Brian Kelly Transcript: October 11
Question: How is Daelin Hayes' health?
Brian Kelly: His health is great. He’s cleared to practice and play.
How about Troy Pride?
Practicing.
Q: Is he moving well?
Kelly: He’s okay. He’s going to probably play, but we think we’re going to use Donte [Vaughn] and him, and I think you’ll see a couple more play. He’s probably better than I thought.
Q: Is Tariq Bracy getting closer to getting more extended time in situations like this?
BK: I trust him. It’s just the physicality piece more than anything else. He’s got great make-up speed, plays the ball pretty good. Probably wouldn’t want to extend him too much, but he’s a guy we can put on the field.
Q: Avery Davis had only one carry last week. Where can he help?
BK: The transition is a difficult one just from a physicality standpoint, just getting banged and holding on to the football, all the things that require running between the tackles is probably the biggest adjustment for him. You get him in space, he’s really good. I think what we’re trying to do is to develop him as a running back who can play on all downs.
He can play in limited roles for us. We’d like to see him continue to develop in all facets. That’s why it’s taking the time that it has.
Q: Dexter Williams, a lot of people on the sidelines hugging him … What is his relationship with the rest of the team?
BK: I think it’s good. Our guys are really supportive of those that have persevered and done it the right way. He’s been accountable. If you’re accountable and responsible, there’s a seat for you. That’s probably the reason why you see that kind of support that he’s gotten.
If he wasn’t accountable and responsible, I think that maybe our guys would be happy for him because it helps the team. But I think that it goes further, and you see them pulling for an individual, and so that’s why it gets a little deeper.
Q: Did Alex Bars have surgery?
BK: He did. Tuesday. Excellent.
Q: Was Dexter’s 97-yard run as good as it gets showing it on tape and showing here’s what happens when all 11 guys do their job?
BK: Yeah. That’s execution on the goal line in a big moment of the game. That’s 11 guys working together to make a play. Pretty good run sequence on the goal line. The one before, maybe not so much.
Q: At mid-season point, if you take out the quarterback dynamics, has anything really surprised you about this team?
BK: What you’re hoping for as coaches … we’re looking for that development piece to occur more so than we’re surprised. We’re always thinking that that’s going to occur. The defensive line development, the wide receiver development…
We didn’t have a lot of experience and a lot of catches at the wide receiver position. I think we’re becoming much more dynamic at that position. And then certainly the defensive line, those areas have really blossomed. I wouldn’t use the word surprised as much as really pleased that they have developed at the level they have.
Q: Did Josh Lugg ever enter into the equation with Alex Bars out? He was getting some first team reps in August.
BK: He’s a good player, but we just think right now that [Aaron] Banks is a better option for us.
Q: Regarding Mike Elston’s patience with the defensive line, what about the flip side, especially Khalid Kareem and Daelin Hayes who came in with a lot of hype? How do you sell patience to them?
BK: Each one of them has handled it in their own way. Khalid had some rough moments that he has matured from. His development has been one where his off-field development has been beneficial because it’s helped him on the field. Growing up as a young man off the field here, Notre Dame and our community has really helped him as a football player. I just think his approach to things has been shaped by his time here at Notre Dame.
As it relates to Daelin, he’s a young man that has a different personality. He’s much more outgoing. He wears his kind of day on his sleeve a little bit more than Khalid. We’re constantly making sure he’s okay. It’s important that you don’t get beat up too much with good days and bad days.
Khalid has kind of handled himself with adversity and has kind of progressed quickly. Daelin is a young man that has definitely matured. He’s such a high-energy, high-spirit guy that sometimes we just have to remind him that it’s not all going to happen today.
Khalid wasn’t looking to set the sack record; Daelin feels like he should, and we have to remind him that he’s making great progress. He’s a little too hard himself at times. One of them is a little more realistic.
Q: With the bye week coming up, is there an inclination to reduce the snaps for Daelin or Tony Jones or Troy?
BK: We just want to get to the bye week. That bye week is going to get us the time to rest these guys up, and that's really the time that we’ll kind of assess where we are.
This is all hands on deck this week. We’re pushing them. They’re pushing themselves. They’ve done a really good job, really pleased with our guys. They were workmanlike and businesslike the way they handled things. No drama. Go to work. They know they’ve got a break coming up after Saturday. They’ve got to play well on Saturday against a physical team, and then they know they have some time off.
.
Q: Is the realization they can decompress and go home for a while the best motivation for them now?
BK: I think it’s in the back of their minds — but they want to play well first. That’s the biggest motivation. To play well on Saturday, to play to the standards they have set. We haven’t talked much about time off. We haven’t talked much about the bye week.
I don’t throw the negatives at them like, "Hey, you better play well, you have a bye week." I try to stay away from that stuff. We really just talking about keeping to the standards in the way we prepare.
Q: What impresses you about Pitt’s defense?
Third down, they’ve got a really good scheme … Plays a lot of guys, keeps guys fresh, they play with a chip on their shoulder, they’re going to play hard. Anytime you get a team that has that kind of demeanor, they’re going to keep getting after you.
They’re well coached. First and second down they’re going to press and force you to make some plays. Nothing’s going to come easy. You have to go make plays against their defense … Syracuse didn’t make some plays that they had made, because they forced them into some turnovers. And then on third down, they’re very difficult to move the ball against.
Q: How has Kurt Hinish improved so much getting off blocks?
BK: He’s dedicated himself to being better in the weight room, physically fitter, stronger. He was a young guy playing last year too, so with him and Myron [Tagovailoa-Amosa] playing last year, there’s going to be that developmental curve that you’re going to naturally see.
The physical strength, his ability to control his opponent with his hand, get off blocks is a natural progression. Him and Myron, first-step quickness, and then add the second year in the weight program, and add strength, and Mike [Elston] does a really good job with them using their hands.
Q: Tony Jones is good to go?
BK: Yes, Tony’s good.
Q: Speaking of Myron, he’s six weeks into foot surgery. How has he progressed?
BK: Good. We had an X-ray, the healing has begun, he’s getting that cloudiness over the area that was surgically repaired, so he’s probably I would say another month away.
Q: You would use him again with the new four-game rule?
BK: Yes sir.
Q: If you were looking at your defensive line as an offensive coach, what would you say makes it so difficult to prepare for?
BK: Where do you start? 42 is a dynamic pass rusher. [Julian] Okwara is hard to block. So many twists and movement games up front, very difficult to handle him. Kareem is physical at the point of attack. Then you have Jerry Tillery that, at the three technique … you’ve got to decide are you going to single block him?
What do you do? Do you down-block him with a tackle? It’s just a really difficult situation when you’ve got a guy that big and that quick on the interior — and then he covers up Drue Tranquill. Drue’s able to run free because he’s got the three technique into the boundary. Just some really good players that are difficult matchups because they become individually hard to defeat one on one.
Q: What does it say about utilizing so much of the second line?
BK: It makes it competitive in practice. You’ve got guys wanting to get back out there. You’ve got guys wanting to get in the mix. It makes it very competitive on a day-to-day practice schedule. Guys are really chomping at the bit to try to get in there and want to be part of the nickel package or dime package, or trying to get on the field on first or second down.
----
• Talk about it inside Rockne's Roundtable
• Subscribe to our podcaston iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.
• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @BGI_CoachD, @BGI_DMcKinneyand @BGI_CoreyBodden.
• Like us on Facebook