Greg Schiano Spring Practice News Conference - March 15
Mar 15 | Football
Opening Statement
“We are excited to get started here with the spring. The guys right now are on spring break and can’t wait to get back. We are two weeks away from getting strapped up and getting it going. We had, I think, a really productive winter so far. Both medically, we had some guys that got cleaned up and fixed up a little bit and from a performance standpoint, we really, I think did a great job in the weight room so far and in the winter conditioning. I am excited about getting back with these guys when they get back from spring break.
“I thought what I would do is clean up a bunch of issues and a bunch of facts that will help you going in to the spring. Let me start with injuries. Guys that will be out for the spring… Joe Martinek will be out for the spring. Joe had his shoulder cleaned up right after the season and then later in January had his ankle done. He will miss the spring. David Milewski, you guys were here when he got hurt, he will be rehabbing form his knee surgery, and James Kim will also be rehabbing from his knee surgery.
“Guys that will be limited during the spring, they are returning from surgeries. Tim Wright… Tim had that knee injury the second day of practice last year in preseason training camp. Tim, I think will be doing a lot of work. We will kind of work him back into the mix as far as contact goes. I don’t know what degree he will have contact, if any. Steve Shimko who had shoulder surgery will be back throwing in a limited manor. We will see how he does. Mohamed Sanu… Mohamed had shoulder surgery after the season and he will be limited. He will be no contact for the entire spring, but he will be running around out there. Rob Horrell, the long snapper from California who you got a glimpse of early on in camp and then he had the knee injury. He will be limited but will do most of his snapping and the things he needs to do. Edmond Laryea, who had knee surgery, will be out there but he will be limited. He will be non-contact. Isaac Holmes will be doing what he can tolerate. He had ankle surgery during the off-season.
“Guys that will be full go returning from surgeries. Robert Joseph missed the entire season… Robert will be full go come spring and we are excited to see what he can do. These following guys had minor surgeries and are full go now. Jordan Thomas from a shoulder surgery. Steve Beauharnais, Ka’Lial Glaud, Quron Pratt and Keith Stroud all had minor groin surgery. Desmond Stapleton had a small knee surgery. Those are the medical situations.
“As far as positions, we have some guys we are going to try at some different positions. Spring practice gives you the benefit and the time to look so you know where you want to head into pre-season camp with depth and also with positions. Jeremy Deering is going to line up at running back. Aaron Hayward will also line up at running back. Joe Martinek, who won’t be able to do anything physically, will prepare as a fullback. Marcus Thompson will prepare as a fullback. Junior Solice will prepare as a tight end. Defensively, we have also made some moves. Manny Abreu will move to rush end. Khaseem Greene will move down to linebacker. Mason Robinson and Jordon Thomas will both move over to corner. Jawaun Wynn will move over to safety. David Roe will move from corner to safety and Rashad Knight will also move from corner to safety. Those are basically the positions we are going to take a look at this spring.
“Mid-year additions, those of you that have followed recruiting… the guys that started with us in January when the second semester began. Anthony DiPaula who is a punter… very important obviously with Teddy [Dellaganna] graduating that he be here and get some work this spring. Dallas Hendrikson, center, a guy that we are counting on coming in and helping us at the center position. Jonathan Aiken, a young corner from south Florida. Kenneth Kirksey, a defensive tackle, and Djwany Mera, a defensive end.
“With the addition of three new coaches, we have moved some things around. Frank Cignetti is the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Brian Angelichio will coach the right ends and Jeff Hafley will coach the secondary. Phil Galiano will jump back over to defense and coach the defensive line. Robb Smith and Tem Lukabu will coach the linebackers. As I said, Jeff will coach the secondary and I am going to work back there with him. Bob Fraser will be our defensive coordinator and work with Phil on the defensive line. I am more day-to-day hands on with the defense. Bob Fraser will be the coordinator and organize everything and I will be very involved there with him as well as with Jeff Hafley working in the secondary.
“That is kind of an update after a winter here where we haven’t spent much time talking about Rutgers football.”
Was there a general philosophy on each side of the ball with regards to position changes?
