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00:00 - Questions for Coach Scott, John?
00:02 - I'm the first guy, huh?
00:04 - Yep.
00:05 - You guys are putting me on the spot here.
00:06 - You're the same.
00:07 - You just were the first guy.
00:08 - Well, I'll tell you what, 424 yards of rushing.
00:13 That's not too bad.
00:14 Pretty good day, huh?
00:14 - Not too bad at all.
00:16 Call it a legendary day.
00:17 - Yeah?
00:18 What led that to happen?
00:20 - Preparation.
00:23 We've been talking all week about the prior week,
00:29 not being our best, playing up to our standards.
00:32 Either way, thought the guys prepared really well.
00:35 Thought when I played with Chip on the show,
00:37 the previous week before then,
00:39 that didn't mirror anything that we represent,
00:42 you know, us as our standards or this program.
00:45 And thought the guys prepared well,
00:46 responded really well, had a great week of practice.
00:49 And really went out there and played with the kind of,
00:52 you know, Chip on the show that we played with all week long.
00:54 - Has this maybe altered your philosophy a little bit
00:57 in terms of having a mobile quarterback?
01:00 You've got three guys that have rushed
01:02 for over 600 yards going into your last game.
01:05 You've got multiple threats in the run game,
01:08 and then the play action off of that.
01:10 Has that changed maybe the way overall,
01:13 the way you're going to recruit moving forward,
01:15 the way you're going to approach things offensively?
01:18 - No, no question.
01:18 Now, again, like a couple weeks ago, like I said,
01:21 it was, we at the point right now where we're playing
01:23 the way we anticipated coming to the season,
01:25 playing with, you know, having the multiple options,
01:29 being able to, you know, split the defense
01:31 and, you know, utilize the quarterback in the run game
01:33 and zone reads and find different ways to get the balls
01:36 in the hands of guys that can make plays in space.
01:39 From a recruiting standpoint,
01:40 we'll continue to recruit those kinds of players
01:42 that can be electric with a ball in their hand
01:44 and also have a mobile quarterback that can extend plays
01:47 and make things happen beyond what's called.
01:54 - For Jaheim, I mean, you guys have talked very highly of him
01:58 since he's got here.
02:00 Is this just natural talent for him
02:02 or has he improved that much during the season?
02:06 - Well, I've always spoke highly of him.
02:07 I was recruited and, you know, I was,
02:10 I've been in there with him since day one.
02:11 So I've always known the kind of talent he's had,
02:13 you know, where he's grown and progresses,
02:17 you know, how he, and it's always tough for freshmen
02:19 to just understand how to practice
02:21 or approach to take the practice
02:22 and how to simulate practice reps like his actual game rep
02:25 and how to actually stay focused and locked in
02:28 and also just understand him pro,
02:32 which I think I told you guys two weeks ago,
02:33 I was going to be with him every step away
02:34 and, you know, make sure he is where he's supposed to be
02:38 and doing all the little things right.
02:39 But where he's progressed at big time
02:41 is just really understanding pass protection
02:43 in terms of what to look at.
02:45 So he can not, you know,
02:46 look in a different pre-snap to a linebacker
02:48 or feel in a different confidence wise
02:50 per a pass or a run play.
02:52 So he's progressed just his whole approach to,
02:54 you know, how he practices, you know,
02:56 be honest with you now,
02:57 I'm asking why he played the way he played Saturday.
03:00 He practiced that way on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.
03:02 And he actually had really good focus.
03:03 We had great walkthroughs on Thursday and Friday,
03:05 which typically on Thursday and Friday,
03:06 those are days where I pay the most attention to him
03:09 to make sure he stays locked in,
03:10 but he did a great job Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning.
03:13 - Is that what makes a great,
03:15 true freshman being able to play, is practicing?
03:18 - No question, just understanding how to practice.
03:20 And even on, you know,
03:21 understanding how to practice them too,
03:22 'cause you get two work days, Tuesday, Wednesday,
03:24 those days we trying to simulate everything
03:27 from a coach standpoint that we can put in front of those
03:29 guys that they'll see that that'll happen on Saturday.
03:33 So the first time it happens on Saturday,
03:34 it's a reaction to it.
03:36 It's an instinctive reaction to it.
03:37 And not one there, you know, catch them off guard.
03:40 And then also like on Thursday and Friday and Saturday,
03:42 those are days the game plan is in
03:43 that you just want to sharpen your focus
03:45 and literally mentally walk through what you would do live
03:49 in a walkthrough setting.
03:50 And that's real tough for guys too.
03:52 You know, those times where, you know,
03:54 practice is a lot slower and it's a lot more time to,
03:56 you know, talk to guys and goof around.
03:58 And to be honest, for the last two weeks is where he's,
04:01 he's gotten, you know, he's been better.
