On what he likes about Cole Sullivan on special teams
Yeah, Cole's a core four guy for us. I mean, he's done a lot of things. I think he was second on our special teams unit in tackles. Huge, huge asset to us. Excited to see what he does this year.
On what he liked and disliked about the ST unit last year and whether he's making any tweaks
Yeah, tweaks, we've got to get better at punt coverage, number one. I think we've done a really good job of attacking that this year. I think in all areas, we were very efficient. We just want to try to create more game-breaking plays this year, just to set our offense and defense up with better field position more consistently.
On Jordan Marshall being a returner
Yeah, definitely. He returned for us last year. He did a great job. He had the big one against Northwestern. Looking for more of those. And I think we do have a lot of explosive players that can handle the ball, though.
On returner candidates
No doubt, Samaj Morgan. He's a veteran in the punt game for us. As a returner, we have Stu, who's done a great job. I'marion Stewart, done a great job for us. Andrew Marsh has been back there. Jordan Marshall's been back there. So we have a lot of explosive players that I think, on this team, that can help us gain a field position and try to break a few this year.
On whether Dominic Zvada will do kickoffs this year
Yeah, so definitely. He's in the rotation. He's been working it. He's done a great job. Super excited to see what he does this fall, too.
On the punter battle and the comfort level with Hudson Hollenbeck
Yeah, I feel great with Hudson. I think he's had a really good spring. I think he's matured a lot, especially from the game against Alabama, where he did have some good punts that we thought that could help us win the ballgame, obviously. He had the big 69-yard one, and then he pinned him a couple of times. I think his confidence has gone above and beyond now. I think he feels like a starter. Definitely, we want to try to get around six guys in the room, two at each spot. So looking for someone else to bring in to create that competition. But he's done a great job this spring so far. We truly trust him.
On whether there's concern about Zvada getting hit or making a tackle on returns
No, we got other guys to cover. Hopefully, he can bang it out the back, or we got the 10 other that can go down. Obviously, there's always risk for injury, right? Jake Moody's made tackles here. We do try to train them to be as safe as possible. But yeah, that is definitely a concern. But I think with his placement and what he can do as a kickoff guy, just want to let him go play football at that point.
On Zvada's range
Yeah, I mean, if the wind's behind his back, I'll let him go from 70 if he wants. But he's hit a 60-yarder this spring already. Definitely excited to see where it keeps going. He's put 10 pounds of muscle on. Our nutrition staff has done a great job. So I'm excited to see where his range is at this fall, especially after this summer cycle.
On having a special teams 'ace' on the team
Oh, yeah, 100%. I think Joe Taylor, he's a special teams demon for us. He's done a great job. He's at 723 plays right now in his career on special teams here for us. I think he needs 12 and 1 half per game to break it right now with Glasgow. So he's been great. He's a leader for us. He's a captain for us in that regard of special teams. Jalen Hoffman's done a great job. Zach Marshall's done a great job. Cole Solomon, obviously, another guy that we talked about earlier. But there's a lot of guys that we feel very comfortable and confident in putting in the game on special teams right now.
On the energy Zvada brings to the special teams room
Yeah. No, he does. I mean, he brings a swagger, right? Like you used that term. But he brings an aura and a swagger to the room that we're all pretty confident when we walk in there. So love him, love the energy he brings, and looking forward to keeping that going this year.
On any newcomers making plays on special teams
Yeah. Chase Taylor, Andrew Marsh, all those guys, the young guys that have came in. Nate Owusu, they've all came in. There's something that they can do for us and help us win a game. So excited to see all those guys and what they do this fall.
On whether Zvada being left out of the Groza discussion is a motivator
Yeah, I think that is part of the fuel to his fire. I think he just wants to be the best version of himself that he can be. We'll take any motivator that we could get with him, though. So excited to see him this year and kick. I mean, he had a really good year last year being 21 of 22. But we're excited to see him continue to progress and let's try to be perfect.
On what makes Joe Taylor a special teams demon
Yeah, so his ability to long stride to short stride, his ability to create contact, his ability to play against bigger matchups than what's presented to his size. He does it all and handles a lot of volume for us. He's a communicator. He does a lot of things. He really runs the room at that point. He's a coach on the field for us.
On areas he's looking into for personal growth as a coach
Yeah, definitely continuing with the situational awareness, getting better and better at that each day, trying to practice that more and more. Next, continuing to manage the roster. Obviously, you're one of the few coaches on staff that has to deal with the entire team. So continuously getting to know more of our team and making sure that we're using every ounce of it.
[Speaker 6]
On the left, Blake.
On the House settlement grandfathering in extra roster spots and whether that impacts his group
Yeah, no doubt. It does. Obviously, the more players you have, the more people you have to put on teams. The great thing is here, I think there's a good culture because everybody in the spring is in the meeting room for special team meetings. So that's offense alignment, defense alignment. Everybody's in the meeting room. So it's been great that there's a lot of guys involved and want to do it.
On whether it excites him about the possibility of not having to cut players
Yeah, I would love to keep every one of them. Obviously, they're here. They're like family. So never want to get rid of anybody.
On whether Greg Tarr is the long-snapper
Yep, Greg Tarr. And then we got Trent Middleton coming in as well. Greg's had an outstanding spring. Loved his consistency, loved what he brings to the room. Again, like Dom, he's a leader of that room as well. We love him. Can't wait to see him progress and go through this. And the beauty of it is that he's actually played a year already, especially when Wags was out with that ACL injury. Greg stepped in, and we didn't miss a beat. So need to continue with that.
On kick returner candidates
Yeah, we're trying to evaluate everybody that is a playmaker that could get the ball in their hands. We've worked all the wide receivers, all the running backs, everybody back there just to see who could run the return the best. Micah Ka'apana has also been back there. So we're excited to see what they do.
On Hollenbeck's focus this offseason
Yeah, just consistency, continue on his consistency. Because at times, like you guys seen in the Alabama game, he has the potential to hit that grade A ball that we all love. Just continue to get that more and more out of him.
On weighing the risk and reward to playing guys like Jordan Marshall on special teams
No doubt. I think you just have to manage the roster. The best thing is I'm in constant communication with Coach Moore about, yeah, hey, he's playing a lot of volume on offense, a lot of volume on defense, kind of minimize special teams. And it's kind of just the chess piece of moving back and forth of who needs to play and who doesn't.
On the backup kicker and punter right now
Yeah, as of right now, it would be probably Marlon Klein. And that's great for fakes, too. We love that. So not bad to have a great tight end back there, being able to punt. But he's done it in practice and in pregame quite often. So he's done it in high school as well. So obviously, yeah, obviously, we're going to go look for another one to bring into the room, just through this next cycle. But yeah, he's done a pretty good job this spring. So excited. Who's coming up? Yeah, so Beckham Sunderland's coming in. Excited to see what he does. He has a very strong leg. Extremely good ball contact. You saw it at Tech State, right when he signed. Excited to see what he does.
On whether he's been around a kicker with swagger like Zvada
I think they're all their unique individual selves. You know what I mean? But no, I could say Dom has a different swagger to him. But all of them have had the confidence in themselves, though. That's one thing I think that's apparent, that they all believe in what they do, from James Turner, Jake Moody, to Dom, that they've all believed in themselves. And when they got out there, they were going to make the kick.
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