forums

Team Reaction to Kaaya

BrianF

BrianF

Sophomore
Premium
Joined
Apr 30, 2013
Messages
955
Didnt see this anywhere else, from Rivals.

Offensive coordinator/QB coach James Coley said he began thinking a little over a week ago that Brad Kaaya would be ready to lead this Cane offense as a true freshman starter.

Coaches informed the quarterbacks today that Kaaya is the starter.

"I thought that Jake did a great job this camp, and I just thought Kaaya towards the end here really pulled away and started to get really comfortable," Coley said. "(Kaaya) is not your regular freshman. He's embraced it, there's been no hiccups. It was tough early and coming in the last eight to 10 days you just saw him get really comfortable out here with the players and with the speed of the game."

Coley said Kaaya's reaction to the news was "calm, collected. He's pretty steady so he wasn't jumping, doing back flips. He looked at us and said, `Let's go.'"

Coley says throughout fall camp he saw "flashes" from Kaaya until he got to the point of realizing "You know what? He's the guy."

Does Kaaya know what he's up against at Louisville?

"Yup, he's watched last year's film," Coley said. "He understands it's going to be a hostile environment. We can try to duplicate it here but I know you can't duplicate it. He's going to have to sit there and go through it."

Coley said he didn't expect to have a true freshman as the team's starter when the fall began.

"You say `This kid's cool, calm, collected in high school, but when he gets here what's he going to do when he sees that speed?'" Coley said. "When he got out there these first couple of days, that's when I realized, said `Hold on a second. This guy's pretty special.' The speed did not affect him at all, and as (practice) went on he actually got stronger and stronger and stronger with command, with his passing percentage. It got better as camp went on, which is crazy."

Kaaya's pre-snap reads?

"He does a good job with that," Coley said. "The kid acts like he's 30. He watches a lot of film. There's been times where I've got him in practice, `Why you working that side?' He said `A guy came hot, I hit my hot route, hit Braxton Berrios. And I watch the film - sure enough, the guy comes off the edge … he's got special awareness, understands the field, can see it very well. 6-foot-4 helps."

The biggest aspect that separated Kaaya from Heaps?

"I think the ability to see the entire field," Coley said. "Brad could see it pretty well down the field."

Media members were informed of the decision immediately after practice today, before the rest of the team (aside from the QBs)

Receiver Herb Waters said, after a media member broke the news to him, that "this is my first time hearing that, but we're behind him 100 percent. We're pushing him forward, backing him up 100 percent."

Waters added "Heaps would have been my guess (to be named starter). But I mean coach Golden named (Kaaya) the starter and we just have to back him up from there."

Waters also said he's noticed Kaaya's steady progress this fall.

"I'm very proud of Kaaya," Waters said. "He's actually become like he's one of the upperclassmen the way he's leading, telling people what to do. So I'm very proud of him. He has been stepping up."

Fellow wideout Malcolm Lewis says his reaction is "I like Brad. He's a good quarterback, makes good decisions. He put in a lot of work. … learning everything as fast as he did, I'm proud of him. I'm happy for him."

Lewis says "I think he's ready" for Louisville.

"I can't wait to see how he responds to it," Lewis said.

Wide reciever Phillip Dorsett's take?

"I just found out - we just have to get ready to get to work, really start game-planning," Dorsett said. "He's a real good quarterback. He's been coming out prepared every day, first guy in (the locker room). I can tell he wanted it a lot, not saying Jake didn't want it as much."

Dorsett added "I don't look at him as a true freshman. I worked with him a lot this summer and in this camp. He's our quarterback now, our leader. He ain't no true freshman right now. … I know he's going to do good."

Dorsett said the competition between Kaaya and Heaps "was so equal to me" that he's not sure how coaches ultimately made the decision.

* Quarterbacks were not made available for interviews today, and Al Golden said Kaaya won't do an interview until after his first game at Louisville.
Click to expand...

Clive's response:

[video=vimeo;104246352]http://vimeo.com/104246352[/video]
 
Advertisement
I can understand why the players are not really feeling Kayaa. They want to win now and you never know how a freshman will handle the pressure under the lights.

Heaps need to be ready because Kayaa will have a short leash.
 
Supercane85 said:
I can understand why the players are not really feeling Kayaa. They want to win now and you never know how a freshman will handle the pressure under the lights.

Heaps need to be ready because Kayaa will have a short leash.
Click to expand...


no he won't
 
Peter Ariz said:
Supercane85 said:
I can understand why the players are not really feeling Kayaa. They want to win now and you never know how a freshman will handle the pressure under the lights.

Heaps need to be ready because Kayaa will have a short leash.
Click to expand...


no he won't
Click to expand...

No reason to at this point.

Pretty cool for two guys to become friends like Kaaya and Berrios, their constant interactions. Now they are on the brink of seeing the field together. Though Berrios has a ton of competition, I wonder how we will look back on them as a duo? Pretty cool story.
 
Peter Ariz said:
Supercane85 said:
I can understand why the players are not really feeling Kayaa. They want to win now and you never know how a freshman will handle the pressure under the lights.

Heaps need to be ready because Kayaa will have a short leash.
Click to expand...


no he won't
Click to expand...

On Monday night he will. You best believe he will have a short leash. The unknown variable is how a player responds when the lights are on. If he gets rattled they will pull him.

Nothing against Kayaa but you don't leave him out there to tank. If our defense is getting shredded again our QB, whoever it is needs to ball out.

You think Pertrino is not going to come gunning for Kayaa?
 
Advertisement
Supercane85 said:
I can understand why the players are not really feeling Kayaa. They want to win now and you never know how a freshman will handle the pressure under the lights.

Heaps need to be ready because Kayaa will have a short leash.
Click to expand...

Who said they were not feeling Kayaa?
 
Kaaya wont be worse than morris. That dummy lost the team and the defense was partially run into the ground because of him.
 
Advertisement
kev13108 said:
Supercane85 said:
I can understand why the players are not really feeling Kayaa. They want to win now and you never know how a freshman will handle the pressure under the lights.

Heaps need to be ready because Kayaa will have a short leash.
Click to expand...

Who said they were not feeling Kayaa?
Click to expand...

The players would have preferred Heaps. Not saying they were correct but it is understandable because Kayaa is a true freshman. So there will be doubt to if he can lead the team.
 
supacane said:
nycane said:
Kaaya wont be worse than morris. That dummy lost the team and the defense was partially run into the ground because of him.
Click to expand...
Stupid **** like this boils the blood. Defense ran into the ground because of No D.
Click to expand...

While I would have phrased it differently, I agree with the notion that the O ran the D into the ground. Its not srupid if its the truth
As many 3 and outs as there were - they were just gassed all too often.
 
Advertisement
Advertisement
Crazy4thecanes said:
supacane said:
nycane said:
Kaaya wont be worse than morris. That dummy lost the team and the defense was partially run into the ground because of him.
Click to expand...
Stupid **** like this boils the blood. Defense ran into the ground because of No D.
Click to expand...

While I would have phrased it differently, I agree with the notion that the O ran the D into the ground. Its not srupid if its the truth
As many 3 and outs as there were - they were just gassed all too often.
Click to expand...
Good thing he is gone. When UL drives the field over and over and every team outperforms their average on us. It will be interesting to hear the excuses that u will come up with to defend Golden's buddy
 
Advertisement
Back
Top