Opening Statement:
I mentioned it Friday night after the win—I mean, great program win. A tremendous effort by everyone involved, short week, all the things that come with that. I mean, the behind the scenes heroes from operations and everyone that makes us run and allows us to do, you know, things efficiently. That was huge to maximize the time that we did have. I thought the kids did a tremendous job owning the plan, owning the preparation of what we need to get done. And then the execution was good for the most part. There’s things that we need to clean up. There’s some foolish penalties. There’s some opportunities for us where we left some meat on the bone in all three phases that we can maximize, but one and only conference play is awesome. You know, undefeated at home and again big thanks to the student body, to the community, to the city for showing up.
The energy again was electric and know that we started a flash sale yesterday. So, get your tickets now for homecoming that will be coming up in a in a few weeks. But obviously before then, we got some business to tend to on the road this week and excited for that opportunity against a really good UNR team. Like, don’t get it twisted. The the record does not indicate or show how talented they are. And they’re they’re hitting their stride. You know, they made a quarterback change and you can tell that, you know, he’s got some some playmaking ability. They they’ve used him, you know, before in some different sets and, you know, they they won the second half of their game and have momentum and they’re going back home and they haven’t been home in a while.
So, we need to yet again, you know, roll our sleeves up and be humble enough to know how hard it is to win in this day and age of of college football and winning in general. And I know they’re going to be prepared and they’re going to be a physical team and they they do things the right way and have tremendous respect for coach Schoate and his staff and how they go about it. So, going to be a hard-fought opportunity on the road and we need to go put a full game together which we’ve yet to do on the road. So, looking forward to that opportunity and this week of preparation.
Coach, no turnovers in four of your five games. Obviously, Jayden has the ball every plays a big part in that, but the backs receivers, they’ve also been clean. What emphasis has that been placed or is there anything you guys have done to improve that aspect and how to make sure it keeps happening?
Yeah, I mean, so obviously so important. They named the game after it, right? So, we we’ve stressed it every single day since we’ve been here. We’ve had a tremendous ownership of it through spring ball, through training camp. We’ve done ball security work and you know a circuit each and every single day in spring ball and training camp and then you know we’ve make a huge deal about all the pictures that we see on tape or pictures that we see on social media. I joke with the skill guys, but it’s not really a joke. Like one of my fantasies is that every single picture that we post on social media, there is elite ball security where the ball is chinned and our wrist is above our elbow and I don’t see anything where the ball is low and loose. Like if I can go through all the photos whether they were posted or not. That’d be really really cool, right? Like it’s just a basic fundamental that it doesn’t show up on the stat sheet until you’re doing it the wrong way and to the naked eye or to the untrained eye— it’s just it’s something that you you take for granted that we obsess about all the time.
So many positives from that last game, but you talked about cleaning things up. Can you elaborate more on what were things that when you reviewed it, you said, “Here’s when we need to clean up.”
Yeah, I mean, there’s there’s some tracks within the run game that for as well as we ran the ball, I thought that we could still be cleaner with. I thought our tackling for the first time wasn’t as clean, as crisp as it needed to be. We still continue to make some foolish penalties in all three phases that are going to come back to bite us in closer ball games. So, just to name a few, right? Right. I mean, there there’s things that you’re going to point to always to where, you know, very very um grateful that we got the win and we found a way to win, but you know, rarely satisfied with the the outcome and our kids did a great job this morning of coming in and again having the emotional and mental toughness to detach their feelings and, you know, really look at it from a objective standpoint and how we can grow and how we can get better in all three phases.
You identify all those like Sunday and Monday and put them to bed or or is it kind of as the week progresses all?
No, I mean we we addressed everything this morning, right? Right. And so with the extra day, you know, our guys are going to watch the game and we utilize technology. So we get the tape graded early, get them their grade sheet so that they can see it. And then, you know, we go through and kind of give them the chat GPT version of the cut up of, you know, the highs, the lows, the things that we need to see, this morning so that we can put that game to bed. And then, you know, again, we we emphasize all those basic skills and fundamentals and points of emphasis throughout the whole course of the week so that we can continue to take the next step, continue to elevate, continue to get better as we move from week to week.
