Nutt Pre-Spring Press Conference

Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt met with the media Wednesday, as the Rebels prepare for Friday's start to spring practice.

Opening Statement

As we turn now and go to spring, we handed our team to Don Decker and his staff. Our goal was to get bigger, stronger and faster, and to know that we are on the radar. This time last year we were not. We could sneak into the Swamp and get a victory and get out. But we can't this year. We are on the radar. So we have to work a little harder. You think you are working hard, but you have to work harder. That has kind of been our theme and our antennas have been up about how we are going to approach things and how we are going to do things. I have been really proud of them. Everybody has made the 5:30 a.m. workouts. Greg Hardy has made every 5:30 a.m. workout. He hasn't gone through anything, but just to be there as an encourager to me, that's team. I'm excited about the start of spring. We will get started Friday. It looks like there is going to be rain. We have a wonderful Indoor Practice Facility and it looks like we will be in there. We are going to welcome everyone to come. Just be careful on the sideline, but we would love to have everyone. We are excited. These guys have been working hard, but now it is time to really go to work. We've got to take advantage of 15 practice days.

Q: Has anything changed with the Jamar Hornsby situation?

A: I'm still gathering facts. I don't know everything yet and there is still a court date out there. I wish he had been under our care. That is what you love about having Logan Clair, A.J. Hawkins and Craig Drummond in here now under your roof. They are in our family and we have eyes on them 24/7 for the most part. I don't know what is going to happen yet. I hope he straightens things up. I just don't know.

Q: How do you feel about some people saying you have a Top-10 team and how do you deal with that?

A: The first thing we told them was that the experts picked them next to last a year ago. The same group now picked them top-5. So what that really means is nothing. It's about going to work. We have a chance to have a good football team. I'm concerned about the left side of the offensive line because Rishaw Johnson hasn't played and Bradly Sowell hasn't played a full game. We've got to have a lot of people step up. We've got to stay healthy. We don't have a lot of depth in the offensive line, unlike the defensive like that has more numbers. There are some good things and bad things. But to just go around saying we're a top-5 team, we don't do that. We can have a good team, but there are still a lot of questions. We have to go to work. The reason we got to the Cotton Bowl was because we didn't care who got the credit, we were unselfish and we had tremendous attitudes. It didn't start by just saying, Ok, we're going to the Cotton Bowl.' I can't sit here and say, "here is a three point system on how we're going to get to the Cotton Bowl.' You can't do that. It took a lot of time and nurturing. It was a lot of time in this team meeting room talking. Things like convincing Marshay Green to go from offense to defense, which he did at the spur of the moment. Who would have ever thought he would be the MVP of the Cotton Bowl? It's those types of attitudes that you need. Eating at my house or a coach's house occasionally. You're building that team and family. It was a great journey, but now that's over. So what are we going to do? We've got to work harder. Everybody has a bull's-eye on you now. You may be a top-5 team as these magazines come out, but it's on paper. It doesn't mean anything. The only thing we can control is what is happening now. It's about these 15 practices, going to school and having the best spring of your life.

Q: Who are some of the candidates that need to step up on the offensive line?

A: On the offensive line, I love Daverin Geralds. He is right there in the middle. He's stronger than ever before and doing a good job for us. Reid Neely, at right guard has some experience and a big body. Our right tackle, John Jerry, is really stepping up as one of our leaders right now. We're concerned about the left side not because they don't want to step up, but because they haven't played. Then the depth, when you put it all up there, this is one of the weakest positions as far as the depth. That's why it is important to get Emmanuel McCray, Michael Brown, Bobby Massie, A.J. Hawkins and Logan Clair. You had to have that group because they are going to be involved in the depth. The second group Brandon Green is a really valuable player because he can play left guard, center and right guard. He's very smart and is working hard. Don Mosely is backing up Reid Neely at right guard, and he has got to step up for us. Alex Washington and Logan Clair are other guys we are looking at hard. We're trying to figure out which of these guys are going to step up. We think we have the first team, but we still have a long way to go.

Q: Who do you look for to step up as leaders this season?

