University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Training Camp Transcript: Day 15
8/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 21, 2010
PITTSBURGH -
On today's practice:
"I thought today was good, it was good work. With it not being an all-out scrimmage, we were able to zero in and script some specific parts of our game that we need to improve on - offense, defense and special teams. We had a very good, organized practice and then we had a little bit of live contact at the end.
"By this point of camp, where we're at in relationship to starting the season, I am pleased. We still have a lot of work to do. Are we better today than we were yesterday? Yes we are. But are we ready to play this football game? No we're not. We have work to do. In our minds, we still have Sunday and Monday, which are training camp mentality days. We'll give the guys Tuesday off, then we'll come back and everything will be committed to Utah. We're staying with the plan, staying with the practice schedule that we set up from a timing standpoint.
"We had a few guys banged up today, but it's nothing serious. Ray Graham is a little better, Greg Romeus is doing better. We will see where we're at tomorrow, we're just taking everything day-by-day."
On Dan Mason:
"He twisted his ankle. It's been bothering him off-and-on."
On the defensive ends:
"With Romeus being out, Brandon Lindsey has been getting more time with the first team, and when he's going against Jason Pinkston, I believe that it will really help him. We look at our defensive end position, and Nate Nix is going to play a lot. Justin Hargrove is the guy that came out of nowhere the last two weeks and has made plays, and now he's rotating with the second group. We have Shayne Hale as well, so we have some depth there at the defensive end spot. They're guys that have been around here, they're not freshmen. They've played some football for us and helped us win some games, so I feel good about our depth at defensive end."
On getting Greg Romeus prepared for Utah:
"He's been learning a lot, so that won't be an issue. It's just a matter of getting practice time, and we'll get that back. He's been running with Buddy Morris, and lifting and training and doing stuff. He's in good spirits. I feel good, we'll be fine."
On Devin Street:
"We have Jon Baldwin, Mike Shanahan and Cameron Saddler, and Devin Street has emerged as the fourth guy. He can play X or Z, so he gives us a little bit of flexibility of being able to play out there with some size for Baldwin or Shanahan. After that, it's been Greg Cross and Ed Tinker. We've been very inconsistent. Other than those top four guys, I couldn't tell you who was next in line. All of them have had good days, and all of them have had days that weren't good enough."
On the right guard position:
"Right now, Greg Gaskins has performed the most consistent. Ryan Turnley and him have kind of been splitting time between the first and second group. Then we have Jack Lippert, who is making strides at the center position. It's probably going to be a work in progress."
On Alex Karabin:
"I feel good about where we're at right now with Alex Karabin. Alex was awarded a scholarship today. He's a walk-on player that's been around here a few years, and today after practice I told him that he has a scholarship here. The rest of the offensive linemen reacted faster than he did to the news. Everybody loves Alex. You like to see good things happen to good people, and the rest of the group responded with a lot of excitement. He got carried off the field, a little senior carry-off. As a coach, it's great to tell a kid that kind of news. We hope to have some scholarships every year for walk-ons, and we will use them up. If we have a scholarship available to a deserving player, we're definitely going to take advantage of it."
On other scholarship positions:
"Andrew Janocko will be another one that we'll talk to. What's been happening here lately with Andre Givens and K.K. Smith, we'll know exactly where we stand at the end of this week. I would expect Andrew would be renewed, he was on last year, and then we'll see where the numbers are at from there."
On Mark Myers:
"He's had a couple of good days, but it's really tough to say with those young kids. Anthony Gonzalez came out today and made some plays. I think both of those kids have a chance to be good players. Mark Myers comes out of an offense that's a little similar to ours, so the transition was a little easier for him, but nothing has been determined one way or another."
On Pitt being named No. 15 in the today's Associated Press poll:
"Right now our whole focus is getting ready to open up the season, play as well as we can and get off to a good start."
On the corners:
"The corners have really been a positive. Ricky Gary has been playing well. He's acting like a fifth-year senior. With Buddy Jackson, Saheed Imoru, Antwuan Reed, K'Waun Williams and freshmen that we'll probably redshirt, we have a little depth there. I'm encouraged with how that position is developing. A backup spot is still up in the air, but they'll probably all be on special teams. We'll see how it works itself out."
On special teams:
"I feel good. I think we have more speed than we've had the last couple of years. Now, we have to go out and execute. I like where Dan Hutchins is at with punting, I like where he's at with field goals and I like where Kevin Harper is at with kicking off. I feel a lot better today than I did a year ago at this time when everybody was new. Those kids have had good camps.
"I think particularly, that on all levels and early in the season, more games are determined by special teams play in the first three games of the season than at any point throughout the year. Everybody has new kids on there, everybody has changes. You have to be solid early on, all year, but particularly early in the season because that's when you're a new punt returner, a new kicker. With the turnover, it's the first couple of live games for a lot of these kids. Mistakes happen and you have to try and minimize that."
