Malone Speaks with Media on Tuesday
Aug 17, 2021 | Football
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State assistant head coach/cornerbacks coach Van Malone met with members of the media on Tuesday inside the Vanier Family Football Complex. Above are links to video and audio, and below is a complete transcript.
VAN MALONE, ASSISTANT HEAD COACH/CORNERBACKS
Opening Statement...
"First, thank you for coming. It looks like we're almost back to normal, but it's kind of been cool to go through this process 2019, 2020, and now to be able to do it this fall camp. It's been cool for our players, for our coaches, to be able to come back to some sense of normalcy. I think our support staff, our training staff, they've done a great job with our players so far in fall camp, even with us dealing with the COVID protocols. It's definitely not the same as we dealt with last year, but there still are challenges. So, I really am excited, from the place I sit, to be able to work with our staff in a way that they've done. We've had a lot of fun, our players have, in fall camp so far. Been a lot of hard work, hard work for coaches as well. I don't know what number this is for me in terms of fall camps, but it's been a grueling camp. What we've talked to our players about is the fact that 2020, it was very different, so now you're able to go full pads, you're able to have walkthroughs, able to do a lot of things, physically, that we really couldn't do last year. We've had a lot of growth in that way, again, from players and coaches. I'm excited for us to continue to get better across the board offensively and defensively. When you look at what we've done since January in terms of leadership, we as a staff can be no more excited because our guys have really grown. When you go out into fall camp, when you see older guys tutoring younger guys, when you see older guys holding other older guys accountable for things, it's really cool and refreshing to see. I think Coach Klieman said yesterday that has been our best practice so far, and I would agree – best practice, toughest, most physical practice. But, at the end of the day, we got a lot done in that one day."
On the return of defensive back Jahron McPherson...
"Well, across the board and when you talk about leadership, our team has done a great job in that way. I'm sure Coach talked about our core values of discipline, commitment, toughness, selflessness, and continually our guys show those attributes. When you talk about Jahron, yes he's been that guy. He's continually shown leadership. He's done that since he's been here. To have him back, to have Skylar (Thompson) back, along the line all those guys who chose to come back and be a part of our team to continue to help us grow. We appreciate it as a staff. Our younger players appreciate it. And, specifically, Jahron has done a great job in that way. I'm excited to watch him play this season."
On if the transfer portal has made things more difficult...
"Well, the transfer portal has changed quite a bit across the landscape of college football. There's some good to that and there's some bad. We have, fortunately, been able to benefit from some guys coming from other programs to join our program, and it leads to another level of responsibility for your staff to be able to retain your team. Every day is not a banquet. Every day is not going to be Christmas and the Fourth of July. There are going to be some tough days. So, that's where it could be a tough deal, because, in some ways, players can think that if it's not going right, I just grab my ball and I just go to another place. There'll be some days it'll be tough no matter where you choose to play. So, that's a challenge for us as coaches – not just at K-State but across the country – is to do the best we can to retain our players, to make sure that they have a positive experience, but then also to teach them to be men, to teach them to understand that there'll be some tough days and there'll be some days where, as a coach, we're going to have to sit you down and tell you some things that you might not want to hear. When that happens, you can't just run off. To bring players to K State, it has never been a challenge for me, because we have a great fan base. We have great leadership and administration. We have a fabulous experience that a student-athlete can have here at K-State, and just getting them to look beyond the things that they may perceive about being in Manhattan, Kansas. Then once we get past that, then guys really appreciate this experience and it's easy to recruit to that."
On cornerbacks Reggie Stubblefield and Julius Brents...
"Well, first of all those guys have had experience, the fact that they've played college football, and as a coach you can appreciate that. So, they come in with that credibility with our team, with our players, but then when you talk about them individually as people, they are really good players, they're really good people. They came into the locker room. They came into the position room, not with an air of, 'Give me. What can I do? What can the team do for me?' It was more, 'What can I do to help this team?' And our players saw that. When a guy comes in from another program, first of all the threat level is high, but they were not threatening. They have always been guys who have walked in to be able to serve our team, and I think our players appreciate that just like a coach appreciates the experience. Players appreciate people coming in with humility and understanding that they want to learn the culture, and they don't want to walk in and be given a starting role. They want to earn everything that they get. So, that attitude that they walked in with I think has helped them but has helped our team to welcome them in. I'm excited for what they bring in terms of leadership. They're definitely both good players, and they fit right into the culture that we are continually trying to build."
