COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland football team opened preseason camp Monday as the Terps held their annual media day at Gossett Football Team House.
The Terps arrived on campus for preseason camp Sunday in preparation for their season opener against Richmond at Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 5 at noon.
Maryland spent the afternoon posing for team photos and meeting with members of the media to discuss the upcoming season. Following the morning photo session, head coach Randy Edsall held a press conference with reporters, followed by media availability with the players and assistant coaches.
Quotes from Edsall, offensive coordinator Mike Locksley, defensive coordinator Keith Dudzinski and selected student-athletes follow.
Head Coach Randy Edsall
Opening Comments:
“I'm really excited and really enthused about this team. I don't know in 17 years as a head coach that I have been around a team that has really taken on the leadership that this group has taken on since January. It sure makes my job easier and all of our coaches' jobs easier when they not only hold themselves accountable, but also hold each other accountable. It has probably been the best and the smoothest summer that I have been involved with. It has been a very productive summer for our guys. They got stronger, bigger and faster. They just did a tremendous job. I'm very happy and very proud that they heeded the message that we sent them and that I have talked to our leadership council about.
“We will have a couple guys that as we start the practices will be really on a limited basis. Derwin Gray will be limited. Also, Andrew Isaacs won't be able to do certain things. Adam McLean will be out because he is still rehabbing from his ACL injury that he had in high school. For the most part, everybody else is good. There are going to be some guys that we might have to monitor a little bit. They might only go one practice when we have the two-a-days, that being Quinton Jefferson, Taivon Jaocbs, Brett Kulka and David Shaw.
“This is great for me and our coaching staff because I think we have probably more competition at all the positions since I have been here. That is going to be neat to see how all that unfolds. We have plenty of opportunities for guys. The one thing we told them is we are going to put the best guys on the field. They are going to determine it.”
“I'm excited about the freshmen group. There are guys there that will have opportunities. We will see what they can do here as we get started. They have come in and transitioned well. A lot of that has to do with the upperclassmen welcoming them in and getting them acclimated to what they have to do.”
On Daxx Garman and the quarterback battle:
“I have not seen anything about him as a player because we are not allowed to be out there with our guys on the field with a football during the summer. That is going to be an interesting battle. Daxx [Garman] and Caleb [Rowe] and Perry [Hills] are going to fight it out and we will see how it all unfolds. They are all eager and they are all hungry and they all want to be the guy. We'll see how it goes. Daxx is a young man who is a football junkie. He is smart, doesn't say a lot, but he is a worker, he is a student of the game. It is nice to have three guys who have won games against power five teams.”
On the wide receiver group:
“I feel really good about our wide receivers. I see all this stuff that people are saying and everything else and I kind of laugh at it myself. I think we have some pretty dynamic guys. I think we got some guys that have worked very, very hard. You take a look at Amba Etta-Tawo, this is his time now. He finally got the shoulder cleaned up, had surgery on that in January. He is more confident now. You have Malcolm Culmer, who has played, now he has a chance to be a number one. He has worked really hard this summer. Levern [Jacobs] is just as hungry as ever. Taivon [Jacobs], who is coming back and wants to play and worked his tail off. DeAndre Lane is bigger, faster and stronger. Then you add Will Ulmer, he is back and ready to go. Jahrvis Davenport and D.J. Moore are two young guys. Zac Morton, those guys are all guys that I am excited about. I think we have some playmakers there.”
On the depth of the front seven:
“We have Quinton Jefferson, who was a starter for us last year who is coming back. [He] has really worked hard and I think he will have a really good year for us. You got some of these young guys that have been out - David Shaw played a little bit last year, he will be at the nose [tackle]. Roman Braglio is a guy who played for us. Now what happens is you take Malik Jones, Ty Tucker, those guys want to play and they have worked hard. Malik really did a great job this summer, got a lot bigger and stronger, put on weight, got a lot stronger. Same with Ty. Kingsley Opara is a guy that has been here now two years. He has a chance to step up and show what he can do. I like the move that we did with Cavon Walker, making him a defensive end and also Brett Kulka. Brett is a young guy, redshirt freshman who showed a lot of promise. I feel good about what we have there.”
