What's up, folks?
Practice just ended and hopefully we'll be getting Norvell and a few players here in a few minutes.
Hope you guys are doing well!
Stand by for the quotes.
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Says he's really excited about Corey Wren. Just looking for more consistency and be able to play in space and use that speed. How to create separation ... "And I think Jakhi has made great strides. He's a natural at the receiver position ... he's definitely been a bright spot." Norvell also said he thinks Portier is really making strides and had one of his better days today.
"We're starting to see Kentron take that next step." Says they need the young WRs to step up.
"More than anything else I'm looking for consistency play in and play out ... and be able to finish the play. .. there's great competition at that spot, and there are some guys that are starting to separate themselves with how they've played this spring." Says they'll have a couple of guys coming in this summer who will compete right away.
On Kalen Deloach: "Kalen is a talented young man, extremely athletic and has the right mindset when it comes to physicality and how to play ... I like the progression of what I'm seeing throughout the course of his career. ... He's learning from the experiences. He's a guy yesterday in the team meeting that I pointed out consistently" because of the way he plays every rep. .... "I'm seeing that confidence really starting to emerge. ... We've looked to moving him inside a little bit and he's actually played naturally in there, sees it well, and he's just going to get better and better with every rep he gets."
On Jermaine Johnson: "He adds a chaotic element to an offense trying to execute. It's good to know he's in garnet and gold ... he brings the right mindset, the right approach, he's been very physical. I challenged him after Tuesday's practice ... and today there were a couple of effort plays that really stood out to me, seeing him chase the ball across the field ... he can definitely create havoc, and it's a challenge. You've got to do things to help with him."
On spring break contingency plans because of weather: "If its raining, we're playing. ... There's plenty of times we've had a high percentage predictions when nothing shows up ... and had plenty of times with low level predictions and been swimming" ... says all plans are moving ahead and they're looking forward to get out there and perform. No plans for now for moving up the kickoff.
"It's going to be great to see fans back in the stands, an opportunity to cheer on this team. You want to play clean football. We're going to play a lot of young players .... We're just looking for guys to go out there and compete ... that's one of the great joys of this game, i want to see guys play fast and play confident and for the fans to see the direction our program is going." Says he's gotten to see it for 13 practices and is excited for fans to see the progression as well.
That's a wrap on Norvell.
Odell Haggins is next up
On the spring as a whole: "The kids have been putting in the work, going out listening and practicing hard. ... we really focus on fundamentals this spring .. being disciplined with your eyes and playing with pad level." Says fundamentals have been much better than they were last year.
On Fabien Lovett: "The thing I see out of Fabien, being an upperclassmen .. he's been very coachable. When you've got an older kid that's being very coachable and willing to learn ... he's a leader by example. He's like a sponge ... he'll call me sometimes (and ask questions), he's writing everything down."
On Briggs: "We moved him from defensive end to defensive tackle, this is really his first time getting to practice at defensive tackle, in a spring setting where we can develop him. ... Josh Storms has done a great job with him. He's gotten bigger and stronger and better."
On the value of an actual spring practice: "Last year we only practiced three days and putting in a new system and it was different. ... we've been here a year with this system, and the guys understand the system from the front and the back. When you understand something on the football field you play faster."
On Jermaine Johnson: "A young man that talented and Jermaine, like Fabien, is very coachable. ... He's a hard working guy. He doesn't talk about it, he goes out and shows by example. That's the great thing about him ... he'll go try to execute the way you tell him. It's a pleasure coaching that kid, because he gives you everything you've got during practice."
On Robert Cooper: "Coop is creating better habits ... he's running to the football, making effort ... Robert is doing a good job. ... He's not a rah rah guy, but he shows it by example ... i see him in the meeting room, Coop is taking notes and he's showing by example, so the younger kids when they see the upperclassmen doing that, it's a great thing."
On the spring and being healthy and having the team with some stability: "I was telling my wife, I'm having a lot of fun this year with the coaches that we have. We have some great coaches. We work hard, but when we're not working we're communicating and having fun ... being around people that you care about and you love, that's what makes it fun."
And that's a wrap on Haggins and my Zoom feed, might be able to sprinkle a few more nuggets in here and there.
Fabien Lovett will be speaking shortly....
Getting more comfortable with new scheme vs MSU: he says he got comfortable last year, things are too much different than they were at Mississippi State but some terminology is different
Jermaine Johnson has "brought a lot", lot of stuff we're dealing last year we're not having to anymore (was talking about setting the edge and sort of dovetailed into more -- give it a listen)
Excitement for the spring game: I'm ready for the spring game but I'm also trying to prepare for that first game
——
Practice just ended and hopefully we'll be getting Norvell and a few players here in a few minutes.
