On Colston Loveland's status

You know, everybody in our program that's not dealing with a season ending injury or an upper body head injury of some sort, they practice every day. So that can look a lot of different ways for a lot of different players, whether dealing with an injury or not. But yeah, everyone on our team that isn't out for the season or possibly dealing with a concussion or something like that, yeah, practice every day.

On whether he thinks Loveland will play Saturday

Like, I think Sherrone touched on it earlier in the week. You know, we're not in the business of like prognosticating or predicting the availability of players relative to their health. We're just kind of taking it one minute at a time, one hour at a time, one day at a time. You know, 3.30, Saturday's still a ways away if you look at it like that. So, kind of try to avoid predicting someone's availability in that respect.

On what he's liked about Loveland this season

Sure. I think you know, I wasn't here a year ago, but I think Colston has taken on to the challenge of playing to an even higher standard in all aspects of his game, run game, pass game, being at the point of attack in the run game. He's had to take on a larger role in that and has performed very well. Playing with more detail, but also not becoming robotic as a route runner. Like, it can be both. There's times where he's ran, you know, these very, you know, in a clinical sense, perfect routes, but at the same time, he hasn't lost his spirit as a football player. He's just good at football. He's been a pleasure to, he is a pleasure to be around. He's a pleasure to coach. He's played at a high level. He's his own hardest critic, for sure, which like, he's an outlier like a lot of great competitors or people that are at the top of their field that, you know, there's a common thread, common trait. And he's been great with his teammates and in the leadership role and both in the position group and the offense and team as a whole. So, he's performed well. He would tell you that there's things that he needs to clean up and do better, which is always the case with any player. But yeah, he's done, he's playing good.

On Hogan Hansen

Hogan is a guy that just like, there was a, I don't know, maybe a week into fall camp, it just somehow, someway clicked for him. And it was like, honestly, watching a different guy. And not that, don't misunderstand me, from the day he's been here, you saw what could be the talent. It's just, he had that, I don't know, I've tried to pull it out of him like, what was the aha moment where he just started doing everything fast and confident and he's a really smart, intelligent guy who's got good retention and recall. So, he knows a lot of different aspects of our offense, can do a lot of different things, and he's just made himself, you know, it's like the old adage, the more you can do, the longer they got to keep you around, the more opportunities you get. So he, because of his preparation and his training in the summer, he's made himself available to do a ton of different things in our offense. So by nature, he just got, started getting more and more reps and made the most of those opportunities. And he was called upon and really excited for him, happy for him. He's got a bright future, for sure.

On how much he likes seeing Hansen be physcial

Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, so long as the play ends with us scoring a touchdown and handing the ball to the official, you know, we're never going to complain about a touchdown. I was giving him a hard time. Personally, I would have just ran to the pylon and jogged in the end zone, but you know, he's the guy in the game. He's the guy with the ball in his hands. But yeah, he is a physical, he's a physical dude. And really the first, like, aha moment I'm talking about in fall camp wasn't in the pass game. It was in a run game. He's got real ability and he's definitely into being physical.

On what the offense looks like if Loveland isn't available

Well, I think it's like anything else. There's a reason that we've got more than one guy at every position. If you look back in years past, across not just the tight end position, but any position, when called upon, players have been ready here. That speaks to the football culture that exists here. The level at which systems are taught and installed. The level at which people train and develop. And you know, in any given moment, I think maybe sometimes there's a misconception that the only people that practice are the guys that play every snap over on Main Street. Well, on State Street, everybody's practicing. Everybody's playing. Everybody's prepared to execute the game plan. And if and when that were to be something we were to deal with, not just at tight end, but at any position, we feel confident about our talent and depth at each position.

On the TEs leading the offense in receiving the last three weeks

Well, I would tell you that any of us would say, any member of our program, offense, or whatever, we care about winning first. But of course there's a personal level of pride in the performance of each group. That's a real thing. First and foremost, we want to win. And whether that means us touching the football at tight end, great. Of course, those guys want the ball. Obviously. However, whatever we need to do to help our offense win the game or put our team in a position to win the game is something that each and every one of those guys in the room is willing to do. But to truly answer your question, yeah, they take pride in being able to contribute in both facets of the game. You know, mentally and physically, playing the tight end position here is challenging. You get asked to do a lot of different things, both physically and mentally. So they take great pride in being able to contribute in any facet of a game. But yeah, certainly pleased with some of the moments that we've definitely put on tape, but there's always stuff that we can search for to do better. But it's a credit, a lot of the credit, I'd be remiss to not mention Grant Newsome. Between the development, the baseline understanding of the system and the fundamentals, and then the recruiting that him and the offensive staff, you know, Sharon and Coach Campbell have done. I mean, it's a deep, talented, into football room. So I feel very fortunate to be a part of it.

