On Wednesday, David Shaw addressed the media. He talked about how the major focus right now is on individual skills and getting back to the basics. Working on technique and really making sure they play football the right way. They aren’t really talking about Kansas State yet, though he did say he’s taking peeks at their film when he has some free time.
A big theme of camp right now is health. The linebackers are a lot healthier than they’ve been in a while and that’s something that has everyone excited. I think they feel like if they can stay healthy, they have the chance to really surprise people.
The two questions I asked were on Kyu Blu Kelly and Austin Jones. Shaw thinks very highly of both guys. He said Kelly has a chance to be one of the best corners in the country just because he can do it all. Very versatile and extremely athletic. He said Jones looks great and a real point of emphasis for him has been to improve their breakout runs. Runs for 30+ yards. Big plays.
For those that are wondering about kicker, Shaw said that aspect is looking good. They feel comfortable where they are at. Though he isn’t ready to name a starter. No starter yet for quarterback as expected. He also talked about the importance of supporting minority coaches and how Myles Hinton is coming along. Below is a full transcription.
David Shaw’s Opening Statement: “Good morning, everyone. We are kind of midway through training camp. Not including game week. But, [we] got a first chance to go live yesterday. Little bit later than usual, than other years, but been very purposeful this year to get a lot of work in before we start tackling. Really working on our individual skills and techniques and a lot of teaching. But, first scrimmage was about what you’d expect. Which was, honestly defense probably still a little bit ahead of the offense. But the offense made some explosive plays which kinda masked that. But as a head coach, it was good because both sides made plays and that was really good to see.
Besides that, we’re really focusing on us right now. Not really getting ready for Kansas State. Although every evening I do kinda take a peek at the three different phases for Kansas State, but really right now still focusing on us and we don’t have a quarterback declaration yet. So hopefully that answers that question. So we can open up to questions now.”
Q: It’s been about a year since Mike Locksley started the national coalition for minority coaches. Seems like they’ve had a lot of action and not just words there. It seems like they’ve done a pretty good job of trying to put some things into action. I’m wondering your perspective on that. I know you’re not on the executive committee or anything along those lines, but I’m sure you’ve been involved in some ways. Just wondering your perspective on the job that Mike’s done with that.
Shaw: “Yes, Mike’s put a lot of effort into that and really a lot of brain power into it before it ever became something. Something that he’s been thinking about for decades and as he has said multiple times. This is part of his legacy. This is what he wants to leave. College sports as being something that he really put a lot into.
I was able to speak at the first convention, which was very well attended. Lot of great speakers. Lot of great engagement. I think that’s a lot of what he’s pushing for is engagement, conversations. Lot of things we’ve talked about is as you’re trying to build the pool of African American coaches in particular, but all minority coaches and female coaches. You’re trying to build that pool. That’s not the only group that you can talk to, right? So engaging with Nick Saban, engaging with athletic directors. Engaging with different entities outside of what you would think of the normal world of college football.
We’re getting a lot of people together with a lot of ideas and I don’t want to say we like I’m a big part of it. I told Locks that I’m on too many committees as it is right now. But if he every needs me, I just told him to give me a call because I’ll help in any way I can. Because his heart is in it and it has produced a lot so far. Even just this simple part of putting together a true rolodex of aspiring young coaches, older coaches, those that may have been looked over before, but getting them in front of people, getting them communicating to people, which has always been an issue since I was a kid and my dad was coaching football. So, that effort to really grow this pool and have them engaged with people that are hiring I think will only help the greater college football.”
Q: I had a really engaging conversation with Kyu Blu Kelly yesterday. Just wanted to get your thoughts on what you expect him to bring to the table for you guys this year after the sophomore season he had last year.
Shaw: “Yeah, Kyu has the whole skillset as we knew when we recruited him. He’s long, he’s fast, he’s mature. Most importantly, he is determined and he is focused. This is a guy that was a gosh 23, 24 foot long-jumper. So he’s explosive coming out of high school. This guy’s got all the tools. Coach Akina has done a great job of teaching him skills and technique. And Kyu has been like a sponge. He’s learned to play corner; he’s learned to play nickel. He is very knowledgeable of the defense. He’s got great ball skills. I would anticipate him being of the best corners if not the best corner in our conference and being one of the better ones across the country.”
