UCF defensive coordinator Travis Williams loved his unit's energy during last week's scrimmage, but wants to see who's ready to play on Wednesday when the difficulty level ramps up in the second scrimmage. During his weekly appearance with the media, Williams talked about the early progress, the continuing quest to find "standards" and not starters, leaders and more.
What did you learn from last Wednesday's scrimmage and continued to learn in the practices since then?
"That was our first scrimmage, so first time doing some live tackling. You can see who can tackle and who can tackle in space. Who's trying to be physical. Who can play within the scheme because we're throwing a lot of things at them. It was good to see. I thought we came out with great energy. We've got to continue to build upon that and making sure the guys get better every day."
From the first scrimmage to this next scrimmage coming up, what are you focusing on specifically?
"You've got your scheme and all that, but it's making sure those guys are getting to the football. Making sure we are tackling. We want to be sure tacklers. That's the main thing, getting guys on the ground. Scheme wise, we'll coach them up. Whatever we missed up on in the first scrimmage, we want to improve in this scrimmage. Making sure guys understand the pace we want to play. The energy we want to play with. The physicality. Making sure everybody is on the same page with what we want as far as our standard."
Gus said last week he thought the defense performed in the scrimmage and stood out. What were you pleased with?
"Just the energy. We were in the stadium, which is always good. The energy we came out with was really good. The focus was good. I think they had an edge about them in the last scrimmage. At the same time, we have to continue to keep that edge and keep the standard. But we were very pleased with the energy and the edge we came out with."
At this point in camp, what are the biggest questions you still have to answer?
"Really just getting the guys in the right seat. We have a lot of different battles defensively. In our mindset, we don't have starters. We have standards. A guy may go out there the first play and play the same amount of snaps as the other guy coming in. We want to rotate a lot of guys. Especially the guys we know who can play. We're not just rotating to rotate. You've got to know the scheme. You've got to know what we've asked of you. You've got to have energy and the excitement. The main thing is we've got so many different battles, it's about getting the guys in the right seat."
What do you want to know after the second scrimmage? Define a depth chart?
"Just want to see who can handle the pressure. Who can handle different situations. If you're going out there with a first group or second group or whatever, how do you handle that. The offense is driving, who is going to be that leader and getting guys set. Those little things that we look for in this second scrimmage. It was very vanilla the first scrimmage on both sides of the ball. The offense will open it up and we'll open it up defensively. Just seeing who can make checks and who can react to different things."
How would you describe the defensive line? I know there's some new faces there competing there during camp."
"I think Coach Kenny Martin and Coach Kenny Ingram are doing a great job. The defensive line has an edge about them, a confidence about them. I think it's a group we can lean on. You can just feel their confidence and that edge. That entire group. That's always good, especially for the linebacker in me to play behind a defensive line with that edge and confidence."
At corner last season, Corey Thornton as a true freshman started every game. Davonte Brown, Justin Hodges got time. How are the young corners doing in year two?
"They're doing well. You can see they were thrown into the fire last year as true freshmen. When they got here, they didn't go through a spring. Fall camp you had COVID. So they had to learn on the job. They were out there getting on the job training during the games. You can see those guys taking steps forward and getting better and better each week."
About two weeks before the opener, how soon do you start scheming for Boise State?
"With me, I like the keep the main thing the main thing. I'm trying to get the guys in the right seats first and then we'll move on to Boise. I do know they're a well-coached team. I know they're a team that will fight you to the death. Hard nosed. Really good players. I respect their program. I have to really focus in on my job here and getting guys in the right seat."
How fast is the leadership coming around?
"When we first got here, we didn't know anyone. They were trying to figure us out and we were trying to figure them out. Once they realized these guys were pretty cool, how they cared about us, you started seeing the guys buy into the leadership. Talking our language and seeing what we were trying to do. You saw it in the middle of the summer during workouts. Coach Dawson had those guys, so we had an assessment of who's the vocal leader, who's busting their tails. Now you can see a bunch of guys being vocal and the standard we're looking for."
Bryson Armstrong, you said you were moving him around. How are you using him on defense?
"If I tell you, I've got to kill you. He's doing well. Moving around to different places. He's a football player. He made some plays the last scrimmage. One-handed interception. He's a football player. Put the ball down and he's the guy you want in the alley with you that's tough and hard-nosed. Just got to watch us the first game and see where he's gonna play."
What are you seeing from your linebacker and particularly Eriq Gilyard?
"A leader. He's a quiet leader. The guys respect him. He's very smart and knows the system inside and out. He gets guys lined up. That's what you want. You want a guy that can get guys lined up. When all the crap is going on, he can get guys lined up with that poise and confidence that you need playing in the middle. Also that edge about him as well. That's what we like and that's what we're getting. We're getting a seasoned veteran and a guy that's sharp. One thing when you're calling plays, the thing that's comfortable for coaches is having guys that knows what he's doing in getting guys lined up. That's what we've got with EG.
How important is it to have versatile guys that can move around?
"It's very important. We do a complex scheme. We do different things. Guys have to be able to play multiple positions. You may be at a position one week doing one thing, next week with a different deal. You may be there for one series and the next series do something different. It's complex, but at the same time it's simple enough for our guys to learn. We're going to do what they can do and not try to force a system on them. They've been picking it up. It's been good. We've got smart players, so that's always good."
What are some of the unique names you have for positions? I've heard some references from players.
"You've got a money backer which is a will backer. The MAC backer is the mike backer. You have a Knight, we're the Knights, right, so the Knight is the guy that can do a lot of different things depending where we want to line them up. That makes our scheme complex. We have a buck which is an outside guy that can line up anywhere. Can cause confusion for the offense in trying to ID who guys are and can help us with different blitz packages. Money, Mac, Buck, Knight. Get to the ball."
You just talked about Eriq Gilyard being a leader. Who are some other guys that have stepped up there?
"What's unique about this squad is we have quiet leaders who lead by example. EG (Eriq Gilyard) is one of them. He just goes and guys follow him. Guys respect ball players. They know he's a ball players. You have vocal leaders. KD (Kalia Davis) is another that leads by example. You have Big Kat (Bryant), that's a vocal guy. You have Newt (Divaad Wilson), that's a vocal guy. You've got Bryson (Armstrong) who is like EG. You don't know if he's in the room. You have Tatum (Bethune) who will talk. You've got Drop (Tre'Mon Morris-Brash). Sometimes I tell Drop, if you think it, don't say it. He's another one that's vocal. You never know what he'll say, in a good way. I love being around him. Ricky (Barber), he's another one. He's in the room, but you wouldn't know. He's lead by example. We've got a variety of guys. The quiet ones, you've got the ones who like to talk. You've got to Davonte Brown out there and you won't know he's in the room. It's awesome to have a mixture of guys, but all of them lead in their own little way, which is cool."
What did you see with communication in the last scrimmage?
"The first scrimmage was good. It was great communication. It was a great edge about us, but again, it was vanilla. This scrimmage on Wednesday with be formations, motions, adjustments. Different things that we have to communicate. We'll really see where we're at this next scrimmage."
