Hey guys, just got out of football media availability. I was in a scrum with Tavita Pritchard, Lance Anderson, and Michael Wilson. Scrum may not be the right word as we were actually quite orderly, but it wasn't just me there today. Anyways, below are key notes. More to come in the full transcriptions. I'm just going off what I remember most vividly. So, this isn't mean to be a perfect account of what was said. That's why I do the transcriptions. Just a little disclaimer there.
Tavita Pritchard: He feels the offense is coming together well. Just working on the little things right now. He did say that offensively, they do try to tweak and adapt things to fit their personnel and that's been a focus of this offseason is figuring out how to tweak things to better fit the guys they have. He was pretty adamant that E.J. Smith is the guy at running back. Not that that's news, but Shaw wasn't quite as direct about that. Pritchard said they're hoping E.J. can be that guy. A guy who can carry the load as the number one back because he's gonna have to be that guy.
He also really praised the tight end room. He feels like that group is going to be really good. Roush has been really impressive so far and then Hawkins he feels is going to be really good as well. So, he likes the guys they have, the depth, and the versatility they have in that room. So, that's going to be a group that the really rely on.
With Tanner McKee, he feels like last year served him well and that he seems confident that he'll be even more improved this year. Once again, all about tweaking the offense to better suit his strengths and abilities.
The offensive line, he's liked what he's seen from them so far. Just their energy and effort. He knows that was a weak spot last year and that it's a group that needs to shore itself up if they're going to have the kind of season that they want to have.
A real emphasis is efficiency on offense. He feels like efficiency is what leads to explosiveness on offense. So, just making the right plays and reads and being sound.
Lance Anderson: I don't want to misrepresent the terminology, but they are tweaking things defensively and how the use their edge rushers and their formations on the front seven. They recognize they were really bad at stopping the run and they're hoping the schematic shifts they're implementing will work. That's priority number one right now with that group. Lots of focus on technique and doing the little things. And then just having the right mindset as a whole. He commented that some years recruiting wise, it's been harder to find really good defensive linemen, but he's really pumped about the defensive linemen joining the 2022 class.
Lance is really excited about the secondary. Says Patrick fields is a natural born leader. Fits Stanford. Understands it. Having everyone healthy is going to be really nice. McGill, Bonner, Kelly, Fields, etc. He said that's a group they're going to really rely on.
Just in general, Lance feels like the defense wasn't anywhere near where they wanted it to be. That's obvious. But there's really just an emphasis on getting back to where the want to be and taking pride in their defensive identity. When they are stopping the run and have a strong front seven that's putting pressure on the quarterback, that's where they really take things to another level.
Michael Wilson: He's happy to be healthy. A major motivation in coming back was to have a fully healthy season on The Farm. Just so he could show NFL teams that he's not injury prone. He also wants to put all his knowledge and experience together into a strong final season. He feels like he has a lot left on the table to accomplish and no way did he want last year to be his final season at Stanford. Obviously excited about playing with McKee and continuing to grow their relationship. He also said he's tried to be a support for Brycen Tremayne and helping him rehab. As for Mudia Reuben, he's impressed with him so far. Just his combination of size and speed. He said those are two intangibles you can't teach.
Wilson also praised Patrick Fields and what he's brought to the program. He talked about how this group of guys isn't used to winning a lot of games. That winning is still something they're figuring out and Fields is a guy who only knows winning and what that's like. So, having a guy like that in their locker room is huge. Fields certainly is helping to bring a cultural change within their own locker room in that sense.
Tavita Pritchard: He feels the offense is coming together well. Just working on the little things right now. He did say that offensively, they do try to tweak and adapt things to fit their personnel and that's been a focus of this offseason is figuring out how to tweak things to better fit the guys they have. He was pretty adamant that E.J. Smith is the guy at running back. Not that that's news, but Shaw wasn't quite as direct about that. Pritchard said they're hoping E.J. can be that guy. A guy who can carry the load as the number one back because he's gonna have to be that guy.
He also really praised the tight end room. He feels like that group is going to be really good. Roush has been really impressive so far and then Hawkins he feels is going to be really good as well. So, he likes the guys they have, the depth, and the versatility they have in that room. So, that's going to be a group that the really rely on.
With Tanner McKee, he feels like last year served him well and that he seems confident that he'll be even more improved this year. Once again, all about tweaking the offense to better suit his strengths and abilities.
The offensive line, he's liked what he's seen from them so far. Just their energy and effort. He knows that was a weak spot last year and that it's a group that needs to shore itself up if they're going to have the kind of season that they want to have.
A real emphasis is efficiency on offense. He feels like efficiency is what leads to explosiveness on offense. So, just making the right plays and reads and being sound.
Lance Anderson: I don't want to misrepresent the terminology, but they are tweaking things defensively and how the use their edge rushers and their formations on the front seven. They recognize they were really bad at stopping the run and they're hoping the schematic shifts they're implementing will work. That's priority number one right now with that group. Lots of focus on technique and doing the little things. And then just having the right mindset as a whole. He commented that some years recruiting wise, it's been harder to find really good defensive linemen, but he's really pumped about the defensive linemen joining the 2022 class.
Lance is really excited about the secondary. Says Patrick fields is a natural born leader. Fits Stanford. Understands it. Having everyone healthy is going to be really nice. McGill, Bonner, Kelly, Fields, etc. He said that's a group they're going to really rely on.
Just in general, Lance feels like the defense wasn't anywhere near where they wanted it to be. That's obvious. But there's really just an emphasis on getting back to where the want to be and taking pride in their defensive identity. When they are stopping the run and have a strong front seven that's putting pressure on the quarterback, that's where they really take things to another level.
Michael Wilson: He's happy to be healthy. A major motivation in coming back was to have a fully healthy season on The Farm. Just so he could show NFL teams that he's not injury prone. He also wants to put all his knowledge and experience together into a strong final season. He feels like he has a lot left on the table to accomplish and no way did he want last year to be his final season at Stanford. Obviously excited about playing with McKee and continuing to grow their relationship. He also said he's tried to be a support for Brycen Tremayne and helping him rehab. As for Mudia Reuben, he's impressed with him so far. Just his combination of size and speed. He said those are two intangibles you can't teach.
Wilson also praised Patrick Fields and what he's brought to the program. He talked about how this group of guys isn't used to winning a lot of games. That winning is still something they're figuring out and Fields is a guy who only knows winning and what that's like. So, having a guy like that in their locker room is huge. Fields certainly is helping to bring a cultural change within their own locker room in that sense.