On Brad Craddock's leadership:
“Well I think it's rare because people usually don't think of a kicker as a main leader of a football team, but Brad Craddock is a different person, he's a different guy. Brad was on our leadership council and he sat in the meetings and he wasn't a senior, so he didn't say a whole lot. But he came back and he sat down with me and said that he wanted to take charge of the leadership council. He really started to get everybody else to lead together and as I meet with these guys, he's really the spokesperson. He didn't come in as a placekicker, he was recruited as a punter, but because of injuries and some depth issues we moved him to kicking. He has worked really hard to make himself into what he is today. When other people see that, there is a tremendous amount of respect for him.”
On the running back situation:
“Wes [Brown] has done a really good job. I've seen him grow so much in the time that he's been here. He and Brandon [Ross] are the two guys and we'll see how it all plays out this preseason. We are expecting Wes to have a big year. I think you always have to have two guys there, but in terms of who gets the bulk of those carries, that is something we have got to figure out this preseason.”
On Taivon Jacobs:
“I've hurt for him because he is a great young man who works extremely hard. He wants to be out there and play. He has been dying to get out there and contribute more than what he's been able to. But I believe that he will go out and have a really good year. He has worked hard to rehab and put himself in position to be out there. Pound-for-pound he is one of the hardest workers that we have. I just want him to stay healthy and experience the success that he deserves based on how hard he works and who he is as a person.”
On Yannick Ngakoue's position change:
“What we did really is we just took Yannick [Ngakoue] from standing on two feet to putting his hand in the dirt and giving him a couple more opportunities for him to explode and come off the line of scrimmage. I expect him to have a really good year and to continue to improve and get better from where he was. Putting him in that situation, I think it gives him a chance to have a little more explosiveness with his hand down rather than just standing up on two feet. I liked what I saw in the spring and now if he can just continue that, I think it gives us a chance to be a little more aggressive.”
On where he would like to see improvement from last year:
“I think the offensive line will be better this year. I think that we are going to run the ball more effectively than what we did a year ago. We have to be able to stop the run better and we have to be able to run the ball better and those are things that we have been working on since January. I think that our guys are going to be better in those areas.”
LINEBACKER JEFFERSON ASHIRU (Sr.)
On transitioning from UConn:
“I knew Coach [Lyndon] Johnson and Edsall from before so everything kind of fell into place. I'm very excited to be playing with guys like Will Likely and Michael Dunn. There's a whole lot of talent on this team and I feel like I can contribute to it.”
PLACEKICKER BRAD CRADDOCK (Sr.)
On evaluating his game:
“I look at it like I have to be the best I can be and I still have work to do. I'm still not quite satisfied with where I am, but I will get there.”
On the pressure of the position:
“I think if you look it a big picture it's a little daunting. It's definitely a hard job. If you go in to kick and you miss, then it's a letdown for the whole team and I get that. But that comes with the job - I like the pressure. For me, I look at it one kick at a time. Every kick, I'm 1-for-1 and then I look at the next kick like I'm 1-for-1. I keep everything small and condensed and that's how I approach it. Once something has happened you can't dwell on it; if you miss one kick, which happens because no one is perfect.”
DEFENSIVE BACK SEAN DAVIS (Sr.)
On moving to man-to-man defense:
“I'm definitely looking forward to it. I'm a bigger guy so I'll be able to play a lot more press and let our linebackers and D-line handle the run while we handle the wide receivers one-on-one.
On the new 4-3 defense:
“I love it. I believe in it and so does everyone else. I really enjoy my part in contributing to the defense.”
OFFENSIVE LINEMAN MICHAEL DUNN (Jr.)
On his interactions with Daxx Garman:
“Daxx has been great and adjusted to the program really well. He's a very friendly guy. I think it will be a great battle with all three of them (Daxx Garman, Caleb Rowe and Perry Hills). As an offensive lineman my job is just to focus on whoever is in there and helping him out and letting him do the best that he can. So for me I am like every other fan just waiting to see who is going to win the starting job. Whoever wins is going to be a good choice.”
