Fall Day 8: Terry Price, Mark Hagen talk Aggie defensive line

Terry Price

On the defensive ends' response…

“Well I think it’s been good so far. I don’t give them a choice — to respond in a positive way, they got to work hard if they’re going to play that position. That’s what they have to do and they’ve responded well so far, as far as that has been. Obviously it’s a young group; last year it was three true freshmen and a sophomore, so now I've got three sophomores and a junior with me comprising that group, so they’re still learning, they’re still young, but they’re a good group that’s trying to push every day to get better.”

On Daeshon Hall having a breakout year…

“Well we’ll have that answer at the end of the season, but as far as what I’ve seen so far personally — and I know this has been documented a lot — but he’s been through his first offseason, which means a lot in football. For a guy that’s a 219, 220-pound, tall, skinny basketball player and not have a true offseason as a football player in the SEC was tough on him his second year, but this year he’s finally put on good weight, good strength, he’s bought into what we’ve asked him to do and, to me, his skill set fits exactly what we do defensively.

"So, he’s made some strides and done some really good things and I’m excited to see how well he does during the season — and I think he’ll do some good things for us hopefully.”

On defensive tackle depth…

“I’d love to have eight too, I don’t have them, but I’d love to have eight as well. We’re going to play with the guys we got. It’s not the biggest group I’ve had by any means, but it’s a group that’s going to play this season well and work as hard as they can to make plays for us. We’d like to be a little deeper obviously, but it’s kind of where we are right now as far as guys on the edges.”

On switching defensive tackles and defensive ends out…

“Yeah we did that in the springtime and we did some of that today. He’s a guy (Julien Obioha) that’s smart enough to play pretty much the whole front seven, if you want to know the truth. We could put him at middle linebacker and he could play that, that’s how smart he is. He’s a guy that can play any position. Again, his skill set, as big as he is now, 280-plus pounds, is more suited for an inside position, defensive tackle position. But we’re going to play some games where we’ll play some two-back run teams that run the ball downhill and we may need him outside to be more of an anchor out there for us at the five technique.”

On the importance of having Daeshon Hall and Myles Garrett…

“Every team has to have two. Any offense and especially in this league — I’ve been in the SEC 20 years now — you can find a way to block one guy if he’s that good, but if you have guys coming off both edges, you have sufficient speed coming off both edges it makes a big difference for you. You can’t slide a protection one way or always throw backs on way because again you got heat coming from the backside.

"The good thing for Myles and the rest of our crew is I think we got good speed across the board, but we’ll have a chance to put a couple fast guys out there and they got to keep developing and getting better. It’s always critical and crucial to have two guys that have speed and juice off the edge.”

On Qualen Cunningham’s progression…

“He started off camp just doing okay, but I’ll tell you what, he came on Saturday and to me he had a really good day Saturday. He probably had his best day of camp Saturday during the scrimmage, so he’s making progress, playing faster, he’s gotten a little stronger. And again, three of these guys were true freshman last year and they were scared to death to go in the game and learn this defense for the first time, so I’m proud of where he’s come, the improvements he’s made. It’s a young group overall, but he’s done some good things for us during two a days.”

“Well, this is my heart, this is my life, and everything I have in life I owe to Texas A&M University, there’s no question about it. So having the opportunity to coach here, and Coach Sumlin giving me this opportunity, has been unbelievable for me and my family.

"But I owe everything to Texas A&M. I love this school and because what this school has done for me, I’m in the position to coach and have the best job I’ve ever had coaching D-line at Texas A&M. I’m just really proud to be part of the staff. I’m just excited to be part of the staff, I’m glad that I’m coaching here at Texas A&M University and I’m excited about the future.”

On how much better Myles Garrett is now than he was at this part of the year last season…

“Obviously he’s gotten stronger, he’s gotten healthier, and he’s done a better job at the point of attack. One of the biggest things we worked on since the spring and the fall was hand placement, edge protection as far as pressing off of blockers and just doing a better job at the point of attack. I think toward the end of the year people started running at him and you got to be able to handle all blocks whether it’s down blocks, base blocks, fullbacks, guards pulling, all the things you see on the edges, he’s had to get better at — and he’s worked hard at it and he’s done a better job with his hands.

"And he was handicapped the second half of the year because of that big cast he had on his hand last year, but obviously this year that thing’s off and he’s done a better job with his hands and a better job at the point of attack.”

On vocal leaders at D-end…

“Well that’s one of the things I’m happy about for Myles as much as anything. The one thing he’s taken pride in this year is and we need him to is to try to be more of a leader. He’s taking that role since camp has started. He wasn’t that good in the spring — he was learning how to push through it because you don’t just become a leader overnight. But these two-a-days he’s really worked hard to become a better leader.

"He’s worked hard to not just lead the D-line group, but to lead the team, and because of that I think we’ll be a lot better, because you have to have leadership from strong individuals and I think he’ll do a good job in that area for us.”

---

Mark Hagen

On the defensive tackles…

“They’re practicing hard. We’ve got a good group and a little bit more depth than we’ve had around here in a couple years. A couple of wily veterans in there with Alonzo (Williams) and Julien Obioha. So it’s always nice when you have a couple of older guys who can lead the way and set the temp on a daily basis. We’re fairly deep, we’ve got eight healthy bodies for the most part some guys are banged up right now, but when we’re full strength, we’ve got about eight guys that I think could go in and help us play.

"So that’s the fun part as a coach – we’ve got some competition in there, and two guys, in theory shouldn’t have to play 60, 70, 80 plays. So we’ll be able to roll some guys, keep them fresh, and that’s the plan. So things are going good so far."
 

