last year, do you plan on running three tight end formations or is it altered now with Kobe gone? COACH SHAW: We're going to do everything we can with the guys we have. We have been able to play with three tight ends, we moved Luke Kaumatule from a defensive end and he will be a true freshman at the tight end position for us. We've moved Jemari Roberts to the tight end position. We have a bevy of full backs, unlike most in the nation, Ryan Hewitt is the most versatile college football player you can find, so for us it's about mixing and matching and doing the things that help us be consistent and successful on the offensive side not to mention we will play a lot of those big guys on the offensive line so some of those guys you will see lineup at tight end positions, as well. Q. Coach, how important is it for guys like Stepfan and your other running backs to take the pressure off that quarterback battle because you have so many talented players in the backfield? COACH SHAW: There is no question and we said that in our first team meeting, that's where the pressure is going to be, on guys that have produced and I'm not going to ask Stepfan to do anything he hasn't done on film for two years which is be a phenomenal football player and he will continue to do that. All those guys playing at a high level will allow us to allow somebody whoever the starting quarterback is to grow in that role is be productive for us. We anticipate on defense we're going to play at a high level as well to keep us in tight games so that quarterback can concentrate on being efficient at doing his job. Q. Chase, how valuable do you feel that front 7 is at Stanford, and where does that compare? CHASE THOMAS: I think the front seven are as good as anybody in the nation. We have all the linebackers returning and Shayne Skov, who was the leading tackler the year before and Henry Anderson and Josh Garnett at the other end spot that are battling hard and they have gotten some good playing time in the past so a lot of experience and it helps us out with the same defense installed over the last three years so it let us play faster, more aggressively and overall it makes us a better defense. Q. Whoever ends up being your quarterback, is there a challenge for him in realizing that he can't be Andrew Luck and he just has to be, perhaps, Nottingham or Nunes? COACH SHAW: We crossed that bridge at the meeting and for us whoever wins that job will be the guy who does the job well, executes, gets us to the right protection, gets us to a right run play, that when a guy is open they get him the ball, that's what that position is going to boil down for us and let our playmakers make plays, which is what we can do. THE MODERATOR: Okay, gentlemen, thank you very much. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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