Miss today's Kansas State Spring Showcase?
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PRACTICE VIDEO & RECAP
PHOTO GALLERY
ANALYSIS
TRANSCRIPTS
***THANK YOU to the KSU Sports Information Department for providing the following transcripts.***
CHRIS KLIEMAN, HEAD COACH
On the practice…
“We are still getting better every day, so we came out here knowing we were going to practice. There were just more fans here. The fact is we were able to get our practice, get our work in and all of those things. This is a normal practice for us. We just finished the practice rather than with the double-rep team period with a little bit of a scrimmage at the end.”
On linebacker Justin Hughes…
“He tore his ACL last week. I am sick for the kid and love him. He knows how I feel about it. In my opinion, in the short time around him, he is the heart and soul of our football team. The kids love him and the coaches love him. He will be back. He has an opportunity to get a medical hardship, and he is going to do that because he loves the game of football. The challenge for Justin is to be a great leader and to be a captain like he is from the sideline next year. He will be challenged by it, but I think he will grow from it. I know he will be back stronger and better than ever, but he will miss next year. I am really confident he is going to be back in 2020.”
On what he liked from quarterback Skylar Thompson this spring…
“Just his awareness of our offense; his constant ability to learn more every day about what we are doing offensively. He and Coach (Collin) Klein, Coach (Courtney) Mess (Messingham) meet an awful lot. They do a great job of continuing to give him more and more information that he is able to retain. That is the thing I was so impressed with Skylar about - the amount of information he was able to retain in a 15-day practice and the fact that we threw everything in the playbook at him. Some things were probably emphasized more than others, but when we come back for the fall, it will all be recall for him. I know the kind of work ethic he has. He will work on this stuff all through the spring and all through summer so that he will be really refined come August.”
On Samuel Wheeler moving from quarterback to tight end…
“I appreciate Sammy because I have been a part of a lot of football teams where there are excellent athletes at quarterback. Unfortunately, at that position there is one guy that is on the field. So he came to us and we came to him and said, ‘Sammy, we think you are a pretty good athlete. We want to see you do something else. Can you get on the field for us?’ He said, ‘Absolutely. I want to.’ The tight end is a position that is a need for us, and he embraced it and jumped in. I think we have had him play there the last eight or nine practices. I have been really impressed. He will be in the mix for us next year.”
On the starting defense…
“The guys up front are pretty dang good. We have bookend defensive ends and (Trey) Dishon inside. We have a number of bodies inside. I like the defensive front. That is where it starts for us, obviously. When we lost Justin (Hughes) we moved Eli (Sullivan), so we put a little bit more on his plate. We are learning in the secondary. We are still mixing and matching guys. We have flipped (Denzel) Goolsby and (Jonathan) Alexander. We have flipped Wayne (Jones) a little bit so we could find the best position that will fit them in August. We did the same thing with Walt (Walter Neil). Walt played nickel for a while and now he is playing corner. That will still be a work in progress. We are trying to find the best four or five back there when it comes to nickel, so that will still be something we will continue to tinker with throughout August.”
On the running back position…
“I feel better about it today. Obviously, there is ongoing competition. I think James (Gilbert) has probably been the most consistent, and that is why we did not give him as many repetitions today. Harry (Trotter) has been nicked up and Tyler (Burns) has been nicked up, so they have missed some of those scrimmage days. That is why it was better for them to have a heavier workload (today). It is going to be an ongoing battle as we get into the fall. Those guys, as well as some young guys. We have great competition right now. The offenses that I have been a part of with Coach (Courtney) Mess (Messingham), we had a variety of guys. You just cannot have one. You have to be able to have some guys.”
On wide receiver Wykeen Gill…
“We have been really impressed with Wykeen, especially with (Isaiah) Zube (Zuber) out this spring. He has taken on that role of being a playmaker. He is continuing to learn the game. He has not played a ton football for us, so he is learning the game. He is learning from Dalton Schoen. He is learning from Jason Ray. I have been really impressed with his ability to bounce back every day and make plays. Every day we have seen him play like you saw out there today, somewhere along the practice, he is going to hook up for a big play. That is what he has to be as a big playmaker for us.”
On wide receiver Hunter Rison…
“Hunter is getting better. He has missed some time as well, so we have to get him back with a great spring and a great summer. He has a world of ability, and I am excited to see, just like everybody else, when we reinstall all of this stuff when we get to August, how much retention everybody has so that they just play faster. It is sometimes difficult to tell how talented a young man is if they do not know what they are doing. Now they are starting to get the understanding of our schemes, offensively and defensively. They will continue to do that themselves with practices this spring and summer, but when we get into August and we reinstall it as coaches, I will look for really quantum leaps from a lot of guys.”
SKYLAR THOMPSON, JUNIOR QUARTERBACK
On spring practices…
“It’s been a really good spring. I’m really pleased with how far I’ve come. From day one to right now is night and day different. There is still a long ways to go, but I’m really going to dial it in and get focused up this summer and get ready for fall camp. We will be ready to go in the fall, I promise.”