04:03 I always tell those guys that focus ain't intentional.
04:06 So, I mean, not natural.
04:07 So you gotta be intentional about it.
04:08 And I'll just say, hey, what,
04:10 what didn't come natural today?
04:11 It's the focus.
04:12 And so that's where he's gotten better at.
04:14 - So is it at all hard at all for you as a coach
04:17 that he had RCJ, he made a real big day.
04:19 And even though CJ scored a touchdown,
04:21 he was a little bit reduced
04:22 and was uncertain prior to the game.
04:25 But if you get CJ back at full strength
04:27 and then having this up to him,
04:29 do you have to, you know, wrestle that?
04:31 And how do you, how do you work those two together
04:34 if you get them both?
04:35 - Man, it's a great, great,
04:37 great combination of thunder and lightning, man.
04:40 It's a great problem to have.
04:41 And it's not even a problem.
04:42 You know, you can, you got two, you know, super,
04:45 superior talents like those two guys,
04:47 it brings something different to the table.
04:49 But you, you play both of them.
04:50 It's at times where they both may be in a football game
04:53 and they both got the kind of ability
04:54 and they're playing with that ability right now.
04:56 The second half of the season
04:57 where they're doing a little things right
04:59 to create explosive plays.
05:00 Where in the first half of the season,
05:01 we weren't doing a little things right
05:02 to hit explosive plays.
05:04 And so it took a lot more care to get y'all
05:07 as whereas now they're doing a little things right
05:10 to put themselves in position to get one-on-one
05:11 and breaking tackles and make a miss
05:14 to hit the big plays.
05:14 So it's not taking as many carries to get those yards.
05:16 So you play both of them.
05:18 - At that point, CJ only got five carries,
05:21 but on his touchdown, he broke a tackle,
05:24 bounced off a guy.
05:25 Like that's what you've been talking about all year.
05:27 - Exactly.
05:27 And here's what's unique about that.
05:29 And he'll tell you this.
05:30 He'll say that's just,
05:31 he's never been more proud of a touchdown run
05:34 than that particular run.
05:35 First of all, he limped 13 yards to the touchdown run.
05:37 And, but he literally did like the littlest thing
05:40 to make that touchdown run happen.
05:43 And if he could tell you to play with that kind of discipline
05:46 when he's at full strength, full health,
05:48 he'll hit those big plays all the time.
05:49 But he, like he'll tell you that that's,
05:51 he's never been more proud, more excited
05:52 than that touchdown run.
05:53 'Cause he literally, he'll tell you, I did nothing.
05:55 I just ran through an arm attack,
05:56 but I did nothing to create it where,
05:58 'cause we talk about like letting the game come to you.
06:00 Don't press to make that happen.
06:01 Press to do the little thing
06:02 to make that big thing happen.
06:03 And he did that.
06:04 - Going back to Jaheim, you said you recruited him, right?
06:07 - Mm-hmm.
06:09 - We had a coach here years ago
06:11 who felt like he lifted a rock
06:13 and found a player in Steve Slayton.
06:15 Did you kind of feel like you lifted up a rock
06:17 and found a gem there?
06:19 Were there other people that you were worried about
06:21 or was that one that you kind of-
06:24 - No, I would say so.
06:26 I, you know, I just, you know,
06:27 do a great, just watch a bunch of film and, you know,
06:31 you know, was able to find him.
06:32 And I can remember we had a, it was a camp one day.
06:34 We came up with on a Sunday and it was a bit downpour here.
06:39 And it might've been about 50 kids here.
06:41 And he was a standout big time.
06:43 And so from that point, you know, did a great job.
06:45 Team built a great relationship, you know,
06:47 by the time we offered him a scholarship and, you know,
06:50 I had already had a great relationship with him.
06:51 And-
06:52 - How long was that relationship?
06:53 - What's that?
06:55 Two, two years?
06:56 - Oh, you had a two year relationship?
06:57 - Two years, yeah, two years.
06:58 - When it got down to the end
07:00 and he had that productive year,
07:01 were you worried like, "Ugh, somebody's going to come in?"
07:04 - Not at all.
07:05 No, he's a relationship, he's a relationship person.
07:07 We had a great relationship,
07:09 got a great relationship with his family.
07:10 So not, not at all.
07:11 We had a great relationship.
07:13 So like I said, I'm fully capable, I'm fully aware
07:15 of how capable he is of doing what he's supposed to do
07:17 and what he's capable of doing.
07:19 I always knew he was an elite talent.
07:20 He'd get it just to, just doing little things right.
07:22 And again, like I said, it comes with being a freshman,
07:24 understanding how to, you know,
07:25 practice with great habits that allow you to play your best
07:27 when you best need it, like you did on Saturday
07:29 and play with the kind of focus that you needed.
07:31 - Okay, you said it was two years.
07:33 So that would have been what, a sophomore or junior year?