On what Aamaris Brown a fit at nickelback...
"Well, the thing is, he does a good job in man coverage and in the situations that we play in, the situations that you can have that nickel position. Aamaris is a great fit. As athletic as he is, he can play multiple positions in the secondary. He's a guy that when you watch him play, he makes plays. He's athletic. He plays with a lot of energy at all times. I'm excited for him. Definitely, he's a younger player. I'm excited for him to continue to grow. And like I said, the fact is his athleticism allows him to be able to play multiple positions. So, yes, he'll line up at nickel, but he'll play other positions as well. Then he'll help us tremendously on special teams because of his speed, because of his toughness, because of his ability to be able to play in multiple positions."
On the uncertainty of the Big 12 and its impact on recruiting...
"First of all, that's about eight levels above my paygrade, no, actually 10 levels. Our players on our current team, that's not a factor in their lives. That's not a distraction for them. They are locked in and focused on their jobs and the things that they can control. In recruiting, sometimes parents ask that, but we hit that straight on as a staff from Coach Klieman, from our coaches, to say that Kansas State is a great university, a great football program, a great athletic program, and we're going to be on the highest level, and we're going to do things – whoever is in charge, whoever is making those decisions – we're going to do things that will keep Kansas State in the spotlight, in the forefront of athletics across the country. So, however that plays out, I don't have a vote. The recruits won't have a vote. Current players won't have a vote, but we have confidence in our leadership. We have confidence in the people who are in charge of making those decisions, and they have assured us that we're going to be relevant. We're going to continue to do our jobs and continue to do what we can do to help them to be able to put us in those positions."
On if the conference situation comes up quite a bit with recruits...
"No. Initially there were questions, but right now our recruits are in fall camps. The discussions we talk about what's going on with them in fall camp. I think that our players, our recruits, understand that's something that's not in their lives today. Again, we've continued to stress to them what this university, what this athletic program, what this football program can do for them. So, that hasn't been an issue at all. Initially, yes, we got a couple questions, but we approached it just like I said, and it's been full steam ahead to what we're doing today, who we play tomorrow. It's just been focused on that."
On the linebackers...
"I feel like you know guys like Deuce (Daniel) Green and Fletch (Cody Fletcher). Those guys, they've had a tremendous camp in terms of continuing to understand our scheme, continuing to provide leadership on the field for the new guys that we rolled in. So that group, as well as the others, it's been refreshing to watch them. It's been refreshing to watch them grow. I talked about scheme, but we as a staff have focused quite a bit on the fundamentals of tackling, on creating turnovers. We've talked through those things. Me being a secondary coach, you talk through those things quite a bit with your secondary, but at this moment our linebackers are leading the team in interceptions, so that's been really cool and competitive to watch our guys operate in that way."
On Russ Yeast...
"I've seen him make a few splash plays. I talked about Julius (Brents) and I talked about (Reggie)Stubblefield, and the fact that they bring experience. They bring leadership. That's exactly what Russ brings. He always talks about how appreciative he is to be in this program, how there are some things that he didn't have in his previous experience that he's getting now, and that he's so glad to be a part of our program. You see him, he runs well, he will hit you in the mouth. He is a great communicator out there. He understands the scheme. He understands where everyone fits. That's something that you want to have in the safety. That's something that, as a coach, that you're excited about. So, again, he's another guy who I'm excited to watch play in the real games because having him out here in fall camp and watching him move around has been very much intriguing. I can't wait to watch him play."
On Russ Yeast contributing as a return specialist...
"I think he's one of the guys who rotates back there. I think in that group it's a really dynamic group of returners when you talk about Deuce (Vaughn), when you talk about Brooksie (Phillip Brooks), you add him (Russ Yeast) in the mix, you got Malik (Knowles). It's going to be – just as in every other position on our team – to pick out the returner is going to be a challenge, but as you go through the season – it's a long season – and that's a position where we get guys, and we'll roll them in. So yes, Russ has been a guy who has shown promise in that area as well."
On TJ Smith returning from injury...
