Eric Studesville – July 28, 2019
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Sunday, July 28, 2019
Running Backs Coach Eric Studesville
(I want to talk about the running back situation. Let’s start with RB Kalen Ballage. How would you classify his training camp so far and what has he shown you?) – “I think he’s working hard. He’s done a great job in the classroom and he’s bringing it out onto the field. He’s putting himself in a position to compete and that’s what we want them all to do. I think all the guys are doing a good job at that.”
(What about RB Kenyan Drake?) – “I would tell you the same thing. We’re early on in this thing and we’re doing everything we can to be prepared to come out on the field because if you don’t know what to do, you can’t perform on the field. We’re all working at that and coming out here, and they’ve done a great job with that. That’s creating competition, which is what we want.”
(RB Mark Walton?) – “It’s no different. It’s a great room. These five or six guys I have in this room, you can go through all of them – you can go to (Kenyan) Drake, (Kalen) Ballage, Kenneth Farrow, Mark Walton, Myles Gaskin, Patrick Laird – these are great kids that work hard, that are passionate about this game and they all come to work every day. That’s going to give every one of them a chance to compete when they come out here. That’s all we can ask for.”
(We’ve seen RB Kalen Ballage get a lot of work this camp so far. How much should we read into that?) – “We’re trying to figure out everybody’s role on here, so we’re going to move people around. There’s going to be people moving around and doing things at different times. Sometimes there’s plays on the script. We want guys to go in and compete. We’re going to put them in positions to compete and it may be a play here, it may be two plays there, I don’t know. It changes every day. There is no set rotation of what we’re doing.”
(Obviously, RB Kalen Ballage has about 20 pounds on RB Kenyan Drake. What does that offer for you in terms of power running, goal-line situations and things like that? It’s got to be a big advantage.) – “Those things. And then Drake has 20 less pounds than him so he’s got advantages to having 20 less pounds too. The thing is they all have different skillsets. What we’re trying to do is figure out how we can utilize their skill sets and give us the best chance to win. That’s all we want to do.”
(Has it been fun for those guys to run behind a fullback for a change?) – “I think it will be, but it takes time to do that when you haven’t done that. It’s different to have another guy closer to you and he has to make decisions. There is a trust that builds in that. Chandler (Cox) has done a great job of coming in here. It started yesterday in pads right away. He’s physical with his pad level. We’ll all get better at that and we’ll get better feeling him and what’s going on. I think it adds another dimension to our offense and capabilities and what defenses have to prepare for.”
(Is it possible fullbacks will make a comeback in this league? For a while, it was like they didn’t exist. You’re shaking your head no?) – “That’s not a no. They’re just hard to find. They’re hard to find guys because the job description is not great. It takes a special person to want to go in there play after play and want to smash it in there. That’s what you’ve got to look for and that’s what those guys do. When you can find one and they’re dependable, they can make a difference for your football team. We think Chandler (Cox) is on that road. We’ve just got to keep developing and keep getting better and getting better and see how it ends up playing out.”
(What is the next step for RB Kenyan Drake? You’ve spent a year with him already. What does he need to do to get his game to the next level?) – “I think there’s different things every week. Every day they come out, to take his game to the next level, he has to continue to work and continue to develop and find other things that he can do to use his skillset. It’s not a magic formula. It’s just that we’ve got to keep working to get better. That’s all of us. That’s not him. That’s all of us to go to the next level, we’ve got keep working and keep working. You can’t stay – we’re good today so tomorrow I’m going to do the same thing. It doesn’t work that way.”
(It seems RB Kenyan Drake been a third-down back most of his career, used in that situational roll. How does he do more?) – “Play on first and second down. We played him a bunch on first and second down last year. I don’t think he’s a third-down back. He’s going to determine what that role is by what he does out here. We’re not pigeonholing him and saying he only does this. We’re going to put these guys out here and they’re going to show what they can do. They’ll show us what they can do and then they’ll determine what the roles are and how they do everything.”
(With RB Mark Walton, what does he need to do to make this football team?) – “I hate to say this but he just has to keep working and establish what his role is and how he can contribute. I don’t know what that is. I don’t want to say I’m looking for him to do this because that might be limiting him. He’s going to demonstrate to us what he can do and if there’s things that fit into how we see the offense being built and developing, and he’s part of that and he is, he’ll establish that. We won’t determine that and put him in a hole.”
(Different teams have different philosophies when it comes to running backs. Some like to have a so-called ‘workhorse’ back. Others go with maybe situations and different roles and things like that, or maybe you go play to play. What is your philosophy and Head Coach Brian Flores’ and Offensive Coordinator Chad O’Shea’s philosophy towards that?) – “Put the best players on the field that give us the best chance to win. That’s a fact. Whoever gives us the best chance on Sunday, that’s who we need to have out there to give us a chance to win. Then we have to do things around them to make them successful, whoever that is.”
(That may change week to week or play to play?) – “There’s so many things that could change. It could be week to week, it could be injury situations, this and that. But somebody has to be out there and somebody has to give us the best chance to win, so we have to get them prepared. They have to demonstrate that we can trust them, that they’re accountable. We have to put them in positions to be successful and that’s what we’re all doing out here. We’re trying to establish all of those things now. That’s what these practices are for.”
(I know it’s only been four days but you seem, just by hearing you talk, that you’re pleased with the work that they’re putting in and the way they’re going about the job.) – “Yeah, I really am. I think these guys have a tremendous work ethic. I think they’re smart, they’re dedicated and clearly putting the time in in the classroom. I think it shows out here that they’re able to come out and execute their assignments. Now we’re seeing can they do it physically, and that’s the next part of the whole transition.”
(It seems like that’s been limiting their mental mistakes or physical mistakes because there haven’t been all that many out there.) – “There’s some, but that’s why we practice. We practice because – some of them are learning situations that we can learn from, some of them are mistakes for whatever reason – but that’s why we practice. So what we have to do is we have to find the guys that don’t make mistakes, those we can trust, and they are going to establish their roles by those kinds of things. Those are the guys that end up kind of rising to the top.”
(So there’s room in the backfield for a guy from Alabama and a guy from Auburn?) – “(laughter) I just hope that they don’t start throwing punches in the huddle at any point in camp. I think there’s room.”
(Where have you seen the most growth in RB Kalen Ballage from this time last year until now?) – “I don’t know if it’s any one area. I think it’s all-inclusive. It’s everything that he’s done – how he works in the meeting room, how he has prepared himself physically. He comes out here knowing what to do. He knew what to do last year too. It’s just a matter of getting opportunities to sometimes show what you can do. The timing of it is different all of the time for different players. But he continues to push himself. He’s passionate about it, he wants to be really good and he works like that.”
(Was that 75-yard run last year an eye opener for RB Kalen Ballage?) – “No. He had some runs out here last year in practice that were pretty impressive too. That’s what we say: when an opportunity presents itself, you’ve got to take advantage of it.”