07:36 - Sophomore, end of his sophomore year, junior, senior year.
07:39 - You had to be a real little guy.
07:40 You had to be doing a little projecting there,
07:42 thinking, "Is he going to get a little bigger?
07:44 Is he going to, you know, that kind of thing?"
07:45 - He's always been by that.
07:46 And think about it, he's short, he's not little.
07:49 Man, he thick, he's short, but he's not little.
07:50 He put together.
07:52 - So there wasn't a lot of that,
07:54 well, he needs to put on a couple of pounds.
07:56 - I think when we first met him, he was probably 175.
08:00 Still, like I said, big lower body,
08:03 but he's about 175.
08:05 - What's going to be his peak,
08:06 or what's his optimal weight when he's fully?
08:09 - Right now he's about, he's 190 pounds.
08:13 I don't ever foresee him being no guy
08:14 that's heavier than 200 pounds.
08:15 I don't think he's in need to.
08:17 He's so strong, got to think a little about it.
08:19 He's a strong kid, so breaks, tackles, make, miss.
08:21 So just got to continue to just get,
08:23 be a lean mass, but does a great job,
08:25 do whatever Coach Joseph tells him to do.
08:27 He does a phenomenal job with those guys.
08:29 - Whatever he is, he's powerful at that weight.
08:32 - No question, he's very powerful, explosive and powerful.
08:35 - So did you get to know him when he was in Pennsylvania?
08:39 'Cause he talked about being in Florida initially.
08:40 - Yeah, Pennsylvania.
08:41 - Once he got to Newark area.
08:43 - Yeah.
08:43 - Chris.
08:46 - Normally you see a 200 yard game,
08:48 and a guy will break one for 70 or something like that,
08:50 or maybe even two 50 yard games.
08:54 He had, I think I counted up, 11 or 12,
08:57 10 yard or more runs.
08:59 And if you can run 10 yard, you can break any of those.
09:04 He had eight explosives.
09:06 Yeah.
09:08 - What does that say about where he can go from here?
09:11 - Man, the sky's the limit for the kid.
09:14 He just got to continue, like I told him today,
09:17 he's got to stay humble, stay hungry.
09:20 Stay humble, stay hungry, keep his circle tight.
09:24 You know, stay connected to the people
09:25 that's been connected to him from the beginning.
09:27 And continue to, you know,
09:31 practice the way he's been practicing
09:32 the last couple of weeks, he'll be fine.
09:33 He'll continue to grow.
09:34 And he's a kid, he's had success.
09:35 He's been, he sent me a video clip months back of him
09:38 making a move on a guy when he was in Pop Warner.
09:41 So he's a kid that's used to having success, making plays.
09:44 So he's in a position where he's a kid
09:46 that's never had this kind of success.
09:48 So he understands how to handle it.
09:50 You know, it was even, it was a unique deal last week,
09:52 I think on Thursday or so, you know,
09:54 deal comes out where he's rated the highest freshman.
09:56 So any rest of the season, you know,
09:58 him respond and go play Saturday,
10:00 not allow that to get to him.
10:01 So he's used to having success,
10:03 been doing since Pop Warner.
10:04 So he's got to stay humble and hungry.
10:05 - Sorry, I know that there's a process
10:08 and he had to get through some things
10:10 to earn the trust and all of that.
10:13 But looking at what he's done,
10:15 he's got 80 carries, he's averaging what?
10:17 8.3 yards a carry?
10:19 Sitting in the back of your mind going,
10:20 man, I wish he'd had maybe 20, 25 more at this time
10:23 or whatever.
10:24 Think about that in the back of your mind?
10:26 - No, not really.
10:27 You know, it's progression.
10:28 You know, things happen where they happen.
10:30 You know, early on, you know,
10:31 he struggled big time with pass pro.
10:33 Heck, he missed a blitz last week in Oklahoma
10:35 and got Garrett hit pretty big, you know.
10:39 So it's progression, you know,
10:40 and he ain't nowhere he is right now.
10:42 Everything happens for a reason.
10:43 You know, he's progressed really well.
10:44 He's had a chance to see some mistakes early on
10:46 and learn from them.
10:48 Where this happened in practice and in the game,
10:50 you know, so I think, you know,
10:51 things happen for a reason right now.
10:52 So I don't.
10:54 - He's where he should be.
10:55 - He's where he should be, yeah.
10:57 - Obviously athletes, a lot of the time,
10:58 they're just playing.
10:59 They're not worrying about what happened,
11:00 like John brought up, you know, 15 plus 20 years ago.
11:03 But did you at all let him know,
11:06 hey, you know, Steve Slayton, like John brought up,
11:09 did this, you're now in that conversation?
11:11 - No, I haven't.
11:12 I haven't.
