Q&A with Head Coach Dave Clawson
4/7/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeFB)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Following Wake Forest's 13th practice of spring on Thursday, head coach Dave Clawson fielded questions from members of the media ahead of the Demon Deacons' Spring Game.
Wake Forest's Spring Game is set for 3 p.m. at BB&T Field on Saturday, April 9. Gate to the stadium will open at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3. Admission is free and fans can enjoy a number of different activities in and around the stadium including kids' inflatables, face painting and more. Come early to receive a free 2016 football schedule poster available for the first time at the game. Following the game, get that poster signed by players and coaches.
Q: Let's start with a topic near and dear to your heart. It seemed like the offense was kind of loose with the ball today?
Dave Clawson: Yeah, we didn't take care of it today. Again, I want to give credit to the defense for doing a good job stripping it. But a lot of it was just we were loose with the football, and that has been a problem here for 2 years. As you're more experienced those things shouldn't happen and it's a culture. And we've done, for the most part, a good job of it thru this spring, but if it ever pops up then the culture isn't where it needs to be. So, I was not happy about that at all. You could tell after practice.
Q: Is something like that contagious? Because it seemed across the board. You can't narrow it down to one or two guys.
DC: No, but it's a shared responsibility. It starts with the center's snap. If the center's snap is erratic, the ball becomes loose. Obviously, at the quarterback position, with what we do with the zone read game and what we do throwing the bubbles and all those things. Those things have to be 100% accurate. We can't risk turnovers. On offense we cannot ever allow the defense to get their hands on the football. You can't allow pass disruption and they get their hands on the ball. You can't allow when you have the ball in traffic, it ever to be loose and they can be in a position to strip it. It's a culture. And that statistic of turnover margin translates to wins and losses more than any other statistic in college football. And for all of the gains that we've made, in terms of strength, depth, conditioning, and speed, all those things, if we don't take care of the football we're not going to win football games.
Q: Is that the primary thing you are looking for on Saturday in the Spring Game? Taking care of the football?
DC: Yes, we have to take care of it. Because, again, when we get everybody healthy, we have enough guys now that can make plays, but we can't give the other team short fields. We have a good defense here, but we can't turn it over and give the other team the ball on the 30-yard line. And if you look back to games last year, the shoulda, woulda ,coulda's, it all came down to that. And this is where when you're young you expect that, but as you get older that has to be eliminated.
Q: You personally called a couple of holding penalties. Isn't a holding penalty on first or second down like a turnover anyway?
DC: No, to me it's not. On a turnover you're not only giving up the ball but also field position. Probably, if you have a hold on 1st down, your odds of converting a 1st down are low. Everything in football gets down to 3rd and less than 6. If you're 3rd and 7 or more, your odds of converting are probably under 20%. So, yeah, that was in a 2 minute drill, and sometimes those guys get away with it. And I'm only gonna call the obvious ones, and those 2 were obvious.
Q: How was the draft last night for the teams?
DC: It was fun. The first pick was Brad Watson. And the linemen were the first to go. Both quarterbacks were part of picking, and their mindset was they wanted to be protected and they wanted the pass rushers. They wanted to make sure they had guys in front of them. So Brad was the first pick and after that there was a run on O-linemen.
Q: What exactly are you looking for in the Spring Game, other that the turnover thing?
DC: I think you're looking for clean football. You want to see things to be executed, you want it to be clean, you don't want it to be sloppy. And you want there to be carryover from what we've done the first 13 practices. This is the first time they're in a game environment, so you want them to go out and take everything we do in individual drills and group drills and team periods and apply it to a game. Having said that, it never happens that way (chuckling).
Q: If a fan comes up to you and says "Dave, who's new, that I haven't seen yet, that I should be really looking for?" Is there somebody that you would tell people to keep their eyes on?
DC: New, that didn't play last year? A little bit is because of injuries to Cortez and all those guys, but to me, I think Scotty Washington and Steven Claude are guys that red shirted a year ago, that we're counting on to do big things. Certainly, Rocky Reid. Those linemen: (Jake) Benzinger, (Nathan) Gilliam, are coming along. On defense, certainly Amari Henderson is a guy that a year ago would've played if he didn't get hurt. He was probably gonna play last year, and then he missed so much time early that it got to the point that he was gonna miss half the season anyway. And another guy that hasn't played a lot that has quietly had a really good spring is Zack Wary. He looks so much more comfortable playing the position. Zack's academic schedule next fall, and I'm not joking with you, is Chinese, Organic Chemistry, Micro Biology… I mean he is a great student, and is one of the brightest. And sometimes guys like that that are so bright, they're processors. And I think there's a time that they stop processing and they start playing and I think he's shown that more this Spring than ever before. You just see him reacting. He's big, he's physical, he can run, and now he's playing football a lot faster than he ever has before. And with (Brandon) Chubb graduating, he's one of that group of guys that really have to step up. And the arrow is definitely up on him.
Q: In most of these workouts you have 1s with 1s, 2s with 2s, mostly. And now Saturday you're going to have a completely different environment. What do you see differently in those type of situations?
DC: I mean, you never have the same cohesion. You always have a debate of how to do the Spring Game. If you do 1s against 1s… if you take the 1st offense and the 2nd defense and make them a team, and the other group, you probably get better work, but to the players it's just another practice. So part of the Spring Game is it's the players' reward. It's their time to go out there and have fun. And they enjoy the competition of the draft. Now, I think it hurts the cohesion, especially on the offensive line. That if I'm Justin Herron, or I'm Ryan Anderson, and every double team and combination block I've worked all spring has been with Phil Haynes. And now suddenly it's the 14th practice and he's working with Patrick Osterhage. And that may happen next fall, but there is a lack of cohesion sometimes. And it shows up on the O-line and it also shows up in the secondary. That if you're playing Cover Two, and the safety expects a certain corner to be in a spot, and if it's another corner maybe he's not as physical on the jam or maybe he doesn't sink as deep. Even though we teach it the same way to everybody, I think guys get comfortable playing with one another, and they know where they'll be, and you break that cohesion up when you do the Spring Game this way. So, even though I say I want it to be clean, the nature of doing a draft and having guys play with guys they haven't played with all spring doesn't help us do that.
Q: You finished practice about 10 minutes early. Had you just seen enough?
DC: No, it's like our Thursday practice during the season before a game is shorter. Today was helmets only. It was a lot of tempo stuff. We wanted to make sure the special teams for the Spring Game were organized. So this was probably two-thirds a practice, and one-third a walk through. And we're so thin, I just wanted to make sure that everybody we have for the Spring Game, we have.
Q: And the quarterback will be touched and down on Saturday?
DC: Yes, touched and down. They're not live. The plays can extend and it's a little bit of a prediction on who would've got ‘em where.
