Fall Day 1: Kevin Sumlin, Tra Carson open up fall practices

Kevin Sumlin

On the first day…

“I saw 105 guys out there practicing hard. It wasn’t quite 105 degrees, maybe 102. We stretched at 5:50 and it’s actually nice out there right now. We got in a lot of individual work, since we don’t have pads. Did some installation of field goal, and field goal block, with our offense and defensive big guys. Then we had a long individual, just so some of the new guys could get back to technique and coaching.

"We actually got in about thirty plays of seven-on-seven, of which each quarterback got about 10 snaps. We had fifty plays as a team, on a five-play rotation. All three guys got in and operated. I think, obviously, Kyle came back doing things well, Kyler has picked things up really well, and Jake has benefited from being at Oklahoma State for a little bit, from a structural standpoint, so he understands it. Those guys came in and really didn't make too many mistakes, from an operation standpoint, if any.

"The competition level has been pretty good, but you know me, the first two days are to get the young guys ready to go. When we get into pads, some guys keep getting better and some guys disappear once we start hitting a little bit.”

On whether Aaron Moorehead has made an early impact on receivers…

“I think so. Technique-wise, we’ve changed practicing style of how we do things, we did that this spring. So they have gotten a little different individual work for the inside and outside receivers and what we are asking them to do. So more specialization and more individual route work.

"I think since we’re practicing against a lot more man to man coverage, that has helped us too. Because we don’t have to say, ‘Oh, we are playing a man team this week.’ We get that work every day. The combination of our skill level on the perimeter is going to help not only our defense and corners get better, but also the coaching from a technique standpoint. But we have only had one practice. I’m not quick to do anything after one day.”

On linebacker health…

“Yeah (everyone is healthy). A.J. Hilliard, that is a pretty serious injury, and he had a shoulder injury too. So we’re taking it a little bit slower with him, because a plate and six or seven screws, then the shoulder. So he is probably the farthest behind, I’ll put it that way.

"All the other guys are going. Otaro Alaka is looking good, Josh Walker is back and looking good. So the guys who did go through that, Richard Moore was here in the spring, the young guys were out there today, running around all over the place and actually made a few mistakes lining up, but they are athletic. Shaan Washington looks good. Those guys are 230 pounds now, 230 and change, so they look better, running around and feel better.”

On early impressions of Brandon Williams…

“It’s been one day, you know. He did well today. It’s not like we had the whole offense in today, even though we should, but when you are playing defense against No. 2 and No. 11, you better figure out what to do in a hurry. I think that competition level is going to make everybody better.”

On the excitement level today…

“They were real excited. They’ve been excited for a while. We’re one of the last teams to get started. Don’t kid yourself, they have been watching television for the last week watching the SEC Network go all over the country and stop at different places. I don’t know if we’re the last team, but we’re one of the last teams to get going.

"It has been a long offseason, which is okay. Our guys have taken advantage of it from a strength and conditioning standpoint. With summer school starting June 2nd, we’ve really had two complete months of conditioning, then a week off and they came in here ready to go. That is probably why we have almost everyone healthy right now, just because we had that much time.”

On depth at running back with Jay Bradford out…

“We made (the Brandon Williams) decision beforehand. We have running backs. We’re alright. That isn't to say Jay would have been in the mix. Between he and Kendall Bussey, probably one of the young guys was going to play anyway. It is one of those deals where health is more important than football. We have three good backs. That’s why we recruited them.”

On Daylon Mack’s mobility for his size…

“He is going to get mad, but the first day he got here we had to sit down and talk to him. The first couple of days he was here, I don’t even think the scale worked. He was 350. He enjoyed recruiting, I’ll put it that way. So we sat down, and to his credit, he met with coaches and from a nutritional standpoint we changed his diet a bit. I think he was around 335, so he’s lost between 12-15 pounds. That is what the summer program does for you. Instead of guys coming into two-a-days and trying to play their way into shape, he has lost 12-15 pounds, he’s been with Larry Jackson.