How much back and forth is there with the players? Are they asking questions in those things or are you meeting?
No, I mean, all of our meetings are very conversational, right? Like it’s not one-way teaching. I think like any good re relationship there’s a two-way street and you want to have dialogue and you know in fact that like it feels weird to me when the guys aren’t speaking back or we’re not communicating through because so much of what we do you know they need to take ownership of and and they need to know where their freedom is to play. We as a staff get the luxury to grab the cowboy and pause and rewind and laser and you know nitpick where they got four to six seconds to make high-speed decisions and you know do that in real time. So, I want them to be confident to do that consistently play after play after play.
Coach, can you talk about the balance? I mean, sorry, just the balance that you guys have the other day. You guys ran for 281, I believe it was, and then and then Denegal for 259. Just kind of talk about the balance. I mean, you guys seem like you guys could do whatever you want when you wanted to.
I mean, it was it’s not that easy. I wish it was that easy to be able to do whatever we wanted whenever we wanted. But, you know, we want to take advantage of what the defense is presenting, right? We kind of talked with the guys and particularly the quarterbacks that if you’re patient enough to take what the defense gives you, eventually they’ll give you the game. And so, you know, we we had some opportunities and we hit some explosive passes that loosened up some coverage that allowed the run game and then when coverage got loosened up and the run game started going, well then you got to get more hats to the box. So, we were able to take advantage of some things in the throw game again, right? So, it’s kind of that give and take to be able to have your lead punch and then your counter punch and for those two to be able to play off one another. But we just want to be able to distribute the football to all of our playmakers. Right. It’s not necessarily run or pass balance, per se, but it’s like touches for the guys who can impact the game. I thought we did a good job as a staff of doing that. And then the guys when they got their hands on the ball were able to create explosive plays. Like we had 14 explosive plays offensively. And I think there was like five or six different individuals that accounted for those 14 plays. So, it’s not just like one guy, you know, is making all that happen. we have a wealth of playmakers that we can distribute in a lot of different ways that can impact the game in a positive way.
How nice is it that those three running backs all San Diego kids just kind of showing out and how that might help down the road of keeping some of these kids here that you know all those San Diego kids are just kind of balling out for you at running back.
Yeah, I mean I think it’s just proof of concept what we’ve talked about the very first day when I showed up, right? This is such a hot bed for recruiting, a talent-rich uh spot that, you know, we want to we want to keep our hometown heroes home, right? And so, a couple of those guys got away initially and we were able to bring them back home and now they’re all producing and doing really really well. So, you I said it after the game Friday night and we champion it all the time on the recruiting trail, but like if you’re the best in San Diego County, you can achieve all your dreams right here on the Mesa. So stay at San Diego State and come do great things in your hometown. So all your friends and family that have sacrificed and been on the journey with you can be there in Snapdragon and then all of our people in the community, right? Like all of our fans that you know are at a traditional Friday night lights game at the high school, right? Are going to know who you are and then they’re going to show up and they’re going to be tied to the community because the hometown heroes are here and it continues to grow. And then, you know, all the little ones that are used to seeing those kids on the high school fields are lifelong long Aztec fans. And then when they become really good players, they want to be Aztecs and just keep that cycle rolling. Regardless of what else happens in college football. I think that’d be really cool for the community and for our university and for our football team.
Jayden’s starting to click in the offense. What is it you saw him? He didn’t play a whole lot in Michigan. He did a little bit the national championship year, not at all last year. What is it that you saw from those from that that made you think that he’s a guy that could run your offense?
Yeah, I mean he has the tools, he has the skill, right? So even though there wasn’t that in-game expertise, so to speak, that was just because of a lack of opportunity, right? I mean, he sat behind a guy who was a top 10 draft pick, right? And and is doing some really good things when healthy in the league, right? And so it’s like, you know, there was kind of almost like a kazoo rang off in our ear when we watched the tape because we’re sitting there knowing that we got to get an older guy and like that very unique sound of the kazoo like buzzing like this is it like you see it when you know it, right? And his skill-set speaks for itself. And you know, as we talked about afterwards, Kirk asked a question like there was more of what showed up on Friday night that had been showing up, you know, through practice. And again, like he’s a physically imposing young man. I mean, he’s he’s well put together and you know, one of the best pieces of information that we got on him was the head strength and conditioning coach at Michigan, Ben Herbert, who’s now with Harbaugh at the Chargers, was my strength and conditioning coach when I was at Wisconsin. He was a graduate assistant. So, like I was able to talk to Herbs and get real honest information about who the kid was and how he worked and how he conducted himself and how he was striving to get better and to compete each and every single day even though he wasn’t taking reps.
