Head Coach Todd Graham
Opening statement:
“We are excited to get out there and play in our new stadium. The guys worked hard and we had a very physical camp, and we have a great opponent going up again NAU. They went 7-5 last year, and very easily could have been a team to win ten games. They are well coached and have talented receivers and an impressive quarterback. Our guys are working hard and we cannot wait to get out and get rollin’ on Saturday with our Sun Devil nation out here.”
On NAU’s past record against opening day opponents:
“We have studied them well and we know their coaching staff. They are well coached and they have talent. The kid Emmanuel Butler dominates at wide receiver and then of course, Case Cookus at quarterback. The two of them have this ability to always know where the ball will be located. The strength of their offensive is explosive and they are going to be a strong opponent. We have a lot of respect for their team and their level of play, and we know they are going to be highly motivated and confident come Saturday. Their quarterback is very impressive and he operates in a way that can help extend plays with a lot of success. I do not pay attention to what happened in the past. This is not about what happened last year or two years ago. We are concerned about our team and this year.”
On who is going to be the starting quarterback for the game and why?:
“We have the two guys that we have a lot of confidence in and we probably won’t do anything but let Coach Lindsey let me know what he wants to do. Our team knows who our guy is; we’ll run out there with the starting lineup. But we’ve got two guys that we have confidence in with Manny (Wilkins) and Brady (White) and then a young quarterback that will be our third guy, Dillon Sterling-Cole, who is extremely talented and had a great camp. So that’s where we’re at and we’ll announce it when we get ready.”
On NAU wide receivers coach Aaron Pflugrad:
“A lot of respect for Aaron. One tremendous person. His background, he’s a coach’s kid, obviously a former Sun Devil and an unbelievable competitor on the field. Same way as a coach, you look and see what kind of job he has done with the receivers there, pretty phenomenal he’s doing a great job with them and very proud of him and what he’s been able to accomplish and a young man I have a lot of respect for.”
As far as Marcus Ball and Tyler Whiley at the spur position, could you envision it being a bit of a platoon there?:
“They're different, you know, they’re different, Marcus is obviously what we consider more of a Sam linebacker and they both play that Spur position and I see both of them playing.”
Could you just talk about with Zane Gonzalez and Matt Haack going into their last year, you know how important that is to have you know quality guys that have been proven at those positions:
“Obviously Zane’s had a tremendous career. We obviously want to be a team that scores points and so he's been a great point scorer for us and having that type of kicker on our kickoffs was big last year for us, I think it helped tremendously with our coverage. I think he led the country in touchbacks last year and that is huge, that’s a huge stat.”
“Matt obviously, I guess both of those guys are four-year starters, that went by pretty quick, but I’m really proud of them. Those guys are leaders in the kicking game and I think that’s one of the things that we feel like we made strides last year. We need to be more efficient, we want to be 100-percent efficient in making those field goals, you know when they’re 47 48 yards in and that’s something we want to improve upon this year.”
“Touchbacks were incredible, I think Haack was one of the best in the country at pinning the team inside their 20 as well as in punting, so we feel like we can be even better this year with Tim White and Kalen Ballage and the returners we have, we have a lot of potential. Obviously in this first game it is really important on special teams that we’re alert early in the season for surprise onside kicks or fake punts and things like that we worked hard to do that and being prepared but I think Coach Slocum’s done a great job in his first year and we want to build upon that, we want be the best in the country and the best in the conference in special teams and with those guys it gives us an opportunity to compete to do that.”
Todd, you mentioned NAU’s offensive capability, Butler (WR) and Cookus (QB) and Elijah Marks (WR), how do you feel about your secondary going into the season?:
“I’ve got confidence in our guys. Obviously we’ve got to know the things we have to be better at, but we have to come in and execute. A lot of people come in and look at games like this, but this team put up a lot of numbers and yards last year against Arizona in week two or three. That’s the big thing for us, we have to go out there and take care of the football, we have to go out there and be physical about what we are doing, and do a great job of preforming at a high level. That’s what I want to see, I want to see our guys preform at a high level, but they have some talent, they are going to catch some passes and they’re going to have some plays because they are very talented.”