"I asked him what he weighed in high school and he said he played between 325 and 330. He comes into camp at 335/338 and it is 105 degrees out there. He’ll probably be around 330 by the first game, we hope. That is realistic and without doing a whole lot. He is moving around well. What happens is, after the tempo of the practice and after guys see what is really going on, they are like, ‘Woah, I really need to take care of myself. I need to hydrate, get in the cold tub, get sleep.’ Because guys come from programs where they are usually the best guy. Not just in the high school, but in the district, so they just go out and play.

"Now, they start figuring out that I have to take care of my body to compete on a day to day basis. What some guys learned last year, is that in the SEC and over the course of the next four months, I’ve still got to take care of my body because I’m playing against other people.”

On Tra Carson’s first day…

“He looked good. You’re going to get to talk to him. I know he is chomping at the bit to get in front of the media. We’ll get some new guys out here this year, how’s that.”

On Clay Honeycutt getting kicked off Big Brother…

“You know, I tried to watch it one night. I don’t know if you saw it — but, I have four kids — there’s a house full of people and they had some kind of crazy deal going where they had to remember the sequence of pouring things into a jug, and if you got the sequence wrong, it blew up in your face. That is about all I saw of it, besides them knocking on the door and he is in a bed with some woman. Other than that, I don’t know what happened. I’d never seen it.”

On Darrell Jackson…

“Right now, he is undergoing a medical evaluation. So we’ll see where he is going to be.”

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Tra Carson

On the first day…

“It feels great to be back out there with the guys. I haven’t practiced since the bowl game prep.”

On his jersey number change from 21 to 5…

“I just wanted to do something different this year.”

On his weight...

"Today I registered in at 238."

On his health...

“I’m feeling great. It’s the first day of camp so everyone’s going to be tired, but by the end of camp I should be down to 230, just like every year.”

On senior year motivation…

“I’m very motivated, I always come in motivated. We have high expectations, which we should because we have great players, great talent around so we’re motivated.”

On the addition of Dave Christensen as run game coordinator…

 “Some of that stuff is just similar stuff, a lot of tweaks here and there, but I definitely think it’s going to help our run situation.”

On Sumlin’s emphasis on the run game…

“It excites me a lot, I can’t wait. I’m grateful that they gave me the opportunity so I’m going to take it running.”

On James White (backup running back) and the impact he makes…

“James White is really just a beast; he can do anything you ask him to do. He’s going to do the right thing and he’s a bigger guy so he can bring the power, but he also has great feet and speed so he’s definitely a weapon that we’re going to use.”

On James White’s complimentary skill set to his…

“We’re kind of similar, we’re different people, but he kind of has a similar run style as I do.”

On his early impression of Kendall Bussey…

“Bussey is a young guy who’s just getting his feet wet, he’s just working to try and get better each and every day. When everyone gets to tip top shape then we’ll see what he can really do.”

On Jay Bradford…

“That’s a situation I don’t really want to speak on too much, but we’re definitely praying for his situation.”

On excitement of senior year…

“I’m very excited. I couldn’t even sleep last night because I was just amped and ready for practice and that’s the attitude we should all have coming out here every day.”

On the progress of the offensive line…

“Those guys have made strides from the bowl game to now. They are totally different and I just can’t wait to see them on game day, they work hard every day so I’m excited.”

On the expectations on the season…

“We just want to take it day by day and make sure we’re getting better every day and then hopefully at the end of the season we’re where we want to be. We’re going to keep our heads down and keep working. Keep watering the tree and hopefully by the end of the season we have a big apple tree."

On the hunger of being one of the last teams to get out there to camp…

“We’re not worried about what anybody else is doing anyway so we’re just coming out here trying to get better as a team and do what we can to make our team successful.”

On his transfer from Oregon to Texas A&M…

“Honestly I knew the situation I was coming in, we had a lot of talented backs here and those guys work hard every day and they deserve to play too. I just wanted to win so I did whatever I needed to do to win.”