"Well, the fact that he got injured, that was disappointing for him as well as for us as a program, but sometimes people get injured and you see something very different as they fight back to recovery. That's what I would say we saw in in TJ. I call him The Wasp because he's always stinging people. I'm excited. He's a very good young player. A young player who is a great communicator, who is very competitive, who loves football. It's clear to see that, really, all the guys that we talked about, you ask questions about, these guys love football. It's important today to have players on your team who love to play the game because the game is hard. It's hard to prepare. If you ask the question, 'Who wants to win?' everybody will raise their hands. But 'Who wants to pay the price?' and TJ is one of those guys who loves it. He loves watching film. He loves to prepare. So, again, I'm excited. I'm really excited as we've talked about all of our players, but I'm excited about watching him grow in this system."
On building from the challenges last season...
"I've never seen us have dissension in the locker room, but all those other things that you said, yes. Those are challenges that not only we face here at Kansas State but that we face in our society. Whenever you go through tough things as a person, as a group, as a team, as a society, you should hope that you come out stronger on the other side. Like I've said since January, we've encouraged our leaders to lead. Coach Klieman always talks about the fact that this is their football team, this is our players' football team. When you have a player-led team, you tend to have much more success than when you have a coach led team, when you have the coaches pushing all the agendas. I think there's two lines of communication. There's that line of communication when the coach says something, and then all of a sudden, when the players look at each other in a nod and a wink and a kind of smile, there's another level of communication. There are the things that we say as a staff when on that other wave is also communication we're talking about the same things. On our staff's communication link – we're not talking about Drake and TikTok – but they are on theirs, but they're also talking about things that we are pushing. They are talking about commitment, they're talking about being selfless, they're holding each other accountable. I'm excited about that because, at the end of the season when things will be tough, when things will be hard, those are the things that will come true. Those are the things that we will be able to count on much more than if Mess (Courtney Messingham) is running toss sweep or he's running inside zone. Those who think those things will help us be able to win games."
On his view of the K-State offense...
"I've always been excited about the things that we do on offense, the challenges that we present to a defense when you have the pieces that you talked about. When you have those pieces in place, you give Coach (Courtney) Messingham the ability to be able to fully take advantage of the tools that his offense can work with. I can't wait to see the way we challenge because each day, each practice from a defensive standpoint we're challenged. We're challenged to get lined up, we're challenged to make checks according to motion, we're challenged to understand. 'Are they in an unbalanced formation? Are you going to defend Deuce (Vaughn)? Are you going to defend Skylar (Thompson)? Is Skylar out of the pocket?' Each day, each play, there's a different challenge. Once we find the key, the answer to one formation, they switch it and they give us a different play or the same play in another formation or a different type of motion. I think those stress defenses. They give defensive coordinators sleepless nights, and I'm very excited about where our offense is."
On running back Joe Ervin...
"Joe is a guy who, of course, opted out last season, and he came back ready to work. The clearest image of what a guy's commitment is to being successful as an offensive and defensive player is what he's willing to do on special teams, and Joe, from the onset of spring, showed us that he was locked into doing whatever he could do to be a part and to contribute to this team. He showed the staff that he could really help us on special teams. Well, let's talk about the summer, his work according to his teammates, according to the strength staff, his work has been unmatched. So, he comes into fall camp, and he showed just what he did in the spring that he could be an explosive player on special teams. Of course, he has something special that he gives us on offense, but on special teams on all of the units, he really has shown that he'll be able to help us. There are some players who go out there and they do their thing on offense or defense, and that's without question, but then there's some special guys who can be excellent on special teams, but then they can also do things on their respective sides of the ball. That's what Joe is doing. But, like I said, he walked in with an air of, 'I'm going to go to work. I'm going to put my head down,' and that's what he's done. He was the – I believe it was last week – awarded the Prizefigher of the Week. That's been something that, for me as a coach dealing with Joe, I'm really proud of him to be able to accomplish that."
On defensive back Tee Denson...
"Tee is another young guy like TJ. I believe they're roommates, and they're really close friends, and they bounce off of each other. They both, like I said about TJ, love football. They love the art of preparing and they love the grind of it. That's something that I've always respected and I've always liked about Tee even in the recruiting process. So, I'm excited about where he will go as a player, just because of his work ethic, just because of his love for the preparation. He's grown as a player, he's put on weight, he's gotten stronger. He's continuing to be more confident as a tackler. He's continuing to be more confident to be able to communicate, to be able to express to his teammates on the field the things that he sees. He's grown to understand the defense, which again gives you confidence which allows you to communicate, which allows you to do things in terms of getting us all lined up. That's not necessarily the job of a cornerback, but he's been confident enough in fall camp to be able to do that. I think he'll play quite a bit, and I think he will perform again. He didn't play much as a true freshman, but I think he'll play quite a bit for us in the cornerback group. I think I have five to six guys who will be able to help us. So, I'm, again, for the 18th time, really excited about those guys."
