Quote book and video: Atkins, Fuller and Papuchis preview GT

Florida State coordinators Alex Atkins, Adam Fuller and John Papuchis discuss how the coaches used the bye week. We will add quotes later this afternoon.

On bye week adjustments

“You always have a base idea when you go into it, you just want to confirm what your thoughts are and make sure you're not focusing on something that doesn’t need to be focused on. But I think the biggest thing was looking at it from an individual standpoint. Also, when you hit players you can basically go out and do a self-scout of course on the scheme what you call it and things like that, but more what is that player not seeing and put them in a better position. And understanding why, because sometimes you will watch it and one player will be ‘man every time he's missed this,’ and you might look over it but then it might be a reason and you saw when you self-scouted that one individual. So what we do is we go back through the notes because every game, every player has a specific note. We sort it, attack those top three things and we see some things that can help us learn. And also those players were excited because it's not many times once the season gets going, you're going to get to sit down and have a one-on-one ‘how you better’ (meetings) than a large position group (meeting). So I thought that was really good and we found some good stuff.”

On what he wants to see from offense in final stretch

“We should be getting better as we keep playing. You want to play your best ball in November, like everybody says. We’re starting to play better, we know who we are, we’ve established our identity and what we’re good at. And so, we have to buy into that and keep climbing up as we go forward as far as continuity, playing with each other, and things like that. As they're starting to know each other, this offense is becoming its own offense this year. I think you know, we've gone through it and we've learned enough lessons to start seeing the repetitive lessons being learned. So you know, that's the challenge moving forward.”

On OL getting a bye at this point in the season

“Yeah, I mean, you take a deep breath, but you know playing O-Line is a lot of contact on every play. So if you’re playing O-Line looking to be 100%, you’re playing the wrong sport. You're going to be a little bit banged up, you’re going to be a little dinged. The guys are probably feeling better, but tomorrow they're not going to feel better. We’ll get back to work and it is what it is. But now I'll take a deep breath to kind of relax a little bit for those guys to get off and have a little bit of time off was good. But we’ll get back to it tomorrow and be back sore.”

On Jordan Travis dual-threat

“Credit to some of the defenses we’ve played too, for him to have to do that and utilize that. But Jordan is a true dual threat quarterback. When he pulls the ball, he is a dynamic athlete, as well as throwing the football and reading progression. So, he's developed in himself where you can't just key on one part of his game. Because he showed that he can beat you either way. As he continues to get better, seeing it, learning and learning the personnel around, I'm excited to see how he comes this weekend and has the opportunity to play well.”

On red zone issues

“Yes it’s one thing we stress, because when you get in the red zone, you have to do something to get there. And it’s not always a big play. Sometimes it takes 10 plays to get down there. Now defenses’ structures change in the red zone. Safeties are up tighter, there’s more high percentage pressure, there’s more high percentage movement. So the focus level has to almost refocus when you get in the red zone. So, how do you create that? How do you put them in a situation where they feel that? Well, now you work on red zone at the end of practice. You have put them in that mindset they are in when they get in the red zone and then go reaffirm it because it can't be the first time they felt it. For example, if we come out of the work to get the practice probably, they’re probably not in that mind frame where they just ran eight plays to get down here, the defense changes. So it's not like we can segment this and say ‘now we're in the red zone, the defense tightened.’ We have to do a good job in on field communication with each other. So that comes from the O-line talking to each other, the receivers talking to each other, ‘we’re here now.’ It can't be a coach presentation. These are things you've got to have those kind of concise reminders on a field whether it be to the center talking to both sides, quarterback (saying), ‘hey, we're here now. Let's go back, let's refocus and we're going to get down there with changes from leaving from the open field to down in the red zone.” So I think being able to focus on that will help them.”