“Defensively, definitely. I felt as I watched and I evaluated us as a defensive football team we built this program, especially defensively, on speed and I didn’t see that speed as I watched our video. I think by moving guys down a level – Manny moves down to the d-line, Khaseem moves down to linebacker and even corners when you move them into safety – often times when you are marginal speed or marginal ability when you move down all of the sudden you are one of the better athletes down a level. I think we can see that early on in our winter workouts with Khaseem moving to linebacker, Manny going to d-end and David at safety. Yes, without a doubt to get more speed on the field and to get back to playing defense the way we do. We actually played pretty good defense the first half of the year and obviously didn’t play very good defense the second half of the year. Regardless of the results when you look at the physical testing and look at the video, we just, I didn’t feel we ran well enough on defense. Offensively, we built some depth at the tailback position. Obviously, we take Jordon Thomas out of there. Jordan is legitimately one of the fastest guys on the team, if not the fastest. Jordan sees himself as a cornerback. He and I talked and I think that is where he belongs, but I think we need to have some depth at running back. I think Jeremy Deering and all the wildcat stuff he do showed us his ability run and feel the play. We are going to take a look at him there. Obviously we have Savon Huggins coming in at tailback. We have a couple guys coming in at running back that are going to compete. I think we will be ok, I just don’t know how it is all going to shake out quite yet… you never do. With Joe [Martinek] moving to fullback and Marcus [Thompson] moving to fullback, we are returning to a two-back philosophy here on offense. I think it is critical we get guys who can do all the things we need to do out of the fullback position. It is not just a blocking back, it is a guy who receives the ball like a Brian Leonard in the flat and different things that we do. It is a guy that has to be able to block it is a guy that has to be able to move get on their own. By doing that, we kind of give ourselves some flexibility as we do with Jeremy Deering. We know Jeremy Deering is a legitimate wide receiver so the ability to take Jeremy and have him as your tailback and now motion him out and have him as a wide receiver and then have Joe Martinek left in the backfield – he is a 1,000-yard rusher essentially two years ago – I think it will give the offensive a little bit different look. It will also give us more flexibility.
With Manny [Abreu] moving to defensive end, how will your linebacking unit look?
“We are going to see how it all shakes out. We are going to move some people around. Our goal is to get the best three linebackers ready and then after that try and get a fourth and a fifth. I think Steven Beauharnais, Ka’Lial Glaud and Khaseem Greene and there is some guys I think as you go down… Marvin Booker, for the first time is fully healthy. He looks great. He has worked really hard and now let’s see how he does this spring. I think he is a guy that is going to have to contribute.”
Will [Steve] Beauharnais stay in the middle?
“Right now we are going to try him back outside. We are going to try Ka’Lial at the middle linebacker. We know what Steven can do at the middle linebacker and we are not afraid to move him back there. I think we are going to have to have some flexibility. We don’t have a great deal of depth at the position that has played. I think there is going to have to be some flexibility.”
What does the safety position look like?
“I think David [Rowe], at least gives me confidence back there. He has been a cool customer to get us lined up and all those things. You have Duron Harmon who has played a lot of football. You have guys that redshirted that I think are really good players. A guy like Lorenzo Waters is a natural safety… a guy like Rashad Knight. When you talk about Jawaun Wynn, the speed that he gives you back there, he is one of the fastest players on the team. What we did is we redshirted a lot of speed. Maybe that was a mistake when I am looking back on it maybe we should have played some more of that speed. Regardless, it is what we are playing now. That is one thing that our program, as I said earlier, is built on speed. We need to get that speed back there on the field and we need to be able to see it in the result.”
With [Jeremy] Deering’s body-type, how well will he be able to take the pounding at the running back position?
“Really comfortable… he is a big, stout guy. I think he will be able to handle it. I am not concerned about that.”
With so many changes are you concerned that is so much going on?
“No. Does it concern me… I am always concerned about everything. You go into spring practice you have a lot of things you have to get better at. We are a long ways off. But, there is a lot of thought put into these moves and a lot of positioning our players and putting them in a position to make plays. Everything concerns me, I shouldn’t say no, but I think it is the way we give ourselves the best chance to be the best we can be.”
How much work will Chas [Dodd] get?
“He will get all of it. He will get almost every snap. We have some guys that will be there… he is not going to take every snap. He is going to get a lot of work and I think he needs to. It is a totally different system so to train the quarterback and get him ready, there is no doubt the more snaps the better. You have to remember too you are one day on and then you are off a day so there is not the fatigue issues you worry about during the season.”
How do you think he fits in this system?
“Very well. I think we are going to enjoy watching him in this system.”
How much progress has the offensive line made in the off-season?
“You can only tell when they get out there and start playing. I think we have gotten stronger which is one of the goals we needed to reach. I think by adding Dallas [Hendrikson] into the mix and having him here in January was critical. Do I think they will be a year better, a year older, a year more mature… they need to be because we weren’t very good. I think also what we are doing schematically is going to help them. At the beginning it may not look so great but cumulative repetition I think is going to help these guys a great deal.”
How much did Aaron Hayward’s week of practice as the scout team running back last season play into your decision to move his position?
“I think it factored into it a little bit. The reality of it is I think Aaron was very frustrated he wasn’t able to break into the lineup in the receiver rotation. He wasn’t sure… should I stay am I going to be able to play. I said what do you think gives you the best chance to break into the lineup and he felt running back. After watching him, I don’t disagree. He played the position in high school so I said let’s see what you can do… before you do anything that can be a life-changing event let’s wait around and see how this goes. I am excited to see how he does. It is one thing to do it as a scout-team player, it is a whole other thing when you have assignments and responsibilities and not just running off the card. I do have confidence in him. He is a very talented guy.”
Why are you getting back involved hands-on with the defense?