On the wide receivers...
"Really all of those guys. They work tremendously hard. It's great competition every day in camp. It's great competition, we go one-on-one, we go releases, we go tackling, we tackle those guys at times, and there's always a challenge. The guys who have stood out really, I'm going just talk about a young guy, RJ Garcia II. That kid, when I saw him come in and watch him off to the side and he's working on his get off, he's working on his releases. I've always been impressed with the kind of kid he's been. He doesn't say much, but he's made some plays here in the last few practices. He's made some plays. I look for big things from him. And, of course, Malik (Knowles) is Malik. Philip Brooks, you don't get a handle on him. He is what he is in that way. But Tyrone Howell has shown some things, really sure hands. That's a good group of guys for us to work with and work against every day, but those guys especially like I said, young RJ Garcia has as shown promise to me."
On Trumain Carroll's impact...
"Well, like some of you know, this is my third time to work with Trumain, Tru as we all call him. I watched him grow. In this time together, he's done nothing different than I would have expected him to do. He has come in, he's impacted our team, he's impacted our coaches, he's impacted this whole building because that's who he is. Our players, they continue to come to me and say, 'Man, I'm so glad we have Coach Tru. He's really helped me.' We take pictures of our players, we take the before and after pictures because you don't – when you're in the process, when you're growing – you don't see the growth. But then if you look back and compare to where you've come from then you do. Just going through that process and listening to our players, I feel like they've, like I said earlier, they've been impacted tremendously. But we still have a long way to go, and Tru is always in that mindset that the work is never done. So, I can appreciate that from him. I think he's going to be a big part of this success that we have here at K-State. It's not necessarily all about what he does in the weight room. Just like what we talked about on the football field, it's about him pouring into these young men when they're not in the weight room and when they're walking around the building. So, I'm enthusiastic about where he's going to be able to take our team."
VAN MALONE, ASSISTANT HEAD COACH/CORNERBACKS
Opening Statement...
"First, thank you for coming. It looks like we're almost back to normal, but it's kind of been cool to go through this process 2019, 2020, and now to be able to do it this fall camp. It's been cool for our players, for our coaches, to be able to come back to some sense of normalcy. I think our support staff, our training staff, they've done a great job with our players so far in fall camp, even with us dealing with the COVID protocols. It's definitely not the same as we dealt with last year, but there still are challenges. So, I really am excited, from the place I sit, to be able to work with our staff in a way that they've done. We've had a lot of fun, our players have, in fall camp so far. Been a lot of hard work, hard work for coaches as well. I don't know what number this is for me in terms of fall camps, but it's been a grueling camp. What we've talked to our players about is the fact that 2020, it was very different, so now you're able to go full pads, you're able to have walkthroughs, able to do a lot of things, physically, that we really couldn't do last year. We've had a lot of growth in that way, again, from players and coaches. I'm excited for us to continue to get better across the board offensively and defensively. When you look at what we've done since January in terms of leadership, we as a staff can be no more excited because our guys have really grown. When you go out into fall camp, when you see older guys tutoring younger guys, when you see older guys holding other older guys accountable for things, it's really cool and refreshing to see. I think Coach Klieman said yesterday that has been our best practice so far, and I would agree – best practice, toughest, most physical practice. But, at the end of the day, we got a lot done in that one day."
On the return of defensive back Jahron McPherson...
"Well, across the board and when you talk about leadership, our team has done a great job in that way. I'm sure Coach talked about our core values of discipline, commitment, toughness, selflessness, and continually our guys show those attributes. When you talk about Jahron, yes he's been that guy. He's continually shown leadership. He's done that since he's been here. To have him back, to have Skylar (Thompson) back, along the line all those guys who chose to come back and be a part of our team to continue to help us grow. We appreciate it as a staff. Our younger players appreciate it. And, specifically, Jahron has done a great job in that way. I'm excited to watch him play this season."
On if the transfer portal has made things more difficult...
