PROVO, Utah – The BYU football team practiced Monday morning to begin the last week of spring football.
The defense was on the prowl during the 7-on-7 and team sessions, looking to force turnovers and breaking up passes while the Cougar run game took a few shots of their own, breaking off a several long runs.
BYU will practice Wednesday and Friday and close spring football with the annual public spring scrimmage at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday at 11 a.m. MDT. Read more about the spring scrimmage.
The following quotes are from Monday's post-practice media availability.
BYU head coach Kalani Sitake
On which group stands out the most
I’m liking all the guys right now. I’ve seen a lot of improvement in the young players especially and it’s comforting to see when you soak reps into young guys and they actually get better. Every position coach is improving their group. I’ve been really impressed with how our guys are handling their position groups and seeing a lot of guys get better.
Thoughts on final week of spring ball
Just finsihing strong. We’ve been at it for awhile now and our players are anxious to get into more live work, but I think this year has been different because we’ve done more live and scrimmages than we’ve done in the past. They are probably a little worn out but that’s okay, we will finish strong this week and get some more live work on Saturday and then get some good film for a good jumpstart to fall.
On Saturday’s scrimmage
We are kind of down on numbers because we had such a physical spring camp, but we will see what we can do. We don’t have the numbers to split into two teams right now, so we wil have a scrimmage and do some live work and tackling.
On a starting quarterback
We will get to that time, but right now we are not ready to name a starting quarterback. Every position you have to battle it out and it could change every week, so right now it’s tough to say.
Offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes
Most days we’ve come out with a great attitude and at times have had better execution than others, but today wasn’t very good. When you give guys four days off that is sometimes the result. I challenged them this morning before we started, but we just didn’t execute as well as we needed to today.
On the point of emphasis for the spring scrimmage
Discipline and execution. We’ve got way too many mental mistakes. We still aren’t getting off on the snap count crisply, sometimes guys are late. I think we had two false starts today and we had one fumble. We just want to eliminate those mistakes. If we don’t beat ourselves, then I feel we have a chance to play with anybody.
On correcting mistakes during spring practices
What we’ve tried to do first is to build the culture. If the culture is right, then those guys will work really hard to correct those things over the remaining months between now and this fall. What we’re trying to do during spring ball is to teach them the standard and once they understand that, they’ll understand how to hold themselves to that standard during the three months that we don’t get to work with them.
On the tight end position group
We’ve got guys with different skill sets. We’ve got guys who are better blockers and we’ve got guys who are better receivers. The thing I’ve tried to impart on all of them is that in our offense we need guys who can do everything. Everyone in our offense is going to block so those guys are going to be able to block, but we’d also like guys who can run routes and catch balls.
Quarterback Tanner Mangum
On progress of the team
We’ve made a lot of progress and made a lot of good steps in these last few weeks, but there is still a long way to go. We have a few more months to get dialed in for fall. Putting in a new offense is a challenge and requires a lot of extra detail and work to learn the plays and learn the details of everything. We’ve done a good job of making progress from day one until now, but there is still a lot of progress and we still aren’t where we need to be.
On making players accountable
It’s doing the play over and over until we get it right. It’s punishments with up-downs and conditioning and then also just letting us know. Sometimes they yell at us and get in our face, but it’s for a purpose and it’s because they know we can do it.
On his recovery
I’m feeling good and I’m feeling a lot better. Even from the first week of spring ball until now I’ve made a lot of progress. I’m thankful for the training and medical staff. They’ve really helped me make it along.
On characterizing the offense
We are a passionate group. The coaches have really been stressing passion and bringing the energy out on the field. I see that with our guys and there is a lot of camaraderie there.
I like to think that I can play in any offense and the coaches are doing a good job of helping every single one of us in the quarterback room understand what we are doing on every play and putting us in a good position to succeed. I feel good about it and I feel that I’ve been making strides and playing well. I’m happy with the progress I’ve made in spring ball, but I’ve still got a long way to go.
On the quarterbacks
We have a pretty interesting mix of QB’s, but we all get along really well. We’re all different and have our own personalities and styles, but I like how we are friendly. We are competitors and trying to do our best every single play and earn the starting job, but after every play we are talking about what we saw and what can be done better. It makes everyone play better when everyone is on the same page and trying to do our best.
Wide receiver Micah Simon
On the progress throughout spring
We’ve made strides since the very beginning of spring. I feel like we’re doing a good job of trying to learn everything the coaches are teaching us with the technique, the plays and everything we’re trying to do with this new offense. This last week we just want to refine everything that we’ve been putting in and it will be upon the players to take it to the next level during the summer and be ready for fall camp.
On accountability at practices
If you have a dumb mistake, you’re immediately held accountable. You’re taken out that play and have to do up-downs. It makes you refocus. We’re not letting anything slide this year. We’re trying to push ourselves to be great and we know we can be great. The accountability is held at a higher level from the coaches, but it’s not just them—the players are holding each other accountable as well.