Arkansas Razorbacks defensive line coach Deke Adams with the media after Friday morning's practice before Saturday's first scrimmage of fall camp.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 Hey, let's go ahead and get this on the record.
00:01 What was it like going to Atlanta and watching your son?
00:04 Man, that was exciting.
00:06 I mean, that was an exciting experience.
00:08 That's an amazing ballpark there in Atlanta,
00:10 and for him to have his --
00:12 to be a part of the program, be called up there,
00:15 I mean, it was really special. It was kind of crazy
00:16 because I was coming back from normally,
00:19 you know, I kind of take two or three days off myself
00:22 and just kind of get myself right,
00:24 my thoughts of where we're going to do things,
00:25 D-line-wise, and I was coming back,
00:27 and I just happened to be in Atlanta.
00:30 And he called us the night before
00:31 and told us it happened.
00:33 I thought they were going to fly him to Anaheim,
00:35 but they flew him to Atlanta to meet the team,
00:37 and I just kind of called Coach,
00:40 and Coach was like, "Yeah, that's a no-brainer."
00:42 And, I mean, it was great, man, great experience.
00:45 All right, and just the thoughts that you want to convey
00:47 about what you've seen from your group so far this camp.
00:49 Well, it's been good. I mean, they've been working, man.
00:51 They've been working their behind off.
00:53 There's a lot of competition in the room,
00:55 and they know that, and, you know,
00:56 my philosophy is if you make the defense better
00:59 when you're on the field, you play,
01:00 no matter whether you're a senior,
01:02 whether you're a freshman.
01:04 And those guys, man, they've been working their behind off.
01:07 They love each other. We play --
01:09 You know, we have fun together.
01:10 You know, we go eat together. We hang out.
01:12 It's a really unique group,
01:14 and I love the group that I have right now.
01:18 Brian, before transfer,
01:19 it's just what were you looking for in those guys,
01:22 and have you been pleased with what you've seen from them
01:23 so far? Yeah, we were looking.
01:25 We were trying to obviously get some more playmakers.
01:29 We were trying to get bigger, and I felt like we did that.
01:32 You know, you got Jeff Cole, and then you got John Morgan,
01:36 who's a pass rush guy,
01:39 but he's done a great job against the run,
01:40 and then you get Tank, you know, Booker, and then Keebee Rose.
01:46 Man, those guys have just done a great job.
01:50 I mean, it's been really good.
01:52 Their football knowledge is good.
01:54 You know, Keebee didn't get with us until the end of June,
01:58 so he only really had a month with us training,
02:00 but he came in great shape
02:02 and has great knowledge and all that,
02:04 so it's been really good, and I'm excited about him.
02:07 You have a strong group of older guys as returners.
02:11 Is there anybody of that group
02:12 that maybe you think could take the next step this year?
02:15 Well, you know, I'm hoping that it's, you know,
02:18 Torrin Carter and Cam Ball, Eric Greger, all those guys,
02:22 Zach Williams, all those guys that were with me last year,
02:25 I'm hoping to see something, another step
02:27 and another level up in their play this year,
02:29 and they've been practicing that way.
02:31 I mean, you know, we have some tough practices,
02:33 and it's been fun watching them compete.
02:36 On the defensive tackle transfers, Keebee and Tank,
02:40 can you just talk a little bit about the qualities
02:42 that those guys bring individually,
02:45 just their ability?
02:46 Yeah, well, Tank's a big kid.
02:49 I mean, you know, he's about 6'3 1/2,
02:52 probably about 335, somewhere in there.
02:54 He moves really well, plays with great leverage,
02:58 and just the fact that he's not being able
03:01 to be thrown around as much,
03:03 he's held the point really good for us,
03:05 and I think he's, you know,
03:07 he's going to be a really good addition to us.
03:10 Keebee is the same.
03:11 You know, I'm seeing Keebee.
03:13 You know, we saw him on film, and what we saw on film,
03:17 he was explosive, and I watched two games.