On if it makes it harder not knowing who the starting QB is going into camp:
“Not really. It allows you to build a relationship with all three of them. In the unfortunate case of an injury and the backup is needed, it will be easier because we have already played with him and you know what type of player he is. So I think it's good we are getting repetitions with all three of them.”
QUARTERBACK DAXX GARMAN (Sr.)
On his goals to be starter:
“I came here to compete for the job and that's what I'm going to do. I feel like we all bring strengths to the field and are capable of throwing the ball really well.”
On his experience at Oklahoma State:
“It'll be very helpful going forward. You only get better from experience and I valued my time at Oklahoma State. I'm ready to take that experience and elevate my game to a new level here at Maryland.”
QUARTERBACK PERRY HILLS (Jr.)
On his focuses this summer:
“I really focused on getting my agility up. I've also been working on my release to get the ball out quicker from the snap or the gun.”
On the quarterback competition:
“We're all great competitors and that's great because it will bring out the best game in each of us. We're each going to give 100 percent every time because the position is open for anyone to take like Coach Edsall said.”
WIDE RECEIVER LEVERN JACOBS (RJr.)
On playing with his little brother, Taivon:
“It feels good to have him back. He'll play a big role on the field and being the receivers' captain. Last year he was a captain on the sideline but it's even better when he's out there with us.”
On potential breakout goals:
“Having those individual goals does not mean anything if the team is losing, so I think my goals would have to be just getting those wins. Nobody in this room wants to be mediocre. I think our biggest goal is getting more than seven wins and getting over that hump to be a major factor in the Big Ten.”
WIDE RECEIVER TAIVON JACOBS (RFr.)
On coming back from injury:
“Anytime you have something keeping you from the field it means you have something to work towards. While sitting out you're just anxious to get back. This is a big day for me after sitting out a year. I've waited so long and it's finally here”
On Edsall praising him for work ethic:
“It's always great for your head coach to see that you're hard working and it's paying off. I just have to keep my production up on and off the field.”
On playing with his brother, Levern:
“We always compete with each other to help out the team. We would love to be on the field at the same time but it's all up to the coaches.”
DEFENSIVE END MELVIN KEIHN (So.)
On what made him want to come back to the area:
“Obviously my first year at Virginia Tech was very good I enjoyed the coaching staff there. I was attracted by “The Movement” and returning to my hometown team. I just thought that coming back home and playing for the home team and playing for Coach Edsall and the other coaches here and joining “The Movement” was something that I would enjoy. It is a good for me to take this year off so I can get used to things and next year hopefully do what I came here to do which was help the Maryland Terrapins.”
CORNERBACK WILLIAM LIKELY (Jr.)
On five of first seven games being at home:
“We're excited for us and our fans to really gain that September momentum. It's going to be a pretty exciting year.”
On focus/goals for camp:
“We just getting better overall. We will take it one day at a time leading up to the first game.”
On how he feels about 2015 getting underway:
“It is pretty exciting - everybody has a lot of energy out here. There's a lot of energy in the building getting ready for the first practice.”
On the defensive scheme change and what it means for the team:
“It is good, the coaches have some tricks up their sleeve and everybody is excited. We are just ready to make plays.”
On what is next for him in 2015:
“I just want to be better than I was last year. I'm going to practice hard every day and compete with those guys like [Levern Jacobs]. He helps me get better with my craft. Just competing overall is going to help me get better.”
On the expectations for Maryland football in year two of being in the Big Ten:
“Play all four quarters and win. Simple.”
DEFENSIVE END YANNICK NGAKOUE (Jr.)
On if he sees himself as a leader:
“I see myself as a leader. I'm always trying to lead by example and stay humble. I never try to put myself above any of the other guys on the team because at the end of the day these guys are my brothers. They shed tears with me in the summer, winter and spring. Being a leader on the team is a huge honor.”