On wide receiver rotation

“We are fortunate where we’ve got some big, long receivers when you talk about Johnny, when you talk about Malik and those guys who can go up and make plays. It is such a unique room, because you’ve got a little bit of everything. You’ve got the tall, long, big receivers. You’ve got Mycah, the short, thick (receivers). You’ve got him and Ja’Khi. There are so many guys who can do so many things. But the good thing about it is, they all know the position. So they can all play the outside receiver, the inside receiver. You can move them around. Of course with Johnny, he is a matchup problem just off raw talent and raw size. But overall, we don’t have to change too much because of the ability that is in the room. Whoever is out there can pretty much operate in whatever way we need him to operate. But it is a fun room to game plan, because you have so many weapons on the outside. We don’t have to say, overall, we have to match this person. They do a good job. That is why in the past, we’ve had different receivers show up at different times. Not necessarily because of the game plan. But because hey, we are going to take this guy and now this guy has got to step up. Or the coverage dictated things like that. We have full confidence in all of those guys in that room.”

On using Pittman in motion

“As Mycah is being more comfortable in the offense – this is truly his first year in the offense. As he is starting to learn all of it, we can use him in different ways. Because now, he can understand it and different concepts no matter where he is lined up. So whether he is in the backfield, inside receiver or we are starting him on the outside and motioning him in, there is a less chance of a missed assignment because he is starting to learn the total picture when things break down. So the more we play, you will get to see more of that with us kind of interchanging. Because we don’t want to make mistakes. So to be able to do that with a person, being able to line him up at different positions and move him in the backfield, they have to have a total understanding of what could happen, that position and how it is different from what they are used to playing in every play in the offense. So as we continue with him, Trey, Ja’Khi and those guys, as we continue to learn and learn the what-ifs of the offense, you will be able to get more multiple with those guys.”

On Georgia Tech’s defense

“Tech does a good job of adjusting its defense to personnel. They’ve done it from bear to even to odd and a little bit different from last year. So what he does a good job of is, identifying his good players and putting them in the best position as possible. They are big inside, so he wants to utilize that. They can run on the edges. The corners are playing really well. So it is all about him finding what his guys do best and coaching their ability. That is why I think they do a good job on defense.”

On Lawrance Toafili

“LT’s growth has been fun to watch. When he first got here, he was a guy who we could only do one thing with him. Like, ‘We are going to do this one thing, and that is it.’ And now, you watch him and he is lined up on the outside. He is lined up on the inside. We talk about developing in the offense once you start learning multiple spots. And also, he is a guy who loves practice. Whenever a guy like him who works hard, I’m sitting up there in the staff room watching film and he comes up there and speaks to everybody before he watches tape. So what I love about him is, he truly believes in the work paying off in the end. And his humbleness is unbelievable. Just overall, that running back room, you would think there would be some kind of, ‘How many carries?’ and things like that. But no, those guys are good as gold when it comes to what needs to be done, the work that is going on behind the scenes and he loves to practice. He gets upset with us when we don’t let him do something, because we have to make sure he’s good to go. But he is one where you always want to do well because of the work he puts in behind the scenes. LT is as good as they come.”

On his name being attached to other jobs

“I would not say it is awkward. I’m a young gun in the business, so I’ve watched so many press conferences of people getting asked that question. I used to be like, ‘Man, he’s lying.’ … I used to judge it. And then when it is actually you, number one, it is flattering. Because if you go through Mike Norvell’s history of his assistants, he’s had a bunch of them go out there and do great things. So it is flattering. It is a token to him of what he has done in developing his coaches and young coaches he’s had on his staff. But no, it’s flattering. But it’s just social media. So it’s not really realistic or real. It’s more of just noise, to be honest.”

On self-scouting during bye week

“I don’t know about differently. There’s just so much information you take out of it, what teams are doing to you, what you’re doing to teams. You just try to consolidate all the information. The small things, you study yourselves, are you giving away anything from alignments, from stances, usually you’re doing that against the opponent. So it’s just, from A-Z, it’s basically what that week is and you try to make sure you segment enough time out there to to study it all. So you delegate some stuff. Guys all have projects and then they turn some projects in and you kind of talk it through, you try to put everything together so you make sure you iron out all the details that were the first seven games and then you basically tie a bow on it and move forward.”

