When it comes to this, I consider the following to be my guide...
So, anyway, everything is different. First, the presser is now available in VIDEO (golllyyyy), and that's harder to make edits with, although I prefer it just to the audio version. And, it can be on Youtube, which is both more reliable than whatever audio deal they had last year, AND it can be posted here on this site. And will.
So, I watched the presser. I swear to God, 95% of all coach's pressers have to be the same at every college in the country. You know, we gotta move the chains, score points, take care of the football, play good special teams....someone should write a computer program that could do one of these pressers.
Which is why Coach Brandon erupting into a dissertation on how "salty" the opponent was, or, for that matter, in outright dissembling and deception, was very rewarding. (Sniff).
So, here is a summary of what I heard from Coach Clawson that seemed meaningful (editing out the platitudes so you don't have to).
He says that with the first game, you don't know what you are going to get, and that includes Troy. Even though their coaching staff stayed the same, they could still have done some "research" in the off-season, and have some new wrinkles.
Coach says we have gotten better. You know, we just need to eliminate mistakes, and play assignment football...because Troy has some big play guys, and we miss an assignment, they will score.
He had lots of good things to say about Troy, which is both obligatory and in this case, true. They are very fast, and have a very good WR and TB. Clawson actually recruited Levi Brown, their QB, to Richmond, and he transferred to Troy. Anyway, there was then a long declimation on the virtues of having multiple weapons on offense.
He also noted that both Troy DEs, in his opinion, could be drafted. When asked how we would handle that, he said, "we have to block them."
Check.
The game notes came out with the depth chart today. The biggest surprise was the emergence of Brandon Jackson at Defensive End. He will be starting. A true senior (right? ugh), he has not had much playing time, but Coach said he had the best camp and knows what he is doing. We will do a lot of rotating however, and while all the lineman are new and none are experienced, we do apparently have 7-8 who are equally capable, which does let us keep them fresh. (And, if true, does bode well for the future as they mature together).
Oh yeah. You have to "play with a motor."
Coach also talked about some Falcons who had big camps and emerged as big players. They include Ray Hutson (WR---boy, could we use that), Keith Morgan at S, and Willie Geter.
He talked extensively about Willie Geter, saying that he is as important to our team as any offensive player we have. He talked with admiration about his pass blocking and fearlessness.
He also said that he has preached to the team that they have to be tougher and deal with adversity better, which is probably the one thing that cost us a shot at the conference title last season.
He was asked about Robert Lorenzi who was suspended by Brandon for one game but was injured. For the second time, he acted like he had no idea there had been a suspension and said Lorenzi was "cleared" to play.
Finally, he was asked to comment on the imbroglio de jour...the RichRod practice controversey. His answer was that the rules are "pretty clear," but that you did have players coming to look at film on their own time. (This whole voluntary thing is completely unenforceable, but that's another issue).
Anyway, you can follow below to watch for yourself.
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