And when Herbs gave him the vote of confidence like, “Hey, Lew, he’s one of he’s one of your guys. Like he’ll fit right in. He’s got the right makeup, you know, like that was a huge deal for me. And then when we got him here on the visit and, you know, learned about his football IQ and the way that he could process, the way that he could learn again, like it was just that like right like that kazoo noticeable noise like that’s it. Like don’t make this harder than it has to be. Like now it’s your job to coach him up.” And coach May Jay’s done a tremendous job of that. Like I didn’t see Coach Maj’s pra praises enough, right? like those guys have been inseparable since JD has been here and the way that he has, you know, really really worked on that room and the growth that Denny has had like it’s it’s great to see, right? And that’s again like wherever you are, we got an exceptional staff, right? Whether you’re a San Diego kid or you’re a California kid or you’re somewhere, you know, shoot, you’re from Finland the way that E is, right? We got a great staff. If you want to grow, you want to develop, and you want to, reach your truest potential, like come to SDSU and come be a part of this thing.
In that scenario, for a guy that hasn’t doesn’t have a lot of game film for a couple years, how much stock do you go back and look at his high school tape when you are recruiting him?
Yeah, a little bit, right? I mean, a lot has changed since then from a physical makeup and everything, but yeah, you go back to, okay, like, you know, he got the state championship game before he got injured, right? Like he’s been in big games. Like, how does he handle those moments? What are the rivalry games that he has to win and what does he look like in those situations, right? Like anyone can put together a good highlight tape, right? Like I want to turn on the game tape and see what that looks like. Like what does all of his third downs throws look like? What do all of his red zone throws look like? Like what does it look like when he’s got a three technique cut loose in his face and does he stand in there or does he bug out? Like all those things matter, right?
You know, and it’s the same thing, you know, on the defensive side of the ball. Like I want to see a guy hit. I want to see a guy strike. Like if you’re a young pup and you’re not going to hit and you’re not going to strike and you’re not going to bite as a young pup, like you come up to this level, like there’s a lot that we can teach you, but that instinctual desire to go smack someone, like good luck.
A lot of times scouts want to see how someone reacts when things aren’t going well. What you see in Jaden after Washington State?
Yeah, I mean again like his response and his mental toughness and his emotional toughness. He didn’t run from it. He didn’t run from his performance. He didn’t try and point the finger at anyone like right what’s the old cliche like don’t point the index finger but point your thumb back at yourself like he he came into the building and like wanted to know you know honest assessment from his process through the week to the way that he approached the game to in the moment decision-m all the things and like he owned everything about it and again I think that gives you a chance right like when you take accountability for yourself for your role and how you help the team and the program move forward and you’re not looking to make an excuse like it gives you a chance to achieve special things and JD has that trait. I think this team has that that trait and it continues to to shine through that like they know that the Aztecs are responsible for the Aztecs like regardless of anything else that’s going on like we are responsible for us and the community has done a tremendous job helping us compete and our donors and our boosters and our administration have done a tremendous job supporting us because they’re all Aztecs and the Aztecs are going to take care of the Aztecs but the Aztecs aren’t looking for any help from anyone else right and the Aztecs are going to take care of the Aztecs and you know Denegal embodies that and our whole squad does which is really cool to see.
Coach, you mentioned accountability and responsibility. This is SDSU’s best five game start since 2021 and a better start than last season. Why is this team come out so hot out of the gates and how do you plan to sustain that success?