Q: Two position units if you can give us a snapshot of how things are looking there: Outside linebacker and kicker. What’s the latest?
Shaw: “You’re the first to ask about kickers. That’s great. The outside linebacker: First a couple of guys excited to see back out there. Jordan Fox. Finally healthy. He’s having a really good camp. Stephen Herron is also having a very good camp. We put our other Utah flash back from inside. Back to back outside where he’s most comfortable. Gabe Reid. He’s having a really good camp. It was great to see Loa Kaufusi finally healthy and back out there mixing it up. Wilfredo Aybar as a true freshman. Not saying he’s in the mix to start, but has had a really good start to camp. Has some really nice physical tools.
So, really as deep as we’ve been and I have to mention Lance [Keneley] as well. Moving from defensive line to outside linebacker last year. Lance is starting to really show the skills necessary to play the position. So, we’re probably deeper than we’ve been in two years. I know the same thing about the offensive line in a couple other places, but we got guys that we can actually take and play. And then Thomas Booker of course we can line him up anywhere inside/outside, which is awesome. Gives us that freedom in nickel to put him wherever we want. But that outside linebacker position is very healthy right now and very deep and we’re real excited about that.
Kicker wise, we got two guys and they’re both putting it through the pipes. Both guys can kick off out of the end zone or deep in the end zone. And so we’re really good right now. I like where we are. We’ve got a sophomore who’s a vet [Joshua Karty]. Who’s still a young vet. And the freshman [Emmet Kenney]. Both guys are doing well. Both guys are doing well.
We do a thing when we kick field goals we pull the goalposts out and the guys kick field goals and the kickoff returners go back there and field them. And we’ve tried multiple times where the balls are being kicked past our guys and they’re hitting the truck that’s filming. So, we got guys with strong legs that are doing very well right now. So, no real update as of right now. But it’s going very well.”
A big theme of camp right now is health. The linebackers are a lot healthier than they’ve been in a while and that’s something that has everyone excited. I think they feel like if they can stay healthy, they have the chance to really surprise people.
The two questions I asked were on Kyu Blu Kelly and Austin Jones. Shaw thinks very highly of both guys. He said Kelly has a chance to be one of the best corners in the country just because he can do it all. Very versatile and extremely athletic. He said Jones looks great and a real point of emphasis for him has been to improve their breakout runs. Runs for 30+ yards. Big plays.
For those that are wondering about kicker, Shaw said that aspect is looking good. They feel comfortable where they are at. Though he isn’t ready to name a starter. No starter yet for quarterback as expected. He also talked about the importance of supporting minority coaches and how Myles Hinton is coming along. Below is a full transcription.
David Shaw’s Opening Statement: “Good morning, everyone. We are kind of midway through training camp. Not including game week. But, [we] got a first chance to go live yesterday. Little bit later than usual, than other years, but been very purposeful this year to get a lot of work in before we start tackling. Really working on our individual skills and techniques and a lot of teaching. But, first scrimmage was about what you’d expect. Which was, honestly defense probably still a little bit ahead of the offense. But the offense made some explosive plays which kinda masked that. But as a head coach, it was good because both sides made plays and that was really good to see.
Besides that, we’re really focusing on us right now. Not really getting ready for Kansas State. Although every evening I do kinda take a peek at the three different phases for Kansas State, but really right now still focusing on us and we don’t have a quarterback declaration yet. So hopefully that answers that question. So we can open up to questions now.”
Q: It’s been about a year since Mike Locksley started the national coalition for minority coaches. Seems like they’ve had a lot of action and not just words there. It seems like they’ve done a pretty good job of trying to put some things into action. I’m wondering your perspective on that. I know you’re not on the executive committee or anything along those lines, but I’m sure you’ve been involved in some ways. Just wondering your perspective on the job that Mike’s done with that.
