MONDAY PRACTICE NOTES
Click here to check out the latest from the practice fields as coach Tom O’Brien and quarterback Daniel Evans talk about what they will be looking for and working on at Wednesday’s first summer scrimmage.
Be sure to keep checking blogs.technicianonline.com throughout the preseason for continued coverage of N.C. State football.
*******************************************DAY 1
Coach Tom O’Brien and his players discuss the first day of preseason practice.
Coach Tom O’Brien
“We’re way ahead of where we were last year at this stage.”On Toney Baker: “I thought he did well. We stopped him about after 10 periods to make sure we don’t overdo it. You don’t want to rush and have him do something that might reinjure himself.””Jamelle [Eugene] is ahead because he’s played and been around – went through the spring. He’s the No. 1 guy and we’ll go from there. Nobody has the jersey plastered on their back. Anybody can win the job.””The quarterback is your leader of the offense. Other than the center, he’s the only guy that touches the ball every play. And he has to make decisions to do things with it. The faster we can get to that point, the better off we can be. But I don’t know when that will be.”On the timeframe for deciding on a QB: “We scrimmage about 10 days before the first game. So after that’s done, we’ll take some time, take a couple days. Whenever we’ve had this situation generally, it’s been two guys, not five guys.” Russell Wilson, quarterback
Anything different for the quarterbacks from spring practice?”The intensity has really picked up and we’re all really starting to get into a groove. We’re all working together to and getting ready.”
Do you feel any different from the spring?”I feel like I just keep getting better, every day. Physically I feel better and more in shape and my confidence is better and as time goes on I’m figuring out the offense more.”
Harrison Beck, quarterback
On the offensive system: “I know it now – there is no uncertainty, no uncomfortable feeling when the play comes in.” “In the NFL, I’ve heard people say it takes five years to master the west coast offense. Steve Young is quoted as saying you’ll never master the position of quarterback, it’s an endless and impossible position to master.”On offensive coordinator Dana Bible: “He’s a guy that’s going to get on you. He’s going to bark in your ear. And you got to understand, if it’s hostile out here, wait until you go to South Carolina. He builds thick skin out here for you.”On the quarterback race: “It’s a big group. During the spring it was three of us, we were getting tons of reps – all the reps. Now it’s five of us. A lot of universities have five quarterbacks, we just haven’t had that many here in a while. I like it, we’re all good friends, we hang out.””I’ve been in a quarterback battle since I’ve been in college. I don’t really care. I just want to go out there and do what I have to do to get better.””It’s a position everybody wants to talk about. Even if you go hang out with friends and family, they aren’t going to ask who’s going to be your starting DB’s today, your starting linebacker – nobody cares about that. They want to know who’s going to play quarterback.”
Toney Baker, running back
On his injury: “I really didn’t know what to expect. I think I came through it pretty good – I had a good supporting cast and they guided me in the right direction.””A lot of people say we have to step up at quarterback. I think we have a lot of great guys at quarterback. And we have a great guy coming in.”
Ray Michel, linebacker
On Robbie Leonard’s move to linebacker”Robbie got moved to linebacker during the spring and did a good job and held his own down there. It’s not that hard to transfer from safety to linebacker. I actually think it will be better because he has more technique geared towards getting at the ball and not dealing as much with the offensive line.”
On young linebackers”They’re nice. Some young guys come in immature and don’t take it serious, but these young guys that we have like [freshman Sterling Lucas], freshman Dwayne [Maddox] and [freshman William Beasley]. We sat down and talked to them and they’re a lot more mature than a lot of other young guys.”
Who’s one guy that we may see a lot of this year that we don’t really know about yet?”Sterling Lucas. His footwork is great and his attitude is very, very good.”