I mean, so when we talk about accountability, we talk about ownership. So when we talk about Aztec fast, focused, accountable, smart, and tough, like if you ask guys in our building, you ask anyone in the program, accountability to us is ownership. Am I doing what I’m being asked to do to the best of my ability? And am I owning the role and tending to the garden that I’ve been given, no matter how big or how small that is. And I think from the time that we’ve been back again, like guys owning that were here a year ago, most notably myself, the way that we finished and the way that we handled everything last year, especially the back half of the season, like that ain’t it. That ain’t even close, right?
And again, like to look in the mirror and realize like, what are we going to do about it, right? And make changes. So then when the guys came back on January 20th and we started the climb and everyone got a white shirt and everyone got a pair of black shorts like guys very easily could have been like you know they they could have what are we doing. Right like what is this high school stuff instead they’re like no like that’s real and I think these guys again because of the relationship that we’ve established and the relationship that we have with the recruits that we’ve brought in and the time that we spent and the labor of love that what this is to invest in the connections that we have right like we can be very honest. Like the the bonds in the relationship in our building are strong enough to withstand the truth—which in today’s society or in most relationships like we use that term very very loosely like is it strong enough to withstand the truth.
Like I got to ask my wife every now and again like hey how am I doing as a husband and as a father and like be able to accept the truth that she tells me because she always wants what’s best for our family and for our relationship right like and so we’ve created that respond and we’ve created an environment. We’ve created a culture that again everyone is accountable for. They understand how dynamic it is and they show up each and every single day and just try and leave it a little bit better than the way that they found it.
The team’s culture is a lot better obviously to your credit team’s credit as the buzz around the program becomes louder and a lot more palpable. How do you use the positive energy from that to fuel your team but also how do you kind of block out the noise?
Yeah, I mean yeah great question. You want the guys confident but you don’t want them too confident, right? So, we talk a lot about being humble and being hungry. And so, just doing some things to remind the guys like, hey, as good as this has been, like there’s so much area for growth, there’s so much area for improvement. And you know, like also acknowledging the guys who have been around Snapdragon hasn’t been like that in a long time. And for the right reasons. Not just because we open the doors, but because we’re playing good football and people are showing up and they’re excited to be there. And it’s a dynamic, exciting game day environment where they’re establishing a legacy of their own that’s building upon the tradition of the past that the city’s come to life with.
And it’s cool to see that evolution, right? So, you point it out and you take 24 hours after a big win to to celebrate that and, you know, have pictures up and tell your story, but then also again like have the competitive maturity, have the humility, and still have the hunger like, “Ah, we got to go do it again.” You know, and there’s some pretty easy examples that we pointed to this morning in the team meeting that like, hey, you don’t think these teams that went different places this weekend, right? Like thought it was going to be quote unquote easy to win. Like recognize and understand how challenging this is, right? And so is all this is good and all the pats in the back and all the nice things that are being written. Like don’t let it be a cha a trap, right? Like don’t take the cheese. Like just let’s keep doing and let’s be about the process and not the results, you know? Let’s keep doing the things at an elite level and keep doing it better so we can keep achieving even greater results as we continue to move forward.
On DJ Herman: Why he was a team captain, all the things he does and why he was the right guy to play that role?
Yeah, I mean he he’s a Swiss army Swiss Army knife. We can use him in a lot of different ways. I mean he’s the quarterback of our of our punt unit. He’s the fullback in our team formation. He obviously plays on all four of our special teams. He’s a valuable asset when it comes to a depth piece when it comes to linebacker and I think the kids see and recognize the value that he brings to the club right. And so they voted him as a captain he’s one of the most vocal kids that we have in the locker room like you talk about taking ownership of the culture and like holding guys to the standard which a lot of guys at times don’t want to do like he’s got no problem when he steps in between the white lines like not making any friends like this is how we do it, this is why we do it and I’m going to hold you to it right like and then afterwards like, hey, I’ll, you know, I’ll make good and I’ll dap you up.