03:20 I watched them when they played Missouri,
03:22 and I watched them when they played Clemson,
03:24 and those are two games that I watched on them,
03:26 and he gave them heck, you know, both games.
03:29 And so, when we went on him, and then when we got here
03:32 and got a chance to see him, we were really surprised.
03:34 He was actually bigger than we thought,
03:36 and he's done a great job at this point as well.
03:39 So, those guys are competing with the older guys,
03:42 and, you know, it's a great rotation right now.
03:45 Jeff, you got most of the seniors,
03:47 a lot of veteran returning players.
03:49 How do you feel about your depth overall?
03:51 Well, I think it's really good right now.
03:52 You know, we've got some older guys.
03:54 We've got some plus-one-year guys in there,
03:56 and we'll see how that goes, but right now,
03:59 we're going to take one step at a time
04:01 and one game at a time, and we're going to go out
04:04 and put the best four on the field
04:06 and, you know, get our rotation rolling,
04:09 and hopefully we can wear some people down and play well.
04:13 So, even though they might or might not play this year,
04:16 but you had three freshmen, and as many came in midterm,
04:20 none of them did, but Ian, Caleb, and Quincy.
04:23 Yeah.
04:25 Are they what you thought they were?
04:27 I mean, you've had them for six or seven practices now.
04:29 I mean, you see them in high school,
04:30 but have they been what you thought
04:31 they would be and going to help?
04:33 Man, they are. They're really good players.
04:35 You know, Quincy is a kid from here,
04:37 obviously, here in state.
04:39 He's dynamic. I mean, he's gotten --
04:42 I mean, I think he walked in here right at 270.
04:44 He's up to about 285 right now.
04:47 Really good-looking player. Long, can run.
04:50 I mean, I think he's going to be a great player.
04:51 Ian is a big kid that, when you see him,
04:54 you don't think he can move the way he does,
04:56 but he moves really well,
04:58 changes directions well, is physical.
05:00 You know, obviously, a kid coming out of high school
05:02 that size, one of the things you have to work on is pad level,
05:05 and so we continue to work on that daily.
05:07 And then Caleb is a hard-nosed kid that plays hard.
05:11 That's a bigger kid that's probably going to end up
05:13 getting bigger himself, and we're excited about all three.
05:16 I think all three of them are going to be good players.
05:19 More four-man front here.
05:23 I mean, is that something that excites the player?
05:25 Well, it does. It does.
05:27 But, you know, four-man front, we're going --
05:29 I mean, that's what we're going to base out of,
05:30 but, you know, you'll see us at times
05:32 doing some three-down stuff just to mix things up,
05:35 and then even some third-down stuff.
05:37 But I think they love the fact that we've got four,
05:39 and I like it as well.
05:42 Based on, you know, Coach Williams' track record
05:45 before coming here as a defensive coordinator,
05:46 a lot of blitzing when he did at UCF,
05:49 how does that impact your coaching,
05:51 the position you've grouped,
05:52 and, you know, what you guys are working on in the camp so far?
05:56 Well, movement has been part of what we do a little bit,
05:58 but, you know, we also understand that,
06:01 you know, there will be times where things
06:02 are going to break down, and when they break down,
06:04 you've got to have a base.
06:05 What's your base that you're going to go to?
06:07 And we have a good base where we're starting.
06:10 So it's not going to be movement all the time.
06:13 That has been part of his history and part of it,
06:15 but, you know, he understands.
06:17 I mean, he's played in this league,
06:19 and he's been in this league,
06:20 so he understands what he's going up against
06:22 and what we've got to do,
06:23 and I think the system we're running is a great system,
06:25 and I think it's going to be beneficial for our kids.
06:29 You've got the nine seniors.
06:31 How does the leadership within your group
06:34 kind of get determined, and, you know, is it --
06:36 who's stepping up for you right now with that group?
06:38 Well, you know, it's a good combination
06:40 because it's such --
06:44 it's, like I said about the camaraderie in the room,
06:46 it's been really, really good.