“There are a lot of reasons. I think we need to be better on defense so hopefully I can lend some expertise there. I think with Frank coming on board and Brian being with him… I hired Frank for a reason. I want to go back to doing what I am comfortable doing. I am very comfortable in what we are doing. I can’t wait to get back to doing it. I don’t really think I am going to be as involved over there as far as day-to-day need to be there as much as I was. I think it is distributing your resources as a coaching staff. I was a secondary coach my whole life before I became a head coach and I think I can help there as well so I am going to try and plug myself there and maybe I can help a little bit. You have to walk that fine line because you are the head coach and you have to make sure you oversee. Part of what I will do is on my own time watch the practice tape like always do but instead of watching it with the staff offensively, I will just watch it on my own and Frank and I can take care of what needs to be done. He will lead that group after he and I meet. I am anxious to that and I am excited about getting back doing what we did a while back with the defense. Coach Fraser and I have spent a lot of years and a lot of time together defensively so we are very comfortable with one another. I am excited to get more involved there.”
Is the whole new playbook together for the spring or is it evolving?
“Offensively you are making a change and Frank has done this before where he has implemented a system. I think that is a huge advantage for us Having Brian here with him – even today I am going to sit down with Brian – I have to make sure I am familiar enough that I can communicate and do those things. It is great to have him for me when Frank is busy and for the other guys I think because the guy has been in the system. I think that helps. We also hired a graduate assistant Andrew Janocko who is going to be working with us. Andrew was on the Pitt team and knows the offense very well. It is going to help that we have some guys that have been involved in it.”
With the addition of Djwany Mera and Kenneth Kirksey, how strong will their chances be of competing for a starting spot?
“I think they are much better prepared having been here this semester than having not been. Both of them went to military academy and I think that helped a great deal. Defensively, finally we are going to get to the point where we have our entire defense in. we started running this defense in 2005 and now it is 2011. Finally, I think the last couple of pieces are going to be put into place which will give us the flexibility to do a lot of things. With the moves and getting speed – we face kind of a split with spread teams and then more traditional teams – you need to be able to do both out of your scheme. I think by the last couple of things that will complete the defensive scheme it will give us the flexibility to do that.”
Were all these position changes embraced by everyone?
“Any time there is change, there is always apprehension. There is reluctance. Everybody, when you chance something, it is funny we just changed something we are going to do in our office and everybody got very nervous. You are only nervous because it is different. It is not what you are used to. One of the things we did is we made these changes before we started out winter program so we get to meet with the guys two hours a week. They have been meeting at these positions all during the winter. One of the good things is we are not making the change the day before spring practice. They have been working at these positions so I think now they are much more comfortable than they were. Some of the moves were requested. Some of the moves came from me and when I explained to them why we think it is a good thing for the team… the one thing I know about our guys is they are very unselfish and they want to win so if they believe that this will help us win they will do all the can. I do believe that or I wouldn’t do it.”
Will [Edmond] Laryea be able to continue his career with another year of eligibility?
“You are actually allowed to practice your entire eligibility. Seniors actually could come back and practice, now good luck trying to get them to do it. We actually could’ve practiced without the bowl game, we were checking into that rule. I think it is going to go through, we just have to get it finalized.”
How will you deal with replacing two starters at defensive end?
“There is going to be great competition there. I think Just in Francis is going to be at the one and Manny Abreu at the other. Manny started for us for three years. He is a starter just at a new position. We have young guys… Djwany Mera is going to get in there. We have a lot of guys that are going to get into the mix and see what they can do… guys that we redshirted… [Shane] Meisner is a guy that I think has really come on in the winter program I am anxious to see who performs. Winter program and meetings is one thing, going out and playing is another. It will be fun to see how they do.”
Will Anthony La Lota factor in there?
“La Lota is not a defensive end. La Lota will wind up inside. He is a tackle.”
Have you changed much of your winter program and tailored it more towards positions?
“Jay [Butler] is always tweaking his program but I have the utmost confidence in our strength & conditioning staff. I think they are the best in America. I am excited we were able to keep them all together. When you have good coaches like that, people come after them. We were able to keep them together and that is a big thing. I think we will be a stronger football team. The guys that are here coming back will be stronger than they were. That is critical. Again, we have 12 scholarship seniors. When they get strong is when they are seniors when they are 22. People don’t realize how much of a physical change there is from 20 to 22. We will be stronger.”
Who is the backup quarterback?
“I don’t know. We don’t know how Steve [Shimko] is going to be. Steve would be the guy right now. We will work our way through. We have a couple guys right now. Tyler Belia would be the guy right now. Going into the spring he will be the guy that gets them until Steve is cleared. Tyler has worked awfully hard all off-season. I don’t know how he can play at quarterback but he has worked his tail off all off-season.”
Without making a bowl game, have you sensed a different kind of hunger?
“I think there is a great disappointment that this is our first time in six years we missed a bowl game. I think there is without a doubt a great hunger within the program, everywhere… not just the players and coaches. There is a certain level of expectations and anything less is not acceptable. That is the way that everybody around here feels. That doesn’t guarantee anything other than that is how we feel.”
