University Southern California Trojans
Quotes From Paul Hackett Spring Press Conference
April 14, 2000 | Football
April 14, 2000
"It's almost over and I think it's good. I wasn't sure about having a spring game before we were done practicing, but due to the injury situation I think it was the right thing and I think it was a really good scrimmage in terms of allowing our team to have as close to a game-type atmosphere as we could have. We accomplished a lot of the things I was looking for. It's a lot different to practice on Howard Jones Field and then go out to the Coliseum with the coaches off the field and you clear the decks and you have particularly young people-I'm thinking of (cornerback) Chris Cash for instance, that's the biggest crowd he's probably ever played in front of-you take them and you say 'hey, how are you going to handle yourself?' We're talking guys getting 50 plays. I was very pleased with that. Sure, you like to look better and do things better and not make mistakes, but we did a good job with penalties. I thought we started slowly but got a little bit of momentum going with the offense and made some big plays. I thought the defense played very well against the run game, with the exception of the one pop-out run.
"To me (the spring game) was the high point of the spring. I thought there was a little dip in enthusiasm the next practice, which I expected, but yesterday we came back and scrimmaged and did well in the goal line and red zone. But we are wounded now. Losing four of five linemen is not conducive to the best practice that you think you can have. I think we'll try to get some scrimmaging tomorrow and try to work on some base fundamentals, but we are definitely in the 'wind-down' mode of spring practice, if you will.
(On the defense)
"The one thing we found out clearly in the spring is that the defense is ahead of the offense. I know that's not a surprise to anyone. I think the strength of the defense will be in the defensive line. I think from the time we started we believed that the defensive line can control the tempo of the game and I think we're getting closer and closer to being able to realize that. You look at the team we're playing in the opener, Penn State--you look at the impact that the two great defensive linemen had, because Arrington played on the line as much as anything-they controlled the game. I think that as we look at our defensive line, it feels like that's beginning to happen. Abdul-Malik, in my opinion, has had his best spring, his best practice, has prepared the best of his career. Lonnie Ford, who is a young player, is keeping nothing but pressure on him. He's playing at his best. He had three-and-a-half sacks in the spring game and got demoted. So we have a couple of guys on that end position that are really coming on. Probably the guy that I am the proudest of from a consistency standpoint is Matt Childers. Here's a guy who had shoulder surgery a year ago, he fought through it and is now healthy and has prepared himself for spring. He's been the most consistent lineman.
(On whether he should have kept Abdul-Malik at end as opposed to linebacker in 1999)
"No question. I kick myself for a year ago asking him to split his time in half. He's where he needs to be to be the dominant kind of pass-rusher and force that he can be. As good as you are when you play two positions, it's more difficult. He will be playing either of the end spots, but not any linebacker. Someone said about Sampras of late that when he's serving well, it doesn't matter who's returning it, because they can't return it. Well, there were moments this spring that I looked out at Malik and he was in the zone. He was doing things things better than he'd ever done them. Unless they put two guys over there, they're not going to block him. So we're back to where he should be.
"When you add Childers and Abdul-Shaheed--who had shoulder surgery early in the spring so we could get him back as soon as possible and should be 100% by the time we get to Irvine-that gives us four ends and then you got the two young guys Anthony Daye and Omar Nazel as developmental guys. So that group is, I think, better than it's been in three years.
"On the inside, it's just unbelievable to see the difference in Ennis Davis two years after the surgery. It's a two year injury and we don't want to say that because he played last year and played effectively, but this guy can be a dominant football player. He's going to have elbow surgery next week, but that should not slow him down. He should be ready to go. Bobby DeMars may have been the biggest surprise of spring practice. This guy has been everywhere. He's playing the best defensive line play that he's played and he's putting pressure on Ennis. On the other side, Ryan Nielsen probably was our most consistent player on the line last year. Bernard Riley is moved over to that side now and so we are dealing with four people on the inside again. When I talk about our defense, I have to start by talking about our defensive line. I feel good about our defensive line. We're going to use every combination that we can and they are all going to play. Then there are the three guys coming in. We think the world of Kenechi Udeze, while Nathan Goodson was probably the best performer in high school, save perhaps Matt Grootegoed, of all the guys coming in. Plus, we think Jamaal Williams is a sleeper with a great future. So it's starting to take shape. We've always said that we wanted 15 defensive linemen, five per year is about what you want to try to do. It's beginning to look a little like that.