On being the No. 1 quarterback this spring…
“It’s a confidence thing. It feels good to have a feeling that my coaches and teammates believe in me and trust me, and it gives me a lot of confidence to go make plays and not look over my shoulder. It’s elevated our offense just from the continuity part of it, so I’m really thankful for that. It’s a blessing. I’m really fortunate to be in this situation with Coach Kleiman and this coaching staff. I’m loving it, and I’m loving the game. That’s what it’s all about.”
On wide receiver Hunter Rison...
“He’s come a long way. I really think the offense he ran at Michigan State is really similar to the verbiage to what we do with our offense and pro-style language. He’s done a great job, same with the receiving core in general. There is a lot of stuff going on with what we do, with shift trade and motion, and a lot of unbalanced stuff, there’s a lot of little detail things that can be messed up and make a difference in the play. He’s done a great job leading that receiving corps, as well as Dalton Schoen and (Isaiah) Zuber, who couldn’t unfortunately participate in the spring. But, we have a lot of good guys in that receiving room that has a lot of talent. I’m really looking forward to working with those guys this summer and really elevating our continuity with each other. Hunter is going to be a big part of our offense.”
DENZEL GOOLSBY, SENIOR DEFENSIVE BACK
On this spring…
“Some things that are different this spring is the tempo of it. Guys are getting a lot more reps in. Practices are shorter, but we are constantly moving. It has been great just being able to think fast and learn on the run. Guys are really competitive, so it is going to a be a physical, tough and fast paced spring.”
On his excitement for the new players…
“Those guys study quite a bit and are always watching film trying to get better. Those guys are guys we are going to have to rely on this year and I am confident they are going to be great.”
On how he tries to lead with so many new faces...
“Just trying to be the best possible with the younger guys, because they are going to be the future of this program. With a new playbook on both sides of the ball, we have to pick up on that experience and pick up on building depth. So, if I can try to be a leader this summer and when the freshmen come in, help them learn as fast as possible since they were not here this spring.”
JAMES GILBERT, SENIOR RUNNING BACK
On this spring…
“I always tell myself at the beginning of the year, just take it one at a time. Winter agilities, winter condition, spring ball, summer ball, fall camp, take it all one step at a time, don’t look too far ahead. I feel like I made progress during spring learning how to play, and it’s now starting to slow down for me. Now it’s about executing, finishing and doing the little things that I don’t pay attention to as a player and just get better every day.”
On the depth at running back position…
“We have to do a lot of things. Pass block, catch the ball, run the ball, so I feel like I’m taking my game to another level being able to do multiple things. It’s real deep, I feel like we will use four or five guys to get the job done. I know a lot of injuries happen in football, but I feel like in the offense we have to catch the ball and block, so we are going to need all the running backs we have.”
On coming from Ball State...
“I feel like my four years at Ball State really prepared me to make a big move like this to Kansas State. I feel like I know what to do, in the meeting room, bring your notepad and take notes. I feel like patience and detail and being a leader to the younger guys. I feel like I’m a good teammate, and Ball State, they taught me those things. It’s easy to make that transition because they preach all the same things. So, it’s an easier transition for me.”
DALTON SCHOEN, SENIOR WIDE RECEIVER
On moving forward after spring...
“That’s honestly going to be the biggest thing is to keep it going. It’s easy to have that energy when everything is new and fresh with new coaches, but now we have the leadership to reiterate that we have to keep this thing rolling and can’t take our foot off the gas now because this was phase one. Now we have to keep that going into the summer and camp, and then into the season. So, it’s going to be big having the leadership from the team and stress how important it is for us to keep this thing rolling.”
On being a leader on this team…
“My biggest thing is getting everyone to pound the stone. There’s truth to that. It really does mean something, to come out here and grind. The summer is hard. It’s hot out here, guys don’t want to come out here and work out, but that is what is going to separate us. If we can come out here and grind every day and keep stacking good days, we are going to get better as time goes on. It’s going to be easier to get guys to buy into it now because of the energy of the program. So, that’s my big thing is to get everyone to buy in every single day.”
AJ PARKER, JUNIOR DEFENSIVE BACK
On the cornerbacks…
“We have a wide range of corners, so we are going to rotate. Everybody has that potential to play and to contribute. Right now, we are just all learning that technique and trying to learn the defense.”
On playmakers in the secondary…
“I feel like we have a lot of returning starters. Me, Walt (Walter Neil Jr.) and Denzel (Goolsby), so I feel like we have a lot of experience to teach the younger guys. We have a chance to make plays in the defense that Coach (Scottie) Hazelton puts us in a lot of positions to make plays.”
On Coach Scottie Hazelton…
“We love him and the intensity he brings to practice each week. It encourages us and makes us want to work harder and fly after the ball.”
SAMUEL WHEELER, REDSHIRT FRESHMAN TIGHT END
On the transition to tight end…
“About four practices into spring ball they were like, ‘We think you have a better shot at playing this year at tight end.’ I completely agree. I was like, ‘That sounds like a good move,’ so I just went all out and tried my best.”
On how far he has come…
“Nick Lenners has helped me out a lot. All of the guys have helped me out on where to go and where to be the first couple of days. It is a big transition, but being a quarterback, you know a lot of stuff already. The fundamentals of it I had to learn.”
On the difference from last season to this season…
“There are a ton of changes. I think the attitude of the team, with how we have been coming out with more energy really.”
VIDEOS
