Transcript: Todd Grantham On Zach Carter, A Young Secondary and Playing More Press Coverage
Florida Gators defensive coordinator Todd Grantham met with local media to recap the Gators win over FAU, preview the Week 2 matchup against the USF Bulls, talk Zach Carter, the secondary and more.
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HOW DO YOU ASSESS WEEK 1 AND WHAT YOU WANTED TO SEE AND WHAT YOU DID SEE?
"Yeah, I think, one, it was great to get back in front of the fans, just the energy, the electricity of being in front of fans, it was really like nothing we experienced last year from that standpoint, so it was good. The biggest thing we talked about is being able to handle the tempo, getting lined up with some young guys, and I thought they did a really good job with that, for the most part. Communication was pretty clean. There was one or two things he could have done better. Because when you play a team, say, Game 1, they've had all year to, or offseason, to kind of put in new stuff that you may not be able to look at, so you've got to follow your concepts and your rules. And there was a couple times where something came up early in the game that we could have maybe played a little cleaner and guys came to the sidelines and it came up later on and we either got a negative play or a sack on that exact play, so that was good to see. In other words guys working the game from that standpoint. Overall it was just good to get guys out there, get them working. And I was pleased with our effort. I think that we're moving in the right direction. We understand that we've still got to work hard and continue to improve, but when you can go into the fourth quarter not giving up any points -- because at the end of the day the most important thing is not giving up any points -- that's a good thing. And as we went through the fourth quarter we kind of gave some young guys some opportunities to see what they can do and also took some other guys and kind of moved them to other positions to let them give us some flexibility. And it was good for those guys to get the experience, so we were able to get some things out there with them to kind of clean up, and that's what we focused on to help ourselves moving forward so we can be the kind of defense we want to be."
ZACH CARTER CAME BACK THIS YEAR, STATED PRETTY LOFTY GOALS, WANTS TO RAISE STOCK. WHAT YOU THINK OF WEEK 1 FOR HIM?
"Well I think any time you can get three sacks in a game you're going to be raising your stock, I don't care who you play. But the other things that show up is his ability to set the edge of the defense, his ability to be stout in the run game, then obviously when he's one-on-one that's a mismatch in our favor and that's really what you try to create every week, is guys like him getting those one-on-ones. Not only did he make plays and production, but he was a good teammate to other guys with his energy, his leadership, coaching guys. He didn't really play probably midway through the third quarter on -- there was really no reason to play him -- but he was in the game working the game and helping some of the guys we're going to need from a depth standpoint get the coaching they needed."
OFFSEASON FOCUS WAS PRESSING MORE IN SECONDARY, WHAT GOES INTO DECISION TO DO THAT VS. MIXING ZONE COVERAGE?
"We're going to play press pretty much majority of the time. Now sometimes based on splits and things like that you may not press, and you've got to be able to handle that, so that's why it's important that you have, we always say 'tools in your toolbox' relative to alignments and formations that you can play tight coverage. Because at the end of the day with quarterbacks being, the ability to be accurate, you want to play tight coverage to make guys more accurate with the ball, so that's something we'll continue to do."
How comfortable during first ‘live’ look?
“They were fine. They were fine. The calls were honestly the same as they’ve been in the past. The guys did a good job with the press and we mixed in some other things. We’re going to be a press team.”
Looked like one CB pressing and one off on third-and-shorts, what goes into that?
“You’re going to press, but it’s all based on splits and calls. If you go and look sometimes when they get in those stacks and things, you have to be able to pass things off. There were a couple we could have jumped a little bit quicker, a little bit cleaner and made the play. In actuality, going back to what I said in my first statement about taking the coaching and working the game in the third quarter I don’t think they had a conversion and they actually ran some of the plays that happened in the first half, two of them for example we could have played a little cleaner. You know, when you get up and press a guy it’s going to be based upon splits and things like that so that you don’t get rubbed. If you tell a guy to go play man and there’s a guy within close proximity, offensive guys like to use the word rub but in reality they’re going to pick you. So you gotta have tools within your defense to be able to handle those mesh routes and those rubs, as they like to call them, to be able to play tight coverage.”
Rush four without blitzing a strength?
“Yeah, we do have some guys up front that can make some plays. If a guy is going to basically catch the ball and throw on one step, it doesn’t make sense to pressure that much because the ball’s coming out. From that standpoint, guys on the rush have to understand that when you have to work to get your hands up because you’re probably not going to get there if a guy is catching and throwing. I think they had a good idea of the sense, we probably can’t block these guys on a traditional dropback because if you go back and look at traditional dropback passes probably the first one of the Zach gets a sack ball out. Actually, I think we ended up, we actually had seven sacks in the game and one was eliminated because of a penalty on 38 attempts. So if you can have that kind of ratio as far as sacks on pass attempts you’re going to be pretty good. In saying that you just got to understand if people are going to be quick with the ball then you want to be able to get tight coverage, maybe bracket guys but also understand up front you have to get your hands up so you can bat some balls and things.”
