Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest Football Holds Media Day
8/7/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 7, 2010
WINSTON-SALEM, NC - The Wake Forest football team held its annual media day event on Saturday morning at BB&T Field. The Demon Deacons met with members of the local, state and national media to discuss the 2010 season.
The squad will go through a regular practice session this afternoon at the Doc Martin Football Practice Complex starting at 3:30 p.m.
The Deacons will have Sunday off and return to the practice field on Monday at 7:30 p.m.
Wake Forest Football Media Day Quotes
Head Coach Jim Grobe
On when he plans to announce a starting quarterback...
"Probably in a couple of weeks. We'll go a while. We'll let them compete. I think what you have to be careful about is you can go to your first scrimmage and have somebody stand out and then if you feel like that's the time to name the guy, you find out the next scrimmage that he's not the guy. The problem we had with Riley (Skinner) and Brett (Hodges) is each scrimmage one would play better than the other. We never could draw a bead on the backup quarterback for Ben (Mauk) because they took turns having better scrimmages. If we're having guys that have a good practice today and a bad practice tomorrow, a good scrimmage this time and not so good the next, we'll just have to pick a guy and roll the dice. Right now, our quarterback is Skylar (Jones) from the spring because he was most durable. The number one key for our quarterbacks is going to be taking care of the football. In Riley's first year, all he took the field thinking was don't throw an interception and don't fumble the ball. We won an ACC championship with that mentality. With these quarterbacks, durability is going to be really important. Just as important is going to be not throwing interceptions or fumbling the football."
On the quarterbacks' play during practice so far...
"The thing that I've been impressed with is our quarterbacks look so much better than they did at the start of spring practice. When we had our first spring practice, we had very few decent throws, very few good decisions. It was scary. By the end of spring I was a little encouraged, but so far in the first couple of days I've been really impressed with how far our quarterbacks have come from spring practice. I feel like in two or three weeks we might be able to have them ready to win a football game."
On Tanner Price...
"He shows a great presence. He played in the state championship game and went to overtime at the highest level in Texas. They have pretty good football there. He comes from a great program. It's still a little bit unexpected when a freshman quarterback shows the maturity that he's shown so far in the first couple of practices. We're doing some stuff at a pretty quick pace. That doesn't seem to upset him at all. He's obviously got some ability. I don't think any of our quarterbacks that are out there practicing right now would be guys that I'm disappointed in."
On the running backs...
"We'll be in a lot of different sets. We'll use some two-back sets. Sometimes our two-back sets will have two half backs. I think if you ask Josh (Adams) or Brandon (Pendergrass) they'll tell you that they have to earn their jobs. I think Josh (Harris) does some pretty special stuff out there. It's easier to do it in practice than it is in games. I'm really hopeful that Josh Harris will do some good things for us. Typically, we use a lot of running backs. We'd like for the old guys to be the bell cows. We're going to make it competitive like we do at every other position. If you're the best you play and it doesn't matter if you're a freshman or a senior."
On the linebackers...
"I think the only guy that is pretty much solid as a starter is Hunter Haynes. The rest of those guys are working and competing. It wouldn't surprise me if our starting group at linebacker changed from week to week. I think in August it might change from day to day. That's a good thing in this case. A lot of times the old adage is if you have two ones at one position, you really have two twos. You have guys that you can't win with. In this case, I think we have six guys that are all good enough to win for us and they're all really competitive. They all like each other. Based on how they practice day to day, that depth chart can change. Right now in practice, we're actually rolling those guys in. If Steve Russ yelled at his linebackers right now `ones get in there', they'd say who do you want to go. I think our guys realize that we have some really good talent there. Matt Woodlief in the spring was too heavy. Being too heavy, he was great tackle to tackle. When he had to get outside, he wasn't very good. He's lost about 15 pounds and looks great right now. He's all over the field. He's doing a good job in pass coverage. He's back to competing again for a number one spot. I just like where we are. We have a couple of freshmen that we need to keep looking at, Zachary Allen and Mike Olsen. They are two guys that aren't in the top six, but we think those guys are special. We're going to have a lot of fun at that position the next couple of weeks because we have a lot of talent."
On the offensive and defensive lines...
