A special thanks to TI correspondent Gavin Oliver who was at post-practice media availability tonight. These notes were sent in from Gavin a few minutes ago.
Some quick notes/quotes from this evening:
-- Dabo Swinney said Ammon Lakip kicking off on Saturday will take some pressure off Greg Huegel, who will retain the field-goal duties.
“(Lakip has) been dialed in, and it’s really good because Greg has earned the trust and has been very consistent, and now we have another guy in there that’s been there and done that. Hopefully (Huegel) will keep performing, but if not, we feel good about Ammon and what he’s done in practice.” -- Dabo said the execution in practice Wednesday was “very, very good” after a “lethargic” day before, especially offensively, when he “thought we were kind of sloshing around.”
“Today was a completely different mentality. On both sides, we got better today. Practice was really good, and it starts with the scouts. Those guys were dialed in and gave us some good looks, and I thought they came with the right mentality today.”
-- Dabo said the staff has re-taught the fundamentals of covering kicks, and he’s made changes to the personnel on the kick-coverage unit with two or three guys and a couple “just not quite ready for the show yet.” Said the kickoff Louisville returned for a touchdown wasn’t scheme-related, as “we had two of the best players we have on this team left totally unblocked.”
-- Said the team is excited to play but not ready to play yet without being fully prepared. The next two days are “Team Thursday” and “Focus Friday”.
“They’re anxious to get back to work, and so are we as coaches, but the most excited team isn’t going to win. You’ve got to be prepared to execute and do the things that gives you a chance to win.”
-- Said he’s not concerned about the weather forecast because both teams have to play the game. Said whether it rained didn’t matter to him when he was a player, either.
“Just focus on what you can control. Whether it’s raining or not, that doesn’t mean you can’t block people or can’t throw and catch or can’t do that type of stuff. If there’s an impact, it’s the same for both teams, so it doesn’t matter.”
-- On Ryan Norton: “Much better. Encouraged with him. He’s responding well. Everybody responds differently to rehab and that type of stuff, but Danny (Poole) is very encouraged with what he’s seen. The good news is he’s going to be back and be able to finish out and finish strong.”
-- On Mike Williams:
“It just all depends on how he heals. He’s doing great, but I don’t have any expectations for Mike Williams. If he’s back, then that’d be great, but I don’t have any expectation.”
Some quick notes/quotes from this evening:
-- Dabo Swinney said Ammon Lakip kicking off on Saturday will take some pressure off Greg Huegel, who will retain the field-goal duties.
“(Lakip has) been dialed in, and it’s really good because Greg has earned the trust and has been very consistent, and now we have another guy in there that’s been there and done that. Hopefully (Huegel) will keep performing, but if not, we feel good about Ammon and what he’s done in practice.” -- Dabo said the execution in practice Wednesday was “very, very good” after a “lethargic” day before, especially offensively, when he “thought we were kind of sloshing around.”
“Today was a completely different mentality. On both sides, we got better today. Practice was really good, and it starts with the scouts. Those guys were dialed in and gave us some good looks, and I thought they came with the right mentality today.”
-- Dabo said the staff has re-taught the fundamentals of covering kicks, and he’s made changes to the personnel on the kick-coverage unit with two or three guys and a couple “just not quite ready for the show yet.” Said the kickoff Louisville returned for a touchdown wasn’t scheme-related, as “we had two of the best players we have on this team left totally unblocked.”
-- Said the team is excited to play but not ready to play yet without being fully prepared. The next two days are “Team Thursday” and “Focus Friday”.
“They’re anxious to get back to work, and so are we as coaches, but the most excited team isn’t going to win. You’ve got to be prepared to execute and do the things that gives you a chance to win.”
-- Said he’s not concerned about the weather forecast because both teams have to play the game. Said whether it rained didn’t matter to him when he was a player, either.
“Just focus on what you can control. Whether it’s raining or not, that doesn’t mean you can’t block people or can’t throw and catch or can’t do that type of stuff. If there’s an impact, it’s the same for both teams, so it doesn’t matter.”
-- On Ryan Norton: “Much better. Encouraged with him. He’s responding well. Everybody responds differently to rehab and that type of stuff, but Danny (Poole) is very encouraged with what he’s seen. The good news is he’s going to be back and be able to finish out and finish strong.”
-- On Mike Williams:
“It just all depends on how he heals. He’s doing great, but I don’t have any expectations for Mike Williams. If he’s back, then that’d be great, but I don’t have any expectation.”
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