The Canes had their first scrimmage of camp on Saturday. Coach Cristobal met with Joe Rose on WQAM to recap the scrimmage and more:
On the scrimmage: The defense had been getting after the offense pretty good all of camp. And Saturday, it just looked like a determined group to set the tone early. After really two big plays, the offense got rolling. The defense came back and made some really good plays as well. But overall, the day belonged to the offense. It was good to see that bounce back because, again, the defense had been getting after them for a good number of days.
On whether it’s good to see the offense win the scrimmage: We assess down to down, drill to drill, series to series to see what's actually going on. Are you making progress? Are guys competing? Are guys getting better? It has been very competitive. As a coach, you really start to worry if it's a butt whooping on one side every single day. That's nowhere near the case here. There is a ton of legitimate back and forth competition, and it bodes well for us. There's a lot of improvement, and again, just a lot of enthusiasm within the walls for just going out there and getting better.
On whether this is a passing team or a running team: I don't think you can be one-dimensional in football nowadays. You've got to be able to throw to win. Everybody wants to be 50-50. I'd like to be scoring 50 points a game, in whatever way we can get that done. Coach Dawson has done an unbelievable job, along with the rest of the staff, formulating a plan that really highlights and makes sure that we get the ball in the hands of the guys that can make plays happen, to make us more explosive.
We were more efficient last year. We scored more points. We controlled the ball better. We weren't overly explosive,. Our big runs and big passes weren't in the numbers that you'd like a championship team to be in. So that being said, whatever it takes to move the ball. When you have a quarterback like this and an offensive line like this and you have a running back and guys that we feel are high-level guys, you’ve got to make sure it gets spread around. But you aim to be as explosive as you can possibly be. And I think our coordinator is doing that.
On the character of the team: The best part about it is they're up to the test. For example, this week, we're throwing the kitchen sink at them this week from a situational standpoint, adversity standpoint, working in the heat standpoint.Extended drives. Trying to gut it out, play 10, 11, 12 into a drive. They're going to have to find a way to respond and get their teammates to respond. And they're all about it.
That’s what makes working with these guys so much fun. It gets everybody so fired up because they love ball. They love to work. They run to it. And they're going to get a heavy dose of that this week.
On Meesh Powell: He's as good as any of the guys that I've been fortunate enough to be around, and it's because he's a professional about everything he does. He wastes no time. There's no BS to him. He's all about the work. Tremendous human being, super high IQ. And brother, he just goes. He knows one speed and one speed only, whether it be in walkthroughs, whether it be in live drills.
And he knows ball. He knows how to leverage the ball. He knows how to play man-to-man. He knows and understands all of our defensive concepts. So not only is he a great player, he's also a great teacher and example for the guys around him.
On whether any unit has impressed him: I'm not going to give any of these guys sugar. They know that. Right now, you really pour your focus into just getting better. These guys don’t like that fluff, “Hey, great job.” That stuff. We’ve got to focus on getting better. Certainly we reward the guys that perform well, and praise the stuff that is done well. But man, there's a lot of focus on the intensity and physicality of football and getting better at it.
On the secondary: In terms of talent, I think we have more talent than has been here in recent years. That's progress. That's part of the reason that we're here. We’ve got to keep doing that more and more and more at every level.
Everyone in the building is incredibly impressed with our secondary. Sometimes we mistake having a lot of young guys [as having] guys that are incapable of being ready. We are 1000% confident in our guys. Not because we fluff them up or pretend that it's right. You’ve got some flat-out players and they're smart and they're tough and they can tackle and they can cover. There’s absolutely zero limitations to what we've been doing on defense. In fact, we expect to see the competition heat up a lot more in the coming week.
On whether you need to simplify the first few game plans (in comparison to the pros, who have preseason games): Remember, in college, you also have spring practice. And you have the winter conditioning program, which allows skill instruction for a certain amount of time throughout the course of the week. And then in the summer, besides the actual training sessions, yyou have nine weeks to get eight weeks of training. Those would be the equivalent of an NFL OTA.
