Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Football kicks off Week 3 of spring ball
04/05/2010 | 12:00:00 | Football
April 5, 2010
By Tyler Wooten
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Saluki football head coach Dale Lennon met with the media prior to Monday's practice at McAndrew Stadium.
Q: "What did you learn and what can you take away from the scrimmage?"
"I think we're on course right now. I think we've made good progress from week one to week two. Offensively and defensively there's still a lot to get better at, and that's what we're looking for this week now -- to take the next step. That's how we're evaluating it -- week-by-week."
Q: "Where would you say you are as far as installing the new offense?"
"I would say we have probably two-thirds of the offense in. This week, we're going to concentrate on short yardage, goal-line, two-minute -- and those are some pretty substantial things we want to get in. The majority of the offense is in right now, and the guys have done a very good job of picking up on a lot of the new terms."
Q: "Is anything specific you want to work on this week, like tackling or basics like that?"
"Still keep working on fundamentals. During spring ball, we never lose sight of that--the blocking, tackling, and making sure we do enough to emphasize those skills, and to keep working on the scheme of both offense and defense."
Q: "Working on a story on Kyle Russo. In a 3-4, how does the end affect the dynamic of the players in the game and who is in that front line?"
"The difference between a nose guard and a defensive end is pretty significant. Our defensive ends are what we call the '5 techniques' -- they're lined up on the outside shade of an offensive tackle, and we want those guys to be very athletic and very quick. We want to have them be able to put some stress on the offensive tackles, as far as going inside, going outside, and just playing mind games with the different movements that we can do with them, and that's where Kyle Russo really gives us what we want from that position."
Q: "Do you like the mobility overall of that group so far?"
"Yeah, our defensive line is sitting pretty good. With Russo returning and Chance Coda and Jason Seaman, we have some good experience at the defensive end position. I'm very happy with how Kayon Swanson and Derrick Nsubaga have progressed at the nose guard spot."
Q: "Do you like what you've seen from your running backs here in the spring?"
"Our running backs have played well. In the scrimmage, Steve Strother had a couple nice runs where you got to see what he was capable of doing in the open field. Lucien Walker did a good job of running hard and doing the north-south type running. Shariff Harris only had two touches but the two runs he made were impressive, hard-nosed type of runs. I've been happy with what they've shown to this point."
Q: "Do you expect those carries to be balanced throughout the season?"
"Yeah.To really get through the league, you need three good running backs to be able to share duty, because that is a position where you will get banged up, and they need to complement each other."
Q: "You say Steve (Strother) and Lucien (Walker) complement each other, but do they each have both speed and power?"
"Strother had a good offseason. Last year, we played him as a true freshman, and he probably needed to develop more physically, and that's the thing now where I think of him as more of the complete package where he can hit it up inside and have the strength you're looking for, while still having the quickness and speed on the outside. Lucien has always had the inside potential, but he runs fast enough where, with a little room, he can take it."
Q: "How much have they learned from Deji (Karim) and some of the other guys?"
"The thing you have to be careful about is that each running back has their own style. With Larry Warner, we had to make sure we told the backs, 'We don't want you cutting in the backfield, you have to get to the line of scrimmage.' Larry could cut in the backfield and make big plays. Each has their own style, so we work on developing their game more so than trying to emulate someone else."
Q: "With losing some of your linebackers, who has taken over as far as calling the plays? Has that been Connor James or someone else?"
"Our two inside backers have a lot of experience. Connor James played a lot of football for us and so has Stephen Franklin. Both had very strong off-seasons, tested very well, they're very comfortable with what we're doing defensively, so we feel good about our inside backer spot and how those two have come along."
Q: "Have you changed anything with your defense?"
"Defense is still progressing with the normal 3-4 stuff."
