Saluki Football notebook

02/11/2019 | 4:14:00 | Football

By: By Tom Weber, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Saluki football head coach Nick Hill discussed a range of topics during his signing day press conference last week. Here are excerpts from his media Q&A.

On the big-picture state of the program.
We've got to get better, but I wholeheartedly believe in what we're doing. I believe in the process we have in place, I believe in the men we have in place, and we are going to win. You (fans) are the people who make it worth going out and you are going to reap the benefits of this, too. I truly do appreciate you guys. It's natural to start doubting, 'Are we going to get it done?' I told our team, there's nothing that we can do until we go down to SEMO on August 29th, except shut our mouth, crawl in this hole and start working, out-work people and believe in the process, believe that the little things are what's going to get us there. I know that that's going to happen. We have a great group of people here and I believe you win with great people first.

On the recruiting of quarterback Karé Lyles.
We had him here on Jan. 9 on an official visit. His parents weren't able to make it, and he really liked (SIU), and he wanted us to go and see his parents. He left here on Sunday night, and Coach (Blake) Rolan and I drove to Madison, Wisconsin on Monday. Our first morning workout was the next day and I wanted our entire staff to be here, I for sure wanted to be here. We get up there, and I've never even heard of Tomahawk Steaks before, but if you know what a Tomahawk Steak is…his dad is a big, strong guy and they like to eat, so we downed a big Tomahawk Steak his dad had made, stayed there until 9 o'clock. Coach Rolan drove back and I got a little shut-eye, got back around 3:30 (a.m.) and had workouts at 6. That was a long day but it's going to be well worth it and one that we'll talk about for a long time because it was worth going up there and seeing his family and getting Karé to sign.

On the impact of having two signing periods.
I think that you can find a lot of really good players at our level (FCS) that really probably should be FBS players that are left now because so many people feel like they have to get filled up in the early signing period. We were able to sign a lot of really good players that probably could play FBS football, but we were able to sign them here in the last month.

On which newcomers might emerge to make an immediate impact.
I tell (the freshmen) now with the rule of playing four games (and still being able to redshirt), that they all should have the expectation to come here and compete and take somebody's job. I tell them we're recruiting the wrong guy if you're going to come here and take a back seat to somebody. Somebody on this list will emerge. D.J. Davis was a Freshman All-American, Jeremy Chinn was a Freshman All-American, Je'Quan Burton came and had a really good season as a true freshman. Transfers that you sign — you're taking them to come and help your team out right away. They're mature enough and you targeted them to come fill a need and play.

On Nate Thurman's pass-rushing potential at either defensive end or outside linebacker.
We feel like he's a guy who is going to be in the front four, whether that's him standing up or he's got his hand in the dirt. He's a natural being up there in the line of scrimmage and rushing the passer, specifically. At 239 pounds right now as a senior in high school, he's going to be up around 245 or 250 and big enough to play the run and play every down.

On how he expects the quarterback competition to play out between transfer Karé Lyles and the returnees.
The bottom line is we have to find a championship quarterback. I feel like there's guys in our room who can do that. You win at that position and you have to play winning football. I'm not saying you have to be an All-American or have the best stats, but you have to win games. Adding Karé, we wouldn't have signed Karé if we didn't think he had the ability. No one gets told they're going to come in here and play. We want guys who know they're going to have to come in here and earn it and compete. I already see that competitive spirit in Karé.

On quarterback Cooper Callis.
He came to (SIU's) camp when he was in high school and had an outstanding high school career. We want guys who want to be here, and Cooper wanted to be here. He's done it the hard way, going down to be a junior college quarterback in Mississippi. He took a beating a little bit this year, is a tough kid, so we're excited about Cooper coming here and competing. He knows nothing is given, you have to earn everything. What I appreciate most about Cooper is, yeah, we have five quarterbacks but that doesn't scare him off. He's here to compete.

On the importance of spring ball for the quarterback position.
That's the one position where you've got to have spring ball. Those 15 practices, all those meetings, getting here and learning the system, not only that, but learning your teammates. That guy has to be a leader for you, so you can't just show up on campus and (instantly) earn the respect of your teammates.

On the range of skill-position players in the signing class.
We added some really good athletic, pass-catching tight ends. Branson Combs is a kid who can play all over the field and is going to grow and get to 220 pounds, 225 pounds and be kind of a matchup guy that plays H-Back. Avery Taggart's the same thing — has played wide receiver, is a good basketball player, is a really good skill player. Avante Cox is a kid that's kind of a jet-sweep guy, speed guy, slot guy. He has really, really good speed. As we play on offense when we spread you out, you need guys who can do something when you get them the football. Avante can do that. In the back end, we signed some DBs that have great length. PJ Jules is the shortest DB we signed and he's over 6-1 with great length and athleticism. We really made sure they definitely fit the tangible part of what we want with size, length and athleticism.

On running back Romeir Elliott.
He's an incredible kid, a loyal kid, because he had a couple big schools that came and offered him the last week and made it really tough for him to sign here. He was the best running back in the state of Indiana by far. A lot of people overlooked him because of his height. He appreciated that we were his first offer. He called me and said, 'you were the first one to believe in me and I'm coming there, and we're going to change this thing around.' That meant a lot. He rushed for 3,000 yards in one season and won a state championship game. I think he's a guy that the University of Indiana, those schools will look over here and see him and wish they would've had him in a couple years.

On the depth at the running back position.
We moved Javon Williams to running back. D.J. Davis had a really good year, and as we go through (film) cut-ups, and we're breaking down the last season right now and getting ready for spring ball, D.J. had an excellent year. He had an outstanding year, but you can't do it alone. I think Romeir (Elliott) is a guy you have to expect to come in here and take some carries. I think he thinks that, too.

On Javon Williams' role in the offense.
He's going to be in the running back room, but we'll do all kinds of stuff with him. Eventually, he'll take some snaps from quarterback I'm sure. He's in Nate (Griffin's) room right now, after spending a year with me learning the offense from the quarterback spot. Javon's just a guy you have to get the ball to. He's as natural as they come, as far as making plays. We'll figure that out, and this spring will be good for him and us, figuring out what role he really fits in.

On developing depth across all positions.
Last year's class has to keep developing. This is going to be their first spring ball and you're going to hear a lot of names that are redshirt freshmen that you didn't know about or forgot about that we signed last year. You keep stacking good classes on top of each other, you start to reap those benefits. We found out this year, depth is the key to winning championships in football. You're as good as the next guy who is going to play. Staying healthy is important. It's easy to say, but so much goes into the offseason right now and training, taking care of your bodies. We play a physical sport in which there are going to be injuries. The next guy has to be ready to go.

On the offensive line.
We graduated two offensive linemen and have three returning. Adding Nate (Pierre) there to create competition, we feel good about a couple of kids we signed last year that will be redshirt freshmen that are really going to push to play. You have to see that in spring ball and earn it in training camp. We ended up signing six offensive linemen — the most we ever signed — but we also lost five senior offensive lineman, so it was important for us to hit that (position).

On whether a new defensive coordinator means a change from the 4-3 alignment.
I think we'll be more multiple this season. I think if you come out and watch spring ball right away, we'll be in a 4-down, that's the way our team has been set. As we get going through spring, we'll figure that out, so maybe you'll see us in some more odd structures and standing a guy up. You have to adapt to your personnel. If a guy is (among) the best 11, we have to get the best 11 guys on the field no matter what the scheme is. Just because you run a 4-3, if the best player is an outside linebacker, we have to get him out on the field. I think you'll see us be more multiple and using our strengths.