Hope you guys are doing well!
Stand by for the quotes.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Says he's really excited about Corey Wren. Just looking for more consistency and be able to play in space and use that speed. How to create separation ... "And I think Jakhi has made great strides. He's a natural at the receiver position ... he's definitely been a bright spot." Norvell also said he thinks Portier is really making strides and had one of his better days today.
"We're starting to see Kentron take that next step." Says they need the young WRs to step up.
"More than anything else I'm looking for consistency play in and play out ... and be able to finish the play. .. there's great competition at that spot, and there are some guys that are starting to separate themselves with how they've played this spring." Says they'll have a couple of guys coming in this summer who will compete right away.
On Kalen Deloach: "Kalen is a talented young man, extremely athletic and has the right mindset when it comes to physicality and how to play ... I like the progression of what I'm seeing throughout the course of his career. ... He's learning from the experiences. He's a guy yesterday in the team meeting that I pointed out consistently" because of the way he plays every rep. .... "I'm seeing that confidence really starting to emerge. ... We've looked to moving him inside a little bit and he's actually played naturally in there, sees it well, and he's just going to get better and better with every rep he gets."
On Jermaine Johnson: "He adds a chaotic element to an offense trying to execute. It's good to know he's in garnet and gold ... he brings the right mindset, the right approach, he's been very physical. I challenged him after Tuesday's practice ... and today there were a couple of effort plays that really stood out to me, seeing him chase the ball across the field ... he can definitely create havoc, and it's a challenge. You've got to do things to help with him."
On spring break contingency plans because of weather: "If its raining, we're playing. ... There's plenty of times we've had a high percentage predictions when nothing shows up ... and had plenty of times with low level predictions and been swimming" ... says all plans are moving ahead and they're looking forward to get out there and perform. No plans for now for moving up the kickoff.
"It's going to be great to see fans back in the stands, an opportunity to cheer on this team. You want to play clean football. We're going to play a lot of young players .... We're just looking for guys to go out there and compete ... that's one of the great joys of this game, i want to see guys play fast and play confident and for the fans to see the direction our program is going." Says he's gotten to see it for 13 practices and is excited for fans to see the progression as well.
That's a wrap on Norvell.
Odell Haggins is next up
On the spring as a whole: "The kids have been putting in the work, going out listening and practicing hard. ... we really focus on fundamentals this spring .. being disciplined with your eyes and playing with pad level." Says fundamentals have been much better than they were last year.
On Fabien Lovett: "The thing I see out of Fabien, being an upperclassmen .. he's been very coachable. When you've got an older kid that's being very coachable and willing to learn ... he's a leader by example. He's like a sponge ... he'll call me sometimes (and ask questions), he's writing everything down."
On Briggs: "We moved him from defensive end to defensive tackle, this is really his first time getting to practice at defensive tackle, in a spring setting where we can develop him. ... Josh Storms has done a great job with him. He's gotten bigger and stronger and better."
On the value of an actual spring practice: "Last year we only practiced three days and putting in a new system and it was different. ... we've been here a year with this system, and the guys understand the system from the front and the back. When you understand something on the football field you play faster."
On Jermaine Johnson: "A young man that talented and Jermaine, like Fabien, is very coachable. ... He's a hard working guy. He doesn't talk about it, he goes out and shows by example. That's the great thing about him ... he'll go try to execute the way you tell him. It's a pleasure coaching that kid, because he gives you everything you've got during practice."
On Robert Cooper: "Coop is creating better habits ... he's running to the football, making effort ... Robert is doing a good job. ... He's not a rah rah guy, but he shows it by example ... i see him in the meeting room, Coop is taking notes and he's showing by example, so the younger kids when they see the upperclassmen doing that, it's a great thing."
On the spring and being healthy and having the team with some stability: "I was telling my wife, I'm having a lot of fun this year with the coaches that we have. We have some great coaches. We work hard, but when we're not working we're communicating and having fun ... being around people that you care about and you love, that's what makes it fun."
And that's a wrap on Haggins and my Zoom feed, might be able to sprinkle a few more nuggets in here and there.
Fabien Lovett will be speaking shortly....
Getting more comfortable with new scheme vs MSU: he says he got comfortable last year, things are too much different than they were at Mississippi State but some terminology is different
Jermaine Johnson has "brought a lot", lot of stuff we're dealing last year we're not having to anymore (was talking about setting the edge and sort of dovetailed into more -- give it a listen)
Excitement for the spring game: I'm ready for the spring game but I'm also trying to prepare for that first game
——
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