Chris White Q&A

[Blair Sanderson]

OPENING STATEMENT

Great to be outside today for the first time in a while. Spring weather has finally hit us, unlike last Friday night in Des Moines.

Just wanted to say quickly about Des Moines; it was really impressive the crowd that came and our players and coaches really appreciate the support. The weather was ridiculous. For the kids who stayed at the end, they had a blast and our players really had a blast working with them and having fun. So it was a great event. Our guys really like going to Des Moines and playing in front of that crowd, so hopefully we can expand that in the future.

As far as the state of my position and really the team as a whole, I think we are making steady progress. And my position is specifically the running backs. Fortunately last year, we had the opportunity to play four guys, and three of them are returning with a lot of experience, minus Jordan (Canzeri) at the running back position. We're going to miss Jordan's leadership. We're going to miss Jordan's production. We're going to miss Jordan's energy. That void needs to be filled, and hopefully some of these younger guys will step up.

Like LeShun, hard to believe LeShun is going to be a senior this year. He played as a true freshman. Has not really had a full season under his belt in terms of staying healthy, so my goal, our goal is to keep him healthy and see what a healthy LeShun Daniels can do throughout a 12-, 13-game season.

Akrum's progress has really developed. It's a day-by-day thing with him but he's showing signs of a lot of maturity, specifically with his body weight. He's been consistent with that, things off the field, academically, he's just maturing. He's growing up and he understands that he needs to really have a huge roll on our football team next year. His impact, the things that he can do on the football field can't be coached. And he realizes that and I think he understands that this team needs him, and he's really growing up.

I think you know, Derrick Mitchell will not be in spring football, but we expect him to be ready to be in the summer program come June and preseason camp we expect Derrick to be back.

So those are the three guys that had a lot of experience with us. You know, we have two younger guys right now. They are just trying to figure stuff out right now. Right now Marcel Joly is a red-shirt sophomore who has really had a good spring, and the past couple days, he's really shown some flashes of his athletic ability.

And Eric Graham is a true freshman, he's just trying to figure stuff out. He's a talented kid that he just needs a lot of reps and I think that the more reps he gets, he's had a lot of reps this spring, so that's been good for him.

As far as the fullback position goes, we lose two really good football players. Macon Plewa and Adam Cox to me were the heartbeat of our offense, what they brought to the table in terms of their physicalness and just their energy, their approach and all that.

So we have some question marks there but I really feel good about the candidates that we have. This program has been built on walk-ons, and Adam and Macon were great examples of that, earning scholarships and really being great football players for us.

I expect at least one or two of those guys will emerge come preseason camp, whether it's Drake Kulick right now, who has played a few snaps on special teams for us and a couple plays last year at fullback. We have Austin Kelly who is a walk-on from Illinois who is a really strong, physical kid. And then we moved Brady Ross over from linebacker, and this kid's a football player. So we are excited to see his growth and development throughout spring and into preseason camp. So that's kind of where we're at with that.

As far as the specialists go, you know, big concern. Obviously Marshall (Koehn) and Dillon Kidd graduating; don't have any experience right now in our program kicking the ball. Miguel had a couple kicks last year. Mick Ellis we red-shirted and he kicked a few his freshman year.

So the field goal part of it is a work-in-progress. That's going to be ongoing throughout preseason camp, so you know, -- we have a new holder. Things people don't really understand, the snap, the hold, all those things need to be really grooved up. We're getting there, but it's going to be a process, as well as the punting situation. Right now we've got Colten Rastetter right now, and a walk-on by the name of Ben Canby, who has been taking the reps.

So that's the major focus in the spring is those two things and then lastly, I'm just glad that Desmond is back. Desmond as a returner, I don't think has scratched the surface of how good he can be. I think at the end of the year, specifically in punts, the one punt he ripped off in the Stanford game was a great run. He's going to get more confident doing that early in the season. He made some judgment errors just fielding the ball, and I think you'll see more explosion out of Desmond there. We'll continue to use him as well as some of the young kids like Jerminic Smith, Josh Jackson, and Adrian Falconer.