On Julien Obioha’s progress…

“Well everybody knows his story here. Here’s a guy who is really smart, who’s really bought in, he’s a program guy, just very smart all around, he’s just a smart individual. And I think what it is, he’s watched his career evolve. He’s grown he’s gotten bigger and stronger, but he’s not one of those cheetah cats that’s on the edge and just a pure pass rusher. That’s kind of what Coach Chavis’ scheme calls for, edge pressure. So I think Julien’s skill set, I think he realized earlier on in spring practice, he’s a built more as a technician, a bigger more physical guy, and I think it just seemed like a better fit for him to move inside.

"So late in the spring we asked him, let’s come inside and see how you do, and it’s just been a better fit for him. It’s working out real well, I don’t know what he weighed during the spring, but he was about 280-282 (pounds) when we started camp, and the last time I checked twenty-four hours ago he was still at that same weight, so he’s doing a good job replenishing his fluids and keeping his body weight up there. And again, he’s a technician, he’s a physical guy, you guys have watched him play for the past three years. He’s a physical guy so he’s put on some muscle and put on a little bit of weight.

"And the thing that he gives us inside is explosiveness and athleticism. Maybe he wasn’t a great athlete per se on the edge; now you come inside with some of those bigger guards and center types and now he’s a better athlete than those guys he’s going against. It’s a good move so far."
 

On his confidence in Obioha’s physical ability…

“I think so, again, I hope he doesn’t have to go out and play 60, 70, 80 snaps. You know I think we’ve got people around him that can go in and spell him. And that’s the one thing Coach Chavis said early on when he first addressed the defense. I’d like to play at least four, preferably five or six defensive tackles. That keeps more guys involved, it keeps more guys chompin’ at the bit, feeling like hey there’s a chance for me to play on Saturday. And at the end of the day it keeps guys fresh, so you’re playing better in the fourth quarter, because you’ve got bigger, fresher bodies out there. So far so good."
 

On Daylon Mack…

“Daylon, obviously a very talented individual. I think it’s been a work in progress so far. I think for all of our freshmen, they come into this type of setting and just the speed the pace of an SEC practice, and then you take another step, just looking at our practices in general — how fast we go — so he’s had flashes of really great play, and then he’s had some times where he’s catching his breath and wondering, 'Am I going to make it to the next period?'

So, he’s had his ups and downs, but he’s certainly a very talented man, and we’ve just got to keep getting him into game shape, each day we’re going to give him a little bit more. He’s rolling in there. We’re moving a lot of pieces around with our guys. You’ll see Julien out there with Alonzo Williams, that’s been our number one group for the most part. But I’ve got to spell those guys too, so I’ll roll Deshawn Washington, or Zaycoven or even the two young kids. I’ll roll Daylon and Kingsley Keke up there with the ones, just to keep moving those parts around and getting guys to work with other individuals on our front.

"So, so far so good, our guys are working hard and we’re seeing a lot of guys step up and show good flashes of play up there.”
 

On Alonzo Williams' leadership…

“Alonzo again, when guys get to their senior year, guys sit back and they’re like, 'Wow! I can’t believe it’s already here.' But here’s a guy that, again, came in as a defensive end, he’s grown into and SEC defensive tackle. He’s played a lot of football, he has a lot of pride in his game. For Alonzo right now, he’s learning how to play in an attack scheme. I think when guys like Alonzo and Hardreck (Walker) get a little winded they go back to the read and react, so we’re trying to get them out of that mode, but he’s a very very prideful football player. He keeps getting better every year. And I know he’s dead-set on having his best season this year.

"But it’s nice for me as a coach for him to take a Daylon Mack, to take a Kingsley Keke aside, both he and Julien (Obioha), and coach those guys on the side, that’s helping Terry and I with those young players. I know the ends are doing the same thing with James (Lockhart) out on the perimeter."
 

On John Chavis' decision to retain the defensive coaching staff…

“Well, obviously, it’s great to still be here and be a part of a great university and program. And I don’t know what those conversations were like, but again, it was great to be here through the signing date and keep rolling with things. So that speaks for itself. Being a part of Coach Chevis’ staff here. A lot of fun. Obviously, his reputation speaks for itself , and he’s been great with us from day one. He includes us in the thoughts for the day , how we structure practice, game day thoughts. I know myself and the rest of the assistants, we’ve been like sponges just trying to learn from him. A lot of fun to be with Chief on a daily basis. It’s been a blessing.
 
“There were conversations that took place when he came on board. I think anything is possible. You’ve got to get through recruiting, and that was the operation we were in at that point in time as a defensive staff. I’m sure he had a conversation with Coach Sumlin, and we continued to talk and move forward. I don’t remember specifically how it came about, but they let us all know that we would be moving together forward as one at the end of the recruiting cycle, and it’s been full speed ahead ever since.”
 

On being back as the defensive tackles coach…

“It’s been fun, it’s been very smooth. I’ve coached up front fourteen or fifteen years. So it was seamless. I think looking at big picture-wise, I know Coach Chavis, not to speak for him, but he wanted to be invested. He didn’t want to be a guy that walked around, he wanted to be invested. The thing I like as an assistant is I think you’re less likely as a coordinator to write more calls on the board if you’ve got to get things started yourself. So, it was a seamless transition.

"I think looking at the SEC, it’s a lineman’s conference, so the thought process, I think hey, let’s get two sets of eyes up front instead of one, we’ll get a little more detailed coaching, and if that can help us win football games, let’s go for it.”