"At the linebacker position, I wouldn't choose to switch our two for any two in the country. I think that the speed and hitting capability of Steele combined with the savvy and athleticism of Moreno is fabulous. I think Zeke has improved his blitzing technique this spring and I think that Aaron Graham is also a very strong blitzer. The big question is will Kori Dickerson be a flash in the pan or is Kori Dickerson going to be our SAM linebacker. All indications at this point are that he is heading in absolutely the right direction. Chris Prosser and John Cousins are giving Kori pressure, but that's Kori's position right now. Moreno has good backups in Graham and Pollard, while I feel very good about the work that Wallace and Knight got with Steele being out all spring. I think they are very capable backups. Markus has now been given the full go ahead for upper body lifting, which is the first step and we feel like he's headed where we want to go. I think we're pretty good at linebacker. The starters will have to play most of the time. Of course Zeke never wants to come out. He plays 80 plays and it doesn't bother him. A.J. Single is an interesting guy. We put him at the strongside linebacker spot, but he's a potential candidate at all three of the positions. This spring has been good for Michael Pollard as far as getting his confidence back. He just needs to get his trust back in his knee. It's more a mental block than physical. But I expect him to contribute more and more. He's bouncing back.
"The secondary is probably the biggest surprise to me. I sat in here and touted Chris Cash, Darrell Rideaux, Troy Polamalu and Kevin Arbet, but after seeing them for a spring, I'm really encouraged about their future. Darrell doing double-duty with a full track workout before he comes to football practice has been remarkable to me. It's going to be very hard to keep him out of the starting lineup. Arbet was moved to free safety midway through spring. He's in a fistfight there in terms of winning a job. Our thinking is that this may be a little more of a natural position for him. I'm not going to say that that decision is final, but that's the way we've ended up in the spring. Chris Cash, goodness gracious, played right corner his entire career. The first thing we did is move him to left corner. We know he can go back and play right corner, but we moved him to left corner because that's where more of the balls come. He has picked up our system remarkably well. He and Darrell have had the opportunities because of Antuan Simmons being out with his injury. In Simmons' case, we are going to go slowly and cautiously with this injury. The prognosis is that he will be 100% by August 1. But at this point, he is still in the rehab position. So it gives Darrell a chance, it gives Chris Cash a chance, and Kevin Arbet and DeShaun Hill a chance to get many opportunities in the spring that they might not have gotten. Of course, Kris Richard still remains our premier corner based on what he did last year. He is also getting action at nickelback as well. So at the corner position we still have Eric Reese and DeShaun Hill, who was moved from safety. We've got depth at corner. I think Simmons will be a question mark until he's actually back, which right now we expect. We've got some depth here now, which is something we've never had before in my three years.
"The safety position includes the second most exciting battle of the spring, next to the tailback battle, at strong safety. We moved Ife Ohalete to strong safety because we felt it would better suit his abilities. Troy Polamalu has taken him on and nosed ahead of him. As a sophomore he is ready to play. He may not be as savvy as Ife would be and that's why that's a real battle there but Ife has flexibility at both spots, while Troy is a strong safety. It continues to be a very even battle right there as we finish the spring. Both guys can be a real force. That is the 'enforcer' position in our secondary. They both have the ability to do that. The free safety is the biggest question mark in the secondary. Arbet, Strong, Hill and Ohalete could all play there. We don't know yet exactly how that will unfold. Arbet and Strong are neck and neck at this point. Jason Leach will be a free safety and Matt Grootegooed will be at strong safety. Safety will be a very interesting situation in terms of depth, experience and talent.
(On whether Simmons will move to free safety)
"We originally talked about that. But right now I'd say that without a spring practice under his belt at safety that he will play exclusively at corner. I'm not sure he'll play much nickelback, at least early. He needs to get himself into the groove at that corner spot. We don't want to put the pressure on him. Once he's healthy and feels good and is confident, he'll be the guy at left corner because he brings so much experience to that spot. But it's a physical thing for him first.
(On the defense)
"I think that this team's characteristic is going to be defense. I think the spring was characterized by strong defense. I think that we've looked at some things strategically where we are going to be slightly different at some of the things that we do. But for the most part we have a good system that's been strong for the last two years. To lead the nation in takeaways last season was rather extraordinary. I think we are an improved defensive football team and I am very excited about it. I am also excited about there being a nice blend of seniors as well as younger players. I like our youth, our talent, our experience and our speed.
(On how the defense ranks nationally)
"I think the combination of speed and experience and with these two linebackers, that we're going to be strong on defense. I don't think there's any doubt about it. Maybe our greatest strength is that we take the ball away. The first year I was here, our team was a defensive team. I believe it'll be the same this year. That's where things are going to have to begin. The thing that is disturbing to me is that the last two Rose Bowl teams had very low ranked defenses in the conference. I always learned that you needed a good defense to go to the Rose Bowl, but those teams had phenomenal offenses and were able to overcome it.
