Pitt defensive coordinator Randy Bates met the media on Wednesday to talk about the Panthers' defense, players who have stepped up and more. Here's video and a full rundown of his remarks.
Pat said that Deandre Jules is stepping up his play this camp. What are your thoughts on that?
Bates: Deandre has lost a bunch of weight - he’s still a monster, size-wise - and he has figured it out. He’s really hard to block and he’s way more athletic now, he’s moving as good as he’s ever moved, and he’ll play a lot of ball for us.
How’s it going trying to replace all those guys you lost along the defensive line?
Bates: Well, it’s going pretty good. We actually replaced them in December; all of those guys were gone for the bowl game. So for the most part, it’s the team we played in the bowl game. Really, more than anything, it’s cleaning those guys up on what they need to work on and figuring out who our depth are.
What’s it mean to you as a coach when you see a guy like Deandre who took a while to put it all together? He could have transferred out and tried it somewhere else, but for him to stick around and put together what he’s done in camp, what does it mean to you?
Bates: I think our culture is to work and continue to get better. We keep coaching them and we don’t give up on them. The difference between us and everybody else is, when you get in the transfer portal, that’s quitting. Our guys don’t quit. They keep fighting and, really, quite frankly, they learn lessons in life that a lot of people don’t. If you can’t make it the first day, that doesn’t mean you’re not going to make it. Unfortunately, in this world today, that’s not the case mostly outside of here.
How are your linebackers lining up with the top four or five guys right now?
Bates: Boy, I’ll tell you what: we’ve got a good battle going on and we’ve got three really good freshmen who came in, too. But at this point, Shayne Simon is the oldest of the bunch, with Brandon George. Bangally’s doing well. Let’s see, who else do we have? Solomon DeShields is doing fantastic, too. And then, you know, we’ve got a bunch of the young guys who are pushing their way up the ladder. Where those guys will end up, we’ll know probably on Saturday after the scrimmage who will be their backups.
Is the battle at Mike between George and Simon?
Bates: Well, no, because those guys play multiple positions. So it’s, who are our best three guys and then who will be the next guys in, based on who’s best by position.
Is the battle at safety between the best four guys still?
Bates: Oh, for sure. Yeah, we’ve got four really good players who really are still learning. They’re still young. We’ve lost some NFL guys back-to-back-to-back, so now these guys are the next ones and we’re still a work at hand there at safety.
Are each of those guys getting equal opportunities at both spots?
Bates: Pretty much. Right now, we’re teaching both, because at the end of the day, you want to be able to play the next best player by position based on who comes in, so if one guy’s better as a backup at one position than the starter may move to the other position.
What makes Bangally and Simon so effective on the field?
Bates: Well, I think Simon is an experienced football player who is very disciplined. Bangally is one of the finer athletes, size-wise and speed-wise and athleticism-wise, in the game, quite frankly. The big thing for him is just learning the game and keep playing, and the more he plays, the better he gets, day to day.
This isn’t the first when you’ve had to break in new safeties, and Pat was talking earlier that safety is one of the most difficult positions in this defense.
Bates: For sure.
What are some of the challenges in bringing young guys in at those positions?
Bates: Well, the big thing at safety is, they’re the quarterbacks of our defense in the secondary. They set all the coverages, they get everybody lined up and they make a lot of the adjustments. So when you play the game, they have to be able to, on a quick dime, think about how we want to change, what we want to change, and then in the middle of drives, we change coverages based on things that we’re getting. So that’s the complicated part of it. It’s pretty much a quarterback - or a coach, if you want to - on the field.
Going back to the linebackers, it seems like a lot of them have the “TAKEAWAY” stickers on their helmets; what are they doing to make sure they get those?
Bates: We practice takeaways every day. It’s a big part of the game. It’s probably the number-one way to win football games. If you win the turnover battle, you win games, so that’s really critical.
Have there been more turnovers in practice this summer than last summer?
Bates: Probably about the same. I think our offense is doing a great job holding it. They know we’re coming after it and I’m sure you guys see it out there, too: they’re working on holding the ball as we are taking it away. So I think it’s always a good battle out there.
You mentioned young linebackers; is Kyle Louis working his way into that top six?
Bates: For sure. Kyle Louis, Lovelace, those two guys are way ahead for their age. Kyle missed last year, so he’s really a year behind but he’s caught up very fast and is doing a great job.
What’s your assessment of Cruce Brookins?
Bates: Yeah, Cruce is a good football player. He’s playing corner and safety right now and doing a great job. He understands the game as a football player and, you know, he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know, but he knows how to go get the ball and that’s two-thirds of being a defensive player.
Is that depth you have at corner beneficial where he might be a corner for you one day but you might be able to get him in at safety?
Bates: Oh yeah, he’ll be at safety for us this year. We’re moving him back and forth so he understands concepts. The more you understand what the corners do, the better you are at safety.
What do you think about Donovan McMillon out of Florida?
Bates: Well, Donovan McMillon’s from Pennsylvania. He went to Florida to visit but at the end of the day Donovan’s doing a great job. Donovan is a very good athlete. He’s learning - the biggest problem for him is just learning our system. It’s pretty complicated, as we’ve talked about, on the back half. But he’s really done a great job. I’m really impressed and he’s one of those guys pushing to be a starter.
When he makes a mistake, do you ever say, ‘Well, if you had come here two years ago you would have known that?’
Bates: Never.
Yeah, I remind him.
Nate Temple is another guy Pat brought up this morning, saying he’s having a really good camp. As someone who kind of struggled with injuries last year, how nice is it to see that?
Bates: Well, Nate’s been here a long time and has learned a lot of football. Charlie’s done a great job - as he always does - of teaching guys. And again, at the end of the day, you just keep working with these guys and they come on. Even though he’s had a couple years of injuries, it’s his time and certainly he’s stepping up and doing that.
