Pre-Spring Football Press Conference

Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt and several key players met with the media on Wednesday to discuss the 2010 spring drills, which begin Saturday. Below is the transcipt from Nutt's press conference. Spring practices are open to the public, and daily times and locations will be updated on the SpringPractice2010 ad on the right side of the OleMissSports.com football home page or via text through twitter.com/OleMissNow.

OPENING COMMENTS

As always, I love the spring time. There is nothing like the 5:30 a.m. winter workouts. If you were here to see the Pro Day, we had a group of good athletes that really helped themselves yesterday. The truth of the matter is that you are losing a 1,000-yard receiver - the first time that has happened in Ole Miss' history - in Shay Hodge. You are losing a player like Dexter McCluster. It was the first time in the history of the SEC that a player had a 1,000 yards rushing and 500 yards receiving. What is difficult as coaches is that those guys are now gone. You're losing three defensive ends in Greg Hardy, Marcus Tillman and Emmanuel Stephens. I think they will all be drafted. You lose the entire secondary, except for one, when you look at it. The two starting corners - Cassius Vaughn and Marshay Green - and a safety like Kendrick Lewis, who had a very good day yesterday. Then you take three offensive line starters away - John Jerry, Reid Neely and Daverin Geralds. This is the time where we look back on when we first got here and saw some good athletes that just hadn't won. We knew that three years down the road this day was coming. Most of you told me when we got here that we didn't have linebackers, a secondary, and they don't know how to win. This will be our biggest challenge. We are really going to challenge our fans this spring too. We need them to be at their best. We really want to make Vaught-Hemingway Stadium one of the toughest places to play. I really enjoyed our basketball atmosphere last night. I thought that was the best they had all season. All of my players were there last night, except for the ones that had a test today. What a win for Andy Kennedy and his bunch. That is the kind of atmosphere that we are talking about. I have heard people on the street say, 'I don't really like the schedule,' or 'it isn't as good as last year.' We are in the SEC and you have to love our schedule. We want you to come love Ole Miss and be with us. What we are going to do is really go to another level with our teaching. We had a quarterback in Jevan Snead that we expected back. Two years of experience and 18 wins under his belt. He really threw the ball well yesterday and really helped himself. He is as good as anybody as far as arm strength. We don't have him anymore. We have two brand new guys that are about to see a speed of the game that they have never seen before. You see the challenge. This will be the biggest challenge of our coaching careers. It is something special happening because of the last two recruiting classes. We knew that both classes had to be very good because we are going to play with them. Three new offensive line guys - you had to have Bobby Massie. A.J. Hawkins and Josh Tatum have to be ready to play. Evan Swindall has to be ready to play. We know those numbers would be like that. This is what I love. I am excited about the season and I am excited about the spring. This is where coaching takes place.

The thing that you feel good about when you go to sleep at night is your defensive line. Since day one, the thing that has been done well in the years before we got here was the recruiting on the defensive line - Jerrell Powe, Lawon Scott and LaMark Armour, who just got cleared for his sixth year. It is really good to have him. Kentrell Lockett - what a leader for us. Lockett and Powe have done a very good job leading for us during the winter. Wayne Dorsey was a very big signee for us. He is a guy that is coming and learning on the run. Cameron Whigham is another greyshirt guy that has got to play. He is in the second-team line by default. We lost three senior defensive ends. Whigham, Mike Thomas, Gerald Rivers and Jason Jones, who moved over from linebacker, better get ready to play. Ted Laurent is another guy that has a lot of experience for us. He is one of our strongest guys. I feel good about them. We have to keep them healthy. Justin Smith won't be able to go through spring ball, but he had successful surgery the other day and will be ready by the fall. If you recall, he had one of the best two-a-days of anyone that we had. We will be very glad to get him back.