06:49 There's not a lot of egos in the room,
06:51 and they're able to hold each other accountable
06:53 without getting upset with each other,
06:55 and I think, you know, there have been multiple guys
06:58 that have stepped up in the room that kind of leads the room,
07:02 but overall, the room kind of pulls itself,
07:05 and they're doing a great job with it,
07:07 and I mean in the classroom and everything else,
07:09 and so it's been good.
07:13 What's been your take on, you know,
07:15 going against the offensive line in practice?
07:17 I would say it's been about a week now.
07:18 What's your take on that group and maybe the tackles especially
07:21 because obviously they're looking
07:23 for some new starters out there?
07:24 Well, I mean, man, they've done a great job.
07:26 You know, Coach Kennedy is a really good football coach.
07:30 You know, obviously Coach Pitt, that's his forte,
07:33 and they've done great recruiting,
07:36 and Bo and all those guys, man, it's great for us to compete
07:39 against that level of competition every day
07:41 because I don't know with the older guys they have there,
07:44 I don't know if you're going to get much better in this league
07:47 if there are better out there. I don't know that,
07:49 but I also know it's tough for them going against us daily
07:53 because I think we have a lot of talent in our room
07:56 that we're working each other.
07:59 As they say, what, iron sharpens iron,
08:01 and I think we're both working each other
08:03 and putting a lot of pressure on each other.
08:06 As far as scrimmage goes, I know you guys have had contact.
08:10 I would see you guys playing full pads,
08:11 but what are you looking for out of the scrimmage overall
08:13 and especially with your group?
08:15 Well, you see what they've done for me the first six days.
08:18 You see all this gray hair right here,
08:19 but tomorrow I'm just going to sit back
08:22 and relax and watch them play.
08:24 I'm going to watch them play and see where we are
08:26 as a group right now.
08:28 I think they've done a good job,
08:29 and they've got a good hold of the system,
08:31 and I want to see who's going to line up and make plays
08:34 without me coaching them on every play.
08:38 With the number of defensive linemen
08:40 and the veterans and everything,
08:42 do you think you have the potential to rotate
08:45 like a three-D on the defensive line,
08:46 like freely rotate that?
08:48 Well, we do. We have a good group of guys.
08:50 They know this.
08:52 You know, one of the things we talk about,
08:54 there's a lot of guys in our room
08:55 who want to play on the next level.
08:56 We all understand what it takes to get to the next level,
08:59 and not everybody has that ability.
09:02 But we also know that, hey, to have quality film,
09:06 you've got to play hard all the time.
09:07 And part of that is, hey, there are guys out there,
09:10 and I've been places where guys are playing 50,
09:11 60, 65 snaps a game.
09:14 I just don't believe you can play that many reps
09:16 and be as effective as you need to be.
09:19 And our guys know that.
09:20 We've talked about that as a group.
09:21 They understand it.
09:23 They understand there will be some type of rotation,
09:25 but, hey, at the end of the day,
09:27 when it's time to make a play and, you know, a guy's hot,
09:31 I'm going to put him on the field,
09:32 and I'm going to let him do his thing.
09:34 We want to talk to you a little bit more about your guard,
09:36 just such a unique person at 394 pounds.
09:40 Is there a spot in your rotation for a 394-pound freshman,
09:44 and what are the goals for him from, like, weight and stuff?
09:47 Like, where would you like to see him?
09:50 Well, goals weight-wise, we talked about it.
09:52 It's going to be a process.
09:55 You know, this time next year, I would definitely probably love
09:57 to see him around 355, 360, somewhere in there.
10:01 And we talked about that. He knows that.
10:03 But there's always a place for a guy as big as he is
10:08 and as quick as he is in our deal.
10:10 Hopefully, we're not in that situation as much.
10:12 You know, you're looking at goal-line situations
10:14 and things like that, but he's doing a good job.
10:17 And, you know, I can't say that he won't be part
10:20 of the rotation this year,
10:21 but he's doing a really good job
10:23 that you never know what happens.
