Jeff Reed: A Q&A with Red Wolves Coach Bryan Harsin

After the spring football game in Jonesboro, Ark., Saturday April 13, new Red Wolves head football coach Bryan Harsin, had an opportunity to meet with the press. Jeff Reed provides the details of that meeting.

Q: What were your impressions of the spring game?

Harsin: I  thought it was good. You know, really looking at the organization part there at the beginning to make sure we are doing things the right way and the  transition from group to group on offense to defense, and I thought that went well. And then getting back and watching some guys compete. We treated this like another chance to take the next step at their position. The guys who are competing were out there competing today. It was good to see.

I thought the first offense moved the ball well after the first drive. You want to come out there and start fast and that is something we have got to continue to work on. But we did move the ball and had some big plays. We got to get some kids out there doing things we wanted to see them do in game situations. So there were some corrections that were made by the guys on offense and to watch our first defense come out there and play the run well and do some different things up front to give the offense some different looks I thought was good.

So overall, very happy with just  the organization, the structure, the way the guys played and the corrections that guys made out there that we wanted to get done in this scrimmage.

Q: In terms of your offense, how much do you have in already in terms of how much will be ready next fall?

Harsin: All of the spring offense is in. All of that is in but there are still wrinkles and things. We are going to go back and take a look at it. There are some things in there we added, some things this week, things that we needed to balance ourselves out. That will continue through summer as we evaluate the offense and look at the personnel and say these are probably not our best things, let’s try to find something better. We will try to build off that or try new schemes. And that will continue to grow. That is the one thing offensively that I have always been a part of. You’ve got your base and then you build. You see things that you use more and more as the season goes long and you just make adjustments off of that. Everything is in that we need right now.

Of what we wanted to get in, we actually added some things in there. We got about 95 percent of what we tried to get in this spring. And, we will obviously mix and match that as we get into fall camp. I feel good where we are at, it is just cleaning it up. It is the whole operation and you throw in the different pieces of the puzzles out there. I mean every single play it is not what all 11 guys are going to be doing. That just slows it down and makes it look not as efficient as we have in practice or as it can be. That is where we want to clean up.

Q: Talk about Rocky Hayes playing all over the field on the defensive side of the ball.

Harsin: Yeah you saw it. You know we talk about Rocky playing both sides. He has done some. He was out there today, we didn’t use him very much. And we haven’t through spring. We know what we can do. We’ve seen him out there. To allow him to really hone that craft at the corner position, and as we know, that is a big spot out there. You are going to be on an island at times and you have to go out and make plays. The thing I like about Rocky is one he can cover and two he has the ability if he has to come up and make a tackle. And he is explosive when he does it. To me I think he is playing very good and  I like where he is at. I think he is excited about how he is playing. He is challenging our offense to come at him all the time so he has got some confidence. And that is where we want him to get and we want to continue to build on that.

Q: What are your impressions of Stephen Hogan today?

Harsin: I like what Steve is doing. I think Steve in the last two scrimmages has gotten into a little bit of a rhythm throwing the football. We have allowed him to do that. There are just good decisions. He is seeing some things. He did some stuff today that he showed in practice and he carried it over into the game, making some throws, taking some chances. Putting it in there, calculated risks, is really what you want from that position and he did that. And his ability to run the ball. When things break down he can pull it down and run it and he made good decisions doing that.

Overall, the quarterback, the turnovers, I don’t  think we had any turnovers from the quarterback position. If we can do that and the way we play defense the way we played  today, we have an opportunity to be in every single game.  And with Stephen, he continues to elevate himself every scrimmage.

Q: Were you pleased with the progress of the quarterbacks in the spring?

Harsin: I am to an extent. We still have a long way to go. But that is just the high standard and demands we have from that position. They have all done a great job in film preparation, they have all come out to practice ready to play. Now it is just cleaning it all up. We are looking for those shorter, those intermediate throws. Those have got to be automatic. The intermediate ones have got to be high percentage.