A: Kendrick Lewis, Marshay Green, Dexter McCluster and Jevan Snead. We've got a good senior group. They had a beautiful experience last year. They learned a lot from Peria Jerry, Michael Oher, Jason Cook and Michael Wallace. Kendrick Lewis has really stepped up for us. Marcus Tillman is quiet, but he does it by example. I love his attitude. Reid Neely and Gerald Harris have been good as well.

Q: Do you need a guy like Peria Jerry on the defensive line?

A: It doesn't necessarily have to come from that position. It can come from anywhere. You want that one guy that when things are not going right he says, "Hey, follow me and I'll show you how to get there.' That's what Peria had. His intensity was always very high. He had one speed full speed. He brought a lot to our football team and in the locker room. It doesn't necessarily have to be at his position, but somebody on defense has got to step up and keep that thing together. Even if they don't do it with words, they can show them by their actions how to arrive in a bad mood to make a tackle and do whatever it takes for the team. That's what Peria did. Hopefully, with Marcus Tillman, Lawon Scott and Ted Laurent in there, we'll be fine. You feel good about the numbers in the defensive line. But we all know about that nasty word injury, you just never know.

Q: How do you feel about the criticism regarding having two division 1-AA teams on this year's schedule?

A: I don't even worry about that. First of all, there is nothing that we can do about it. That's the way it is. Those are the cards we were dealt. Let's go. We can't worry about it and we can't control it. It's wasted time and energy on something that we can't control. That's the schedule that we have and we've got to go play. We are in the toughest conference in America, that's what I do know. You just go play what's in front of you.

Q: Would you like to see bigger non-conference schools on the schedule in the future?

A: I think that was the intent. I thought we had TCU and there were a couple other schools involved in there. That was our intent, where we always had one bigger school. We have Texas, Clemson and Georgia Tech coming on the schedule. We're going to have enough big games.

Q: How important is establishing the running game in the spring?

A: Brandon has had an outstanding offseason. Cordera Eason has lost about 10-12 pounds. He's looked quicker in our 5:30 runs. I think every back knows that they're first team, but it may just be for one day. That can change in a minute by just taking a pen and marking one name out and here comes another. Enrique Davis has looked very quick the last couple of mornings. He was very quick but he's lost eight or nine pounds. You love competition. You're going to see a lot of competition. They all know that we've signed three very good tailbacks so everybody is getting ready. That's an exciting part of spring to me. We are always going to establish the running game to be physical run blockers and to have backs that can run. Hopefully we will be able to catch the ball as well.

Q: Expectations for Jevan Snead after a full season as a starter?

A: Well Jevan finished so strong our expectations for him are for him to take off where he left off. If you took the first five games and then went to the last seven, it's night and day. This guy has improved so much - his eyes, his knowledge to get us out of a bad play and get us in the right play - so naturally you've got a real confidence with him taking this thing over. He is going to grow and grow. I think he would be the first to tell you that he can improve on a lot of things - where he puts his eyes and his reads. The one thing about Jevan is he is hungry, he loves to come to work, he loves to practice. I'm excited about seeing him improve and get better but taking off where he left off in Dallas, Texas.

Q: Can you carry over the enthusiasm and excitement from last season?

A: Well hopefully we'll be able to carry some of that over. It's always a new team, a new personality. We all were excited at first and then all of a sudden you look up and you're 3-4 and some of that goes away. It's about winning. It started at Arkansas on October 25th and we got on that roll. It gets bigger, it gets better and you have a lot of momentum but each year is different. That year is gone and that's what we've been telling our team. We've got to roll up your sleeves. There are new attitudes and new seniors. You learned a lot from last year, now let's build on it let's get better.

Q: Do you see Kent Austin doing more with Jevan Snead and offense to continue to expand it?

A: That's what we're hoping for. This guy, I think, can continue to grow and get better. He understands secondary coverage and zone blitzes much better and how they disguise things. You won't be able to fool him. He's seen a lot of different type of disguises. He will build off that and he'll get better. We'll give him more freedom and leniency as far as changing plays and being able to throw more in the audible because you trust him and he understands what we are trying to get to. Just from this time last year to right now is night and day. Just the way he calls a play, his confidence - he's just so confident the way he calls a plays. You can just see it roll off his tongue now. That's a great feeling compared to this time last year where you're trying to teach him a new book and he's unsure and everybody is unsure. He's not that way anymore so you expect him (to be solid).