"Well, the transfer portal has changed quite a bit across the landscape of college football. There's some good to that and there's some bad. We have, fortunately, been able to benefit from some guys coming from other programs to join our program, and it leads to another level of responsibility for your staff to be able to retain your team. Every day is not a banquet. Every day is not going to be Christmas and the Fourth of July. There are going to be some tough days. So, that's where it could be a tough deal, because, in some ways, players can think that if it's not going right, I just grab my ball and I just go to another place. There'll be some days it'll be tough no matter where you choose to play. So, that's a challenge for us as coaches – not just at K-State but across the country – is to do the best we can to retain our players, to make sure that they have a positive experience, but then also to teach them to be men, to teach them to understand that there'll be some tough days and there'll be some days where, as a coach, we're going to have to sit you down and tell you some things that you might not want to hear. When that happens, you can't just run off. To bring players to K State, it has never been a challenge for me, because we have a great fan base. We have great leadership and administration. We have a fabulous experience that a student-athlete can have here at K-State, and just getting them to look beyond the things that they may perceive about being in Manhattan, Kansas. Then once we get past that, then guys really appreciate this experience and it's easy to recruit to that."
On cornerbacks Reggie Stubblefield and Julius Brents...
"Well, first of all those guys have had experience, the fact that they've played college football, and as a coach you can appreciate that. So, they come in with that credibility with our team, with our players, but then when you talk about them individually as people, they are really good players, they're really good people. They came into the locker room. They came into the position room, not with an air of, 'Give me. What can I do? What can the team do for me?' It was more, 'What can I do to help this team?' And our players saw that. When a guy comes in from another program, first of all the threat level is high, but they were not threatening. They have always been guys who have walked in to be able to serve our team, and I think our players appreciate that just like a coach appreciates the experience. Players appreciate people coming in with humility and understanding that they want to learn the culture, and they don't want to walk in and be given a starting role. They want to earn everything that they get. So, that attitude that they walked in with I think has helped them but has helped our team to welcome them in. I'm excited for what they bring in terms of leadership. They're definitely both good players, and they fit right into the culture that we are continually trying to build."
On what Aamaris Brown a fit at nickelback...
"Well, the thing is, he does a good job in man coverage and in the situations that we play in, the situations that you can have that nickel position. Aamaris is a great fit. As athletic as he is, he can play multiple positions in the secondary. He's a guy that when you watch him play, he makes plays. He's athletic. He plays with a lot of energy at all times. I'm excited for him. Definitely, he's a younger player. I'm excited for him to continue to grow. And like I said, the fact is his athleticism allows him to be able to play multiple positions. So, yes, he'll line up at nickel, but he'll play other positions as well. Then he'll help us tremendously on special teams because of his speed, because of his toughness, because of his ability to be able to play in multiple positions."
On the uncertainty of the Big 12 and its impact on recruiting...
"First of all, that's about eight levels above my paygrade, no, actually 10 levels. Our players on our current team, that's not a factor in their lives. That's not a distraction for them. They are locked in and focused on their jobs and the things that they can control. In recruiting, sometimes parents ask that, but we hit that straight on as a staff from Coach Klieman, from our coaches, to say that Kansas State is a great university, a great football program, a great athletic program, and we're going to be on the highest level, and we're going to do things – whoever is in charge, whoever is making those decisions – we're going to do things that will keep Kansas State in the spotlight, in the forefront of athletics across the country. So, however that plays out, I don't have a vote. The recruits won't have a vote. Current players won't have a vote, but we have confidence in our leadership. We have confidence in the people who are in charge of making those decisions, and they have assured us that we're going to be relevant. We're going to continue to do our jobs and continue to do what we can do to help them to be able to put us in those positions."
On if the conference situation comes up quite a bit with recruits...
"No. Initially there were questions, but right now our recruits are in fall camps. The discussions we talk about what's going on with them in fall camp. I think that our players, our recruits, understand that's something that's not in their lives today. Again, we've continued to stress to them what this university, what this athletic program, what this football program can do for them. So, that hasn't been an issue at all. Initially, yes, we got a couple questions, but we approached it just like I said, and it's been full steam ahead to what we're doing today, who we play tomorrow. It's just been focused on that."
On the linebackers...