On what prompted him to go talk to Brad Craddock:
“He is a very successful guy and every time you see a successful person you want to go try and pick their brain and see what it takes to become successful. He taught me about having good structure. It's good to set a schedule each and every day to build yourself into something you ultimately want to be. It is all positive things to do to help you before the game.”
OFFENSIVE LINEMAN DAMIAN PRINCE (RFr.)
On playing in a “lineman league”:
“I'm definitely excited. There has been a lot of great offensive linemen that have come through this league. I am just worrying about competing with myself and not so much competing for any accolades. I'm really just trying to compete with myself and making myself the best football player.”
On being away from gameplay while redshirting:
“Football is partially a muscle memory thing. If you don't play in a while you won't feel as fluid and natural as you would if you played all the time. I just took the time outside of here and took more reps on my own to try to get comfortable and more fluid again. I definitely feel like I'm back now after working on my craft this summer.”
RUNNING BACK BRANDON ROSS (Sr.)
On the team's personnel:
“We have some different personnel with some new players coming in. Across the board we are going to be fine. We have the majority of the starters on the offensive line returning. We also have a couple new wide-outs.
On the team's expectations in the conference:
“Expectations are definitely high. We just want to build on what we did last year.”
On his own expectations:
“I just want to continue to limit my mistakes and contribute to the team any way I can; whether it be catching the ball, running out the back field, or blocking down field, I'll do whatever coach needs me to do. A big thing with me last year was I put the ball on the ground a lot so I'm going to make sure I don't turn over the ball because that's costing to my offense.”
QUARTERBACK CALEB ROWE (RJr.)
On his knee:
“It feels good. I'm 100% and I feel confident. I haven't had any problems with it.”
On his relationship CJ Brown:
“I've learned a lot from CJ and we have a great relationship. I still talk to him and learning from him was awesome.”
On the team's style of play:
“Everyone has to adapt. So we are going to do whatever it takes to win football games. If it means spreading every one out and winning with our skill guys or loading the box and running the ball, Coach Locksley is going to do whatever it takes for us to win.”
OFFENSIVE LINEMAN ANDREW ZELLER (Sr.)
On what the offensive line has done this offseason:
“What we have done this offseason is become stronger in the weight room which is going to help us in the trenches. In games in the Big Ten it is either the defensive line or the offensive line that win you the game. We want to have our offensive line win games for us this season. That is why we put a big emphasis on getting bigger and stronger this offseason.”
On the biggest thing he took away from last season:
“The biggest thing from last season was just getting to play in these bigger venues. The Big Ten has much bigger venues than the ACC and it is great to have the opportunity to play these big teams.”
On what leadership means to him:
“Leadership means doing the right thing on and off the field. You have to be a role model for everybody, not just the offensive line.”
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR MIKE LOCKSLEY
On the quarterback competition:
“The competition has been ongoing, which is something that I told the guys. We are going to find the guys that know what to do and who can execute what to do and do it with the effort we want. We keep statistical data on every practice so we will have a way to identify which guy will give us the best chance to win.”
On the quarterback situation:
“Everybody starts from the same starting line. Perry [Hills] has started and won games here. Caleb [Rowe] has started a couple of games here. Daxx [Garman] has started and played at this level at Oklahoma State. They all are coming from a place where they have had opportunities as a starter so they all start from the same point and work from there.”
On Daxx Garman:
“Oklahoma State did some similar things to us - they were a spread team. Daxx played for Mike Gundy and Mike and I go back to his times at Maryland, so he was able to give me an idea of the skillset he is going to bring to the table. We are very fortunate to get a fifth year quarterback to come in and compete.”
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR- KEITH DUDZINSKI
On the defensive line adjusting to 4-3:
“Obviously I have to do a good job at implementing the schemes. I thought the line did a great job this spring and hopefully we can pick up right where we left off. I have to be smart about what we can and cannot do.”
On the secondary:
“Anytime you get experience at any position, it really helps the overall defense. They communicate and support each other on the back end. They can keep things in front of them and if something squirts out from the front seven, hopefully they are there to clean it up. Those guys have done a great job.”
-Maryland-