(On the offense)
"I think that the starting point offensively is that I see Carson as being 100% healthy. I don't think that he's at the level of performance that he started the season at last year, but from a health standpoint I feel like he is ready to have a great summer and there is no reason that he can't be ahead of where he was last year by the time we leave training camp. That of course was the biggest question. Mike Van Raaphorst is a solid backup and Matt Cassell is coming in with the idea that he thinks he can unseat Van Raaphorst and that will be an interesting battle in camp. But I feel very good about Carson. The most interesting offensive battle has been between McCullough and MacKenzie. That is certainly not resolved, though I would say that MacKenzie may have a little bit of a nose up on it based on the spring game. But that's going to be a two-way battle and of course we all can't wait for the return of Petros Papadakis, because he brings so much to our football team. He has continued to run and he ran yesterday as well as he's run in a long time and it's just through that steady improvement process that he will be able to carry that ball when we get to Irvine. But that's a position that I feel very good about. We've got Fletcher, Gomez, plus Chris Howard coming in. But we've got three tailbacks that really give us that strength, the power and the speed between all three of them. We're going to insist upon one guy emerging as the guy. If that happens, it happens, but certainly there is a lot of opportunities to utilize the skills of each one of those guys. I wouldn't preclude having both MacKenzie and McCullough in the backfield at the same time-I don't think that's all that farfetched either. At the fullback, Charlie Landrigan has held on to be the starter but Chad Pierson is right there behind him. Chad was one of the most improved players in the spring. He's really come on. He's become the fullback in goal line situations. He's done a nice job. We've got one of the great names in football in Sunny Byrd, who is a runner and pass catcher, coming in, plus Lee Webb, who is more of a blocker type, so I feel good about where we are from a fullback standpoint.
"The backfield is the deepest area of our football team right now. We've got a number of people that we feel very good about.
"We were wounded considerably with the loss of Brent McCaffrey at the midway point because what it did was move Mailo out to left tackle, which changed the competition on the inside. Trevor Roberts has had a very solid spring and is the left guard starter. Eric Denmon has had a solid spring although he was slowed early with an injury in the spring. Zach Wilson has had a solid spring as well. Those are the three guys that I would expect at this point to be the inside people. Mailo, Norm Katnik and Lenny Vandermade are right on their heels and I think we have some real strong depth right now with some young players. I wouldn't preclude Mailo winning a starting job. I don't know exactly where it would be based on how the fall unfolds, but he certainly has that ability. At left tackle, Brent McCaffrey comes back to be a third year starter. We also have Eric Torres and Lucais Mackay, who has spent the spring competing in track, and then Blair Jones. So there'll be some real battles going on for the backup spot. Remember a year ago when Brent cut his foot in fall camp and Trevor Roberts was suddenly the left tackle-we don't want to go through that again. Getting Mailo some work at left tackle was good because if something were to happen, he could step in. The right tackle position has been the biggest surprise of spring. I think the emergence of Jacob Rogers as a talented young player who just kind of wrestled the job from Steinbacher and Eaves and ends up being the right tackle. Once again, I would not preclude Mailo working at that spot, or McGuire working at that spot. This is not a done deal. But I think Jacob as a redshirt freshman has a chance to be the starting right tackle and certainly comes out of spring that way. Zach Wilson played some right tackle, too, but we're trying to get this thing stabilized and we certainly will do that when we have our first scrimmage in the Coliseum in the fall. As far as depth goes, the emergence of Norm Katnik and Lenny Vandermade as inside players, the development of Torres and Steinbacher and Eaves and the emergence of Jacob Rogers is key. I think this group is nowhere near what it is going to be. I am counting on this group getting better and better and better as the season unfolds. That's going to be really key to the development of our offense. The other thing that is going to be key is going against our defensive line day after day, which does a lot for their development. We have 17 offensive linemen on scholarship and our goal is 20. So we're getting there. We're getting closer to what we have to have.
"Tight end has had the least action of any position. As you know, Chad Cook went out with a knee injury early in the spring and has not returned and looks very questionable for the fall. Bottom and Boskovich are walk-ons who have gone out there and done their best. We are counting on three incoming guys. Out of Butler, Guenther and Holmes, we need to find two guys. And we need to find them fast. Fortunately, they will all be around this summer, lifting and working with our team. We've got some real work to do with the tight ends. We would like to play two tight ends 20-25% of the time in our system, whether it's two tight ends and two wide receivers or two tight ends and two backs. We really have not been able to do that for two years. The recruiting of these three guys was just critical. Holmes is down to about 285, Butler is at about 255-260 and Greg Guenther is about 6-8 275. Butler has three years and the others have four. I think we've really taken a step here at this position. Antoine Harris has had a solid spring and he's our starter but these three guys are going to be really really important.