Shaw: “Yes, Mike’s put a lot of effort into that and really a lot of brain power into it before it ever became something. Something that he’s been thinking about for decades and as he has said multiple times. This is part of his legacy. This is what he wants to leave. College sports as being something that he really put a lot into.
I was able to speak at the first convention, which was very well attended. Lot of great speakers. Lot of great engagement. I think that’s a lot of what he’s pushing for is engagement, conversations. Lot of things we’ve talked about is as you’re trying to build the pool of African American coaches in particular, but all minority coaches and female coaches. You’re trying to build that pool. That’s not the only group that you can talk to, right? So engaging with Nick Saban, engaging with athletic directors. Engaging with different entities outside of what you would think of the normal world of college football.
We’re getting a lot of people together with a lot of ideas and I don’t want to say we like I’m a big part of it. I told Locks that I’m on too many committees as it is right now. But if he every needs me, I just told him to give me a call because I’ll help in any way I can. Because his heart is in it and it has produced a lot so far. Even just this simple part of putting together a true rolodex of aspiring young coaches, older coaches, those that may have been looked over before, but getting them in front of people, getting them communicating to people, which has always been an issue since I was a kid and my dad was coaching football. So, that effort to really grow this pool and have them engaged with people that are hiring I think will only help the greater college football.”
Q: I had a really engaging conversation with Kyu Blu Kelly yesterday. Just wanted to get your thoughts on what you expect him to bring to the table for you guys this year after the sophomore season he had last year.
Shaw: “Yeah, Kyu has the whole skillset as we knew when we recruited him. He’s long, he’s fast, he’s mature. Most importantly, he is determined and he is focused. This is a guy that was a gosh 23, 24 foot long-jumper. So he’s explosive coming out of high school. This guy’s got all the tools. Coach Akina has done a great job of teaching him skills and technique. And Kyu has been like a sponge. He’s learned to play corner; he’s learned to play nickel. He is very knowledgeable of the defense. He’s got great ball skills. I would anticipate him being of the best corners if not the best corner in our conference and being one of the better ones across the country.”
Q: Two position units if you can give us a snapshot of how things are looking there: Outside linebacker and kicker. What’s the latest?
Shaw: “You’re the first to ask about kickers. That’s great. The outside linebacker: First a couple of guys excited to see back out there. Jordan Fox. Finally healthy. He’s having a really good camp. Stephen Herron is also having a very good camp. We put our other Utah flash back from inside. Back to back outside where he’s most comfortable. Gabe Reid. He’s having a really good camp. It was great to see Loa Kaufusi finally healthy and back out there mixing it up. Wilfredo Aybar as a true freshman. Not saying he’s in the mix to start, but has had a really good start to camp. Has some really nice physical tools.
So, really as deep as we’ve been and I have to mention Lance [Keneley] as well. Moving from defensive line to outside linebacker last year. Lance is starting to really show the skills necessary to play the position. So, we’re probably deeper than we’ve been in two years. I know the same thing about the offensive line in a couple other places, but we got guys that we can actually take and play. And then Thomas Booker of course we can line him up anywhere inside/outside, which is awesome. Gives us that freedom in nickel to put him wherever we want. But that outside linebacker position is very healthy right now and very deep and we’re real excited about that.
Kicker wise, we got two guys and they’re both putting it through the pipes. Both guys can kick off out of the end zone or deep in the end zone. And so we’re really good right now. I like where we are. We’ve got a sophomore who’s a vet [Joshua Karty]. Who’s still a young vet. And the freshman [Emmet Kenney]. Both guys are doing well. Both guys are doing well.
We do a thing when we kick field goals we pull the goalposts out and the guys kick field goals and the kickoff returners go back there and field them. And we’ve tried multiple times where the balls are being kicked past our guys and they’re hitting the truck that’s filming. So, we got guys with strong legs that are doing very well right now. So, no real update as of right now. But it’s going very well.”
