WATCH: Sumlin, Joseph, Harris on 1st day back, secondary strides

Kevin Sumlin

On the state of the team…

“Good. It’s great to be outside, finally. You know, it’s practice eight, and we just talked about — I don’t think we’ve gone seven consecutive practices indoors since I’ve been here; not even bowl practice or anything like that. So, the weather broke. It doesn’t look good for Thursday. We’ll probably be back in here; it’s supposed to rain Thursday. We had a little bit more juice, because we’re outside, more room. It’s really the first time for the big guys too — it got up, it was close to 80°?

'So, we started out with a lot of juice, and some of the big guys — it’s a little bit different out there in that sun than it is in here, but it was good. I thought they were spirited. Coming back from break they ought to have a lot of juice and energy. We’d lifted and conditioned yesterday and practiced today, so I thought it was good.”

On Frank Iheanacho’s status…

“When we were made aware of the situation, he was suspended from all athletic-related duties. He returned to the team today, so he missed roughly half of spring. He’s got a number of things that he’s got to complete, and after he completes those, then we’ll re-evaluate what his status will be for next season. So that’s still ongoing, but yeah, today was his first day of practice. So we’re on practice eight; he missed half of spring football.”

On Joseph Cheek…

“Cheek was out there. You know, he’s a student-athlete, so he’s getting close to graduation. So what we’re trying to do with guys who are that close — they have things that they have to do in the spring to graduate. So he got out there about an hour or so into practice. I just did a recommendation for him for grad school, so he’s working at all levels. He’s been a great leader for us. He’s really had a great offseason so far, and that really gives us an opportunity, with him, some of the younger guys to get in there too. Yeah, this is the time of the year where some of the tougher classes our players have, they’ll take those in the spring, particularly as it relates to early graduation.”

On the cornerbacks…

“Obviously we’re playing a different style, and so the adjustment early has — it’s kind of hard to evaluate the first couple. I thought that we’ve had some guys that, this style, they may favor this style, a more aggressive style: the longer guys like Victor Davis, even Tavares Garner, who has shown some signs, guys that are bigger, longer corners like Coach Chavis has had and De'Vante Harris.

"De'Vante Harris, today, came back and weighed in at 180 for the first time. That didn’t sound like much, but it’s a whole lot for him. I’m tired of seeing the 160s and 170s, but guys like that, we’re creating a more physical style with our corners in coverage and techniques. It’s been a big spring. It’s a big spring for them, and that’ll continue through the offseason.”

On the defensive ends…

“I know we’ve been real pleased. Myles (Garrett) is getting that thumb back together. He got his pin out of his thumb Friday, so he’s still got a cast on that thing from the season. He’s had a good – he’s hard to block. So we’re figuring out what’s going on at left tackle with (Germain Ifedi) and Avery (Gennesy), and there’s no better measuring stick than probably the best pass-rusher in the country. Daeshon Hall, today, came back and weighed 258. That’s the biggest he’s ever been. He looks good. Qualen Cunningham has continued to impress coming off the edge. So we’ve put an emphasis on those guys and getting up the field and playing fast, and halfway through spring, I think we’ve made some improvement.”

On the second half of spring…

“We’ve got some new guys that we’ve got to get as many reps for. We’ve got, obviously, some injuries on defense, but when you’ve got Justin Evans here, he’s got to get a lot of turns back there with Armani. So the communication back there is going to be a big deal. Obviously, we talked about the corners. We’ve got to figure out what we’re doing at corner and nickel and who’s going to surface there. Offensively, we’re trying to find our best five. Without Mike Matthews this spring, the development of — I think Stuckey has really done a nice job at center. Koda Martin has gotten a lot of snaps. So we’re trying to develop, really, a line that without Mike — whoever’s going to be the backup center or move him to guard, which Stuckey’s doing a great job and competing in there. Then get the new guys going.

"Kyle (Allen)’s got to continue to get better. Then the addition of all these young players on the perimeter – spring’s been big for them. You’ve heard me say before, 'We want Speedy to be good. We want Ricky...' These guys are high school quarterbacks. Those guys coming on, the development of Christian Kirk, to see where he’s going to be in the mix, and Ratley who just showed up, we’ve got plenty to work on. That’s why we’ll go Thursday a little bit lighter than today, and then Saturday we’ll scrimmage at 11 and Saturday we’ve got the ‘Aggie Youth Experience.’ I think we had four- or five-hundred kids last year.

"It’s a big deal. We’ll start registration in here at 11:30, and kids ages — I think — 5th to 8th grade come out, get autographs, (watch) players run the drills. It’s been a real success. Our players enjoy that, and I know the kids enjoy it. It’s a little different than being at Kyle Field, but we’ve got more room, so we’ve got more kids out here on two practice fields. Like I said, I think we cut it off last year at 450, but it’s supposed to be a nice day on Saturday. I look forward to having everybody out."

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Terry Joseph

On how the corners and safeties have looked…

“The first two weeks of practice have been good, the guys are flying around. We have gotten a chance to play a lot of man to man early in camp. Had a chance to match some routes up. I’m happy with the energy we’ve shown and I think we have competed, just have to do a better job finishing down the field. Early on, as a coach, I wish I had more guys, but I couldn’t be happier at this point and hopefully we continue to get better. Today probably wasn’t as sharp as I would have liked, but so far, so good.”

