With apologies for the delay, I wanted to share a few nuggets from a few conversations I had at last Sunday's kickoff BBQ. Also, if anybody else who attended has any random bits to share that haven't been shared already, I'm sure many of us would be interested in hearing it!
I had the good fortune of sitting next to Drew Dalman. First of all, this young man couldn't have been more likable - extremely respectful and polite, a true gentleman, much like his father. Clearly the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I know we say this so frequently about the players in this program, but it bears repeating - year after year, we bring first class kids into this program. While my two year old was mucking around, making noise, and at times stealing fruit off his plate, he must have spent 20 minutes patiently answering my novice questions about what it means for a center to lead the O-Line ("lots of pre-snap diagnosis of defense, identification of linebacker roles, set the point of attack, etc.)" how Coach Carberry differs from Bloomgren ("lives and breathes football, intense desire to win, no nonsense"), what he wants to major in ("Mechanical Engineering"), who he rooms with on campus ("Big Foz, we're close friends"), what he's working on technically ("getting my hands right in the snap, lift, engage sequence"), and what's been hard ("having to switch modes between center and guard because of all the O-Line injuries"), and what his dad/family is up to (happy in Salinas and coming to the Farm on gamedays). I asked him about his relationship with Jesse and the nature of his injury, and he said the relationship is very constructive, they push each other, constant feedback, the usual stuff. He shared a few things about the injury that probably shouldn't be explicitly repeated but he did confirm the general timeline Shaw and others have shared. Personal thoughts: I didn't know much about Dalman before this conversation but he completely won me over (not to mention my baby daughter). Consistent with the center stereotype, he's more analytical than your average O-Lineman. He's not our first string but he is the next man up and embraces the role and I will be cheering for him hard. He doesn't look like a prototypical lineman; noticeably smaller, almost more like a TE. Walker Little sat nearby and looked to be 1.5x his size.
I also ran into Coach Carberry near the drink table. We had a brief and somewhat humorous conversation. He was very intense, consistent with Drew's diagnosis. His answers were short and abrupt and his mind seemed to be elsewhere - the kind of interaction that would be offensive on a date but IMO perfect for an O-Line coach. Our brief conversation ended like this: "how did you think practice went today?" "It's was fine. I don't have enough lineman." "Not enough lineman as in too many injuries or too few lineman on the roster?" "[Annoyed chuckle] Both." Somewhat awkward silence, then I said, "well, welcome to the Farm!" And then I walked away.
My last conversation was with Osiris St. Brown, who sat on an adjacent table. I asked him how his hip/leg was doing ("oh actually it's my foot, much better thanks, getting the spring back, feeling great though still not totally there"), whether he had ever had any injuries like this in the past either in its severity or location ("no"), whether there was any chance his brother was going to red shirt ("both my brothers gonna play this year"), what he wanted to major in ("not sure, thinking Product Design"), whether majoring in product design might be a precursor to his family launching Big Baller Brand v2 ("haha, no thank you"), how he thinks he's going to be utilized in this offense ("coach wants me to learn the entire book, be all over the field, not limit to slot or deepthreat"), and whether he had ever played on the same team as Eq/Amon ("We were at Servite together, so kind of, but there was a 4-5 year gap between them so not really"). He had a quiet confidence/charisma about him that I appreciated. Man, our pipeline is stacked at WR.
I had the good fortune of sitting next to Drew Dalman. First of all, this young man couldn't have been more likable - extremely respectful and polite, a true gentleman, much like his father. Clearly the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I know we say this so frequently about the players in this program, but it bears repeating - year after year, we bring first class kids into this program. While my two year old was mucking around, making noise, and at times stealing fruit off his plate, he must have spent 20 minutes patiently answering my novice questions about what it means for a center to lead the O-Line ("lots of pre-snap diagnosis of defense, identification of linebacker roles, set the point of attack, etc.)" how Coach Carberry differs from Bloomgren ("lives and breathes football, intense desire to win, no nonsense"), what he wants to major in ("Mechanical Engineering"), who he rooms with on campus ("Big Foz, we're close friends"), what he's working on technically ("getting my hands right in the snap, lift, engage sequence"), and what's been hard ("having to switch modes between center and guard because of all the O-Line injuries"), and what his dad/family is up to (happy in Salinas and coming to the Farm on gamedays). I asked him about his relationship with Jesse and the nature of his injury, and he said the relationship is very constructive, they push each other, constant feedback, the usual stuff. He shared a few things about the injury that probably shouldn't be explicitly repeated but he did confirm the general timeline Shaw and others have shared. Personal thoughts: I didn't know much about Dalman before this conversation but he completely won me over (not to mention my baby daughter). Consistent with the center stereotype, he's more analytical than your average O-Lineman. He's not our first string but he is the next man up and embraces the role and I will be cheering for him hard. He doesn't look like a prototypical lineman; noticeably smaller, almost more like a TE. Walker Little sat nearby and looked to be 1.5x his size.
I also ran into Coach Carberry near the drink table. We had a brief and somewhat humorous conversation. He was very intense, consistent with Drew's diagnosis. His answers were short and abrupt and his mind seemed to be elsewhere - the kind of interaction that would be offensive on a date but IMO perfect for an O-Line coach. Our brief conversation ended like this: "how did you think practice went today?" "It's was fine. I don't have enough lineman." "Not enough lineman as in too many injuries or too few lineman on the roster?" "[Annoyed chuckle] Both." Somewhat awkward silence, then I said, "well, welcome to the Farm!" And then I walked away.
My last conversation was with Osiris St. Brown, who sat on an adjacent table. I asked him how his hip/leg was doing ("oh actually it's my foot, much better thanks, getting the spring back, feeling great though still not totally there"), whether he had ever had any injuries like this in the past either in its severity or location ("no"), whether there was any chance his brother was going to red shirt ("both my brothers gonna play this year"), what he wanted to major in ("not sure, thinking Product Design"), whether majoring in product design might be a precursor to his family launching Big Baller Brand v2 ("haha, no thank you"), how he thinks he's going to be utilized in this offense ("coach wants me to learn the entire book, be all over the field, not limit to slot or deepthreat"), and whether he had ever played on the same team as Eq/Amon ("We were at Servite together, so kind of, but there was a 4-5 year gap between them so not really"). He had a quiet confidence/charisma about him that I appreciated. Man, our pipeline is stacked at WR.
