We caught up with offensive line coach Herb Hand at the tail end of spring practice, right before the spring game.
There was a technical issue with the lighting, so prior to the official start of the press conference Jason Beede asked him about his favorite doughnut.
His go-to? The blueberry cake doughnut from Dunkin Donuts. He then mentioned all the varieties from Valkyrie Doughnuts are "solid." I wasn't familiar with the establishment offhand - it's a local joint across the street from UCF.
Valhalla Bakery featuring Valkyrie Doughnuts
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Now on to football. How did spring go for his guys, which includes experienced returnees and transfers?
"We've got a really good group of good guys. I enjoy coaching them. They enjoy being coached. They like each other. They work hard. We've got a good mix of experience and youthfulness as well. We have transfers that have added value to the unit.
"Just overall, it's been a really positive spring so far. I feel like we've gotten better technique and fundamentals wise in understanding the offense. It's always great going into year two because you're not starting out at square one. Particularly with the guys we have coming back, between Sam (Jackson), Lokahi (Pauole), Matt (Lee), Ed (Collins) and Adrian (Medley), those are five guys in our two deep last year.
"Then the guys we added with Tylan (Grable), Ryan (Swoboda). They've been really positive additions.
"Paul Rubelt is having a really good spring. Very excited about him. He's such a big man. He's gotten a lot better in a lot of ways. Not just technique and fundamental wise, but understanding of the game and how everything operates.
"Patrick Barnett, I'm having him play multiple positions. A lot of guys are playing multiple positions.
"My glue guy up front has been Ed Collins. I could play Ed at any spot and he does a great job wherever we put him. It gives us a lot of versatility. Sam and Lokahi have been playing a little bit of center as well. It's been real positive so far."
In talking about the experience, Hand says this is "their unit." He recounted how at the end of the one practice, he called Matt Lee over and asked him to go to talk to Adrian Medley about something.
"I want the guys coaching the guys. From a leadership standpoint, that's critical when you have that type of experience coming back and guys you can count on. Sam Jackson, I can't say enough great things about him. Coming back for a sixth year, returning team captain, it's awesome having him back in particular. I'm thankful that he came back."
What appealed to him when he recruited Virginia transfer Ryan Swoboda?
"The first thing that jumps off the tape is his length. He's a legit 6-10. It was kind of funny. His first day on campus and he met Paul Rubelt. It was the first time he actually had to look up to somebody. Then when you turn the tape on and learn he's 6-foot-10 and you see how flexible he is, how well he bends. He plays with good leverage. He finishes blocks. He strains. You can tell football is very important to him.
"I don't know if you know his back story. His freshman year he had a heat stroke incident that put him in the ICU. He was in the hospital for about 10 days. He could have just shut it down and said that's it for me. But football is that important to him that he fought his way back from that. That's a big deal."
Hand thinks being the hometown team probably played a big role in Swoboda's decision.
"He's gotten better as the spring has gone on. He's played a lot of football. Played in the ACC as a starter for two years. I think he's gotten better from a run-blocking standpoint. At Virginia, they threw the ball a lot and he was probably more proficient in his pass protection. Some of the technical things we're doing in the run game are new to him, but he's picked up on it really well.
"His o-line coach at Virginia is one of my best friends. He had nothing but great things to say about the young man. He's been all that and more for us. We're real excited about him."
What does it mean to have an experienced center like Matt Lee?
"He's invaluable. He's like Sam. Sam is the leader of the unit just by his presence of being a sixth-year guy, but Matt and Lokahi are just as valuable in that regard. He plays the game with a coach's eyes. And that's awesome. He sees things. He's still young, right. He's still got three years of eligibility left, which is exciting for me. He's got a lot of football in front of him. But he wants to know the whys of the big picture. Why are we doing things?
"He's a guy that can play at the why level. What I mean by that is when we first started teaching guys, we have 'who to's', that's your assignment, your scheme. You have 'how to's,' that's your technique and fundamentals. A guy can never really become a master of 'how to's' until he knows his 'who to's.' He's got to know his 'who to's' inside and out. Then he can start to master the craft of being an o-lineman.
"When the guys get to the point where they have the 'who to's' and 'how to's' down, and you're always working on the 'how to's.' It's a constant quest to be perfect in your craft. But when you have a guy like Matt who understands both levels, then they came really operate at a why level. When you're operating at the why level, you see the big picture. You're not playing with blinders on.
"Some guys play with blinders on and they just see what's right in front of them. Matt has great vision. He can see a lot of things. He plays with coach's eyes which really makes him valuable. He's a tough guy. He loves football. He loves his teammates. He loves this university. He's a pleasure to work with every day."
Hand said the OL hasn't had many holding penalties during the spring, so he was hoping to see that continue in the spring game.
I asked whether Hand is the type of coach that wants to roll with a starting five that plays the whole game, or if the depth is sufficient, doesn't mind rotating. The previous offensive line coach here, Glen Elarbee, was big on rotations. Hand didn't seem big on that in what we saw last year, preferring to roll with the same group unless there was an injury. Since this was our first interview with him in over a year, I thought I'd ask about his philosophy.