The players really conduct their own practices, player-led practices. So you do advance. It’s not like back in the day, where you sell encyclopedias or work construction all summer and then eat a hot dog and go run your 400s. Nowadays, they're training year-round. So by the time we get to camp, that'd be the fourth or fifth time you install your systems.
On Cam Ward’s progress: The best way to describe it, he's just hungry and driven. You're not going to find a morning where that guy's not in here before everybody else, just in there grinding on film, getting with coordinators, going through every aspect of what we're installing, what we're doing. We all know he's a great player. We all know he can flat out go. And it's been stated often that he's an alpha. But the guy is just hungry and driven. There's no taking the foot off the gas for him on that. He's just going to keep bringing it.
On the defensive line: A lot of progress. That was an area that we felt from day one had to be attacked. and had to be enhanced just because the line of scrimmage takes longer to develop at the college level. These guys aren't like the NFL guys that come in ready to play. So we're very happy with the progress that we've made there. But that's a never-ending, relentless attack. You have to have high-level offensive and defensive linemen. You must be able to affect the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball to be able to win. Again, there's a ton of progress. We want more, but it's getting better.
On whether the freshmen will contribute: No doubt. The way the team is layered and what we have from a depth chart standpoint, I'd say most of them will have some type of contribution. Special teams, in the rotation or competing for being a starter. There's a lot of great young talent. They know what they know and they don't know what they don't know, and that's okay. These next couple of weeks will determine exactly what their role is to begin the season. As the season goes on, it's on us to keep expanding it and improve our guys.
On the difference between early enrollees and recent arrivals: Some guys are just ready, and some guys need more time. Football will always be a developmental sport. Sometimes the extra seven months ramps guys up to a point where they can do it. But last year, with Mark Fletcher and Damari Brown, they got here in the middle of June. By the middle of the season, they're starting or playing significant reps on just about every phase. So it all depends. A guy like Penei Sewell, he walked in the door and took a job, it depends on what phase they are in their development, but they're going to be given an opportunity. If they can do it, we're rolling.
On the scrimmage: The defense had been getting after the offense pretty good all of camp. And Saturday, it just looked like a determined group to set the tone early. After really two big plays, the offense got rolling. The defense came back and made some really good plays as well. But overall, the day belonged to the offense. It was good to see that bounce back because, again, the defense had been getting after them for a good number of days.
On whether it’s good to see the offense win the scrimmage: We assess down to down, drill to drill, series to series to see what's actually going on. Are you making progress? Are guys competing? Are guys getting better? It has been very competitive. As a coach, you really start to worry if it's a butt whooping on one side every single day. That's nowhere near the case here. There is a ton of legitimate back and forth competition, and it bodes well for us. There's a lot of improvement, and again, just a lot of enthusiasm within the walls for just going out there and getting better.
On whether this is a passing team or a running team: I don't think you can be one-dimensional in football nowadays. You've got to be able to throw to win. Everybody wants to be 50-50. I'd like to be scoring 50 points a game, in whatever way we can get that done. Coach Dawson has done an unbelievable job, along with the rest of the staff, formulating a plan that really highlights and makes sure that we get the ball in the hands of the guys that can make plays happen, to make us more explosive.
We were more efficient last year. We scored more points. We controlled the ball better. We weren't overly explosive,. Our big runs and big passes weren't in the numbers that you'd like a championship team to be in. So that being said, whatever it takes to move the ball. When you have a quarterback like this and an offensive line like this and you have a running back and guys that we feel are high-level guys, you’ve got to make sure it gets spread around. But you aim to be as explosive as you can possibly be. And I think our coordinator is doing that.
On the character of the team: The best part about it is they're up to the test. For example, this week, we're throwing the kitchen sink at them this week from a situational standpoint, adversity standpoint, working in the heat standpoint.Extended drives. Trying to gut it out, play 10, 11, 12 into a drive. They're going to have to find a way to respond and get their teammates to respond. And they're all about it.