But like when we’re between the white lines, like he’s going to compete like crazy and hold guys accountable and I mean, he’s a glue guy and we got a lot of those guys. But I mean, he’s one of the guys that again like, okay, you know, we wanted to implement, we kind of made the change, you know, at at the last week of the season against Air Force last year to to go you know, something a little bit different in short yardage and goal line and, you know, made the change where Moretti was that guy a year ago. And then as we evaluate and assess some things like, okay, who’s a guy that we know that we can trust that, you know, you don’t get a whole lot of reps at that through the course of the week and you kind of just the package is what it is and you got to know the looks and then you got to go execute and so you got to make again some of those high-speed decisions and trust yourself and DJ’s a confident kid and he’s willing to put in the extra time so when push comes to shove he’s right more than he is wrong and, yeah, trust him in that capacity and great kid to have on the team.
Does the preparation and mindset during a conference road game differentiate from any other game league.
I mean this is just again another unique challenge and I think the biggest thing right now is that we haven’t played a complete road game. Like we’re not even close to playing a complete road game yet, right? I mean like obviously the first attempt at it was really really poor by me to get the team ready to go and the results were the results and then you know the second attempt at it there was probably 1.5 phases of the program that were ready to go between the defense carrying all the water you know and carrying the team and there were some moments where special teams did a good job and offense did just enough to check the box and get the job done. So, I think again like there’s another opportunity to go play. It happens to be in Reno. it happens to be Saturday night and it happens to be a conference game and we know as we continue to move forward each one of these if we handle them the right way are only going to get bigger and bigger, which is really cool.
Like that’s what we all signed up for. But again, it’s more about the internal standard that we have that we want. We’re chasing that quote unquote perfect game, right? Like we’re all three phases for four relentless quarters are focused, accountable, smart, and tough to their job, right? And what we’re asking them to do. And so from the first snap to the last snap, let’s go chase that. And the only way that we make that happen is by winning the week of preparation. Starting with today
With a quarterback change for Nevada—does it make it more difficult to prepare for the new guy or is there enough from what you saw that you think?
Small sample size. I think it’s about 35 plays from the previous night and he was in some of the multiple quarterback sets that they had you know done previous against Middle Tennessee and against Western Kentucky. But I mean it’s kind of become old hat for us here to have another new quarterback that we’re going to prepare for. But man, he’s talented. I mean he obviously held multiple offers, you know, coming out of Lancaster and has done a great job and gave them new life. And I mean, you just turn on the second half of that game and they won it, you know. So, it’s kind of a unique deal where they got momentum now. Like you can tell like there was there was life, there was energy to play and he gives him a spark and he’s a twitched up kid that can throw from the pocket and obviously has athletic ability to hurt you with his legs and now they know that he’s most likely going to be the guy I would assume, right?
And so they’re going to build a plan that matches and suits his skill set. And I also think because they’ve been doing this ever since last year when coach got there as well, like there’s still going to be multiple 2QB sets that they’ll utilize as well. So, we got to be prepared for that. But, I mean, yeah, I mean, we went back and, you know, watched his high school tape again and he looks like a baby Vince Young man running around out there and doing some great things, you know. So, we’re going to have our hands full and he’s dynamic and man, their defense is salty. I mean, they’re holding opponents to under 3.8 yards per rush on the season and that includes obviously playing Penn State early on. So again, like throw the record out like they’re really, really, really good. The new quarterback has given them new life and they get to go back home and they’re going to be a prideful unit that wants to defend their home turf and I know coach shows going to have them ready to roll.
There any parallels to the CAL situation with a young quarterback who’s doing well, but you guys were able to limit him?
They’re kind of uniquely different, right? Because there was a larger sampler size with the Cal kid and kind of a a different skill set a little bit. Um, and everything around the quarterback still their identity like they want to pound the rock and they’re big and physical and they’re going to come downhill on you a little bit, right? So, little bit different in that regard. So we’ll see. But again, I know they’re going to refine the plan for what he does well. And, we got to bring great fundamentals and we got to bring great communication because they’re going to try and formation you. They’re going to try and motion you. They’re going to stress you with some option football, some RPO football. It’ll be good, man. It’s gonna be a fun prep.
What’s the biggest challenge when they maybe do bring QB Chubba Purdy in?
That multiple guys have the ability to throw it, right? I mean, so again, like it opens up Pandora’s box a little bit more when it comes to the dynamic of option football that you can tap into, which means that everyone’s maturity level, their focus, their discipline to follow their keys and to be on their assignment is critical. The margin of error becomes very small.
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