Latest / Coaches Corner / FB HC Jason Candle - August 15 2026

Transcript

FB HC Jason Candle - August 15 2026 · Coaches Corner

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Coach. Just about two weeks in here, just quick update
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: on where things are. Things are at today's Yeah.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: I mean I think today a lot of different scenarios
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: and practice, a lot of contact, a lot of real football.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: You know, we're we're a long way from a finished product.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: I mean, there's but some of that's to be expected.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Others are disappointed in the way things went. Others are
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: really extremely pleased. But that's preseason camp. So you know,
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: we got to go back and watch the tape and
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: make sure that we do a good job telling ourselves
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  Speaker 2: the truth on that part of it and really start
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: to buy into that process because some days's not going
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: to go your way on game day and ultimately you
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: got to fix it. So that's where we're at right now.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Any particular position group that has kind of impressed to use.
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: So far, Yeah, but I think there's guys at every
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: position that have flashed, and you know, the the key
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: thing is if we can bottle the consistency up from
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: those flash moments, right, we want to try to make
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: that the standard rather than hey, guy spikes and have
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: a great play one minute and the next play you
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: can't find them. So, you know, just working through the
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: normal camp stuff and trying to make sure we are
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: progressing in the right way.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: I find that consistency reps.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: I mean, I mean, you know, like there's there's no
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: substitute for at bats, right, I mean, you got you
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: gotta be in the moments. You gotta feel the pressure
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: of the defense. You got to feel the tempo of
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: the offense. You got to be out here in front
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: of your fans and kick extra points and kick field goals.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: You got to be able to punt the ball when
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: you're backed up in a three yard line.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: You got to be in pressure situations.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: And we got to do the best job we can
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: to try to simulate as much as as we can.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: Talk about Kevon Shermany, someone you brought with you from Toledo,
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: which we expect to see out to him.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: We saw a little bit today.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm mean, I think he brings an emotional piece
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: to the game. He's obviously a really good player, you know,
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: statistically and you know accolades postseason last year would reflect that.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: I just think that, you know, his best football is
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: ahead of him.
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: He's just trying to just now scratch on the surface
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: on what it could be. So excited to what it's
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: going to look like for him.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: You didn't really have an update last week. Think is
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: very updated with that position this week.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: No any other competition in any oposition that is intriguing
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: to you. Oh, all of them, you know, all all
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: really all eleven units have some type of battle going on,
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: whether that's the first team battle, second team battle. And look,
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: we're still installing. We're still installation, in the middle of installation,
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: like you can't. Guys aren't separating themselves until you know,
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: we get second scrimmage in the under the you know,
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: under our belt, and really these reps become a common thing,
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: right and you know that's part of preseason camp, how
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: much as it doesn't depend on what kind of offense
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: you start step with, the different quartergas, different skill sets. Yeah,
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: I mean I think that you know, that separates them,
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: that's gonna separate themselves from you know, and you got
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: to do a great job of when you pick a
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: guy and you decide that's who's gonna be your guy,
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: you do a great job of putting the scheme around
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: him that fits his ability. So there's a lot of
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: crossover and and what we're.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: Asking those guys to do.
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: You don't have to have three different offenses. You don't
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: have to you know, reinvent the wheel every week. You know,
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: you got to take a core group of plays in
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: match what fits him. And then you know, obviously with
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: the defense that you're playing and playing an attack to go,
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: you know, play successful.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: Obviously you guys got it for a little while now.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: But what is it about being here at the rant
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: kind of sit the stage for each man? I mean,
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: obviously a big moment to get out here.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: I mean I think that you know, first of all,
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: like this is like for the best grass in the country,
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: So be out here, to be on the surface, deal
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: with the elements, handle the sun, handle the wind, know
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: where the play clock is, know where the you know
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: where the game clock is, and and really just some
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: teaching of the arena right and finding out being in
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: the environment so you don't you don't come over here
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: every single day. You have a couple of times the
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: preseason we got to take advantage of those.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: You talk about the physicality of practice today, it was
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: just one of the more the more physical practice that
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: you guys had so far.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, you're you're limited the amount of days
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: that you can hit and you know have real football.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: So you know, today was one of those days. And
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: you know, some guys you know, really handled it well
