On what it's been like preparing throughout training camp

Oh, it's been awesome. Kids have been great. Love how they've competed each and every day. They've gotten better each and every day and just need to continue doing that.

On difficulty of who is playing where on special teams

Yeah, definitely trying to find the match-ups within them. And it's always hard game one because you really don't know who they're gonna play. You know, as the season goes on, you'll have a better idea of how you need to match up body types and against speed and against strength and how you need to do that. But I thought we did a pretty good job first game out, kind of just being universal with it. And hopefully we can continue to do that.

On how you plan a gameplan for the unknown

No doubt. You try to just put your best 11 out on the field, to be honest. That's kind of what we did in game one. You know, hopefully game two, we'll kind of do the same thing. Just try to put our best 11 out, make sure that we can match up. And then you have to be ready to end game and just throughout the whole time.

On whether he pats himself on the back a bit finding Dominic Zvada out of the portal

No, not at all. Not at all. That's all him. We got to pat him on the back. He's the one that does it. And it's a great operation with him, William Wagner, Tommy Doman. And I mean, they work extremely hard at their craft and they do it every single day. So.

On how he structures practice to not wear out the kickers and punters

So the biggest thing for us is we try to keep them on a pitch count. Don't want to overkick them, like you said. We definitely try to manage their legs to where they're as good in game 12, game 13, game 14, game 15, as they are in game one. So we definitely try to keep them on a pitch count, make sure that they're fresh, but they're also getting the work they need. We go from indie work to drill work to just like you would as a normal football player, but it's just a little bit more rep counts than usual.

On having confidence that Zvada can make long kicks

No doubt. It's huge. I mean, points are a must, right? You got to score points to win games. So anytime we have a kicker that can put points and he's reliable, that just helps us as a team.

On how you test Zvada's range

Yeah, throughout camp, I mean, we had different numbers. I mean, we definitely put them in different situations, some that probably weren't favorable for him into wins and all that. But, you know, we try to do a good job and try to build trust on just each game, him having the range finder for him and what he thinks he's good at, and then just go off of our trust and awareness of the situation.

On using tight bars to help kicker accuracy in practice

So it's just for focus. That's the biggest thing for us. We'll use those every now and then just to dial them in with the pro post. I think they're a great tool. As long as you aim small, you miss small. So you just got to continue to keep doing that.

On the kicking operation

Yeah, you got to treat them all the same. You got to treat them all like it's fourth and inches at the end of the day and that you got to make and everything rides on that one kick. So I think they've been dialed in. We've got to continue to do it. Obviously, protection, got to continue to share it up. Obviously, snap, hold, got to continue to be good with our laces, got to be good with our timing, got to catch the ball at the same time with the holder. And he's got to continue to have a great plan, great strike, so.

On Tommy Doman

Yeah, I thought they did a great job. I thought they all worked as one. I thought coverage was awesome. The gunners did a great job. I thought Tommy hung the ball up. I'll try to eliminate one of the better returners and better players on their team. And I thought he did a really good job.

On how the staff utilizes the special teams as a proving ground for players

Well, the cool thing about special teams that it's a game of space, right? So it's an offensive defense play in the same play, but it's also maximized because of space. So you get to see how good the player is actually to his full potential on each play. So I think just using special teams as a proving ground, like you said, is the best way to get a young guy on the field early.

On the young players he's been able to utilize on special yeams

Definitely like Cole Sullivan, Breeon Ishmael. They have done a phenomenal job the last couple of games, or last game. So they've done a great job all camp. They've continued to improve and improve and just elevated their role on the team, it seems like.

On areas of improvement in the punt return team

Yeah, on the punt team, I think just continuing to improve protection, continuing to improve our gunner play, continuing to improve our operation and handling time. I think that is where our three main focus is coming up.

On how many different guys can be used at punt returner

Beauty is we got a lot of explosive players on offense and defense. So had a lot of guys back there from Samaj to Timo, to Will, to Fred Moore, to every one of those guys that caught punts throughout camp. So really excited to see where it continues to go.

On whether there's a chance Will Johnson can be a punt returner

There's a chance. He's caught enough of them.

On making sure players are disciplined

No doubt. I mean, the game plan has to be a lot simpler, especially in game one, just because eyes have to be right. We have to take care of the football, number one, ball security is at a premium for us on special teams. But also we were facing a really good coach in John Baxter, who coached here for a long time. So, I mean, they were very physical, talented team. So it was a great game one opener for us on special teams.

On Kalel Mullings at kick returner

Yeah, we wanted to be aggressive. So definitely out game one, wanted to be aggressive. We felt good about our kickoff return plan. So just gave him a little bit more freedom than normal.

On having a former linebacker at kick returner

He's a big old guy back there. He's a big old guy back there. Definitely a hard tackle. I mean, you can see that from the offensive film, but no, he's done a great job for us. He got to kick return last year against UNLV. He had a big one against us. He got a 30-yard return for us last year. So it's good to have experience back there. Good to see a guy that's been in the fire already.

On the confidence of retaining possession on special teams with veterans

100%. Yeah. And I mean, our special teams pillars are built on trust. So at the end of the day, we try to play fast with fundamentals, awareness, speed. And then finally the thing is trust, right? That's the last letter in fast. So for us, I trust every one of our guys that we put out there.

On what he learned about the kickoff team

Right. What I found out, they were flying. They were running. I think we had, you know, anywhere from seven to eight guys inside the 30 by the time the ball landed multiple times. So got to keep doing that. Got to keep playing with great speed. Got to play aggressive. And then we can't get lulled to sleep. That's the one thing that we have to do as a kickoff unit is just continue to press the issue, get down there fast, create great hang time with Tommy and direction and keep going.

On how you find a happy medium between being aggressive and playing smart on kickoff

So yeah. So for us, blocker ball decisions, the premium, right? You have to make the right decision. You have less time than you actually think on that play because the ball is moving so fast at you and you're moving so fast at it. So blocker ball decision is a must. And those guys that are on there, I think do a great job of that.

On Texas' special teams

They're really good special teams unit from the speed that they play with, the physicality they play with. They do a great job trying to create big plays and explosive plays for their team. So there are a lot like us that they take pride in the special teams unit in third phase of the game. They got a great coach in Jeff Banks. I think he does a phenomenal job down there. I've known him for quite a while. He does a great job and just looking forward to the challenge.

On goals of improvement from week one to week two

Yeah, just continue to be clean, continue to be clean, continue to operate at a high level, be disciplined in what we do and continue to work as hard as we can.

On how he prepares for added intensity

No doubt. Yeah, I think you don't treat it as any different in that sense. I know the intensity would be higher, but you use that to your advantage, right? You take that intensity and you turn it into focus. So as long as you continue to focus and you do what your job is, right? You block out the noise, continue to be laser focused on what you're supposed to do. I think you'll have a great week.

On how he gives his guys an advantage kicking into the lights and into the sun

Yep, no doubt. Definitely how you have to think differently a little bit, especially in our stadium, just making sure that you shade the sun and however we need to do that and which direction is the sun at at that point in time in the game, especially with the different timing on kickoff from last week.

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