At linebacker, Jonathan Cornell has been another guy that has been a leader during the winter. He is a senior who knows how to win and I am excited about him. I think Coach (Tyrone) Nix had really taken Jonathan Cornell and Allen Walker to another level since we arrived. Allen Walker just had hernia surgery about four or five weeks ago. He will be ready to go. He won't scrimmage every time, but he will be in every defensive alignment. He will be there. It gets exciting with Joel Kight. He played a little last year as a sophomore and is a starter right now. Behind him you have Alex Williams, Rudy Wilson and D.T. Shackelford. We have Shackelford in the middle behind Jonathan Cornell. He is another guy that played a lot of ball as a freshman. Then we have Mike Marry, who is another greyshit guy. If you want to talk about MVPs, the mothers and fathers of these four greyshits have really helped us. I am excited about Mike Marry. Those are our core linebackers.

Our secondary is where we have a job to do. We have two brand new corners. Jeremy McGee had played a little bit and Marcus Temple played a little bit in nickel and dime packages. Those guys have to step up for us. As far as safties, Fon Ingram and Johnny Brown give us the most experience and I am glad they're back. They are very good players and have to continue to lead. Johnny Brown has really stepped up as another leader for us. It is always interesting to see the new personalities and the new leaders of your team. You see about two in each group. I am really excited about Frank Crawford. When he got here he was 151 pounds coming off of knee surgery. He is up to 182 pounds, can jump and run. He has range and some excellent ball skills. I am interested to see how he can carry these things over to the spring and learn. Now you aren't a scout team player anymore. Now it is time for them to go. Terrell Grant is one of the guys we moved from wide receiver to safety. He is backing up Johnny Brown and I am excited about him because he is a strong and fast guy. He has to learn how to be physical and he is learning on the run. Dele Junaid and Damien Jackson, who is a JUCO guy that we signed and has experience. Now he just has to learn our system. Darius Barksdale and George Helow round out our safties. Behind Jeremy McGee and Temple on the corners, you have two redshirt freshmen in Ryan Campbell on the left and Charles Sawyer on the left. Then you have Julian Whitehead and Demareo Marr.

We talked about losing those three starters on the offensive line. You feel good about Bradley Sowell and Bobby Massie on the edges. They are two guys that have played a lot of football for us and you feel good about them. I think Bradley has really stepped up for us and become a leader. Bobby is trying to do the same thing. We have to be strong in the middle with Alex Washington at left guard with A.J. Hawkins and Michael Brown behind him. That's just how we are going to start off the spring. At center, you have Evan Swindall. A.J. Hawkins, Chris Gill and Chase Hughes can also play center. Hughes had shoulder surgery and will go through fundamentals with us but won't be able to scrimmage with us this spring. It is good to have Rishaw Johnson back. I feel like he has done a really good job of coming back after a time of separation from us. He has done a good job with everything, and he is doing things the right way. I am excited about him. Josh Tatum is a guy that got hurt during spring break. He said he stepped in a deer hole and hurt his ankle. Hopefully we will get him back quickly. He needs every rep he can get. Behind Bobby Massie you have Logan Clair and behind Bradley Sowell you have Emmanuel McCray. We will have Matt Hall, who looks beautiful out there, but will have to sit out next year.

At tight end we have Ferbia Allen. Thank goodness for Ferbia Allen. He is up to almost 255 pounds and has been a leader for us. He has worked hard. Reggie Hicks is another senior who has been moved around a lot and hasn't found a home. I think he is going to help us this year. It is amazing what seniors do sometimes. They know this is it, and he has really been busting it. Z. Mason is our project. He looks the part, is a good person, but has to improve on some things. He has come a thousand miles, and he needs to keep going. He looks good in pads, and he will hopefully make some strides for us.