“A little bit of unknown this their transfer receivers and things like that, but they are very capable and their quarterback is very talented with how he locates the ball. For our guys I have confidence in our guys, we have to go out and be disciplined and every single play be better than the play before.”
Todd, at one point Keith Patterson that A.J. Latu was one of the more improved players in the program, what have you seen from him?:
“I always tell him he’s one of my favorite players on defense, just the passion from which he plays, he’s very tenacious. He’s a starter, he’ll start at the devil position and he’s a guy that just brings it with passion, a very smart player, a very physical player and loves this game.”
Coach, obviously every year brings its set of circumstances with it, but do you feel looking back last year when you played another FCS opponent, Cal Poly, that maybe it was an indication for some struggles that followed later on in the year?:
“No, I don’t, I think it had a lot to do with their scheme. It did impact us because we got some people hurt because of that scheme, that triple option wishbone is a challenge. I don’t really look at things like that, just because that was a game we struggled had more to do with their scheme and they were really good at executing that scheme, that scheme is very difficult. You can’t take anybody for granted, you have to go out and play, and the key to winning a championship and accomplishing the goals that we want to accomplish is to get better every week. That is the key, I want to perform well and number one I want to win. And make sure the things we do going into this season that we want to focus on is turnover ratio, minimizing the big play. We want to be aggressive and be physical and we talked about speed, physicality, and finish, so that is what we are looking for. We want to go out there and figure out a way to win a football game, but after that game I thought it was more about that game, we lost Armand (Perry) in that game and that wasn’t very helpful. Their scheme was different.”
Todd, Manny (Wilkins) said a few weeks ago you talked about how much he matured since he arrived to the program, where have you seen that?”
“I can still remember him coming in as a freshman and obviously that is the most immature you are going to be. But he’s matured a great deal, the biggest thing I would point to is academics, I think he had a 3.6 or so GPA last semester and has really matured and just works hard. There is a standard with those quarterbacks, you look at both he (Wilkins) and Brady (White) and Bryce (Perkins) and the guys that came before him have left a really strong legacy on what it takes to be quarterback here. It’s leading by their actions on the field, off the field, and in the classroom, so that is where I’ve seen the most maturity from him.
Opening statement:
“We are excited to get out there and play in our new stadium. The guys worked hard and we had a very physical camp, and we have a great opponent going up again NAU. They went 7-5 last year, and very easily could have been a team to win ten games. They are well coached and have talented receivers and an impressive quarterback. Our guys are working hard and we cannot wait to get out and get rollin’ on Saturday with our Sun Devil nation out here.”
On NAU’s past record against opening day opponents:
“We have studied them well and we know their coaching staff. They are well coached and they have talent. The kid Emmanuel Butler dominates at wide receiver and then of course, Case Cookus at quarterback. The two of them have this ability to always know where the ball will be located. The strength of their offensive is explosive and they are going to be a strong opponent. We have a lot of respect for their team and their level of play, and we know they are going to be highly motivated and confident come Saturday. Their quarterback is very impressive and he operates in a way that can help extend plays with a lot of success. I do not pay attention to what happened in the past. This is not about what happened last year or two years ago. We are concerned about our team and this year.”
On who is going to be the starting quarterback for the game and why?:
“We have the two guys that we have a lot of confidence in and we probably won’t do anything but let Coach Lindsey let me know what he wants to do. Our team knows who our guy is; we’ll run out there with the starting lineup. But we’ve got two guys that we have confidence in with Manny (Wilkins) and Brady (White) and then a young quarterback that will be our third guy, Dillon Sterling-Cole, who is extremely talented and had a great camp. So that’s where we’re at and we’ll announce it when we get ready.”
On NAU wide receivers coach Aaron Pflugrad:
“A lot of respect for Aaron. One tremendous person. His background, he’s a coach’s kid, obviously a former Sun Devil and an unbelievable competitor on the field. Same way as a coach, you look and see what kind of job he has done with the receivers there, pretty phenomenal he’s doing a great job with them and very proud of him and what he’s been able to accomplish and a young man I have a lot of respect for.”
As far as Marcus Ball and Tyler Whiley at the spur position, could you envision it being a bit of a platoon there?:
“They're different, you know, they’re different, Marcus is obviously what we consider more of a Sam linebacker and they both play that Spur position and I see both of them playing.”
