With Day 10 wrapping up on Monday, UCF is officially two-thirds of the way through spring practice. With a big scrimmage scheduled for Wednesday, head coach Josh Heupel talked about their progress and also broke down the ongoing quarterback competition.
Winding down the last two weeks, how are the guys looking?
"You walk off today and you've got five opportunities left. Wednesday will be a scrimmage day for us. That's a huge day for some of the areas where there's a lot of battles. Obviously at quarterback. I think our guys, at every position, have continued to progress. I think we got better practice habits. Guys have been focused and competitive when they've been on the field. Made mistakes, but for the most part have grown from them. Wednesday will be a big day for everybody in the program."
Are you hoping to name a No. 1 QB after spring or will you take it into August?
"We say this with all our guys. If you see guys that have continued issues where they're making the same mistakes, that probably tells you where they're at in their growth pattern a little bit. That they're not going to continue to progress to where you want. All the guys have had ups and downs at that position. Good plays and not-so-good plays. They have continued to get better, both fundamentally in their decision making and throwing the football and being accurate with it. Being on time with it. You want to start seeing some separation. That's when you can make a decision. Wednesday, everybody being off the practice field in a scrimmage situation, handling all the game management that will come up, it's a big day for somebody to continue to push themselves forward in that battle."
What was behind the decision to bring in Brandon Wimbush and what did you sell to bring him here?
"The opportunity to compete. KZ being down, not having an entrenched starter I think was appealing to him. When we talked to him, his experience was something that we were able to watch and see him. His physical skill set fits some of the things that we want to do. He wanted an opportunity to have an open quarterback battle, come in and compete and go win a job. He's handled himself in a great way since he got here on campus. He's earned the respect of the guys around him. On both sides of the football, offensively and defensively. He's gotten better every single day out here."
How have you seen Darriel Mack Jr. respond since Brandon came in?
"Not just D.J., but the entire quarterback group. Those guys have embraced one another. They like being around each other. They have fun in the meeting room together. They compete internally against themselves, with the guys around them too, but they do it in a positive way. Our football team has taken notice of that as well. There's a brotherhood that exists. The strength of one position and certainly the quarterback room can never be one guy. That can't be who we are as a program. They've handled it just like that."
How are the young guys factoring into the quarterback competition between Quadry and Dillon?
"Those guys are playing really good football. Quadry has got a lot of talent. Arm talent. Quick twitch. Explosive as a runner. He's grown as a decision maker in handling the communication and everything that goes on from the previous play until the ball is snapped. Gotten better at his decision-making process as well. D.G. has been phenomenal for a freshman. Extremely accurate with the football. Been a great decision maker. It's never been too big for him, from the first day he ran between the white lines. He's continued to grow as a young kid. Certainly should. I really like those two young guys are playing as well."
Is this spring like night and day compare to last year?
"I think it's night and day for a lot of reasons. Since we got back in January, just the buy-in and the trust from our players. Believing in the communication process and what we're trying to get accomplished. For them, I think it's less stressful as well because they understand the expectations. They understand what's going to happen on a daily basis every day they walk into the building. Once we've gotten on the practice field, we've got a much better understanding of some of the concepts. We've been able to clean up some of the detail that we needed to in some of our schemes. Go back and look at self-scout, they're able to look at the mistakes and how they impact us as a football team. Just the subtle technique or the assignment mistakes and correct those things. Come out and not play perfect, but play better and have a purpose behind what they're doing."
Where has Brandon Wimbush shown the most growth?
"I think fundamentally. He's grown so much as a passer. His body position, foot placement inside of the pocket, that's been a big area of growth and emphasis."
There were several leaders who graduated, like Wyatt Miller on offense and Titus Davis on defense. Who has stepped up there this spring?
"The great thing about college football is approximately 25 percent of your roster turns over every single year. It's a great opportunity for guys to go capture jobs and get themselves on the field. Got to go earn it. Also a great opportunity for guys to thrust themselves into a leadership position. There's a lot of guys, on both sides of the football and on special teams, that have taken ownership. Special teams wise, Jon Powell has got a loud voice in that room and certainly should based on the way that he played a year ago. Multiple guys on both sides of the football on offense and defense have started to take ownership of that. At the end of the day, it can't just be one or two guys. There's got to be a big collective group that's going to take the ownership and make sure we accomplish our mission every single day and ultimately through the course of the season as a team."
On the defensive line, I know a lot of guys will arrive later on, but based on the group out there now, how has that unit fared?
"I like that they're growing. We as a staff, Coach Burnham, we're going to continue to nitpick all the things they've got to continue to progress at. I like the competitiveness that group has had. They're starting to play quick off the football. Play explosive and play on the other side of the line of scrimmage. Getting better at using their hands and playing with better pad level. All things we're going to need as we got into the season."
Cam Goode, how is he factoring in on the defensive line?
"He's done a really nice job. Natural pad level for him because he's not freaky long, but plays with great power, great strength. Has really good quickness off the line of scrimmage. Off the snap. He's done a really nice job. I think he's grown a lot from day one to where he is now."
How is McKenzie helping from a coaching perspective?
"Most days in the quarterback room. He's coaching those guys up. Gives insight, thoughts. Been really good as a sounding board for those quarterbacks. A really calm demeanor and presence in coaching those guys up."
Is there an area that maybe has surprised you or maybe made the most progress since day one?
"I think we're playing better on both sides of the line of scrimmage, pad level and technique. Defensively, some of the young guys I talked about earlier still have got to progress. But I like the accountability that's in that room and how they're accepting of coaching right now. I think that will lend itself to us continuing to making a bunch of strides at that position."