On evaluating depth chart during the bye week

“I think you’re constantly making sure that you’re giving guys opportunities. I think that’s part of it. But you also got guys set in roles and there’s a balance there. But at the end of the day, as long as your players know that you’re giving guys opportunities are the ones that deserve it out there on the practice field. You keep that alive. I think we’ve seen good things happen during this season where guys, especially up front are having opportunities whether that’s because they’ve played well or because that’s due to injuries. But you take all that into consideration. I think the bye week gave us the ability to get some guys some reps who probably needed to get some reps, some of the younger guys, but also get some guys [healthy], so that was all part of what the bye week was.”

On Georgia Tech’s offense, on starting QB getting injured

“Any time they’re starting quarterback, No. 10 has been a good player for ‘em, and he’s created a lot of offense for them throughout the year and he’s gone down in back-to-back games. So whether he plays or not, I’m not quite sure. But like always, you always try to play for the starter and the backup, it’ll be no different. It’s just part of the evaluation when you’re getting ready for teams that have injuries, especially at quarterback. It’s all part of the evaluation of how you get ready.”

On the pass-rush production despite losing 2021 starting defensive ends

“Have we had to do it in a different way? Slightly. I think our pressure numbers are up from where they were last year. We’ve had more sacks from pressure than we have. But we also, the guys that have been out there, I think we’ve gotten some production from individuals as well and I think that’s the normal production. We want to be a team that can generate pressure with a four-down rush. I think all good teams can do that. I think we have done that. And that’ll be a continuation here for the rest of the season that we continually develop that. Whether that’s aligning in four-down, giving different looks and putting linebackers at the line of scrimmage and creating rush-plans for them, giving them the illusion that they’re coming. I think creating pressure is really important. We want to make sure we’re doing a better job of is on first and second down getting a few more of those loss plays and TFLs. That’s necessarily sacks, but just a little more disruptive on the first and second-down run games.”

On Clemson’s perimeter attack last game

“I think it was difficult because it was a really good player catching the ball. I think that has a lot to do with it. When you’re trying to gain yards, whether it’s in the run game or the screen game, you’ve got to create space. When you run perimeter plays, you create space just by the design of it, but you’ve got to sustain blocks longer because of the length of the play trying to get out there. Just like you’re coaching your defensive ends to be able to set edges and get off blocks on the inside runs, you’ve got to do that with your corners and nickels and sometimes your ‘backers on perimeter runs. I think that’s all part of when a team is trying to utilize the space on the field and get the ball to players in that space, you need different ways to try and combat it. So, yeah, that’s all part of trying to take those plays away.”

On DT Fabien Lovett

"He gives you just a really tough matchup inside. It's hard to block him with one guy just because he's so strong. He's strong, but he's been in the system for three years now, so he plays with the technique necessary to be productive. He's a team-first player that's unselfish, he battles, he fights, and he uses good technique. And we saw at the beginning of the year that he's a problem in the pass-game too just because of his ability to push the pocket. His opportunity when he's been down has helped guys like Josh Farmer, and Malcolm, and other guys come along. But at one point, when he comes back, it'll be good to have him back."

On cornerback group’s pros and cons so far this season

“Yeah I mean, we’re playing a good amount of corners. Some was due to injury, some was due to guys playing well, some were due to just getting some of the young guys the right amount of reps because you know what’s coming. I think they’ve done a good job as far as expecting the responsibility or role when they’re in there. We’ve seen some really good play from some of those guys. I think Jarrian Jones is much improved, I think Renardo has done a really good job. Listen, that position is always going to be on an island, it’s just a part of playing corner, and you want them to make 100 percent of the plays whether that’s in the run or throw game. But I think we’ve done a good job at that spot, I think I’m excited about coming out of this bye week what we’ll see moving forward. But our guys accept responsibility for how we play out there, which is a lot of match coverage. I like that group, I do think there’s been some growth there. Looking forward to seeing continued, as we move forward here this year with the push of Azareye’h and getting Duke back and having him play better. I think it’s all part of that group.”

ON MYCAH PITTMAN BEING CLOSE TO BREAKING A PUNT RETURN, BYE WEEK (FRESH LEGS) GIVE HIM A BETTER CHANCE?