At receiver, Markeith Summers is one of our fastest guys and has to be a player. He is also just coming off of hernia surgery. He's got to be a go-to guy and a guy that can stretch the field for us. Lionel Breaux is a guy that we can move around and has experience. He never gets tired and is going to be a gunner. He is a very unselfish player. Jesse Grandy will be much more involved in the passing game. He is probably one of our fastest guys along with Markeith Summers. It is time for Melvin Harris to step up. He has had a really good offseason. He has put on weight, but you can't tell. He has gotten better and stronger, now we have to see him catch the ball. We moved Jared Mitchell from safety to receiver to give him a chance over there. He is a fast guy with good height and we are hoping he can catch the ball and play a role for us. Ja-Mes Logan is another guy that was a redshirt last year and has really shown flashes. He's got go grow up and mature. We are throwing a lot at him and can't wait to see how he responds. Pat Patterson is a guy who we have to have in our program. We have to have him as a go-to type receiver. Right now, I have suspended him for the spring for breaking team rules. Hopefully he is going to get back with us and get it going because we need him. I hate that he is missing spring - that really hurts us. Our receiving corps is very thin, and I can't wait to get the two we signed this year on campus.

Quarterbacks are Raymond Cotton and Nathan Stanley. I am glad we have those two on campus. We were expecting Randall Mackey to be here by this time, but he won't be here until May. This gives all the reps to these two guys. Nathan will take the first snap and go from there. I am excited about both of them. They are both athletic and both of them can throw. They haven't seen what they are getting ready to see though, and that is the speed of the game.

At fullback, E.J. Epperson was moved from tight end to fullback. He gives us a big body there and has done really well in the offseason. He has put on some weight, and I'm hoping he can stay healthy for us. We moved H.R. Greer from linebacker to fullback. He is a very athletic guy and the thing I love about him is that he wants to play. He wants to please, and he has been working so hard. Derrick Davis is another guys that has been moved around. Hopefully he can help us this year. He had had an excellent attitude, and I'm excited about him.

At tailback, Brandon Bolden has had an excellent offseason. He looks the part and has slimmed down to about 210 pounds. He is running very quickly, and he just moves well in all of our drills. Rodney Scott and Enrique Davis gives us three solid backs that have all played for us. We are looking for that guy that we can trust, hold on to the football and make plays for us. We moved Derrick Herman from corner to tailback. He has really shown flashes and is real excited about the move. He looks quick in the drills. Korvic Neat and Devin Thomas round it out for us at tailback. We have a good group of backs, we just have to figure out who is going to step up for us.

Q: Can Derrick Hermann give you something like Dexter McCluster did out of the backfield?

A: That is the only reason I mentioned him at tailback. When you see him do the 5-10-5 drills that the NFL scouts did at Pro Day; that isn't Enrique's forte. Derrick brings that quickness.

Q: What kind of offseason progress did you see from the young offensive linemen?

A: (Josh) Tatum has probably come the furthest strength-wise. Emmanuel McCray is probably one of the better athletes. What is going to be interesting now is finding out who the tough guys are. Now we are going to play football. All of them have worked hard and moving well. Now they are going to go against defensive ends like Kentrell Lockett and Wayne Dorsey. They are going to see speed that they aren't used to seeing. The only thing I can tell you is that they have worked hard and they look good. Now, they have to go play football.

Q: Are you going to be moving the young offensive linemen around a lot?

A: That is an excellent possibility. We are going to find the best five first, and then find the next best three. We don't have a long line of left tackles. That is the next thing we have to go do - sign some left tackles. We also signed some good ones. They have worked hard, and I can't wait for them to get out there.

Q: How do you plan to handle the quarterback competition?

A: There are only two guys. We have a walk-on that is going to work there as well. There are going to be one-on-one drills and middle drills. They are both going to be getting a bunch of reps. We are going to get to grade a lot of film. We are going to put them both with the first and second teams. It is going to be one or the other the entire spring. You are going to be able to tell who can handle 3rd-and-eight. The bottom line is finding the guy that puts his team in the endzone - that's your quarterback.

Q: What are your feelings on having two quarterbacks?

A: I have done that. I don't mind it as long as I know there is production and I know that they are going to take care of the ball. This could be the year with Randall Mackey, Cotton and Stanley. There could be some of that. I wish Randall was here this spring, because he is going to be so far behind. That is what gives Raymond Cotton the best chance to get in the mix. Now, maybe he has a package along with Nathan Stanley. It'll be interesting.

Q: Who is going to run the "wild rebel" this season?

