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Now that training camp is over, what does defensive coordinator Josh Conklin think of Pitt's defense?

HOW HAS THE SECONDARY COME TOGETHER IN CAMP?
CONKLIN: It’s going well. It’s going well. The safeties have had a good camp. The corners have had a good camp. I think Avonte Maddox has really come along nicely. We knew he was a good player coming into the fall, but he has really addressed some shortcomings and issues that he felt like he had. So that’s been encouraging to see. And I think the young guys, Damarri Mathis and Jason, have done a really good job of developing. They’re not perfect right now; they’ve both got a lot of mental errors, they’ve got a long way to go. But I think they’ve gotten all that they can out of camp.

At the safety position right now, I look at a guy like Dennis Briggs, who hasn’t played a lot of safety and spent most of his time as the Star, has done a good job of really picking up the boundary safety. And then we’ve had Bricen Garner, who we felt like could come in and help us out; he’s done well. And also Jay Stocker has had a really good camp. When you look at the last guy, it would be Phil Campbell at boundary safety. So I’m really pleased with their progress. Again, we’ve got about a week before the opener, but it’s still a work in progress the whole time throughout the season. That’s what we’re trying to stress to them as well.

HOW TOUGH IS IT FOR HAMLIN AND FORD TO PLAY THEIR WAY INTO A ROLE?
CONKLIN: In regards to Hamlin, he’s been banged up a little bit, so you miss the foundation and if you miss the foundation, it takes you longer to get into the rotation a little bit. And as far as Ford, I think Coach has already addressed that.

WHERE ARE YOU PLAYING HIM RIGHT NOW? FORD - WHICH SAFETY?
CONKLIN: He’ll go either one.

YOU SAID ON SIGNING DAY THAT WHEN HE ENTERED THE ROOM, HE’D BRING THE LEVEL UP; HAS HE DONE THAT SINCE HE GOT HERE?
CONKLIN: No. I wouldn’t say that. I would not say that. I mean, these guys have been here all summer and they’ve been working. The guys that were here, they’ve established their own culture.

IN THE PAST, YOU’VE SAID THAT PART OF THE ISSUE WITH THE SECONDARY LAST YEAR WAS FUNDAMENTALS , TECHNIQUE, THINGS THAT YOU WERE WORKING ON THROUGHOUT THE SPRING AND NOW. WHERE DO YOU FEEL LIKE THE GUYS ARE AT IN TERMS OF THAT?
CONKLIN: I think they’ve made a lot of progress. I think they’ve taken the coaching and, like I said, in the winter and the spring ball, we went back and really looking at how we were coaching our coverages and where we could help those guys out. And I think we’ve addressed a lot of those issues - what we can do to modify some of our base coverages and what we can do to maybe add to or maybe supplement some coverages to help those guys. But at the end of the day, we are who we are. We’re going to play press quarters and we want to make the lanes tough on the perimeter and those guys understand that, and I don’t think those guys would want it any other way. I think those guys are excited to get going and kind of see what their progress is really like against somebody else besides our offense.

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’LL BE ABLE TO GENERATE FROM YOUR FRONT SEVEN? DO YOU FEEL GOOD ABOUT THE PROGRESSION THERE AS FAR AS GENERATING PRESSURE?
CONKLIN: Yeah, it’s amazing. I think Charlie Partridge has done an unbelievable job getting that group on the same page. Their knowledge level has increased, I would say, ten-fold, just in terms of what they know about the defensive package. I think a guy coming in like that that understands being a head coach sees big-picture, kind of understands how to fit the whole thing together - it’s really rubbed off on those guys. Anytime you know more than just your responsibility or more than just your world, you have the ability to impact the game in some different situations in a better way.

HOW ENTRENCHED ARE THOSE THREE NUMBER-ONE LINEBACKERS RIGHT NOW?
CONKLIN: They are. They are. I think we feel pretty good about them. I think they’ve had a good fall camp. And I think we kind of knew what we were going to get when they developed. Again, Saleem Brightwell, Zeise, those guys haven’t taken a lot of reps in games, so it will be exciting to see them play a real college football game and take 65, 75 snaps.

IS SALEEM PLAYING ANY OF THE OUTSIDE POSITIONS AT ALL?
CONKLIN: Yeah, he is. We have the ability to move him around, but our Mike linebacker is so intensive, just in terms of the calls and the checks he’s got to do - he’s got to spend the majority of his time there and the majority of his time learning that position. If we feel like we need to move him to Money at any point in time, I think he could do that and make that transition pretty easily.

ALL THREE OF THOSE GUYS BRING SPEED; WHERE ARE THEY AT IN THE PROGRESSION TO BE ABLE TO PLAY WITH FULL SPEED AND NOT HAVE TO THINK AND JUST BE ABLE TO REACT?
CONKLIN: I think they’re there. I think that’s why they’re the guys. I think they’ve kind of gotten to that stage where they know what they have to do, they understand what they have to do and then they also can kind of operate at an unconscious level, kind of just in terms of the defense and the package. Now the challenge is for everybody on defense, though - you get a new test every week, everybody’s a little bit different. Like I said before, you’ve got that foundation that’s already been built through your fundamentals, your techniques; now you look at Youngstown State and you pick and choose what you want, you manipulate it a little bit in terms of how you’re going to game plan against those guys, and they have to be able to adapt to that moving forward. Like I said, that’s something we haven’t seen yet and I think they’re excited to get into that mold now moving forward.