Q: Who are the candidates to replace Mike Wallace?

A: The thing about Mike Wallace is he out-ran every corner every Saturday and then went down to the Senior Bowl and did the same thing. He had true straight-line speed and that's why his stock has really risen. There will be a lot of teams working him out tomorrow as you'll see. I don't think we have anyone that has his type of speed because very few people do. He has outstanding speed but Dexter McCluster, Shay Hodge, Markeith Summers - that's your nucleus of guys that we feel like we can count on as good receivers. Patrick Patterson is a big-time guy that's tall, has tremendous hands and can probably do a lot, but he's a freshman and he'll be on that learning curve. We think he will take off very quickly. Ja-Mes Logan and Terrell Grant, from Cleveland, are other fast guys. We've got a lot of candidates. What I hate about this spring, is Melvin Harris, a 6-foot-7 guy won't be out there. He's got to have surgery, the same surgery as Greg Hardy. He will miss the spring. He was a guy that did a lot for especially the scout team. You could see him growing and getting better during Cotton Bowl week and it's hard to coach 6-foot-7 - you don't have to. When he's going against 5-foot-9 and 5-foot-10 corners, it makes it a whole lot easier.

Q: What is the status of E.J. Epperson?

A: E. J. Epperson broke his wrist during Cotton Bowl scrimmage right out here the very first week. He's going to be able to go do everything, it's just I don't think he can scrimmage the very first scrimmage. He'll do a lot of fundamental work and do some things. You can tell that he has lost a lot of upper-body strength. Ferbia Allen is really coming on. You have Gerald Harris, Ferbia Allen, Reggie Hicks - so you've got some numbers there, but hopefully E.J. will catch up.

Q: How is the fullback position stacking up going into the spring?

A: Derrick Davis was that guy and I think if you watch him Friday, (you'll see that). He changed his body and he really committed. He put on about 16 or 18 pounds. He's changed his body and he gives us that little quickness that we need back there at fullback. If he'll be physical for us, that would really help Andy Hartmann, we know what we've got in Andy Hartmann. He is a big guy, he is tough and he had an excellent Cotton Bowl. He blocked well for our tailbacks and we're glad we have him. H.R. Greer, Dan Hoffman, Ben Benedetto - you've got some numbers there, but Derrick Davis is who I am very excited about. Again, another guy that is being very unselfish who played tailback all his life and said, hey ill go play fullback. I'll commit so much that ill go change my body for it.'

Q: Have the numbers in your recruiting class started taking care of themselves?

A: It's going real smooth right now because you've got about seven guys right now that we know for sure aren't going to make it academically. However, they love Ole Miss and so what we're doing, to help out Mississippi Junior Colleges, is we are going to place them in the schools. Really you're down to about 27. Now there are some like Eric Smiley who signed with Butler Junior College so I wasn't counting him. But take my word for it, it's going good. Now we are about two over today and we're in good shape.

Q: How many of those 27 players might not make it academically?

A: There are about four or five that are on the fence and probably won't make it academically. The relationship you build with Mississippi Junior Colleges is important to me because we won't ever be a staff that will sign 15 to 16 junior college kids a year. We won't do that, but we will sign some needs.

Q: How has Nathan Stanley progressed?

A: He's another guy that has worked very hard. I'm anxious, after one year of watching him go through scout team, I'm very anxious to see him under some heat. I'm anxious to see how he handles things when it's third down. He's not reading the card anymore, trying to get a picture for the defense. He is actually completing for a job and trying to get better. I think you will be impressed with his arm and some of the fundamental things. What's going to be interesting is when the game speeds up. That is what is so wonderful about Jevan, the game slowed down for him. He analyzed and understood where things were going to end up. That is where you want to see this journey come for Stanley.

Q: How is Greg Hardy doing?

A: Greg Hardy has been doing great with his rehab. He has made every meeting and I've been very proud of his attitude. It is the best that I have ever seen it. He can't run. He has the cast off now and is the walking boot. He has been a great teammate and that's what we have asked him to do. Just go to school, do a great job of rehabbing and be around your teammates. He's also do everything the doctors have asked him to do.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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