On Marlin Klein

Yeah, I mean, when I was first introduced or encountered Marlin, and you saw some of his best and brightest moments, like on practice tape, you know, I'm an optimist. I think if you see something really good one or two times on a football field, that eventually could be somebody's new normal and standard, and he's really I give Marlin a lot of credit. He is, I think, a great living, breathing example of, you know, not everyone's journey is the same. I think we live in a world today, and obviously there's a lot of people follow us, and like many other college football programs, we're searching for instant gratification or a guy playing right away. Well, yeah, it's taken Marlin some time, and he redshirted, and then he didn't really play as a redshirt freshman, and I've used the comparison before to Luke Schoonmaker. You know, I was here, my first year was Schooney's redshirt freshman year, where he got to play some due to injury and stuff like that, but really he took off in his redshirt sophomore year, I believe, in 2021, and I really give Marlin a lot of credit for just continuing to work, continuing to develop, being probably frustrated at times about his opportunities, but at the same time not being discouraged. So I give him a lot of credit. You know, not everybody's journey is the same. Not everybody's going to play as a true freshman. You know, college football is not a movie. So I give him a ton of credit for hanging in there. He's great. So, Mar, he's a pleasure to be around. He really is.

On how much Marlin Klein could play if Loveland is out

Well, to play tight end here, you've got to be able to do all the different things we ask them to do. Now, it's with any game plan, with any game week, it's our responsibility as coaches to put our players in the best positions to succeed, but we feel that we've got quite a number of guys in the room that Cole can do what Marlin's asked to do, Mar can do what Cole's asked to do. I don't know if anybody can do what Bredy's asked to do. Jalen Hoffman's on his way, for sure. Zack Marshall, Hogan Hansen. It's a long list of guys that can kind of like mimic one another. So it goes both ways. Not just Marlin doing what Colston can do, but Colston being able to do what Marlon's asked to do, too.

On what a robotic receiver looks like

Well, I think we give guys a pre-snap plan, pre-snap coverage identification, a preferred release, how we want to stem a route, the physical detail and fundamentals of releasing top routes, and that stuff's all good. He's never been a robotic route runner. There's nothing robotic about Cole, but he's taken on the technique and detail in the past game, and he's made it work for him. And from the moment I got here, I told him, listen, we're going to try to expand toolbox as a route runner. What we're going to ask you to do, you're probably going to be standing up some more moving forward. But I said, you've got to make it work for you. At the end of the day, on a Saturday, it's about production. It's about moving the chains. So there's some great examples of where he's put both on tape. It's one of his greatest skill sets is knowing, just having that rhythm of feel. It's like, yeah, this is where I'm going to put all the route detail with my release, the stem of my route. But sometimes you've just got to go get open and make the catch. And he's one of the few I've ever been around that just basically balances it almost perfectly. So you want to take the detail, the technique, the scheme, all that kind of stuff. But you've still got to let the player be the player, and let the talent be the talent. And he's got that. We say all the time, I said this I think the last time I spoke with you all, the ball finds three things, talent, technique, and energy. And he's always got the right energy. He's got the right talent. And one can't come before any of the others.

On having a 1-0 mentality and not being caught up in playing the West Coast teams for the first time

Yeah, I think in some respects it's who we are as a program. Like one track mind, one day at a time. Right now we're super focused on having a really good Wednesday and what we need to do on a Wednesday to win the game Saturday. But yeah, we're of course excited about the game. This is a big game for sure. But yeah, we're really focused on the here and now, being where our feet are, and being focused on having the best Wednesday meetings of the year. And Coach Campbell talks about this all the time. And as an offense, we talk about it. We're focused on let's go make this the best Wednesday of the year. Best Wednesday of the year. And just keep stacking that mentality in those days to get us ready for Saturday. But yeah, this is a big game. We're aware of that. But quite frankly, every game we play here is a big one. But yeah, we're excited to play USC. They're a good football team. Obviously a very tradition rich program. New conference member. So yeah, we're very excited.

On Monday and Tuesday practice

Our Tuesday yesterday was outstanding. It really was energetic, enthusiastic, good fast physical football. We were really pleased about how Tuesday went. Not just as an offense, but as a whole program. It was good. Really good.

