Sept. 1, 2015
Mason | Herring, Pulley & Sherfield | Gameday Central | Game Notes
Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason, linebacker Darreon Herring, offensive lineman Spencer Pulley and wide receiver Trent Sherfield met the media Tuesday to discuss the Commodores’ upcoming matchup with Western Kentucky. The season opener is set for Thursday at 7 p.m. CT at Vanderbilt Stadium.
Vanderbilt Head Coach Derek Mason
Opening Statement:
“I’m excited to get back on the grass. It has been a long nine months, a lot of work. Our guys have done everything that they can for this moment. We’ve done a really good job of being able to look at our staff, our infrastructure, this football team, how we train, what we do and now Thursday night we get to step on the grass and kick off this 2015 football season.
As I look at the changes that have been made in the offseason, everything was toward progress. It has been exciting. To see these guys come back to camp in great shape, work extremely hard and understand the mindset and standard that has been set in this program in terms of winning, and to do just that – get back to winning.
This unit looks to be a competitive football team in 2015. We get a chance to test our mettle Thursday night against Western Kentucky, which is an extremely good football team. They’ve got a great quarterback, who was the Conference USA Player of the Year. He is extremely good at what he does. They are talented across the board. This is a statement game for both teams. I definitely look forward to making a statement against this football team that is coming in here because it is the only game we are playing. It is the one we have been locked and loaded on the last three and a half weeks.”
On the opportunity the first game presents:
“I think this is an opportunity for our fan base to see who these kids are in 2015 and that is what we are going to be judged on. The opportunity is there. We play a quality opponent in this opening game and we just want to make sure we play our best game.”
On balancing being head coach and defensive coordinator:
“The structure on the sideline is going to look more like me being defensive coordinator when those opportunities present themselves, and that is when our defense is on the field. But I’m the head coach all the time. As soon as our defense comes to the bench, between Coach (Kenwick) Thompson and Coach (Marc) Mattioli, they’ll handle the adjustments. Those guys have been around me, they know me, they know what we want and they know how we need to adjust the defense. I’m going to be paying attention to the offense and any significant calls or challenges that need to be made. My eyes are always going to be on the game.”
On what results he is looking for with the offense:
“First of all we’ve got to compete. We’ve got to be able to stay on the field. You want to make sure that your offense moves efficiently, puts the ball in the end zone, scores points, can continue to manufacture drives, changes field position when necessary. Those things are how we are going to be judged. With that being the case, the audience is going to judge. We are judging a little more myopically just in terms of what our consistency is and how we are able to function on gameday.”
On the quarterback position:
“The quarterback will not be addressed. You will see it Thursday night.”
On the advantage of waiting to announce a quarterback:
“I’ve got two quarterbacks who are more than capable of playing, but here’s the deal: I’ve got a starter and a backup. My idea is to take the pressure off these guys and go play the game. It’s not about who the fans want to see or what they need to know. It’s about what puts these guys in the best situation to play well. Right now I’ve been able to provide a shield around these guys, so we focus on the task at hand. The task at hand is not who the starter is, the task at hand is to go win.”
On the number of true freshmen that will play:
“You may see between eight and nine true freshmen that will get on the field when the opportunity presents itself.”
On the difference between last year and this year:
“The mindset of our guys completely different. We are a bigger team. We are a stronger team. We are a faster team. More than that, we need to be a more mature team. We are going to play against a very mature football team in Western Kentucky that has some experience. I’d like to see how we compete. Our team concepts need to show up. We have to be not only a competitive football team, but an efficient football team when you are talking about playing a high-scoring team in Western Kentucky.”
Center Spencer Pulley
On offensive changes:
“First of all, I’ve heard a lot of questions about that. If you talk to coach Mason, I think it’s clear that this is not the same team as last year. This is a new year. When we come out on that field Thursday night we want to play full speed, play smart, be relentless, tough, intelligent; that’s what we live by, what we practice and that’s what we want to show on Thursday night.”
On coach Ludwig and offensive plays:
“When you go through a coaching change like that and a getting to a new offense, there’s obviously going to be a new playbook that comes in, but playing football, there’s only so much difference between things you do. Obviously, coach Ludwig has been around for a while and his resume proves that he knows what he’s doing. So when he came in we accepted what he was doing and learned from that. But he did the best he could to accommodate to what we know; trying to keep some of the calls and things we already knew, just to make things smoother. Through that it became a smoother process.
On Ralph Webb’s summer camp:
“I think Ralph (Webb) has had a great camp. He’s obviously a guy that’s going to be a huge player for us, a guy who plays hard, smart and one you want on your team. But this year we’ve had guys who have had great camps throughout the team. Trent Sherfield, Kris Kentera, guys who are just working really hard and want it. That’s just not going to make the team better, but those individuals even better.”
On having Mason as head coach and in charge of defense:
“It’s been great so far through spring in the offseason and the preseason. Coach Mason is obviously a great defensive mind, and he knows what he’s doing and we’re extremely excited about that. But he’s also a head coach and he knows what he’s doing. He’s getting the guys on the same page. He’s been through a year of this and he’s in his groove, per se. He’s really getting everybody fired up and ready to play. It’s definitely exciting and almost surprising to see how well he’s been able to do both of those things.”
Linebacker Darreon Herring
On Western Kentucky’s offense:
“I definitely think we have seen some offenses like theirs, but they have a sixth-year quarterback who is pretty good… their tight ends are very good, and also their running backs. I don’t think there isn’t anything we can’t handle. We’ve been working on the game plan for them for the last week and a half, so it’s not going to be a big shock when we come out in the stadium Thursday.”
Scouting and preparing for WKU over the summer:
“We’ve definitely had film for Western Kentucky for a while now, since the summer began, so we’ve just been watching them on our iPads or in the film room, watching specific players and their tight ends and running backs… just looking at things that they’re really good at and their weaknesses as well. Our whole defense has just been studying endlessly, trying to get ready to play them and stop them to the best of our ability.”
Scouting WKU’s QB:
“When he passes the ball, he makes really good decisions. He’s a playmaker and a sixth-year guy, so he knows the ropes of their offense and who he wants to throw to during plays. So I’d say he’s a pretty smart guy.”
On Mason as defensive coordinator:
“I definitely feel it’s been a big jump for us, and a good thing. I’m trying not to go back to last year, but during the Tennessee game he called the plays and we kind of came together as a team better. So this year should be a better start for us with him calling the plays and making the adjustments for our defense.”
Wide Receiver Trent Sherfield
On establishing one quarterback:
I think that definitely is a good thing. Working over the summer with all three quarterbacks was definitely really good. We just went out there, throwing, and building chemistry with those guys.”
On his role in offense this year:
“Last year is last year. We’re really focusing on this year. Whatever coach Ludwig can do to get me the ball, I’ll do whatever I can with it. We’ve got a lot of guys in the receiver corps that can make a lot of plays so we’re just excited to see what goes down.”
On offensive tempo:
“Our coach stresses to us to just get out there and go till you can’t go anymore. We’ve got guys who are ready to step up out there and play ball.”