Aug. 1, 2008

Sophomore Defensive Tackle Marvin Austin

On new Defensive Coordinator Everett Withers: "I mean Coach Everett came in and took the place of Coach Pagano, and I think defensively we have not missed a beat. It is the same principles as last year, just a different coaching style. Coach Everett came in with an easy transition and changed our mentality, just to play harder and swarm to the ball."

On who will step up on defense this year: "I think defensively our defensive line, even though we lost Kentwan [Balmer] and Hilee [Taylor], I think we can do a lot of big things on defense. We have a year under our belt and I think on the defensive line we have a lot of depth. We have a lot of young defense ends coming in and linebacker wise our linebackers our older now and have a lot more experience."

Senior Safety Trimane Goodard

On being a veteran in the secondary: "Basically just trying to continue to help out guys, be there as a mentor and guiding players along the way. Make sure we are taking care of our bodies and improving each day."

On playing alongside Deunta Williams: "I am very excited about playing with Deunta. He is a great player with a lot of potential. He puts in a lot of valuable time that is needed to be successful."

Sophomore Running Back Greg Little

On individual goals entering this season: "I know I want to be a 1,000 yard back, I mean that is pretty much it. I want to be the best running back in the nation and that is what I am setting my sights on. I know that is a very bold statement, but that is what you want to do. It makes it better for our fans watching and for the people playing to be competitive in that way."

On helping T.J. Yates: "If we can't run the ball, that is what Coach Davis stresses to stop the run and to run it; the other team is just going to pin their ears back and start coming. I think I can help him tremendously and that's part of my motivation, to help our team improve."

Senior Linebacker Mark Paschal

On the team's expectations this season: "I think that there is an obvious sense of urgency almost, where the expectations are high and everybody is excited about that. Every year I've been here, people have picked us to finish dead last if not close to last. This year it is exciting to hear people are excited about what we are putting together. I think overtime, it is great what you guys write and think about us, but it boils down to what we do on the field. What we put on tape that is what is boils down too."

On why expectations are so high: "I think it is a combination of many different things. The recruiting classes Coach Davis has brought in, I think its Coach Davis himself and his staff, I think it's the work we put in with Coach Davis. Also, the way we played last year, even though we lost eight games, we were competitive in all of them."

Senior Offensive Lineman Garrett Reynolds

On the team entering training camp: "We feel great; especially on the offensive line we know we have a lot of depth. We know we have a lot of guys that can play and work into a rotation to keep a lot of guys healthy. We just need to get these younger guys out there to get their feet wet and start learning the offense."

On having the same position coach for the first time in your career: "It's just amazing not having to learn a whole new scheme and footwork. Being in the same scheme and just understanding every bit of it a lot better. I am more comfortable in the system and not rushing as much. In spring ball, we got to fix a lot of things from last year. The year before that we were just putting in a new offense and starting from scratch."

Senior Wide Receiver Brandon Tate

On how he feels when included in the offense: "When we are in the huddle and I hear the quarterback call my number, I just get excited. I know it is my chance to make a play happen and I don't know when the next chance I will get, so I just try to go out and execute."

On the second year with Coach Davis: "In spring ball we took everything more serious because we know we have a chance to do something special around here. Everybody has one goal in mind and hopefully we just get everybody together and make it work."

Sophomore Quarterback T.J. Yates

On his second year as quarterback: "Last season I was thinking so much about what we have to do on offense because we were still learning everything and as the season went on I started learning the defenses a little bit more. I am feeling now with 7-on-7 drills with the team it is completely different. I am looking so much more at the defense and not worrying about the play, because I got that part down."

On being hurt this past spring: "This spring I was out there a lot and Coach Shoop wanted me to help everybody learn the offense. He always tells me to teach it, you have to know it, and know it really well in order to teach it. Going through the whole spring watching as much film as possible, it helped me learn it a lot better. Probably from a coach's aspect watching the whole practice and watching everybody else do it helped me learn the offense a lot better."

On the wide receivers: "They were great last year and they have just gotten that much better. Hakeem is stronger and faster, Tate improved a lot on his route running, and Brooks [Foster] has improved. Brooks is so raw and as he gets more mechanics, he is going to unbelievable I think. I just can't wait to get out there and have another season with those guys."