"I feel like you know guys like Deuce (Daniel) Green and Fletch (Cody Fletcher). Those guys, they've had a tremendous camp in terms of continuing to understand our scheme, continuing to provide leadership on the field for the new guys that we rolled in. So that group, as well as the others, it's been refreshing to watch them. It's been refreshing to watch them grow. I talked about scheme, but we as a staff have focused quite a bit on the fundamentals of tackling, on creating turnovers. We've talked through those things. Me being a secondary coach, you talk through those things quite a bit with your secondary, but at this moment our linebackers are leading the team in interceptions, so that's been really cool and competitive to watch our guys operate in that way."
On Russ Yeast...
"I've seen him make a few splash plays. I talked about Julius (Brents) and I talked about (Reggie)Stubblefield, and the fact that they bring experience. They bring leadership. That's exactly what Russ brings. He always talks about how appreciative he is to be in this program, how there are some things that he didn't have in his previous experience that he's getting now, and that he's so glad to be a part of our program. You see him, he runs well, he will hit you in the mouth. He is a great communicator out there. He understands the scheme. He understands where everyone fits. That's something that you want to have in the safety. That's something that, as a coach, that you're excited about. So, again, he's another guy who I'm excited to watch play in the real games because having him out here in fall camp and watching him move around has been very much intriguing. I can't wait to watch him play."
On Russ Yeast contributing as a return specialist...
"I think he's one of the guys who rotates back there. I think in that group it's a really dynamic group of returners when you talk about Deuce (Vaughn), when you talk about Brooksie (Phillip Brooks), you add him (Russ Yeast) in the mix, you got Malik (Knowles). It's going to be – just as in every other position on our team – to pick out the returner is going to be a challenge, but as you go through the season – it's a long season – and that's a position where we get guys, and we'll roll them in. So yes, Russ has been a guy who has shown promise in that area as well."
On TJ Smith returning from injury...
"Well, the fact that he got injured, that was disappointing for him as well as for us as a program, but sometimes people get injured and you see something very different as they fight back to recovery. That's what I would say we saw in in TJ. I call him The Wasp because he's always stinging people. I'm excited. He's a very good young player. A young player who is a great communicator, who is very competitive, who loves football. It's clear to see that, really, all the guys that we talked about, you ask questions about, these guys love football. It's important today to have players on your team who love to play the game because the game is hard. It's hard to prepare. If you ask the question, 'Who wants to win?' everybody will raise their hands. But 'Who wants to pay the price?' and TJ is one of those guys who loves it. He loves watching film. He loves to prepare. So, again, I'm excited. I'm really excited as we've talked about all of our players, but I'm excited about watching him grow in this system."
On building from the challenges last season...
"I've never seen us have dissension in the locker room, but all those other things that you said, yes. Those are challenges that not only we face here at Kansas State but that we face in our society. Whenever you go through tough things as a person, as a group, as a team, as a society, you should hope that you come out stronger on the other side. Like I've said since January, we've encouraged our leaders to lead. Coach Klieman always talks about the fact that this is their football team, this is our players' football team. When you have a player-led team, you tend to have much more success than when you have a coach led team, when you have the coaches pushing all the agendas. I think there's two lines of communication. There's that line of communication when the coach says something, and then all of a sudden, when the players look at each other in a nod and a wink and a kind of smile, there's another level of communication. There are the things that we say as a staff when on that other wave is also communication we're talking about the same things. On our staff's communication link – we're not talking about Drake and TikTok – but they are on theirs, but they're also talking about things that we are pushing. They are talking about commitment, they're talking about being selfless, they're holding each other accountable. I'm excited about that because, at the end of the season when things will be tough, when things will be hard, those are the things that will come true. Those are the things that we will be able to count on much more than if Mess (Courtney Messingham) is running toss sweep or he's running inside zone. Those who think those things will help us be able to win games."
On his view of the K-State offense...
"I've always been excited about the things that we do on offense, the challenges that we present to a defense when you have the pieces that you talked about. When you have those pieces in place, you give Coach (Courtney) Messingham the ability to be able to fully take advantage of the tools that his offense can work with. I can't wait to see the way we challenge because each day, each practice from a defensive standpoint we're challenged. We're challenged to get lined up, we're challenged to make checks according to motion, we're challenged to understand. 'Are they in an unbalanced formation? Are you going to defend Deuce (Vaughn)? Are you going to defend Skylar (Thompson)? Is Skylar out of the pocket?' Each day, each play, there's a different challenge. Once we find the key, the answer to one formation, they switch it and they give us a different play or the same play in another formation or a different type of motion. I think those stress defenses. They give defensive coordinators sleepless nights, and I'm very excited about where our offense is."
