Kevin Sumlin breaks down start of fall camp

On the first day...

"It was good. We brought energy like it should be the first day. I’m like everybody else, you got new guys out there new numbers, you got old guys out there with new numbers. I had to get my own list out there. Mastro’s got seven on, there’s another 45 out there snapping. I was like, “what’s going on?” But, that’s all part of it, in recruiting and guys moving on and getting new numbers. I thought the tempo was good, got a lot of plays. Hour and fifty minutes for the first practice, which is pretty good without pads.

"Purposely, because of the meeting times this summer, I think we were able to go 30 plays 7 on 7 and 50 plays of team today. That’s quite a bit for a first practice, and to not have a lot of misalignments offensively and defensively, I think that says a lot about the new rule in the summer and a lot about how guys have come back. To have that much team, I think we need that to get continuity and get guys in a better place than we did a year ago."
 

On the new rules' effect on the QBs...

"I don’t know, shoot, we’ve had the same guy for the last two years. It’s a little bit different, but I think overall it is like I said, I don’t think we would have been able to run 50 plays with that many guys, involved just about the whole team, in that amount of time on the first day and feel comfortable about it.

"From that standpoint, the emphasis is on a lot of individual drill work, technique and then trying to get as much 11 on 11 as you can get. Getting out quarterbacks in some situations and get them the feel of playing and get the young guys up to speed on the tempo of the game. We only had one practice, but I think it was ok."
 

On depth of D being better...

"No doubt. The first year we probably played 16 guys. We stayed healthy. The whole D-line and Sean Porter, that whole crew just played the whole year. We’ve got more depth in there. Ivan is out there, we’re going to see what he can do. He went through individual and group the first 45 minutes of practice. We’re bringing him along slowly but if he is able to go, that’ll give us more depth inside with Zaycoven. Justin Manning got a lot of snaps, Hardreck walker. Right there alone you’ve got more bodies. Jay Arnold is in the 280s so he can be a swing guy inside as a 3 technique and an ened.

"We’ve got more ends than we’ve probably had in a long time with Julian and Dasheon back. Myles Garett and Jarrett Johnson and Qualen Cunningham. There was long line of guys out there today, coach price didn’t know what to do. They’re young but they’ve got energy and we need to develop that depth. Like coach Snyder said I think we do have more depth and that’s got to help us."
 

Early impressions of Myles Garrett...

"That’s hard without pads. A lot of guys look good without pads on. Everybody looks good the first day. I hope so. We recruited them we brought them here. So we’ll see what happens, we get to pads and we’ll figure it out. He’s talented, you see a couple things out there where he can burst and turn some speed into power. You guys have been around me long enough to know that I reserve judgments until about next week when we put pads on. We’ve had a number of guys, and I’m not expecting it to happen with Myles, that have looked good and as soon as we put pads on them they disappear for a year.

"The evaluation for a lot of these guys is ongoing. I was just pleased with the leadership we got from the older players. Some veteran guys that understand the tempo instead of coaches yelling about different things, they’re leading. When you see that, you have a chance to improve quickly."
 

On what he wants to see from Germain Ifedi...

"I want to see him be as good as the right tackle before him and the one before that. That’s a little bit of pressure but he gets that. There are guys fighting for that spot. He’s definitely got the size, the tools, the capability, and athleticism. He’s the biggest one we have had over there at 325. The guy looks pretty good for 325. He’s strong. Just got to continue to get better. Playing on the edge is a lot different than playing in the phone booth at guard.

"Fortunately, we’ve got a couple guys at camp here who can give us a pretty good idea at pass rush. Dasheon looks pretty good at 260, he’s a different guy. He’s always had pass rush cpabilities but now size to go with it. Some of the ends I talked about are going to give us a pretty good idea of where he is at, and hopefully he’ll give us a good idea at where they’re at too. As your team gets better and the depth and talent level gets better, good players practicing against each other make for a better team. I think that was the case our first year here with the ends and our tackles.

"I’ve been other places where that is the case and I can see a little bit of that coming right now just from a talent standpoint, a depth standpoint. We’ve just got a lot of young guys over there but they’re talented and they’re going to figure it out because they’re going to be practicing against some guys who are pretty seasoned veterans."
 

Impressions of Dasheon Hall’s weight gain and recovery from shoulder surgeries...

"He was a pretty highly recruited guy for a reason. He’s long and athletic. Everybody knew he played basketball and he was going to be a bigger guy because of his shoulder and he’s still a guy that is going to continue to grow. He is still a guy that is growing into his body and he is doing everything we have asked from strength and conditioning standpoint, to changing his diet and I think it is showing up. Being around him, he is anxious to try out this new body.

"A lot of these guys, there is no motivation like getting thrown down every day. You look at him, you look at Alonzo Williams who is 300 now. You don’t have to say much. You get thrown around for about 6 months you get tired of that. You either have to do something about it, eat and lift weights. I think these guys are looking forward to trying out there new bodies."