"We're in shorts right now. We'll be alright. We have something special in that offensive line group right now. We have more numbers than we've ever had before and they are kids that love to play football. They're good in the weight room, they're good in practice and they're good in meetings. For the most part, we have no issues academically with that crowd. It's a group that has the potential to surprise people and be better than people think. I feel the same way with our defensive front. I don't know that we've ever had a group up front on defense that plays with more energy. We have a bunch of John Russell type guys up front that have some fire in them and like to chase the football, hit people and get off blocks. We have some depth as well. Going into the spring, those were my two major concerns. Right now, the only concern I have is can we coach them well enough. If Lobo does a good job and if Ray and Tim do a good job with the tackles and defensive ends on the defensive side of the ball, we have enough talent to do a good job this fall. We have enough talent to be pretty good. Whether we get there or not, that's going to be up to the coaches. We have good kids that like to work. I feel good about where we are."
Wake Forest Players
Redshirt Sophomore CB Kenny Okoro
On how practice has gone so far...
"The first few practices have gone pretty well. There's a lot of people that are getting back into the swing of things. We have a lot of things going on in practice. We're trying to have more people get more reps. Everything is moving pretty fast. I'm used to it, but I know the freshmen aren't."
On continuing his success from his freshman year...
"I think I had an ok season last year. There's a lot of room for improvement. It starts in the film room. That's the biggest thing because a lot of games are won in the film room."
Redshirt Senior RB Josh Adams
On what he's looking forward to the most this season...
"I hope we make it back to a bowl game. I'm looking forward to seeing our team come around as a young group and really be successful this season."
On the strongest part of the team...
"I think just team bonding and chemistry. A lot of the guys really enjoy being with each other. I think that's going to carry us a long ways."
On the mentality of the team this season...
"I think our mentality is to be very competitive. To push your teammate, both the guys in front of you and the guys behind you. I think we just want the best out of everyone."
On what the team needs to do to get back to a bowl game...
"I think we need to capitalize on the other team's mistakes and limit our mental errors. All three aspects of the game, offense, defense and the kicking game, being able to put up points on the board when needed will be important."
Senior WR Marshall Williams
On what it means to have the 2010 season underway...
"We're getting close to the season and we're ready to crank it up. We worked hard all summer, and this is one of the hardest working teams that we've had since I've been at Wake Forest. We are ready to tee it up against Presbyterian."
On what it will take for this year's team to be successful...
It's going to take hard work and dedication. We have to be focused as a team on one goal and eliminate any selfishness. I feel like this team is really focused, so we have a great chance to be successful."
Junior OL Joe Looney
On the first two practices of the season...
"Everything is going real well. Everyone is excited to play football, and everyone is excited to be out here again. We're ready to get things started after a long summer, and we're doing a good job getting ready for the season."
Junior QB Skylar Jones
On the pressures faced by the group of quarterbacks as a whole...
"I don't really think there is any pressure. The guys that we have around us make our jobs a lot easier. I think that if we go out there and execute our plays and read coverages and read blitz schemes, we're ready for the task. If our line holds up, if our receivers catch passes, if our running backs break tackles and if we make the throws, we're going to be successful."
On what it will take to get Wake Forest back to an elite level in the ACC...
"It's going to take a lot of hard work and dedication. We can't worry about what everyone else has to say and just listen to our inner circle - the coaches and the players. We need to stick with each other, stick with the coaches, stick to the game plan and not pay attention to what outsiders are saying."
Senior C Russell Nenon
On what challenges the 2010 Wake squad is facing...
"A big part is going to be maturity. Last year we were very young in certain spots that cost us at important moments in the game. It will be big for us to grow off of that experience and make sure we are able to capitalize in those situations this year."
On the adjustments that he needs to make with a new quarterback under center...
"For me, it's really not that big of a deal. Under center, quarterbacks have different feels, but there really hasn't been a change for me. It's a really a matter of a quarterback having the right presence in the huddle and knowing the offense. These guys are learning that, and once the season starts, our quarterback will be able to do those things pretty easily."
On what the team hopes to accomplish...
"I'd love to go back to the ACC Championship. We went there my freshman year. I came in a winner, and I want to leave a winner."
Junior DE Kyle Wilber
On the expectations for him to be a playmaker on defense...
"There is a little pressure, but I know I have my teammates to back me up and give me support. I know with the players around me on defense, like Tristan Dorty and Cyhl Quarles, I won't have to make as many big plays because we have a lot of other guys who can be playmakers."
On the team's enthusiastic attitude to begin the season...
"We're ready this year. Last year we got tired of everyone putting us down. We're used to going to bowl games and that didn't happen last year. It just didn't feel right. We got to see our families, but it still didn't feel right to go home at Christmas. We didn't give the fans what they wanted, and it made us feel like we needed to do something about it. That's why we are ready for this year."