"The wide receiver spot has been a little bit disjointed. The fact that they all run track is wonderful, but I think it's been tough on the quarterback. The last couple of weeks, Marcell Allmond has made some real strides. Steve Stevenson has come along. Kareem Kelly was coming along beautifully the first half. The biggest surprise of the spring has been Matt Nickels. He has taken advantage of the opportunity and just makes play after play after play. He certainly has become a candidate for a scholarship, though we don't make those decisions until the fall. Stanley Guyness appears to be improved from his injuries and was able to play in about half the practices this spring, which is a step in the right direction. Sandy Fletcher is a young guy who is developing. Donald Hale has been a huge surprise, a walk-on who just came out and will be invited back to camp in the fall and may have a future. Keary Colbert, of course, we're expecting great things from. We're expecting Keary to come in and do what our three freshmen did last year. He'll be one of our three or four receivers right away. We think the world of him and have recruited him with that in mind from the very beginning and we're really excited about him joining us.
"I think it's an exciting offensive group because the people touching the football are very exciting. When you look at the big play capability of each one of them, the improvement of Antoine Harris in the passing game, the help of Carson coming back healthy, and the speed and ability of McCullough, MacKenzie, Allmond and Kelly?..it's an exciting group.
"How well we play together, how well we work together, how team oriented we are, will be the key to the offense. We've had a good solid start in the spring, but we're not where we need to be. We are closer to where we need to be defensively than offensively.
(On incoming tailback Chris Howard's knee surgery)
Chris Howard's surgery appears to be fine. He appears to be okay. We can't deal with him now, but once he graduates he can come on down and work out and at that point he can get into full shape. We are excited about him joining us.
(On special teams)
"Obviously with Shawn Slocum answering the call to Texas, it sort of threw everything up in the air in terms of how we would handle not only the kickers themselves but the strategy of it all. We are very fortunate that Dan Ferrigno had joined us before Shawn left and had done a great job up at Cal the last couple of years and we put 90% of our time into the punt team this spring. We have developed our punter. I think we are making some improvement there and I think we have a very strong punt team that we are working on. At the same time, our PAT/Field Goal performance picked up where it left off last year. We are looking at all possible fakes that we can come up with. We're working our quarterbacks as punters as well as placekickers. We're looking at as many good calls on fourth down that we can possibly make. And on top of all that, we're working our ass off on improving our kickers and the snapper and the holder. You have to remember, this is not a kicking issue. This is a snapper, a holder and a kicker issue. We have a new snapper, a new holder and a new kicker. So that part of it has a long way to go. It will be a primary focus when we get to camp. Kennedy Pola will be handling the kickoff team and we've gotten a start on that. Brian Schottenheimer will be handling the kickoff return team. Ed Orgeron will be handling the punt pressure/return team. We feel very good about our returners. At this point, at least, Kareem will be returning punts. The kickoffs, at this point, will be returned by our two tailbacks. Ohalete has been doing the holding and is doing a good job. The snapping is Boskovich and Moreno, but Carlos Acosta snapped for punts and PATs throughout his JC career and could have a shot as well.
(On playing Penn State)
"There aren't too many cons to playing this game. If you poll our football team if they wanted the opportunity to go to New York City and open up the season against Penn State, I think you'd have a unanimous vote. I think we have a chance to play against one of the great programs in the country. They just reload. They'll be loaded. It's in their territory because it's in the East. But I think, as we looked at it, there were two things that were important to us. No. 1: to have a chance to put our team, coming off a disappointing year last year, onto center stage coming out of Irvine to play the best in the country. When that opportunity was presented to us, we said 'let's do it.' The second part of it is that it gives us extra practice time in Irvine. Because our school starts so early, had we not played the early game, we would have had about five days in Irvine and we would have been here on one-a-days during school. So there was really two thoughts: let's get the early start and get down to Irvine early in August, let's use our 2 ? weeks there and let's have a chance to go play one of the premier team.
(on the danger of playing Penn State)
"We'll talk a lot about what happened to Arizona. One game does not a season make. I have no intentions of going to New York and losing the game, but if that happens, we have a week off before playing a very good Colorado team. Our goal is the conference championship. And we play eight conference games in a row this year and I want our team to be prepared the best way they can, and that is to go play the best teams in the country. Just like in our spring game here--we took our number one defense and played against our number one offense for 50 plays. Everyone on our team wants to play this game. We need to find out where we are in year three. Are we any good? At times we think we're really good and at times we don't act like it. Let's go find out. The easy way to go is to search the country for easy games to win and schedule as many as you possibly can and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. But I think that this is the University of Southern California and I think that we are in a building process and by year three, we ought to be pretty good. That's what we want to find out-are we where we think we are? I think our players deserve to play against the best players in the country. I'm all for that. Yeah, maybe it's a little premature, maybe we're a year away, or two years away from it, but let's go find out. We've got seven games at home in the Coliseum, so let's go take a flyer to start with. I'm excited about it--and I want to go see the Statue of Liberty, too.