11:13 - Do you think he's fully aware
11:14 of even how great he's being
11:16 in the only these, this early in his career?
11:18 - No, I don't think he's fully aware of it.
11:21 I don't think he's fully, I'm pretty sure.
11:22 I'm pretty sure.
11:23 I'm pretty sure some people outside of,
11:26 outside of here told him that,
11:27 but I'm not sure he's aware of it.
11:30 And going back to your deal too, John,
11:31 on the deal where it's probably a great thing,
11:33 'cause right now, this late in the season,
11:35 you know, as coming in as freshmen,
11:36 they're not used to practicing at this level,
11:38 you know, playing these games
11:39 against this kind of competition.
11:40 So at this point right now where he is,
11:43 his body feels great.
11:44 You know, he hadn't accumulated all the tread,
11:46 you know, throughout the season
11:47 where he would get to this point
11:49 and he wouldn't be as fast or be as beat up, you know.
11:52 So even at this point right now,
11:55 like he's fresh, his body feels good.
11:56 He's not beat up.
11:57 And so.
11:58 - The next thing is repeating it
12:00 because now people know him,
12:02 they're aware of him,
12:03 they're going to game plan for him.
12:04 So that's his next step, I guess, right?
12:06 - Yeah, that's next step.
12:07 But you know, we, our mindset in that room, you know,
12:09 if you don't feel like you got nothing to improve,
12:10 you'll never improve.
12:11 And I had the same mindset every day,
12:13 you know, for the years now, you know,
12:15 we've been consistent in that room
12:17 for as far as being productive.
12:18 And it's been my mentality, it's been their mentality.
12:21 So we say it every day,
12:23 if you don't feel like you got nothing to improve,
12:24 you'll never improve.
12:25 So he knows still something he can go out there
12:26 and improve on.
12:27 Heck, he had a great run toward the goal line
12:29 where he attempted to make the guy miss, he didn't go.
12:32 He said, he didn't go for my move coach.
12:33 I just ran through him.
12:34 Well, you know, I'm going to say,
12:35 well, he got made that guy miss.
12:36 So things like that, he got to improve on.
12:38 - If you would, in the position of the defensive coordinator
12:45 for a moment, and Garrett has the ball
12:48 and he's got it in the belly of Jaheim.
12:52 I mean, what could possibly go wrong?
12:56 - It's tough.
12:57 - You can't take both of them.
12:59 - Can't take both of them.
13:00 And before you even get both of those guys, man,
13:02 I'm telling you, I've said this to you guys before,
13:04 like the nucleus of our offense is that offensive line.
13:06 And I think they're the best in the country.
13:08 And I've said that from the beginning.
13:10 And so you can't take both of them,
13:12 but you also got to play through those guys.
13:14 Ain't so easy doing that.
13:15 Exactly, you got Horton, you got Horton running deep.
13:20 And you got, you know, like Devon Carter's been doing
13:22 from now on, Jaheim winning one-on-ones.
13:24 You got Cole Taylor that commands one-on-one attention.
13:26 If you don't, he can catch the ball.
13:27 You saw his execution on the two-minute drive
13:30 going into the halftime.
13:32 Got a guy like Trailing Ray,
13:33 young guy that's catching balls.
13:34 So with the kind of weapons that we got right now,
13:36 the defense that we faced early in the year,
13:38 where it felt like we was going against goal line defense
13:40 with eight, nine guys in the box at the beginning of the season
13:44 with all the guys, you know, flourishing and, you know,
13:47 playing up to their potential.
13:48 And, you know, even when they're not there,
13:50 they're playing up to their potential.
13:51 We're starting to see, you know,
13:53 the defense that we thought we'd see coming in
13:55 with this kind of talent.
13:56 Just guys got to win their one-on-ones.
13:57 They've been doing it.
13:59 What's -- what are the kind of characteristics
14:01 of a Dave Miranda defense that you got to keep in mind?
14:05 Discipline. Discipline.
14:07 Physical. Tough.
14:10 And guys that's going to do a great job
14:13 of trying to take the ball away,
14:14 which is what we've done a phenomenal job of.
14:16 Very proud of those guys for that.
14:18 You know, two areas that we talked about
14:19 from the beginning was being disciplined,
14:21 eliminating pre-snap penalties,
14:23 which I think we wanted to --
14:24 still not where we want to be.
14:25 We want to be better.
14:27 We're one of the tops in the conference,
14:28 one of the tops in the country.
14:29 We kind of dipped off a little bit.
14:30 And then taking care of the football.
14:32 And so they're a tough team that's going to be disciplined.
14:35 It's going to be physical.
14:36 And they're just going to pride themselves
14:37 and try to create turnovers,
14:38 whether that be forcing fouls or interceptions.
14:40 So we got to continue to be disciplined,
14:41 be smart with our play, taking care of the ball,
14:44 being smart with the football.