That’s what makes working with these guys so much fun. It gets everybody so fired up because they love ball. They love to work. They run to it. And they're going to get a heavy dose of that this week.
On Meesh Powell: He's as good as any of the guys that I've been fortunate enough to be around, and it's because he's a professional about everything he does. He wastes no time. There's no BS to him. He's all about the work. Tremendous human being, super high IQ. And brother, he just goes. He knows one speed and one speed only, whether it be in walkthroughs, whether it be in live drills.
And he knows ball. He knows how to leverage the ball. He knows how to play man-to-man. He knows and understands all of our defensive concepts. So not only is he a great player, he's also a great teacher and example for the guys around him.
On whether any unit has impressed him: I'm not going to give any of these guys sugar. They know that. Right now, you really pour your focus into just getting better. These guys don’t like that fluff, “Hey, great job.” That stuff. We’ve got to focus on getting better. Certainly we reward the guys that perform well, and praise the stuff that is done well. But man, there's a lot of focus on the intensity and physicality of football and getting better at it.
On the secondary: In terms of talent, I think we have more talent than has been here in recent years. That's progress. That's part of the reason that we're here. We’ve got to keep doing that more and more and more at every level.
Everyone in the building is incredibly impressed with our secondary. Sometimes we mistake having a lot of young guys [as having] guys that are incapable of being ready. We are 1000% confident in our guys. Not because we fluff them up or pretend that it's right. You’ve got some flat-out players and they're smart and they're tough and they can tackle and they can cover. There’s absolutely zero limitations to what we've been doing on defense. In fact, we expect to see the competition heat up a lot more in the coming week.
On whether you need to simplify the first few game plans (in comparison to the pros, who have preseason games): Remember, in college, you also have spring practice. And you have the winter conditioning program, which allows skill instruction for a certain amount of time throughout the course of the week. And then in the summer, besides the actual training sessions, yyou have nine weeks to get eight weeks of training. Those would be the equivalent of an NFL OTA.
The players really conduct their own practices, player-led practices. So you do advance. It’s not like back in the day, where you sell encyclopedias or work construction all summer and then eat a hot dog and go run your 400s. Nowadays, they're training year-round. So by the time we get to camp, that'd be the fourth or fifth time you install your systems.
On Cam Ward’s progress: The best way to describe it, he's just hungry and driven. You're not going to find a morning where that guy's not in here before everybody else, just in there grinding on film, getting with coordinators, going through every aspect of what we're installing, what we're doing. We all know he's a great player. We all know he can flat out go. And it's been stated often that he's an alpha. But the guy is just hungry and driven. There's no taking the foot off the gas for him on that. He's just going to keep bringing it.
On the defensive line: A lot of progress. That was an area that we felt from day one had to be attacked. and had to be enhanced just because the line of scrimmage takes longer to develop at the college level. These guys aren't like the NFL guys that come in ready to play. So we're very happy with the progress that we've made there. But that's a never-ending, relentless attack. You have to have high-level offensive and defensive linemen. You must be able to affect the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball to be able to win. Again, there's a ton of progress. We want more, but it's getting better.
On whether the freshmen will contribute: No doubt. The way the team is layered and what we have from a depth chart standpoint, I'd say most of them will have some type of contribution. Special teams, in the rotation or competing for being a starter. There's a lot of great young talent. They know what they know and they don't know what they don't know, and that's okay. These next couple of weeks will determine exactly what their role is to begin the season. As the season goes on, it's on us to keep expanding it and improve our guys.
On the difference between early enrollees and recent arrivals: Some guys are just ready, and some guys need more time. Football will always be a developmental sport. Sometimes the extra seven months ramps guys up to a point where they can do it. But last year, with Mark Fletcher and Damari Brown, they got here in the middle of June. By the middle of the season, they're starting or playing significant reps on just about every phase. So it all depends. A guy like Penei Sewell, he walked in the door and took a job, it depends on what phase they are in their development, but they're going to be given an opportunity. If they can do it, we're rolling.
