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After wrapping up their ninth practice of spring, UCF offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach
Chip Lindsey gave a status report on his side of the ball. At the end, he also made his pick on who he thinks is going to win The Masters.
Recap:
In his opening statement, Lindsey alluded to the fact Tuesday's practice seemed like a sluggish day at least offensively.
"Today was one of those days where it's kind of the middle of spring ball. We worked some third downs, some coming outs, some situational stuff. We hit and missed a little bit on offense, honestly. It's that midpoint of spring ball where you've got to push through. I challenged that side of the ball after practice. Hey man look, we're in the middle of spring and the newness has worn off. We've got to push through. Everybody in the country is going through the same thing."
Lindsey clarified to say it wasn't a "bad day," rather there were some parts that weren't up to their high standards.
"That's something we've got to get corrected. Some of that comes with repping different combinations on the offensive line, quarterback, running back even. We had a young guy in there late and I think he busted a protection. That's part of the growth process of him. You can't blame him."
There were still positives though.
"All in all, still a great attitude. I thought the guys moved around well. Weather was great obviously as it usually is. I thought the defense today probably came out on top if I had to say from the naked eye. They were flying around pretty good I thought. It'll be interesting to see us regroup and come out on Thursday in a scrimmage situation. Put the ball down and play. It's a lot different than four-play sets. What I really want to see is our offense grow in situational football, understanding it as it comes up and not pre-scripted.
"All in all, I really like our guys. I enjoy being around this group. They're a good group of kids that hold themselves to a high standard. Our job is to make sure we hold them accountable and that's what we do as coaches."
I asked about the plan for this Thursday's scrimmage. Will it be more wide open as last time it was 70 percent run?
"My experience with Coach (Malzahn) is that first (scrimmage) is kind of an old-school, base scrimmage. Who can block, who can tackle, who can hold on to the ball, who can create stuff on defense. That's every time I've been with him. That's how we've done it. Playbook opens a little more in scrimmage two. Obviously on defense as well. I think what we've got to do is try to put our quarterbacks in situations during the scrimmage to see how they handle certain situations. Getting protections right, especially in third downs. Making great decisions. Protecting the ball. If you look at last week, we had a lot of room to grow there which is a good thing.
"The great thing about that room is those guys take it personal. They're working each and every day to get better. You don't see any complacency or anything like that. You shouldn't when there's a competition going on. I think this scrimmage you'll see us be a little more wide open so we can really see kind of where everything falls."
Is it hard to evaluate whether it's the defense having a good day or the offense having a bad day?
"When you're the offensive coordinator, you want your guys on top every day. Who knows. I'm on the sideline directing it from there. It's hard to tell. Just from a feel I got. We had some issues we need to get corrected. Don't get me wrong. I thought we did some good things too. We flew around and were physical."
I asked Lindsey about his coaching preference during games and scrimmages - whether he likes being up high in the box or directing from the field.
"I've done it both ways. When I was with Coach (Malzahn) earlier, I was up. And actually I was on the field early on in that first year. Obviously as a head coach, you're on the field. I would say I've done both. If I'm on the field, I want to make sure I've got somebody who can answers questions (up top). We hadn't really talked about (this season), but I'm sure I'll be up (top) helping Coach. I think that will be my role. I think that would give me the best advantage. Who knows. Coach may have a different idea. I feel comfortable either place."
How does his head coach experience help him in this role? Lindsey said he's a better assistant coach because he has better perspective of what a head coach has to deal with.
"When you're the head coach, your door gets knocked on a lot. You're dealing with all kinds of problems. When you're the offensive coordinator, it's kind of narrowed down to just the offense. You've still got to deal with academics and everything that goes along with it. My goal coming here, and Coach and I have talked about this, hopefully I can help him and take some things off his plate that don't have to get to him."
Where is
John Rhys Plumlee in his development? I noted the fact he was coming back to the QB position and asked whether mistakes were becoming less common as he re-acclimates.
"He's grown tremendously in the nine practices. I think now you're getting into the more details of playing the position. Seeing the different fronts and different coverages and making sure we get the protections right. When the box is loaded or unloaded, the RPO game. Just the little details of everything.