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: and other guys didn't. So that's just except part of
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: preseason camp.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: Talk about John the stuff from the IVD player coming here.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: What do you expect this you want to do?
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think John is a is a First of all,
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: he's a very smart guy that that understands and plays
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: the game the right way.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: It plays really hard.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: He puts pressure on the other team's offense just from
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: the physicality brings the table.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: You know, he's a vet. He's played a lot of football, so.
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: You know, there's not a lot of things he hasn't
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: seen from a schematic standpoint of things.
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  Speaker 1: So he's been a big addition for us. And we're
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: looking forward to him to have a great year.
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: For fans, we haven't seen him play and what should
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: we expect from Kenji this year?
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: Come out of that place.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think Kenji's a you know, he's he's got
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: the ability to hit the home run. You know, he's
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: one of the guys on the team that if they
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: can score an eighty yard touchdown, and the more of
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: those guys, you're having a team the better, so he
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: can do it from a multiple different ways. He catches
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: the ball really well in the backfield. He you know,
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: I'm not gonna sit here and claim like we taught
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: him out to run the ball. That's that's all natural ability.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: But uh, I think he's really.
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: Improved in the past protection part of things, and coach
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: Cole's done a great job, you know, helping him with that.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: Broad you of the shape just from like a lead
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: Fi Sampaigns.
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think having a vet back that
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: in that position to play here last year, you know,
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: all of those guys that you know chose to stay here,
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: I think they've added a piece of that leadership to
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: whatever unit they're in.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: He's a guy that's comfortable in the skin. He knows
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: who he is, he knows what he's really good at,
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: and you know, we gotta we.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: Gotta really squeeze every every ounce of juice out of
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: the orange if that makes sense to get him to
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: play to his potential, because there's a lot in.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: That guy that's good. Sounds like a line.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: Place apart, well, I think the old line group is
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: a group that's kind of been hit by injuries here
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: the last week, and you know, you got a lot
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: of different guys and a lot of different bodies, and
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: you know those are the individual good players. But you know,
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: much like your fist, those those fingers got.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: To come together.
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: They got to be five as one, right, So you know,
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: sometimes that rhythm is hard to capture when guys are
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: in and out of the lineup. So we got to
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: get some guys healthy there, and we got to make
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: sure that we continue to work on our timing three.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: Weeks away from game day. That does that feel different
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: hearing that now than it would three weeks last year? Maybe?
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: I just hope we have a good Sunday tomorrow. You
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: have to catch any Ships game this week.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: Jets, I did see a little bit of it, you
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: know in the fourth quarter there, uh really late third quarter,
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: fourth quarter, So happy for him. We got Sam Wollmack
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: there too, And you know with the Jets, we've got
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: a couple of guys there from our Toledo days and
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: really all of our guys.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: I got a bunch of guys playing the day as well.
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: So you know, whether it's the guys we coach at
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: Toledo or the former Yukon players that are getting their opportunities.
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: It's it's cool for our guys to see that because
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: they have real relationships with those guys and you know,
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: they talk to them, they text them, they call them,
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  Speaker 2: they know the struggles of what you know, the NFL
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: grind and the NFL camp schedule looks like, and they
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: all want to be there somedays. So it translates, it correlates,
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: and you know, it's good teaching moments for us.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: One more, Yeah, just obviously a lot of more pieces
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: on your players do.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: All that this year? How important is tapping into Connecticut
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: and the recruiting standpoint for the future of this program
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: for you?
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: And could everybody in horrible Yeah, I mean I think
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: for me, I would.
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: I would love to, you know, just from a fan
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: engagement standpoint, From a logistics standpoint, if if the twenty
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: five best players in America were from talland that's what
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: I would like. That's less travel, that's less financial, you know,
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: resources been on recruiting. But the reality of it, that's
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: not the case. So you've got to build it inside out.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: But you ultimately ultimately have to put the best players
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: on the field. So we want to recruit the state
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: of Connecticut. We've got a lot of respect for the
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: high school coaches and obviously wish them the best best
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: of luck getting their preseason camps underway. But you know,
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: we got a task here to twelve opportunities to go
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: put the best product on the field, and we've got
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: to find the best players to do that.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: Thank you, coming all right, thank you