Could you just talk about with Zane Gonzalez and Matt Haack going into their last year, you know how important that is to have you know quality guys that have been proven at those positions:
“Obviously Zane’s had a tremendous career. We obviously want to be a team that scores points and so he's been a great point scorer for us and having that type of kicker on our kickoffs was big last year for us, I think it helped tremendously with our coverage. I think he led the country in touchbacks last year and that is huge, that’s a huge stat.”
“Matt obviously, I guess both of those guys are four-year starters, that went by pretty quick, but I’m really proud of them. Those guys are leaders in the kicking game and I think that’s one of the things that we feel like we made strides last year. We need to be more efficient, we want to be 100-percent efficient in making those field goals, you know when they’re 47 48 yards in and that’s something we want to improve upon this year.”
“Touchbacks were incredible, I think Haack was one of the best in the country at pinning the team inside their 20 as well as in punting, so we feel like we can be even better this year with Tim White and Kalen Ballage and the returners we have, we have a lot of potential. Obviously in this first game it is really important on special teams that we’re alert early in the season for surprise onside kicks or fake punts and things like that we worked hard to do that and being prepared but I think Coach Slocum’s done a great job in his first year and we want to build upon that, we want be the best in the country and the best in the conference in special teams and with those guys it gives us an opportunity to compete to do that.”
Todd, you mentioned NAU’s offensive capability, Butler (WR) and Cookus (QB) and Elijah Marks (WR), how do you feel about your secondary going into the season?:
“I’ve got confidence in our guys. Obviously we’ve got to know the things we have to be better at, but we have to come in and execute. A lot of people come in and look at games like this, but this team put up a lot of numbers and yards last year against Arizona in week two or three. That’s the big thing for us, we have to go out there and take care of the football, we have to go out there and be physical about what we are doing, and do a great job of preforming at a high level. That’s what I want to see, I want to see our guys preform at a high level, but they have some talent, they are going to catch some passes and they’re going to have some plays because they are very talented.”
“A little bit of unknown this their transfer receivers and things like that, but they are very capable and their quarterback is very talented with how he locates the ball. For our guys I have confidence in our guys, we have to go out and be disciplined and every single play be better than the play before.”
Todd, at one point Keith Patterson that A.J. Latu was one of the more improved players in the program, what have you seen from him?:
“I always tell him he’s one of my favorite players on defense, just the passion from which he plays, he’s very tenacious. He’s a starter, he’ll start at the devil position and he’s a guy that just brings it with passion, a very smart player, a very physical player and loves this game.”
Coach, obviously every year brings its set of circumstances with it, but do you feel looking back last year when you played another FCS opponent, Cal Poly, that maybe it was an indication for some struggles that followed later on in the year?:
“No, I don’t, I think it had a lot to do with their scheme. It did impact us because we got some people hurt because of that scheme, that triple option wishbone is a challenge. I don’t really look at things like that, just because that was a game we struggled had more to do with their scheme and they were really good at executing that scheme, that scheme is very difficult. You can’t take anybody for granted, you have to go out and play, and the key to winning a championship and accomplishing the goals that we want to accomplish is to get better every week. That is the key, I want to perform well and number one I want to win. And make sure the things we do going into this season that we want to focus on is turnover ratio, minimizing the big play. We want to be aggressive and be physical and we talked about speed, physicality, and finish, so that is what we are looking for. We want to go out there and figure out a way to win a football game, but after that game I thought it was more about that game, we lost Armand (Perry) in that game and that wasn’t very helpful. Their scheme was different.”
Todd, Manny (Wilkins) said a few weeks ago you talked about how much he matured since he arrived to the program, where have you seen that?”
“I can still remember him coming in as a freshman and obviously that is the most immature you are going to be. But he’s matured a great deal, the biggest thing I would point to is academics, I think he had a 3.6 or so GPA last semester and has really matured and just works hard. There is a standard with those quarterbacks, you look at both he (Wilkins) and Brady (White) and Bryce (Perkins) and the guys that came before him have left a really strong legacy on what it takes to be quarterback here. It’s leading by their actions on the field, off the field, and in the classroom, so that is where I’ve seen the most maturity from him.