Our hots when we take them – we have got to find ways to hit them. And whatever that takes. And sometimes in there is not quite fair, but we have got to find a way to get it done. They understand that and that is the fun part about the group. They understand that. And so they are not going to walk out of here and say we are where we want to be. It is a work in progress. We are always reaching for that goal. And that is a good thing. We will probably never been where we want to be.

I like their work ethic, I like what they are doing. They have made a lot of progress from day one. We want to be perfect, but we are always reaching for that goal. And we will probably never make it, but that is a good thing, and they have made a lot of progress from day one to day 14.

Q: Is there any certain area of the team where you feel like has more more progress?

Harsin: A couple. I do. I feel like our secondary, especially our corners, specifically, Artez (Brown) , Rocky (Hayes) out there and Willie Fletcher. Guys playing the corner position I think they have done a very good job. It has been difficult. We have had some competes. They have made it very hard.

I like where the safeties are at. Our first group of safeties are out there because they are providing complements to those corners – helping them out in different coverages.

I also think our tight ends and our D(efensive) ends have done very well. Our interior guys have done well, but to watch the tight end D-end battle – that is an on-going one. That is like 50-50 they are going one-on-one with each other as to who is going to win. Those two positions right there have had a great battle all spring long. They have really made each other better because of that.

Q: Michael Gordon had three touchdowns today. How impressed are you with him and the progress he has made this spring?

Harsin: I like him. He just continues to be productive there. He knows his abilities. He knows when he can set a guy up and bounce outside. He has got that third gear and can really get going. And he can change in a hurry. And he can slam it up inside. He made some good runs. I thought his vision was good. Just standing back there behind the O(ffensive) line today you could see it. You could see his vision with his cutbacks and that he has got a lot of different styles that I have seen so far and that makes it hard on a defender to try to come in there because he has the vision to run inside and he has the speed to bounce it when he does get on the corner.

But all of those guys have done well. David (Oku) is getting better. David (Oku) has great vision and he is getting better at hitting the hole and getting downhill and that is what we do want when we run it inside the tackles; when you run between the tackles you want to be a downhill team.

Q: With Stephen Hogan, how would you describe him this spring? From talking with you guys it seems like he made the most progress this last week or two. Based on what he did today is he your top guy?

Harsin: I would not say he is exiting as the top guy but has made the most progress and the reason is he did not play the position. So he had the longest to go. He has made the most progress, but he had the longest to go. But the thing about Stephen and all of our quarterbacks is – it is very difficult. When you are competing with four guys going – it is hard to get into a rhythm; Stephen has had the ability to get into a rhythm with some of the reps he has gotten to get into rhythm.

I thought Phillip (Butterfield) tonight got into a rhythm. Fredi (Knighten) made some good throws and played his game a little bit. And Fredi is a guy I like. If everyone is covered he is like ‘I will go make a play.’ And he did that. So I am real happy with where those guys are at and progressing. But like I said it is a process and it is just going to take a long time to get where we need to be.

Q: What do you say about Stephen’s (Hogan’s) mentality? He seems like a real quiet kid. JD McKissic couldn’t even remember his name.

Harsin: If he starts throwing him the ball he will remember his name. Hey No., 8!  He is getting better. I think a lot of  times when you change positions … he is just trying to worry about him. So one thing you see with all of those guys, once they get going, they can get a rhythm. They get into a flow, and now they are communicating and they are moving guys around. They are doing what they need to be doing. They are operating. Stephen is in that kinda mode but he is so focused. He did not do this for a whole entire year so he has to catch up. To his credit he has done that and coach (Bush) Hamdam has done a great job with him of getting him dialed in. In the last two scrimmage,s I really like what he has done.

Q: Spring going into summer what are the overall thoughts on the health of the team?

Harsin: The health of the team is good. There are your normal bumps and bruises that guys have to heal up on.  Right now we talk to them it is all about academics. All about finishing strong in the classroom. Taking care of your bodies, getting yourself healthy. We will be back into the weight room in the summer before you know it, getting bigger,faster, stronger. We have got to come into fall camp better than we are right now. Really that is going to be on the players in the summer, doing their workouts and practices and getting themselves dialed in and ready to go and getting all that timing and all those little things they needed to work on and figured out before August 2nd when we get on the field.