"I explained this to the offensive group. Here's one play, Play X, whatever you want to call it. (Looking at the defense), there's an even look, odd look, okie look, two-high look, one-high look, man look. In other words, you have to have an answer within that play for all those scenarios. As those things come up, the more those quarterbacks see them, the better they do. They have a short amount of time to process that information and make the right decision. The more he sees that, the better he's going to get. That's probably what he's missed the most. At the same time, he's a quick learner. Sharp."
Lindsey added the other QBs were also sharp and singled out
Thomas Castellanos for some praise.
"Thomas, the growth he's had coming from high school is just tremendous. I told him walking down the hall, from all the guys, the early enrollees that I've been with in the past, I think eh's right up there at the top from a standpoint of growth and maturity as quick as he has."
How has
Mikey Keene looked?
"The first thing is physically he's grown from what I've seen on film to where I think he is now. You can tell Mikey has played in this offense for a year. You can see that, the way he handles himself and the demeanor and the way he handles the communication. He doesn't have to think as hard on some things. He's pretty much going to make the right decision most all the times. I think for him is just sometimes speeding up the decision as well as obviously some newer looks now that maybe he didn't see in his first year. I'm really pleased with him. He's very solid. Very steady. Doesn't get too high. You can't tell if he had a great day or a bad day. He's one of those guys. I think that maturity is paying off for him."
I asked whether the QBs would be "live" (able to run and be tackled) in this next scrimmage and whether the fact they usually aren't might hamper a QB like John Rhys Plumlee who is noted for his improvisation and speed.
"I think it benefits all of them. When they're not live, as a head coach I know this, you're so conscious about blowing (the whistle) if somebody gets closed, but they might have slipped out and it would have been a big play. That will be Coach's decision. I'm not real sure where he's at on that yet. We've talked back and forth about it."
Does Lindsey believe in changing a QB's throwing motion?
"Not a whole lot, to be honest with you. We probably don't sign them if it's a really bad throwing motion. At the same time, I think there's always things mechanically they can tighten up and improve on... If you look at the history of football. I'm from Alabama, grew up there, and I saw
Philip Rivers coming up as a high school guy. He played in the NFL for 20 years maybe. He threw three-quarter. I remember no in-state school wanted him and he went to NC State and lit it up and went on to the NFL."
I asked a tight end question, noting that
Kemore Gamble was Florida's third-leading receiver last year and how players like he and
Alec Holler can help the offense in the receiving game.
"That's huge. This offense over the years, when I was with Coach before, we really had more fullback type guys. We didn't have those tight end guys... Alec is steady. Very intelligent. You can tell he's a veteran. Played a lot. Doesn't make many mistakes and when he does he usually doesn't repeat it. Kemore is very, very talented. You can see that naturally. His deal now is just catching up on terminology. Once he lines up and knows the assignment, he's pretty good at it. We're going to play 11 most of the time (with one tight end) and some 12 too (with two tight ends). We're gonna need four good tight ends. I think on our roster we have the ability to have that. They're all continuing to grow. Coach (Brian) Blackmon is doing a great job with them."
What are the biggest questions he wants to see answered before the end of spring?
"For me, quarterback wise, it's where will this pecking order fall? I'm sure it won't be answered until the fall I guess. You'd like to see those guys, I guess we've got six practices left, you'd like to see them take a big step. Not to say they haven't improved, but you'd like to see them take a big step so the summer gets here and they can lean on them and know what they're doing, so in the fall we don't have to repeat the basic things.
"I think our o-line, finding that right combination. We lost two pretty good players. I think we've got some talent there for sure, but what combination works best? Coach Hand does a great job with that. We've got a veteran receiving crew. I'm pleased with those guys. Maybe a little more depth there with some guys stepping up to help us. Overall, I think it's just us getting the right combination of guys. Figuring out what guys do the best and trying to get them in the right spots."
I let Chip know about the breaking news that
Tiger Woods plans to play in The Masters (Tiger held his presser moments before) and asked him for his Masters pick.
"It's hard to bet against Tiger. I grew up watching him. But he's coming off a long drought. I'm a
Dustin Johnson guy. I wish Dustin Johnson would get it. I think he's already won it once. I'd like to see him repeat it, so I'm gonna pick Dustin Johnson."
amp.tmz.com