That's kind of where my position is at. Just feel good about where the team is right now. We're not looking back. We're trying to build. I think the chemistry is starting to develop, and you know, the kids are just -- they are hungry and we're going to make sure that they stay hungry and humble and we're going to just keep grinding away. Can't believe we have 10 practices already in and spring game is next Saturday.

Q. What can you guys do to keep LeShun healthy? I know some of it's out of your hands, but what can you do to keep him as fresh as possible?
COACH WHITE: Well, I wish I knew. The injuries that he had were all lower body, kind of ankle things, where he just kind of got rolled up. I don't think those are preventable. Just seems like every time he started to really get in a groove, he'd just get that one turn of the ankle and a pile and you know, as you know with Jordan Canzeri, same deal. With ankles, if you can't have that cutting ability and explosion on it, you're not effective, and that's certainly the case with LeShun.

Q. Was that the case with LeShun after the Iowa State game, up until Minnesota maybe?
COACH WHITE: Absolutely. And Jordan, as well. There was a stretch in there after the Northwestern game that they just -- if you're not 100 percent on that ankle, first of all, their confidence, they know when they can make an explosive cut.

And they know when they are kind of just -- it just doesn't feel right and the burst; they are like hybrid horses. They have to be feeling right, and they weren't. You could tell. They will try to fight through it and say, I'm good coach, and they go out and you don't see that, what they are capable of.

Q. LeShun said he wants to be a three-down back. What does he have to do to be a three-down back?
COACH WHITE: Well, I hope he could. I'd love to have a guy who we could just put in there for all three downs.

We've talked about this. He needs to work on his pass protection, which is, you know, he's extremely smart. He's detailed. Just a little bit of the fundamental part of it, I think that's one.

And again, that's a concern that hopefully Derrick Mitchell will be back and Derrick did a nice job and LeShun has really, really improved on catching the football out of the backfield. But he's a big, muscled-up type guy that ball is over his head, balls that are moving a little bit, he had struggled with early, but he's gotten a lot better at that.

 

[Blair Sanderson]

Q. Seemed like a button you guys are pushing with Akrum later in the season, I think in the Big Ten title game and the Rose Bowl, using him in space as a receiver; do you see that continuing?
COACH WHITE: Yeah, Akrum's gifted in space, and exactly right, as many ways as we can get him the ball in space, we're going to try and do that.

You know, even out of the backfield, just doing some one-on-one isolation routes with him, he's tough to guard. Our linebackers, he's so quick, he can cut on a dime and he's explosive. Yeah, to answer your question, absolutely.

Q. LeShun and Akrum in together at the same time?
COACH WHITE: I would love it. We haven't really talked about it. But I think that we -- two years ago, we talked about putting both backs in the backfield but we haven't really talked about that lately. We're trying to get the fullback position right.

But I think more importantly, we feel good about George Kittle and the tight ends, and you know, we'll be I think more in what I call 12-personnel, two tight ends and motioning the tight ends back and forth a little bit.

That's a great question I'll ask Coach Davis when we get back. I'd love to get them both on the field.

Q. What's your balance between LeShun and Akrum, bring different attributes, time share or what do you want to see?
COACH WHITE: That's a tough question, too. I couldn't answer that question last year, as well. It's really kind of a feel thing during the game. I think right now, LeShun is our starting tailback, but that really doesn't mean a lot in the coaches' eyes in terms of how much carries he's going to get, how much time he's going to get.

Each game is different. You know, you've got to play the hot hand. And fortunately last year a guy went down, a guy came in, he got hot. So I mean, that's the beauty, the magic of last year and hopefully we can have the same this year.

I would love to give LeShun the ball 25 times. I would love to see him for 12 games kind of like Shonn Greene, just kind of wear people out. I mean, that would be, I'm sure LeShun would love that and the whole staff would, too.

But unfortunately for him and for us, that has not been the case, but we'll keep trying. He's a talented football player. He's tough, he's smart, and he cares about football. So I'd love to do that. But at the same time, Akrum deserves his plays as well, he's explosive and he's shown that he's taken care of the ball ever since the one in, I think it was Illinois State or whoever it was early in the season. That hurt him. It hurt him, like you've never seen. And he finally said: I'm not going to play, these coaches are not screwing around here. I won't play if I fumble the ball. He's made a great effort to work on that.