On how he expects the role of the TE to change with a new QB

I don't know that they will, to be quite frank. Each and every week, it's going to be about, with context of who we're playing, what we believe we need to do to win the game. Using our best players to the best of their abilities. It's both, right? How does the system fit, but how does it fit the players? And finding a way to win the game. Any given week, the personnel groupings you play in may be dictated by the defenses you're going against or vice versa. Each and every week, we're going to be committed to giving ourselves the best chance humanly possible. Whether that means playing with a ton of tight ends, playing with no tight ends. Whatever we need to do to win the game, we're prepared to do. But first and foremost, I think one of Coach Campbell's greatest strengths is he's very thoughtful and mindful of what each of our players I'm talking from a guard, to a receiver, to a running back, to a quarterback, to a tight end, whomever, what their skill set is. And he's so thoughtful about that. And I think that speaks to his experience and background of all the different places he's been, his time spent in this role. So that's all of our mission. I don't know that who the quarterback is necessarily will affect the tight end position, because each and every week, that's the goal. It's putting our players and our offense and our team in the best circumstance to win the game.

On how comfortable he'd be to play Loveland if he hasn't practiced all week

Colston? That's always something that you'd work in conjunction with Coach Moore and the training staff. I know our program, in general, is forthright about making sure a guy is fully available to play and never in harm's way, so to speak. But relative to... Are you asking about his preparation level? Yeah. Would you feel comfortable doing this? If there's a guy we're going to let roll, man, it'd be him. He's played a lot of football for us. His understanding of the offense, his recall, his retention from meetings. There's... The way college football functions, there's things that we've asked Colston to do in the game already this year that maybe he didn't get that exact look at or that exact rep of. You wouldn't be surprised to know, if you know Col, they've gone really good. But at the same time, not at a disservice to him, not at a disservice to us by any means. But he's a sharp guy that's really gifted and has played a lot of football and really understands the offense, really watches a ton of film. He could sit here and talk to you about his opinion of USC's defense and the coverages they play. And I was just walking out of my office and he just looked at me and goes, man, they play an X, Y, or Z in this area of the field a lot, huh? And you're like, yeah, yeah, yeah. So he's on top of it. He's a sharp guy.

On how long it took for Marlin Klein to become fluent in football

Yeah, I can't speak to that. I remember when we were recruiting Mar. I remember when Mar called Sherrone. Sherrone was still a tight end coach and committed. But I never met Marlin until I returned here. I was always very aware of who he was. But upon my return here, like any other player that really hasn't played a ton, there's been not necessarily growing pains, but I think the more you play real life competitive snaps, the more you learn. So of course there's been maturation in that respect. But from what I've understood and what he was asked to do in high school, I'm sure there were some tough moments. Our other two young tight ends right now are going through it. Brady Prieskorn didn't play tight end. Shout out Rochester Adams. I mean, he played outside receiver in the flex bone. If I were Coach Petrito, I would have done the same thing. Same exact thing.vSo there's been a learning curve for Brady Prieskorn. He's another one that's going to be an outstanding player here and is about the best guy ever. But Hogan Hansen, he didn't play a ton of traditional.vHe played some tight end, but not in this style of system. So I think that's one of those things where if we're recruiting a guy to come play tight end here, odds are they're probably the best athlete wherever they are. That's the truth. So most high school programs, there's a good chance of not playing that guy tight end full time. So I'm sure there's been some of that. But really happy for Mar. Proud of him. His mom was here. I think his mom got here like last Thursday or Friday. So his mom's here for a couple weeks. So his mom was able to watch him play. And you know, Coach Moore's been saying it. Grant's been saying it for a year. Cole and Brady have been saying it. I've been saying it. Coach Campbell's been saying it. Marlin Klein's damn good at football. So he's just going to keep getting better.

On how much he's telling his group to be a safety valve for the quarterback

Yeah, I don't, not to dismiss your question, it's not a new quarterback to us. We've practiced with Alex Orji. Every single practice I've been here as the tight end coach, Alex Orji has been at that practice and has contributed in that practice, has performed in that practice. I don't know that a day's ever gone by that I've stood out there that I haven't seen Alex Orji throw the football to Colston Loveland or Marlin Klein or send Max Bredeson in motion. So it's not a new quarterback to us. It's one of our quarterbacks. So we feel really comfortable with 10. So love Alex, believe in him at a high level. So it's not a new quarterback to us. It's a different one, right? But it's not new. Not new to our guys.

On what Deakon Tonielli needs to do to see the field

I think what any player that hasn't gotten to play yet is to continue to maintain and strain with a one-track mind and just focus on getting a beat better each and every day. Again, like I touched on talking about Mar, not everybody's track or journey is the exact same. Not everybody plays as a true freshman. Not everybody plays in September as a redshirt freshman. But Deakon's got real ability. He's a really good guy, really good kid. He's continuing to work, continuing to get better. There's no one specific thing. It's just when the time's right, the time will be right. And that goes not just for Deakon. It goes for Brady Prieskorn. It goes for Zack Marshall, Jalen Hoffman, the room in totality.

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