A: We are going to start out with Brandon Bolden, because he has done it, and Jesse Grandy. Grandy will be the speed guy with Brandon at the direct snap. We are thinking about working Grandy at the direct snap as well. Derrick Herman and Rodney Scott - we have a lot of possibilities. The thing about Raymond Cotton is that he can also do that. Now you are at a different level because there is the threat of Cotton throwing the ball. That is going to be fun to look at.

Q: Is Pat Patterson out of chances after being suspended for the second time?

A: Yeah, and I think he knows that. I've been real proud of him the last four or five weeks. It is amazing what happens when you take away something from someone that is important to them. You hate to do it and I would love for him to be out there, but I think he truly understands. He knows that he has to do what is right every single day. He can't just do it sometimes. He has to be much more consistent and much more accountable. He has been all of that the last few weeks. I wish the semester started three weeks ago.

Q: When did you tell Pat Patterson that he was suspended

A: I don't know the exact date but it was within two or three weeks of when school started - somewhere around the end of January.

Q: Why was Pat Patterson suspended?

A: It is a combination of things, and that is as far as I want to go. He has to do things right on and off the field. He has to do it right and do it all the way. He knows that. He's been raised well and has great parents. They have all been up here and I think it has been good. You hate losing the reps - that really hurts.

Q: What does this mean for Pat Patterson's development?

A: He has to do a lot of it on his own. He has to work out on his own. He has been isolated. You are taking away something that is very valuable to him and I think he realizes that and wants it back. I would love for him to have the whole spring. I know he would be better if he had 15 more practices. I don't know where he will be. He has to work on his own. You saw the dropped balls last year. He hasn't been right and he hasn't been the same (since high school). We want that. I know it was a different level of play and some nerves involved, but we expect a lot from him. He knows that and wants that. I really believe he is on the right track and is doing it the right way.

Q: Who will take over the placekicking duties this season?

A: We lost Joshua Shene, who has been so valuable the last two years. Bryson Rose will start out at field goal. You feel good about our kickoff and punter - Andrew Ritter and Tyler Campbell. Our field goal kicker spot is going to be wide open. That will be the first thing we do Saturday morning. We will find out who is going to step up for us.

Q: How is the team handling lower expectations compared to a season ago?

A: I hope they take that as a tremendous challenge, and it should be. I like being picked towards the top with a bunch of guys coming in with experience. They have to look at it as a challenge, especially in the league that we are in. There are no off dates.

Q: Who is going to handle the long snapping duties?

A: That job is going to wide open too. We have a couple of walk-ons, the Phillips brothers (Chad and Wesley), who have been working very hard. We also signed a deep snapper in Will Denny.

Q: Will Jesse Grandy be the primary punt returner?

A: Absolutely. He will be the punt returner and kickoff returner. We have to keep working Derrick Herman at punt return as well as Korvic Neat. Enrique Davis, Brandon Bolden, Rodney Scott and Grandy will be the kickoff guys.

Q: What is Tim Simon's status?

A: He will not be able to go through spring, and I really hate that. He is just coming off of his second surgery. I am confident that Justin Smith will be able to go by mid-June. Tim, on the other hand, is further away. I really hate it for him. We are missing a good football player right there.

Q: Will Tim Simon be able to get back to playing this season?

A: We are more confident (after his second surgery). His road is still long. Cautiously optimistic is the phrase I would use. He works hard, has a good heart and is a good person. You just hate it. It was just such a fluke injury, and I haven't really seen anything like it. It is though.

Q: Will Tig Barksdale see any offensive reps in the backfield this spring?

A: He may, but we have a long line there right now. That is one of the reasons he wanted to play on the defensive side of the ball. That is all I have known him for. When you look at highlights, you see him at tailback.

Q: How is Tig Barksdale physically?

A: He needs to be in better shape. He is with four or five others you could say the same thing about. For the most part, we have had a very good offseason. They greyshirts to me are the most impressive guys. They had to ask their parents to pay for school and had to stay away from football - what a sacrifice. You just love how hard they have worked.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

Related News

Related Videos