On running back Joe Ervin...
"Joe is a guy who, of course, opted out last season, and he came back ready to work. The clearest image of what a guy's commitment is to being successful as an offensive and defensive player is what he's willing to do on special teams, and Joe, from the onset of spring, showed us that he was locked into doing whatever he could do to be a part and to contribute to this team. He showed the staff that he could really help us on special teams. Well, let's talk about the summer, his work according to his teammates, according to the strength staff, his work has been unmatched. So, he comes into fall camp, and he showed just what he did in the spring that he could be an explosive player on special teams. Of course, he has something special that he gives us on offense, but on special teams on all of the units, he really has shown that he'll be able to help us. There are some players who go out there and they do their thing on offense or defense, and that's without question, but then there's some special guys who can be excellent on special teams, but then they can also do things on their respective sides of the ball. That's what Joe is doing. But, like I said, he walked in with an air of, 'I'm going to go to work. I'm going to put my head down,' and that's what he's done. He was the – I believe it was last week – awarded the Prizefigher of the Week. That's been something that, for me as a coach dealing with Joe, I'm really proud of him to be able to accomplish that."
On defensive back Tee Denson...
"Tee is another young guy like TJ. I believe they're roommates, and they're really close friends, and they bounce off of each other. They both, like I said about TJ, love football. They love the art of preparing and they love the grind of it. That's something that I've always respected and I've always liked about Tee even in the recruiting process. So, I'm excited about where he will go as a player, just because of his work ethic, just because of his love for the preparation. He's grown as a player, he's put on weight, he's gotten stronger. He's continuing to be more confident as a tackler. He's continuing to be more confident to be able to communicate, to be able to express to his teammates on the field the things that he sees. He's grown to understand the defense, which again gives you confidence which allows you to communicate, which allows you to do things in terms of getting us all lined up. That's not necessarily the job of a cornerback, but he's been confident enough in fall camp to be able to do that. I think he'll play quite a bit, and I think he will perform again. He didn't play much as a true freshman, but I think he'll play quite a bit for us in the cornerback group. I think I have five to six guys who will be able to help us. So, I'm, again, for the 18th time, really excited about those guys."
On the wide receivers...
"Really all of those guys. They work tremendously hard. It's great competition every day in camp. It's great competition, we go one-on-one, we go releases, we go tackling, we tackle those guys at times, and there's always a challenge. The guys who have stood out really, I'm going just talk about a young guy, RJ Garcia II. That kid, when I saw him come in and watch him off to the side and he's working on his get off, he's working on his releases. I've always been impressed with the kind of kid he's been. He doesn't say much, but he's made some plays here in the last few practices. He's made some plays. I look for big things from him. And, of course, Malik (Knowles) is Malik. Philip Brooks, you don't get a handle on him. He is what he is in that way. But Tyrone Howell has shown some things, really sure hands. That's a good group of guys for us to work with and work against every day, but those guys especially like I said, young RJ Garcia has as shown promise to me."
On Trumain Carroll's impact...
"Well, like some of you know, this is my third time to work with Trumain, Tru as we all call him. I watched him grow. In this time together, he's done nothing different than I would have expected him to do. He has come in, he's impacted our team, he's impacted our coaches, he's impacted this whole building because that's who he is. Our players, they continue to come to me and say, 'Man, I'm so glad we have Coach Tru. He's really helped me.' We take pictures of our players, we take the before and after pictures because you don't – when you're in the process, when you're growing – you don't see the growth. But then if you look back and compare to where you've come from then you do. Just going through that process and listening to our players, I feel like they've, like I said earlier, they've been impacted tremendously. But we still have a long way to go, and Tru is always in that mindset that the work is never done. So, I can appreciate that from him. I think he's going to be a big part of this success that we have here at K-State. It's not necessarily all about what he does in the weight room. Just like what we talked about on the football field, it's about him pouring into these young men when they're not in the weight room and when they're walking around the building. So, I'm enthusiastic about where he's going to be able to take our team."
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/ FootballK-State FB | Welcome back Collin Klein
Monday, December 08
K-State FB | Head Coach Collin Klein Radio Interview
Friday, December 05
K-State FB | Head Coach Collin Klein Official Introductory Event
Friday, December 05
K-State FB | Thank You Coach Klieman
Wednesday, December 03