We were able to take the open week and work on some different fundamentals and get a little bit of a jumpstart on Georgia Tech. I think we're getting close, because I think as a unit, that punt return units playing well. There's a lot of things that go into to having success in return units. You've got to get the right kick, you've got to get everybody blocked, you've got to get the return man usually has to make somebody miss somewhere along the line. All those ingredients have to be in play, but I do feel like that unit certainly becoming a weapon for us.

ON RYAN FITZGERALD'S KICKING IN RECENT WEEKS, SINCE HE WENT BACK TO HIS OLD KICKING STYLE

Ryan's had a good couple of weeks. Obviously, the NC State game where he was able to make a kick, I'm sure that was a confidence-builder for him. You know, really, the last couple weeks of practice have been very good. But like we've talked about before, his practice work had been very good, really throughout the course of the year. He's continuing, I think, to become more comfortable and more confident. I thought he had a good week last week. I know he got some work in this past weekend. So I'm looking for him to have a good second-half of the year and kind of refresh and, and continue to build on what he's been working on and continue to improve.

ON WHAT DT FABIEN LOVETT HAS BEEN LIKE WHILE UNAVAILABLE TO PLAY

I'm sure it was hard for him, because I know how badly he wants to be out there. But his attitude, really from the week he got hurt against LSU and then. His attitude and his energy level that he brought to the team meetings, to the defensive line meetings, never changed. His demeanor never changed. He never made it about him. He never kind of pouted or sulked. Maybe that happened in private, I don't know, but in front of the group, he always showed a strong leadership face to the group and he maintained that leadership all the way throughout. There were times he couldn't be out at practice immediately after he had his surgery, but he's always in the meetings, and every time he's been out at practice his presence has been felt. I thought he did a tremendous job, especially for a guy who had a personal disappointment obviously when he was excited about the year and everything it would hold. For him to never change his demeanor, his body language, or his mindset, I think it says a lot about who he is and the type of leadership skills he has.

ON SAM MCCALL RETURNING TO KR DUTIES AGAINST CLEMSON, HIM EARNING THE SPOT OR TREY BENSON MOVED OFF DUE TO RB DEPTH?

It was a combination of all things. You know, we have a lot of confidence in Sam. Just like I said when we had made the move, initially it was less to do about Sam and more to do about Trey. With the running back room being a little bit thinner that week, we thought this might be a good opportunity to get Sam back involved in the rotation. They're both really capable returners. I think this week going forward, we'll make a decision on where it's gonna go. But I think we could see either one of those two guys out there.

ON BLOCKED KICKS AGAINST GT IN 2020, AN ISSUE FOR THE YELLOW JACKETS AGAIN THIS YEAR, COMMON THEM TO EXPLOIT

I don't know that you could draw too many parallels from 2020 to now. In terms of why they they've had some kicks blocked. It was three. But I don't know that you could draw too many parallels. I think a lot of that had to do with with COVID and the practice, the lack of full speed work, because that was the opening game for both teams [in 2020]. I think that there was a little bit of reflection of this, I don't know how many full speed reps on full protection they had had that year. They haven't had those issues in terms of field goal protection this year. The punt blocks, it's hard for me to really speak intelligently on why they've had punts blocked. I'm sure that they've been schemed up correctly, whether there was a guy who didn't execute or a miscommunication or whatever the case might be, I'm not 100% sure. The last couple of weeks they've been better in terms of what they've been doing protection-wise. They have good coaches over there, so I'm sure they'll get that part cleaned up.

ON THE PASS RUSH SUCCESS THIS YEAR (COMPARED TO LAST) DESPITE PERSONNEL CHANGES FROM LAST YEAR

We're pleased. We feel like it's a work-in-progress. I still think there's a whole nother level that this current defensive line group can take it to in terms of pass rush. But were there questions coming in into last offseason? Sure. But with the emergence of a Pat Payton, that's obviously been been significant. Derrick McLendon continued to improve, so that's been good for us. Getting Jared Verse from a recruiting standpoint, that was critical. So I mean, I could coming out of the last season, I could see where there would potentially be concerns. But I think that either through recruiting or through player development, those concerns have been addressed. But I do think that there's a whole nother level that this defensive line can take it to in terms of what we can, what we're capable of doing from a pass rush standpoint.

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