Q. How big of a deal was it for Akrum to get over the 190 barrier weight-wise?
COACH WHITE: It's huge. He's still hovering around there. He's plus one, minus one, depending on the day and the weekend and stuff like that. We feed these kids unbelievable now but during the weekend for some reason, they are not getting as much food in their body.

But I think mentally for him, it's big, because I think he feels more physical. His first concern was I'm not going to be as fast. I'm like, that's ridiculous, you're going to be faster. I think he broke the ten record or something with Coach Doyle, and at 190 pounds. He's going to be faster, more explosive, those type of things.

For us, as coaches, we just feel more comfortable with him. More importantly is for the buy-in factor that he's committed to doing what we're asking him to do, and for his future. I told him one day, because he went from like 188 to 184 over the weekend. I said, "Go ahead and Google, starting running backs in the NFL. Tell me how many running backs in the NFL are 185 pounds. Name me one."

And he said, "Oh, okay, Coach." So I mean, he's starting to figure that out, you know.

Q. You said earlier that Akrum has things that you can't coach, and I think we all know what that means. What are those things from the running backs coach perspective?
COACH WHITE: Well, speed, for one. His start to finish is just -- I don't think I've seen that in college, how fast he can accelerate. And then the other thing is, his jump cutting, his lateral movement is as good and as rare as I've seen, as well.

Now you couple that with a little bit more strength to pull through some inside runs, and you've got something now. You get him in the perimeter, he's going to make someone miss and wiggle someone. Now he can run through a tackle and that's the thing that's exciting to see and hopefully you'll see that this fall.

Q. What do you see in the two incoming freshmen, and do they have a chance to crack this rotation?
COACH WHITE: Well, they all do. As we saw last year, you're going to need them all. You can't have enough good players, specifically in the backfield.

We are excited about both of them. They both are bigger backs, 200-plus. Toren is about -- he's trying to stay at 220. I told him not to get too big. Very productive high school career. And Toks, as well, 205-pound six-foot guy that can run. I think he ran 11 seconds at 100 meters just last week and he was 205 pounds, Coach said.

Q. Will the kicking battle go all the way?
COACH WHITE: Yeah, that's going to go probably till game day, I would think, unless someone just really emerges right now. But it's neck and neck right now. One guy has a good day, the other guy has a good day. We've just got to be more consistent. Outside today for the first time really kicking, and it wasn't pretty.

Q. What you guys were able to do with your fullbacks last year and the way that you formed -- give fans the appreciation for what those guys do and how much of a difference they can make? How concerned are you about that this year?
COACH WHITE: Well, I was concerned going into spring, but I tell you what, the last week or two, those guys, all of them have gone in there and just struck a match on some of those linebackers and just really -- you know, the fullback position is so hazardous. And they get absolutely no love, no sugar. They get maybe a ball in the backfield on a flat route every once in awhile. But they understand how important -- their teammates love it when they go in there and just light up a linebacker.

And our running game, the physicalness of our running game would over the history of this program, wouldn't be the same without the fullbacks like we've had here.

And these three, four guys, they are going to be just as good. We won't miss a beat. They are going to be good players.

 

[anon_i8nzeu2gbf0ba]

Two running backs on the field together. That was a really...interesting...response. The RB coach says he'd "love to see it," but they haven't really talked about it lately. Why not? It's a no-brainer to have two backs in there for a significant number of snaps. I certainly know that, as a defender, I would rather not see Wadley and Daniels or Wadley and Mitchell in the backfield together. My job just got exponentially tougher.

The FBs are great, but two talented RBs ought to see the field together often.

 

[Freyvet]

Wouldn

Two running backs on the field together. That was a really...interesting...response. The RB coach says he'd "love to see it," but they haven't really talked about it lately. Why not? It's a no-brainer to have two backs in there for a significant number of snaps. I certainly know that, as a defender, I would rather not see Wadley and Daniels or Wadley and Mitchell in the backfield together. My job just got exponentially tougher.

The FBs are great, but two talented RBs ought to see the field together often.

Wouldn't necessarily disagree but it appears equally difficult for teams to defend when that fill linebacker gets canned by our fullback - we saw that a lot last year in springing our backs to huge runs!