March 16, 2017 (here is the original)
Offensive Coordinator /Quarterbacks Coach Shawn Watson
On fitting into his role with the team:
“It’s going great. I’ve been really impressed with the job the coaching staff and Pat [Narduzzi] have done here and really it’s easy to come in and fall in love with the guys. There is not a selfish bone on this team, and the guys are into what the team is trying to do and that’s being ACC champions. We are getting on the same page. I have come in and not tried to change anything for the kids in terms of nomenclature of football, and I have needed them to teach me and they have been awesome.”
On his relationship with the quarterbacks:
“It’s really important. We spend so much time together just by the nature of the position and the need the position has. What you are trying to do as a quarterbacks coach is trying to develop another assistant coach on the field. That position makes, in this game, so many critical decisions for the entire team. We spend a lot of time together and I love them already because they want to be around football, so when they have free time, they spend it with me, which has been pretty cool. It’s been awesome, we have gotten to know each other really well and I really like that room.”
On his impressions of quarterback Max Browne:
“I think what I’ve grown most appreciative about him is how humble he is. He came in here and just really cared. He is very respectful of the team, very respectful of the job Nathan [Peterman] did a year ago, very respectful of everybody in the room. He wants to earn his way. That’s what’s really cool about him. He obviously is a very talented player. I remember him coming out of high school as a very, very talented kid. He is so humble and I think that everybody gravitates to him because of that. We are going to keep building and advancing and every day we are going to press him with more install and see what he’s got.”
On the running backs corps:
“Honestly, I’ll have a better opportunity to see when they put pads on, but watching them in the conditioning period, athletically they are very skilled guys, all of them. Seeing them out here today, they’ve got a real work ethic. In their assignments, they’re smart and are really detailed guys. Andre [Powell] does a tremendous job with them. They are very detailed players and it’s a highly competitive room too, which is really good, because those guys need to take a lot of pressure of the pass game by being effective in the run game.”
Defensive Coordinator Josh Conklin
On the biggest things that stood out looking at last year’s tape:
“For the most part it came down to guys making plays. I felt, to be candid with you, as we go through the season we are going to hang our hat on what we do. We’ve always said that. The thing we have to do a better job is finding ways to put guys in better positions, and then we have to coach to finish better than we have. It’s a two-way street, we understand that. The coaches have to coach it better and the players have to play better. When you look at some of the breakdowns we had, I told the guys this today before we came out, it’s one or two guys on any given play. The level of consistency we play at has to heighten. We did some things well. We defended the run well. But the big passes hurt us. I think the guys are eager to get out here and do some of the things we put into place. We haven’t wholesale changed, but we’ve done a few things to help ourselves out and put guys in better positions to finish on those plays.”
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