Everett Withers, TXST head coach
Difference in this team compared to last:
"I think these guys care. There is a sense of caring for your teammate, a sense of caring for their families, a sense of caring for the coaches, and the coaches caring for the kids. I think this is a closer team than a year ago and I don't think there is any doubt about that."
On the improvement of the front seven:
"I think the development of Ishmael Davis, Jordan Mittie and Dean Taylor up front are really critical. Whether it be size of the understanding of the defense, I think that's a big key. The addition of Sami Awad and Caeveon Patton is going to be really big for us. It's going to help our front and help our linebackers able to run and play better."
"I'm excited about four linebackers we have inside - Bryan London, Gabe Loyd, Nik Daniels and Clifton Lewis. I'm excited about all four of those guys. On the outside, I'm excited about the return of Easy Anyama and the development and growth of Frankie Griffin. Hal Vinson at the bandit position too."
"That position, the linebacker position, and the addition of the two nose tackles really get me excited about our front seven."
The importance of nose tackle:
"The two most important positions physically on an offense and defense are your center position and your nose position. They are the heart of both sides of the ball. If you don't have a center, you don't have a shot. If you don't have a nose on the 3-4 scheme, you don't have a shot."
"So a year ago, we didn't have those guys on defense. We didn't have a guy to lock out with long arms and was big to hold point and take on a double team. We didn't have anybody to take on that position last year. The best guy at that position that played there was Jordan Mittie when we moved him there several times. Now we've got two guys in there to take on double teams and it allows our linebackers to run and make plays. Caeveon's growth this year, from the start of camp to now, I'm excited about watching him go all year long."
About Aaron Brewer:
"The center position is the apex of your offense. We moved Aaron there last year because we felt he was the perfect fit athletically at that position. This offseason, with our strength and conditioning program, we thought we could get him big and strong enough to where he could be a factor."
"He's a tremendous guy for us. I think he'll get better as the season goes on. I don't even think he's close to where he's going to be. We're expecting a lot our of Aaron."
On the offensive line:
"I expect it to be improved. We have more talent up front, even though that talent is young. I could say this about a lot of positions on our team. We're probably more talented up front than we were a year ago but we're younger. That's probably the case in seven of our nine units. There will be some growing pains up front because we'll have some youth in the two-deep. We've got a pretty good idea what that two deep is going to look like. I'm excited to watch those guys get better as the year goes on. I don't think we'll be near as good early in the year as we will be later once we get some game reps underneath them and we get better."
The three young quarterbacks:
"I'm excited about those guys and their growth. Willie Jones is as talented physically as anybody in this league. He's got a really good arm, he can run. There's a lot of good things I like about him; his leadership abilities, knowledge of the game, he's getting better at understanding defenses and what has to be done."
"Jaylen Gipson has had a really good camp. He's growing and learning everyday. We wish we could see more out of Kishawn Kelley with his shoulder but I think he's going to be a kid that athletically is going to be right up there with Willie as far as talent."
"We're excited about those guys. We moved Jaylin Nelson to running back but Jaylin will still have a quarterback role for us sometimes. We're excited about the young kids, they've done an unbelievable job during camp and that's why it allowed us to not have to worry somebody being in here and being the starter. We felt like one of those guys could come in here and compete."
"If you listened to me since we signed those guys and got them here this summer, there was going to be a quarterback competition regardless and there still will be."
On Damian Williams:
“He went out there yesterday and he changed the protection on a play that he couldn’t have done had he not known the offense. I think he had two drives yesterday and he did a really good job on both drives. As far as knowledge and all that, he isn’t that far behind at all. He's probably got to get a little bit in shape but, as far as knowing what to do out there, he's not far behind at all."
“His number one role is to be a mentor to the young guys. When we signed him, we told him that we are going to sign some young quarterbacks and his number one role will be to help grow, teach and be a leader in the room. That’s the expectation since he’s been back is to be a leader in that room. He may not play a snap here but he better be a leader in that room."
Developing a culture change:
"You can put a culture in place but a culture doesn’t work unless you’ve got people buy in. This year is so much different because the disheartened and disinterested aren’t here anymore. The buy-in is so much better from our kids, our coaches, our support staff, everything and everybody around that touches our program understands the standard. Now it's a matter of getting 100 percent buy-in from everybody.
“You can’t go to football until you get the culture done. Culture is everyday and we’re going to build it right. Get good kids who care about getting a degree, care about their teammates and care about playing for each other on Saturday.”
"Culture is everyday. It's not something you put in place and then go forget about it, culture is everyday. As long as you're recruiting everyday, which we recruit every single day, your culture has to be looked at every single day because every kid that you bring in better fit that culture."
