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I'll post notes and tidbits here from Pruitt's press conference. (summarized quotes)
Guys have done a good job academically. Fitz and staff have laid out a plan and the guys did a good job executing it. The guys worked really hard to change their bodies.
This is the most exciting time of year. You get the opportunity to take a 110 young men and build a team. You have to create your identity and come together. One thing we really need to focus on is hardcore fundamentals. I've never been around a great team if they didn't have toughness. You have to train that way and it has to become a habit.
When you talk about winning, you can't beat yourself. General Neyland's Maxims say the team that makes the fewest mistakes win. We have to be able to execute consistently which goes back to practice habits. If you don't turn the ball over you have a 73% chance to win. If you turn it over once, that drops to 51%.
We will have the most competition in camp since we've been here. We have to create depth. The only way to gain experience is to play. We have 28 practices before our first game so they will have lots of opportunity to learn.
On Garland: Lots of guys go into the transfer portal. It gives guys an opportunity to find their way. When they go into the portal it doesn't mean they're going to transfer. We'll let that situation play out and see where it goes.
On the DL: We are bigger and stronger and faster.
How have you gotten closer to players? It takes time to build relationships. We've been here, just based off time, we're going to have more of a relationship. I'm satisfied that our players know the expectations every single day. We know their strengths and weaknesses and we've been able to build on that this off season.
Looking at our football team, we have lots of guys that have played a lot of football. Some other parts of our team, haven't been here as long or haven't had the opportunity yet. We have made a lot of progress in the last six months. When you do something over and over you gain confidence and get better.
On Solomon, Smith and Gibbs. We have a good idea about Gibbs. He's going to redshirt and sit out this year. You just don't transfer from one SEC school to another without sitting out. He knew that. A big key for him is what side of the ball he's going to play on. On Solomon, we haven't heard yet. It could be tomorrow, it could be two weeks from now. Trey Smith wants to play football. The doctors have collaborated with people across the country to give him a plan to be able to do that.
I'm excited about our 2019 offensive line. They've changed their bodies and we have guys with experience. We have competition at the position. Guys in the spring demonstrated physical toughness. They've not played a lot together, but I'm excited about the group.
I'm not worried about year. That book closed. Our guys this year have a lot of goals and expectations.
Baylen Buchanan didn't get to participate in spring so he's day to day. We'll hold him out for a couple of weeks and see where he is. All of our guys can play that star position. We rotate guys though during practice. Nigel might play star in one series and safety the next. That's how we teach our guys conceptually. These guys have lots of ability and we've made some good additions in recruiting. We've also had some guys that didn't play much last year that have had really good off seasons back there.
We have a really good staff with the additions this year. I truly believe the men on our staff, when you talk about all the intangibles, I truly believe that we do have the best staff in the country.
There may be a few guys that may be limited for the first couple of days. In an NFL study, the first five days of camp was the worst time for soft tissue injuries. We have our guys a couple days off to get excited about fall camp. When we hit it, we will hit it running. But nobody we are really holding out.
Jarrett Guarantano has really changed his body for the good. A lot has to do with our strength program and Jarrett committed to being the best he can be. I've never been around a good player at any position that didn't have toughness and I think we all know he's a tough kid.
Alontae Taylor didn't know much last year but he played the first game. We works extremely hard. He's a perfectionist. He's played a lot of football and had a chance to participate the entire spring. You expect him to have a good fall.
Working with Jim Chaney, he's really easy to talk to. He's really really smart. I've sat in his meetings. He captivates them. He has a good teaching progression and knows what he's talking about. I believe in him and our players believe in him. He's done it really well for a long time and just seems to get better every year.
Craig Fitzgerald is a team guy. He realizes he's trying to develop football players. Him and his staff have done a really nice job. You kinda create the identity of your team in the off season. Nobody spends more time with the players in the off season than the strength staff. We're excited he's here.
Guys have done a good job academically. Fitz and staff have laid out a plan and the guys did a good job executing it. The guys worked really hard to change their bodies.
This is the most exciting time of year. You get the opportunity to take a 110 young men and build a team. You have to create your identity and come together. One thing we really need to focus on is hardcore fundamentals. I've never been around a great team if they didn't have toughness. You have to train that way and it has to become a habit.
When you talk about winning, you can't beat yourself. General Neyland's Maxims say the team that makes the fewest mistakes win. We have to be able to execute consistently which goes back to practice habits. If you don't turn the ball over you have a 73% chance to win. If you turn it over once, that drops to 51%.
We will have the most competition in camp since we've been here. We have to create depth. The only way to gain experience is to play. We have 28 practices before our first game so they will have lots of opportunity to learn.
On Garland: Lots of guys go into the transfer portal. It gives guys an opportunity to find their way. When they go into the portal it doesn't mean they're going to transfer. We'll let that situation play out and see where it goes.
On the DL: We are bigger and stronger and faster.
How have you gotten closer to players? It takes time to build relationships. We've been here, just based off time, we're going to have more of a relationship. I'm satisfied that our players know the expectations every single day. We know their strengths and weaknesses and we've been able to build on that this off season.
Looking at our football team, we have lots of guys that have played a lot of football. Some other parts of our team, haven't been here as long or haven't had the opportunity yet. We have made a lot of progress in the last six months. When you do something over and over you gain confidence and get better.
On Solomon, Smith and Gibbs. We have a good idea about Gibbs. He's going to redshirt and sit out this year. You just don't transfer from one SEC school to another without sitting out. He knew that. A big key for him is what side of the ball he's going to play on. On Solomon, we haven't heard yet. It could be tomorrow, it could be two weeks from now. Trey Smith wants to play football. The doctors have collaborated with people across the country to give him a plan to be able to do that.
I'm excited about our 2019 offensive line. They've changed their bodies and we have guys with experience. We have competition at the position. Guys in the spring demonstrated physical toughness. They've not played a lot together, but I'm excited about the group.
I'm not worried about year. That book closed. Our guys this year have a lot of goals and expectations.
Baylen Buchanan didn't get to participate in spring so he's day to day. We'll hold him out for a couple of weeks and see where he is. All of our guys can play that star position. We rotate guys though during practice. Nigel might play star in one series and safety the next. That's how we teach our guys conceptually. These guys have lots of ability and we've made some good additions in recruiting. We've also had some guys that didn't play much last year that have had really good off seasons back there.
We have a really good staff with the additions this year. I truly believe the men on our staff, when you talk about all the intangibles, I truly believe that we do have the best staff in the country.
There may be a few guys that may be limited for the first couple of days. In an NFL study, the first five days of camp was the worst time for soft tissue injuries. We have our guys a couple days off to get excited about fall camp. When we hit it, we will hit it running. But nobody we are really holding out.
Jarrett Guarantano has really changed his body for the good. A lot has to do with our strength program and Jarrett committed to being the best he can be. I've never been around a good player at any position that didn't have toughness and I think we all know he's a tough kid.
Alontae Taylor didn't know much last year but he played the first game. We works extremely hard. He's a perfectionist. He's played a lot of football and had a chance to participate the entire spring. You expect him to have a good fall.
Working with Jim Chaney, he's really easy to talk to. He's really really smart. I've sat in his meetings. He captivates them. He has a good teaching progression and knows what he's talking about. I believe in him and our players believe in him. He's done it really well for a long time and just seems to get better every year.
Craig Fitzgerald is a team guy. He realizes he's trying to develop football players. Him and his staff have done a really nice job. You kinda create the identity of your team in the off season. Nobody spends more time with the players in the off season than the strength staff. We're excited he's here.
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