Fri., Aug. 18, 2023
Greentree Practice Field
Don Bailey, Jr: Coach, you had a scrimmage today and were looking for a lot of consistency. Did it show up?
Mario Cristobal: “At times it did. Defensively, they were very consistent. They got after the offense. They allowed an explosive play, and then they buckled down and made it difficult in every way, shape and form. First down, bringing pressure, knocking back the run, and they made it very difficult on third down. When we had some lightning outside and had to come inside, the script was flipped – the running game started flowing, we started connecting on some of the bigger shots we were taking. We just looked more efficient on offense and made some explosive plays. The goal line scrimmage, the short yards part, we got exactly what we wanted out of that. We wanted physical play – healthy play, of course. But we got better. We got better at the point of attack on both sides of the ball. We got more demanding in terms of effort, with how to finish plays – especially in those situations. There was progress, and then of course, a lot of work to do.
Don Bailey, Jr.: Competition is coming into play. I see everybody’s game being elevated and that’s really what you want.
Mario Cristobal: “That’s what we want, and you see guys getting better just from fighting through this competition. But also, we’re trying to create separation. We’re trying to create roles for everyone. To name a guy a legitimate starter, there has to be some kind of separation. If there isn’t separation, and they’re all playing well, that’s good too. You get to play a lot of guys, with multiple players getting multiple reps. We want to continue to push that and push that hard, because we have several guys that may not have earned a starting spot yet, but they have earned playing time and they have earned the opportunity to compete for a starting spot, and that’s really valuable. We need more of that.”
Don Bailey, Jr.: You’re two weeks away from kickoff at Hard Rock Stadium against Miami of Ohio. How do you taper it down, and what’s the schedule from here on out?
Mario Cristobal: “This was a really important day. This is, I believe, practice number 15 or 16. But this was scrimmage number two. We had 125 or 130 plays and are going to grade it like a game, treat it like a game, assess it, walk through the corrections and see where we are – what we do well, what we need to get better at, where we can adjust. That being said, this is the time in camp where we give them 48 hours to regenerate, recover…they’re still doing film, still doing some work, but taking the pads off of them for a little bit before we get right back at it on Monday.”
Don Bailey, Jr.: Are you as happy as you can be at this point in camp, with the conditioning and physicality aspect of this football team?
Mario Cristobal: “I’ve been coaching now 27 or 28 years, and I don’t know if the word “happy” is ever in it. That word is so foreign when it comes to it. What I’d legitimately say I’m enthused about it is the progress of the program – the guys in the locker room, the culture, the DNA, the drive behind it daily. It’s what you want to see daily. You want to see guys going in to meet, you want to see guys doing the right things, guys finishing drills the right way, blocking technique and fundamentals. Making corrections the right way. We’ve seen a lot of progress there and we’re going to keep pushing that hard to make more progress.”
