As promised, here's my transcript of my Q&A with coach Coen at the conclusion of the Brown & White game. Tell you what, I'm pretty excited to see what this linebacking unit can do against a live offense in Drake in September. Only 138 days until the opener!
LFN: Tell me about your impressions of the Brown/White game.
Coach Coen: Well, we're very pleased with the defense. They've really been ahead of the offense all spring, which is fairly common, but they did a great job turning the football over today. They did a much better job playing the football in the air, certainly, than we did a year ago, so I'm pleased with that. Good effort, certainly.
But on the other hand, you're disappointed that we had as many turnovers as we did offensively. We've got to keep working. The kids all worked hard in the spring, we had a great offseason in the weight room, we've just got to keep getting better, bigger, stronger, faster, and those things.
LFN: The defense was very aggressive, that stood out.
Coen: We've got a great defensive staff. Except for one game last year, they pretty much kept us in every game a year ago. I think we've got the players, particularly our linebacking group, that can really apply the heat. They'll be getting after people. Compared to last year, I think we tackle better than we did, and we play the ball better now than we did, so we've made some plays there. The secondary looked very athletic. I think they are more physical - all of them - as a group than the group was a year ago. That's one of the things I see. It's great. They caught balls that were up in the air. That's what we need to do.
If it takes us a while with a new quarterback and some young offensive linemen to get up to speed, then we're going to need them to be making those types of plays for us.
LFN: What did you learn about the quarterbacks after today?
Coen: They all made some mistakes, were pressured quite a bit. They all showed some escapability, all of them, which was nice. This was the first we were really live on the kids, when the fur starts to fly, that says a lot about everybody.
You know what? Chris [Bokosky] went on a great first drive, which was great to see, one of the more impressive drives we've had during the spring. I think they're all competitors, and I think they've all gotten better from March. It may not look that way today, but from March 21st to now they've all gotten better.
They've got to keep getting better in the spring and summer, and when we come back in August they need to be ready. [In terms of picking the starting QB,] I wasn't on any timetable, I wanted to give all the kids an opportunity for us to evaluate them, to make sure we're making the right decision. They're great kids, they've all got rapport with everyone on the team, so when we come up with a guy in the middle of camp, we know we'll be good to go.
LFN: How has the receiving staff been?
Coen: Ben (Ivester) made some catches which was good, Sekou (Yansane) had the one fumble unfortunately, other than that, we've caught the ball pretty well all spring. We've been obviously harping on that after a disappointing year last year catching the ball.
LFN: What happens now, going into the offseason?
Coen: We've got some time off here, end of classes coming up, then finals. We'll meet with them on Monday to go over what we expect of them in the offseason.
LFN: Anyone really stand out today or overall?
Coen: Al Pierce, he made another great play here today at the end, he's really stood out all camp. He's been the one guy that really jumps to mind.
LFN: Tell me about your impressions of the Brown/White game.
Coach Coen: Well, we're very pleased with the defense. They've really been ahead of the offense all spring, which is fairly common, but they did a great job turning the football over today. They did a much better job playing the football in the air, certainly, than we did a year ago, so I'm pleased with that. Good effort, certainly.
But on the other hand, you're disappointed that we had as many turnovers as we did offensively. We've got to keep working. The kids all worked hard in the spring, we had a great offseason in the weight room, we've just got to keep getting better, bigger, stronger, faster, and those things.
LFN: The defense was very aggressive, that stood out.
Coen: We've got a great defensive staff. Except for one game last year, they pretty much kept us in every game a year ago. I think we've got the players, particularly our linebacking group, that can really apply the heat. They'll be getting after people. Compared to last year, I think we tackle better than we did, and we play the ball better now than we did, so we've made some plays there. The secondary looked very athletic. I think they are more physical - all of them - as a group than the group was a year ago. That's one of the things I see. It's great. They caught balls that were up in the air. That's what we need to do.
If it takes us a while with a new quarterback and some young offensive linemen to get up to speed, then we're going to need them to be making those types of plays for us.
LFN: What did you learn about the quarterbacks after today?
Coen: They all made some mistakes, were pressured quite a bit. They all showed some escapability, all of them, which was nice. This was the first we were really live on the kids, when the fur starts to fly, that says a lot about everybody.
You know what? Chris [Bokosky] went on a great first drive, which was great to see, one of the more impressive drives we've had during the spring. I think they're all competitors, and I think they've all gotten better from March. It may not look that way today, but from March 21st to now they've all gotten better.
They've got to keep getting better in the spring and summer, and when we come back in August they need to be ready. [In terms of picking the starting QB,] I wasn't on any timetable, I wanted to give all the kids an opportunity for us to evaluate them, to make sure we're making the right decision. They're great kids, they've all got rapport with everyone on the team, so when we come up with a guy in the middle of camp, we know we'll be good to go.
LFN: How has the receiving staff been?
Coen: Ben (Ivester) made some catches which was good, Sekou (Yansane) had the one fumble unfortunately, other than that, we've caught the ball pretty well all spring. We've been obviously harping on that after a disappointing year last year catching the ball.
LFN: What happens now, going into the offseason?
Coen: We've got some time off here, end of classes coming up, then finals. We'll meet with them on Monday to go over what we expect of them in the offseason.
LFN: Anyone really stand out today or overall?
Coen: Al Pierce, he made another great play here today at the end, he's really stood out all camp. He's been the one guy that really jumps to mind.
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