UCF wide receivers coach Darrell Wyatt flashed a big grin when asked if having a player like Gabriel Davis makes his job easier.
It does, but Wyatt is quick to point out that Davis, along with fellow receiver Tre Nixon, put in a lot of work before they even get to game day. During his media availability on Tuesday, Wyatt went in-depth about Davis, Nixon, the move of Brandon Wimbush to wide receiver and more.
What's it like when you see Gabriel Davis just exhibit the skills that he has? Three touchdowns in the past game, had that long 73-yard run.
"It's just phenomenal to work with him. His work ethic, the preparation he puts in to game planning and how hard he works, you're not surprised on game day. He's worked so hard during the week."
When he came in the postgame press conference the other night, he talked about players he compares himself to, NFL and other elite players. Have you noticed that?
"He takes tremendous pride in working his craft. He's always trying to get better. He's studying other receivers on the professional level, college level. Always pushing himself every week, never being satisfied."
What kind of leader is Gabe?
"He's a tremendous leader. He certainly leads more by example because his hard work has certainly rubbed off on a lot of the guys. He brings the receivers in. He sets the mold, the tempo for the work ethic in terms of the extra catches, extra routes, studying the opponent. The last few weeks, he has really worked hard in terms of knowing exactly what the defender covering him is going to present."
What's been the biggest difference from last year to this year for Gabe?
"He just has a tremendous feel for the system. He can teach it the other guys. He knows what to do in all different looks. He's not surprised on the game field."
Does having a player like Gabe make it easier for you?
"Certainly. I'm tremendously proud of all the guys. It's a very competitive group with a lot of talent in the way they push each other. The positive nature that they compete against each other, it's really refreshing."
Where does Gabriel Davis still want to improve upon?
"He's very critical of himself. He evaluates everything he does. He'll come to the sideline and say something like, 'Coach, I should have turned this over one more time, one more rotation of my legs. It would have opened me up that much more. Coach, I can do a better job vs. press coverage. Coach, that ball is on me. It's not on the quarterback.' He's really hard on himself."
Before the season, Tre Nixon talked about becoming more of a complete receiver. He's had some big games early on, Stanford, Pitt. What kind of improvement have you seen from Tre?
"With Tre, it started in the weight room. Tre put on about eight to 10 pounds of muscle. He was at 190 pounds when we went into fall camp. That's helped his confidence and his physicality on the outside. He's a guy with tremendous speed. He's got good ball skills. He's very bright. That's the one thing that probably Gabe and Tre don't get enough credit for is they're really bright guys. They really work hard at the game. It's easy to work with them because they can handle a lot of information."
How does Brandon Wimbush fit in the mix in the wide receiver room?
"Really like the way he's progressed in the time we've had him. He's a guy with a lot of talent, size, speed. He's played the quarterback position. He's played in big games. He's going to help us at some point in this season. Could be Friday. Don't know exactly when that's going to be, but he's a talented guy that has good ball skills. Obviously he can run. He brings something different to the table for us."
His attitude has been he wants to learn?
"He's a tremendous person, first of all. He wants to help this football team in any way he can. It's great to be around him. I'm very proud of him. He has a positive attitude. He does not hang his head. Tremendous person."
For someone who hasn't played a lot of receiver, how are his hands?
"His hands are really good. Playing the quarterback position for so long, thousands of snaps he's handled. Shotgun snaps. So typically those guys have really good ball skills. It transfers over to the wide receiver position. He's exhibited really good ball skills. He's got good feet and he's really strong... I would anticipate at some point he's going to help us at wide receiver."
A lot of guys got to play against UConn. What's the future looking like? We saw Amari Johnson, Ryan O'Keefe, Jarrad Baker got in there.
"All those guys are very talented. We've got a good group of guys coming up being these older guys. Continuing to create a culture in that room where we're going to have good receivers. I think we've got a pretty good young quarterback so that certainly will help recruit receivers. So keep bringing those guys in is what we're going to try to do."
What about Jacob Harris? How is he different from Tre and Gabe?
"We've got a lot of different skill sets. Jacob Harris is a guy that's 6-5 and some change. 225 pounds. He has great, long speed. We try to use his skill set. You've got Marlon on the outside who is a physical guy at 215 pounds with unbelievable jumping skills and strong hands. Then you've got Gabe and Tre outside. We use Otis (Anderson) some with his skill set, being able to make people miss. It's a really good group to coach."
How do you keep everybody happy with that much talent?
"It's a challenge. But they're really good guys. That's what makes the difference. They're all about winning. The program is all about trying to win this game. They're all buying in and they pull for each other. It is a challenge because we have a lot of talented guys who want their hands on the ball."