"I played o-line. I'm ride or die. I'm a ride or die guy. I just am. What does that mean? The five guys, they're going to get the work. If we've got to make a substitution, we will.
"If I felt like we had a full second unit... There's some places out there, and I hope we get to a point where we have this issue where you have a full 10 guys that you feel like you're ready to win with. I've seen places where they go two series with the ones and then they put the second group in there to keep the unit together. They'll play a series with those guys and go back to the ones. I'd love to be able to do that as well. I think any time you can get guys reps... there's nothing like game reps. You can get practice reps all you want, but there's nothing like game reps. I'd love to play more guys.
"I just know when I was a player. If I felt like I earned the right to be the starter, I wanted to be the guy out there. That's how I roll with the guys. They're fighting like crazy to be one of those starters.
"We also have to have guys who prepare every day like they're the starter. Let's say you're the No. 2 left guard. If you're not preparing to be the starter, there's going to be a moment in the season. It might be the first game. All of a sudden, you've got to go in the game and everybody is counting on you. If you haven't prepared for that moment, you're not going to get the results you want. Everybody has got to prepare like a starter. When we get into the games, we're going to roll the guys that we've been going with.
"We try to have packages where we have a six-lineman package. We haven't really installed that this spring yet. Last year, that was Ed Collins' role. Ed is one of the most selfless guys on our team. He was a guy who started in the past and has some starting experience. I know he wanted to play as much as anybody else. Adrian Medley wanted to play just as much as everybody else. We had our starting five. They had a role and then there was a time when Matt got dinged up and we had to take Cole Schneider and bump him to center. Adrian, boom, you're in. Everybody is counting on you. You've got to be prepared for that moment. You have to stay ready so you don't have to get ready. That's got to be the mentality."
How excited is he to see how much more dynamic this offense can be?
"We have a lot of really good playmakers. Obviously Isaiah Bowser. Talking about the backfield. Isaiah, just like Sam, we're thankful he's back. Excited for his future here. But Johnny Richardson is having a great spring. Mark-Antony Richards is having a great spring. The young buck, Jordan McDonald, has shown some flashes coming out of the backfield. Trillion Coles has had some moments in spring. He made a cut out here on a Saturday on one of our safeties that was really impressive, an open-field run. We have a great running back room. Really excited about the depth there and the quality of players that we have.
"You look at the tight end position with Alec Holler who had an unbelievable year for us last year. We added Kemore Gamble and he's got a chance to be a real special player for us from a skill-set standpoint. You've got Zach Marsh-Wojan in there as well in that mix. And Jordan Davis. We've got some real good quality depth.
"The wide receiver position. Ryan O'Keefe, that dude is a special player. Flash is a special player. Those guys have the ability to take it to the house every time they get their hands on the ball. Then you look at JG (Jaylon Griffin) coming along. Jordan Johnson has caught some balls in the past couple days and has been really good. We've got some players that are making plays at the wide receiver position. The two guys that we're really leaning on there are Flash and Ryan. Those guys are special.
"As an offensive lineman, what we tell our guys is you've got to strain and finish your blocks in protections so we have an opportunity for our quarterbacks... and I didn't talk about our quarterbacks but Mikey Keene and John Rhys Plumlee and even the young guy, Thomas Castellanos have done some really nice things. Parker (Navarro) has had some good stuff this spring as well. You've got to strain in protection to give our guys an opportunity to get the ball to our playmakers. And in the run game, the difference between a four-yard run and a 40-yard run is how much I strain in my block where the d-lineman or linebacker I'm blocking doesn't disengage and a running backs runs through an arm tackle and he runs for 40 yards. As an offensive lineman, you take a lot of pride in those guys making big plays. We certainly have playmakers to do it."
Hand spoke a little about the defensive line, mentioned how Ricky Barber is difficult to contain. It's great that Anthony Montalvo returned. Landon Woodson and Josh Celiscar along with Dallaz Corbitt had good springs.
And for the food question finale... I asked about his favorite food spot that he's found in Orlando.
"I went to this place yesterday. I had a buddy in town. I took him to lunch. There's a place down on the corner of Alafaya and Colonial called King Bao. Everybody ever had bao buns? Kind of like Korean street food. They've got all kinds of different combos. If you go, the one I'll recommend the strongest to you, actually demand you have this. It's the best food I've had since I've been in Orlando. It's called the Hogzilla. It's a pork belly bao bun with carrots, cilantro, daikon and peanuts. It's awesome."
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Note: Obviously since this interview was done, WR Jaylon "Flash" Robinson hit the transfer portal and appears to be deciding between Ole Miss, Tennessee and Miami. Fourth-string QB Parker Navarro transferred to Ohio. And Adrian Medley suffered a season-ending ACL injury in the spring game.
