The Football Brainiacs

Image via The Football Brainiacs

Quentin Hayes:

* Q has been coming into a leadership role with the team, especially in the secondary. He’s vocal about how he feels like a true veteran and that some of the younger DBs have been leaning on him at times.

* Asked about making plays this season, “I try to make goals for myself and make goals for the defense. Trying to get more turnovers, that’s my goal.” And when asked about specific goals, “I’d be good with about six interceptions.”

* Also mentioned that Julian is working well at corner, and that’s he’s fitting naturally into that spot.

Dakota Austin:

* Asked about fighting for the corner spot, “Regular adversity. I been dealing with adversity before I got here, so it’s nothing new. We’re all just battling for it. I feel like it’s an even playing field.”

* Austin was super confident saying that even last year he believed he had a shot at the job, “I thought I would win the starting spot initially, you know just being a competitor. But it didn’t happen.”

* Despite not shocking the world by seizing the spot opposite Colvin, he did feel like getting in as a backup has accelerated his development and given him a real chance to be more of a contributor in 2014.

* In particular, he said he’s learned to play more patient and that it has let him listen to coaching and learning faster.

Hatari Byrd:

* Byrd came in beaming with confidence, and said he’s been playing at Free Safety so far and likes it. Says that having a real spot has made him feel much more comfortable in the defense, “I wouldn’t say I’m settled in. I can always get better. But I’m very comfortable about knowing my keys and coverage…it’s less about the learning now and I’m just out there playing ball.”

* Singled out a lesser known guy in Thaddeus LeGrone, “He’s a good safety…form tackler.”

* Also been impressed with true freshman safety Steven Parker and how fast he’s breaking into the competition on the back end.

Dominique Alexander:

* Again Alexander is super confident where the defense is right now, “We’re playing at a real high level. Everybody flying around to the ball. We’re really physical up front and our secondary is doing a good job on the back end.”

* On expectations, “I think we can live up to it. Definitely. Coach Mike is always saying we can’t get complacent, and we have to be a better team than we were last year. We’re all focused on doing that, and we want to be one of the top defenses in the country.”

* Alexander said that he’s “a totally different player than I was last year.” Said he’s stronger, faster, and smarter. Like Byrd, he emphasized that he’s feeling more comfortable and playing more on instinct rather than thinking too much.

DJ Ward:

* DJ was positive and vocal about feeling settled in at defensive end. Said he weighed in at around 265, feeling healthy, and had no lingering issues from the spleen issue he had to deal with last year.

* Talked a TON about the new hair. He’s sporting some dreads with red tips and being close to home, he visits his mom a lot and she helps him twist them up.

* He reminded us this was really his first spring to dive in since he was held out in his first year. Like Tyler Evans said yesterday, DJ has really spent a ton of time in the film room making sure he’s ready to put it all together when he gets his chance.

* On the Oklahoma Drill, “Ya I got a rep in there against Sam Grant. I did okay. Came off my hips, used my hands, and got the tackle.”

* Also mentioned that Charles Walker was “amazing” during the Oklahoma drill yesterday.

* Good things to say about Coach Montgomery and the D-line group in general, saying he keeps them all ready to play because he’s good about getting a lot of guys in games.

Tiffany Byrd (Nutrionist):

* Coach T, as the players call her, made an appearance and is as energetic and lively as any player or coach I’ve seen in interviews.

* She said she’s literally the only nutritionist for the entire athletic department, which means the ratio of food service to players is literally 1-to-600. Think that gives you an idea of how much energy she has.

* On helping the team “Fueling for the football team is amazing. They’re great eaters. When I came, the running joke was ‘oh my gosh all we eat is biscuits and gravy and fried chicken’ and now you’ll see that the fruit and vegetables go faster than anything else.”

* When asked if players were hesitant about her coming in and changing their diets, “Coach Stoops introduced me as Coach T and as part of their support staff. So the players were like ‘okay she’s our staff’…I said guys I got your back. I’m here to keep you on the field. I’m here to help you achieve what you want to achieve. Whether its to be a national champion, be an All-American, get on the field, get on the court, compete at the highest level and achieve what you want to do. Nutrition is part of that, and we’re going to fill that gap.” Even the nutritionist is laser focused on that title right now!

* When asked about how they’ve dealt with the heat, “The heat? No. We thrive in the heat. Hydration, cramping, we are proactive about that, but its not something that we fear.” She’s definitely earned that label of Coach.

General Reactions:

* Every single guy that came in today was just dripping with confidence. Whether it was quiet confidence in their ability like DJ Ward staying modest about the Oklahoma drill, or Q.Hayes talking about six picks. Everyone was self-assured. That being said, talking to all the secondary guys I still couldn’t tell you who’s going to be playing where come August 30^th.

* Worth noting that I haven’t seen the players interact with each other in this type of setting as much as they did this morning. Usually they get dragged in and plopped down and swagger out when we run out of questions. Never seen guys wait for each other the way Dom Alexander did. Seems like they are authentically developing a tight bond with one another.

* The interview with Coach T was really illuminating. She, in combination with the training staff, has really seemed to develop an edge for the players and produced great results. It seems like a small thing, but just the way she talked about performance and expectations you can really tell the message and the mission of the team is ridiculously strong going into the season.