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UCF defensive coordinator
Travis Williams reviews Sunday's scrimmage and talks about the first week-plus of preseason camp.
Recap from the conversation:
T-Will said he can't wear his bass fishing hat during the press conferences anymore because his wife said it was covering his face.
Asked to provide a general assessment about the defense, T-Will said he's "proud" of the "way they come to work." They "practice hard" with "a lot of energy." Can they have consecutive solid practice days?
On the Sunday scrimmage, T-Will deflected a comment that Gus made about the defense "dominating." He said the defense needs to continue to be "greedy." Got to get better every day.
On building relationships, T-Will hosted the linebackers at his home yesterday. He took
Branden Jennings fishing for the first and he caught his first fish. He was excited and couldn't wait to show his mom.
On LB
Branden Jennings:
"He's a thumper. He's not afraid of contact. I've told the linebackers, the quickest way to my heart is go get somebody. I'll teach you football, but I can't teach you how to be tough. He's a naturally tough kid. He brings that tough element to the room."
On LB
Jason Johnson:
"He's doing a good job. He's quiet, like I've said. He doesn't have to be the loudest person as long as he's doing his job. He had a solid scrimmage. We're throwing a lot at him on purpose. We're doing that will all the linebackers. A part of the evaluation process is who can pick it up, who can take it from the classroom to the walk-through to the practice field."
On safety
Koby Perry:
"He's progressing really well. It was good for him to go through the spring and have the summer practice and now fall camp, you can really see his progress."
On the freshman linebackers, T-Will said "they're doing well" and "they come from good programs" so the learning curve isn't as high.
S
Quadric Bullard added 30 pounds during the offseason.
"It helps him when you're going from 150 to 180-something. Now he has to get used to that weight. Used to carrying that weight. You can see he's getting used to it. Any time you gain 30 pounds, it's a shock to your body. But he's doing a really good job running to the ball."
On LB
Terrence Lewis:
"He's doing really well. He has a nose for the ball and a high football IQ as well. He understands the defense. He's doing really for us."
T-Will was asked about DT L
ee Hunter playing "angry." That's the term you want to be used about a defense. "He likes to play in the back field. He's a massive human being. For him to continue to play angry is a plus for us."
On DT
Ricky Barber, "he's our guy up front. He's our leader. He gets everybody going. He's a guy we lean on and a guy we trust. I could go on and on."
On freshman CB
Nikai Martinez:
"He's a guy that sticks out. That's the good thing when you're scrimmaging. When you're at practice, you can't really tell because you're not tackling. When you put the ball down, you can tell he's a football player. We have production points for the scrimmage, adding everything up and he actually led the defense in production points. He has a knack for the football. He has a very bright future."
Asked what he wants to see in the next scrimmage, T-Will reiterated he wants a "greedy" defense while "continuing to get to the ball with bad intentions."
He thought the secondary did well in the scrimmage and kept the lid on (no explosive passes).
Last week, T-Will said one of the biggest goals was to establish a pass rusher that could get to the QB without blitzing. Who is standing out there?
"
Ricky Barber. Drop (
Tre'Mon Morris-Brash) is another guy.
Jeremiah (Jean-Baptiste) gives us pass rushing ability from the linebacker room. It's by committee. It depends on what we're doing up front."
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