The difference on the back end under Chief…

“I thought that would be the first question. Obviously two different schemes, watching from the fan perspective, it will be a lot more aggressive and closer to the line. It is a big difference playing a quarter scheme versus a cover three scheme. Our guys will be a lot more aggressive and there won’t be a run/pass conflict. One guy will be responsible for one route and we want you to win that one on one battle.

On how De’Vante Harris has improved after getting off to a late start last year…

“I thought he struggled getting into the swing of things coming in after four games last year. The one thing that I have bee happy about with De’Vante is that he is the heaviest he has been at over 180 pounds and it shows in his play. He is able to hold up at the line and press. He is playing with a lot more confidence and really, with where we are at on defense, we need him to be a leader. He has been vocal and always has positive energy and he has been making a lot plays early in camp. I’m really excited about where he is at right now.

On the difficulty of the transition on cornerbacks to a more aggressive style…

“I think they have been trained to play a lot of press coverage, but now it is more demanded of them to do it over and over, back to back. So I think their mindset has to change more than trying to do it physically. They are all capable of doing it, now it just needs to be done over and over again. But again, when you are playing a defense where schematically it is more aggressive, the time is shorter that the quarterback has to throw the ball. So that helps with your confidence and then you have Dasheon and Myles and Qualen, guys getting back there in a hurry, so that helps.

On current position changes…

“Not yet. The one thing we want to do is get the best five or six guys out there. Getting a guy like Justin Evans here early, getting noel back from injury, the competition has been good and we’re really excited for the rest of the guys to get here in June and really open things up and really say that there isn’t necessarily and nickel or a dime or a corner, we want a guy who can cover who can be on those slot receivers also. Like ive told them all the time, the best five guys are going to play. I feel confident about two guys playing against Arizona State. I’m waiting on the other guys to take the snaps.”

On whether the aggressiveness of the new system will make it easier for the incoming freshmen…

“That is a hard call right now. It is just a matter of those guys getting in here and teaching them the system. Teaching is teaching. That is like saying, “Is English harder than Algebra?” Not really. It depends on how the kid learns and how fast he adjusts. When you say things like that, you have to look at a kid like Donovan Wilson, who had a hard time early on, but ended up starting the bowl game and had nine tackles. A kid like Armani Watts came in and got it early then goes through a wall in the middle of the season. So for different kids, it happens at different times. I do know that on June 1st, there wont be a family vacation for coach Joseph.

On the two guys he feels good about…

“I can’t say right now.”

On how exciting a potential fall camp matchup between Justin Evans and Donovan Wilson is…

“As a coach, that is what you want. It goes back to recruiting. I tell the guys all the time, “I’m not going to recruit anybody unless I think they can beat out the guy here at his position. I’m not recruiting backups.” So for a guy like Justin to come in and compete for playing time that speaks well to how we have been recruiting, because you want to recruit guys who will come in and play and take the jobs of the guys you have now. That is the way you upgrade your program. So for him to come in and do what he is doing, that is good and hopefully June 1st that competition continues and the guys here understand that it is a business. I love you, but at the end of the day, it is a business.”

On how much the mustang package is being talked about and who is his Tyrann Mathieu…

“There isn’t a Tyrann Mathieu yet, but we have talked about Mustang a lot. Today was actually the first day we put it in. Unfortunately for the DB’s, a lot of guys had class today. So we probably didn’t have the guys we would have liked to have out there today, but that gives us more to look for on Thursday.”

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De'Vante Harris

On the extra weight…

“It’s going to help me at the line and my tackling. I’ve improved my tackling last year but you can’t be too good at anything. I am going to work on actually playing at the weight and I guess the scouts will like it too.”

On what he has been working the most on in the offseason besides putting on weight…

“Playing the ball in the air, as far as getting my head around when the ball is coming and getting closer to the receiver and being in relationship with him before I turn around. Little kinks like working on my hips coming out of my breaks like every other DB would.”

On how different the instruction from Chavis is compared to last season in regards to his position job…

“It is way easier. Press-man is my game, I love that and I’m sure the other corners love it. It is more competitive, he singles your responsibility. Do what you are asked to do. You don’t have too many responsibilities just go after the man in front of you. We are going switch it up and play a little cover every once in a while, but other than that we are straight on mano y mano. I love that.”

On how man coverage helps him play faster…

“Yes it helps you play faster and helps you play more aggressive. You don’t have to think as much and you can just rely on your athletic ability and just work on one part of your game. You don’t have to think too much and we are all liking that right now.”

On how he is embracing the leadership role for the DBs and defense as a whole…

“I am embracing it. It’s what I asked for and what I prayed for my whole life. I am stepping into the role but I am going to do it my way. We are going to do it our way and we love the haters. We love how people are doubting us right now, we love y’all, thank y’all so much. We do and we are ready to get it poppin’, lets go, I am excited! Give us credit because we are a team. Give A&M, Aggies, Coach Sumlin to Coach Joseph to the whole squad, we are doing it as one. We are bringing a new attitude to it, mark my words.”

On which newcomers have been the most impressive this spring…

“Justin Evans, he jumps out, he is a playmaker as soon as he steps out onto the field he is making plays. Claude George, he is doing his thing. The other corners are actually stepping up a lot, like Tavares Garner is making more plays, Alex Sezer seems a little bit more comfortable, Devonta Burns is out there doing his thing, so we are fixing to get it poppin’.”