10:25 And we're early in camp as well.
10:27 I mean, this is day six, I think.
10:29 I don't even know the number of practices,
10:31 but this is -- we're early in camp.
10:32 So we still got a lot --
10:33 we still got time to get things ongoing.
10:36 A guy that came on late last year was Cam Ball.
10:39 What have you seen from him so far?
10:41 He's done a good job.
10:42 You know, I'm always challenging those guys, man, to be better.
10:46 You know, my mom used to tell me a long time ago, you know,
10:48 don't worry about anybody else's house
10:50 until you clean your own.
10:51 And I talk to them about it all the time in our room.
10:53 Don't care what nobody else do.
10:55 It's about us in this room right now.
10:57 And every day I'm demanding more and more.
11:01 And at the end of the day, we practice,
11:04 and the way Coach Pitt has it set up,
11:05 we want it to where on Saturday it's easy for him.
11:08 And I demand a lot out of him, and he'll tell you that.
11:12 But at the same time, you know, we love each other.
11:14 It's a great group.
11:15 And I think Cam has done a good job up to this point,
11:17 but I think he has so much more ability and potential left
11:20 that we got to get it all out of him.
11:24 Jeff, you know, a guy with a lot of SEC experience,
11:26 is that something that you've been able to notice so far?
11:29 Oh, yeah. I mean, you know, he stands out in a lot of ways.
11:32 But, you know, the big -- I mean, he does a great job,
11:35 but there's a lot of guys.
11:36 If you come watch us practice,
11:38 there's a lot of guys standing out in our group.
11:40 And they're doing really good.
11:41 But once again, I mean, it's every snap, every day,
11:45 you got to show up and play.
11:48 You were the lone holdover coach on defense from the last half.
11:50 What's the new mesh been like for you and the new coaches?
11:53 Oh, it's been great. You know, it's been great.
11:55 I've known -- I knew Coach T.
11:57 Will, didn't know him personally,
11:59 but I knew who he was.
12:01 I've known Coach Wilson for a long time.
12:02 And, you know, it makes me old when I say this,
12:06 but Coach Wilson was actually playing corner
12:09 when I was coaching at Southern Miss,
12:11 and we won a championship there together.
12:13 So he is -- man, it's been good.
12:16 Been a great group of guys, and I really enjoy the room.
12:20 I wonder how you feel. I think Landon was telling us
12:22 at Nashville at media day that for the bowl,
12:25 you were working with about three healthy D tackles.
12:28 How does it feel now compared to, you know, that?
12:31 It's good. It's good.
12:32 It's a good problem to have.
12:34 You know, it was a tough deal at the bowl game.
12:37 I think we had three D tackles and maybe --
12:39 I think maybe four in. That was it.
12:41 But, you know, they worked hard, and we got it done.
12:45 But, you know, this is a good problem to have.
12:47 And like I said, they're competing, man.
12:49 I really enjoy just watching them compete.
12:55 Go ahead.
12:56 I guess just with Karyon Carter, just how have you seen him?
13:00 And, you know, last year in the spring,
13:02 it seemed like he was really going to take off,
13:04 but, you know, had some unfortunate injuries.
13:06 Right. Well, he's come back, you know,
13:08 and I've had knee injuries myself over the years,
13:11 and sometimes it's hard to trust your knee
13:13 and be 100%, you know, I guess, positive about it
13:19 and knowing that it's there.
13:20 He's done, and it's been a process.
13:23 And each day, you can see a little bit more confidence
13:25 coming in, and he's done a really good job.
13:27 But just like I said about all the other guys,
13:31 he knows what I expect from him,
13:33 and it's every day, come to work,
13:34 and we hold each other accountable.
13:36 You know, that's one thing those guys do know in the room.
13:39 I'm going to look them in the eye,
13:40 and I'm going to tell them the truth,
13:41 and it might not be what they want to hear,
13:43 but, hey, it's the truth.
13:45 And if the truth hurts, then, hey, change it.
13:48 That's the way we are, and it's been good.