Secondary play overall?
“I liked the way they worked the game. You gotta figure there were a couple guys out there that hadn’t been in front of that kind of atmosphere, that crowd. When that happens you have to learn to keep your poise and stay within yourself. It’s great to be excited and charged up, but at the same time you have to make sure you can execute. I thought those guys did a good job of staying within themselves. They did a good job of working the game as far as understanding here are the things that are coming. And we played them a little bit cleaner the next time that they saw them. I think we just got to continue to coach them that way and progress them that way because they’re talented guys that just need reps.”
What do you want to see them do better?
“Getting back to it we could have been a little cleaner on a couple stacks as far as how to pick those things up. Probably not panic, there were a couple third down penalties there that were more of maybe not having awareness or panicking a little bit and just use your ability and you’ll be fine. I think it’s just understanding, you’re a good player, understand your leverage and what’s getting ready to happen relative to the situation, and then just go execute the call.”
Cornerback 2 rotation (opposite of Elam), how important to solidify that this week
“Yeah, I think as we move forward through the season they’re all gonna play. I don’t think that we can say we’re gonna put one guy out there for 80 snaps. I don’t think thats the way we’re gonna go about it. They just each gotta continue to work and compete and then they’re gonna get their reps. They’re earning their reps in practice right now. We’re going to continue to play both those guys, then come out, let them get a little bit of a breather, let them catch their breath a little bit and let the other guy go compete. In the league, we play in you’re gonna see some dynamic players and we’re gonna work them that way as far as making sure the guys are rotating and keep them fresh.”
What did you like what you saw between Marshall/Helm?
“The biggest thing is, when you go back and look, there were no explosive plays until the fourth quarter. I mean, if you go back and look, I want to say that through the first three quarters it was roughly slightly under four yards a pass attempt. That’s extremely low and that parts good. There are some plays we could have played better and that’s always going to be the case. Don’t give up explosive plays, be able to challenge balls, and be able to take coaching on the sidelines because what you maybe didn’t play as clean they’re going to come back and do. In the game that happened and we went from possibly giving up an explosive play on an incomplete pass to we got a sack and that’s guys taking coaching and making sure they work the game. That’s what I like.”
Bend but don’t break defense?
“I wouldn’t say, the first, we’re not going to be a bend but don’t break style. We’re going to challenge people. We could have played third downs a little cleaner in the first half, but you know, two of those third downs were on penalties that we really won the down and we had a penalty that allowed the drive to extend. And then two other ones we could have played cleaner and we actually played the same player later in the game in the third quarter and executed the way we needed to. We’re not going to be a bend but don’t break, we’re not going to give up points. That’s the biggest thing. To say bend don’t break, that’s not really the style we were playing. To me, the issue there in that game was the third down penalties in the first half allowed drives to extend and that’s what created some double digit drives right there. We played the same way in the third quarter and I think they had maybe 30 yards total offense or something like that and they were zero for three on third downs. I think actually it was like one first down and out. I think they had like four plays each series in the third quarter, so we're going to work to be more like that. In saying that, at the end of the day, the most important thing is don't give up points. But like I said, it was some young guys that played a little bit cleaner as the game went along in some of those situations and they'll work to improve this week and we'll work to get better and hopefully, when those things come up this week or next, be able to make those plays in the first quarter.”
Balance with getting Desmond Watson on the field vs tech?
“We're going to teach him the techniques before he goes out there. He’s going to know the techniques. You can’t let someone go out there without knowing techniques for how to play blocks. So he kind of understands that aspect of it. Now, as he gets older and more mature, his craftsmanship is going to become better from that standpoint, but we're always going to work to have him learning techniques and try to be able to play the blocks and being stout. I think with a guy like him is you got to look at a guy that can possibly be a two-down player for you, be able to give you a backup role, a rotational role to keep guys fresh because it's a long season, it's a long game and you just try to play as many guys as you can up front to try to keep them fresh. So that'll be his role moving forward is try to give him a few snaps to keep some guys fresh in the early downs of a game.”
new DTs in Newkirk and Valentino:
“I love those guys’ energy and effort. Those guys were into it, they brought energy. I thought their ability to play stout was good. They flashed some ability to separate and make some plays, and they'll continue to work hard with everybody else upfront to give us a rotation. I think our strength is going to have to be our ability to rotate some guys up front and keep them fresh to allow us to play with that physicality we feel like we need.”
Jeremiah Moon's impressive first half:
“Yeah, Moon’s a guy that did a really good job for us. He’s a guy that’s been here a long time. He worked his tail off to get back. If you look, he was pretty impressive in his edge rushes and he has a knack for knowing where the ball is. He was able to shed off some blocks and make some tackles in the run game. So he's certainly a pleasure to have around and I thought he played really good in the game.”
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