[Fuller]

Newsy bits:

• Tyree Kinnel has been playing free safety and Josh Metellus has been playing Rover (strong safety). If the season started today, those are your starters
• Rotating guys is always an option; Kinnel and Metellus played both positions last year (and Metellus played some VIPER, too)
• The biggest challenge for Smith this spring has been getting the safeties to “open up and communicate.” The natural ability is there, but their communication skills (i.e. getting everyone lined up) are being refined.

How enjoyable has it been for you this spring with all the new faces you’ve had to coach and get used to?

“It’s been really enjoyable. Like you said, we’ve had a lot of new guys in the room, a lot of young guys that don’t have much experience, but they’re eager to learn. They’re starting from square one so they’re listening to everything you tell them. They’re holding on to it, so it’s been good so far.”

Who has stood out?

“Well, from the safety position, I think J’Marick Woods has had an outstanding spring. He’s kind of earning his nickname; we call him Woods because he brings the wood. He’s a physical player, he’s a hitter…I mean, he’s what you look for back there. He’s got good range and some other things he needs to work on still, but he’s shown a lot of potential and enthusiasm for the game.

“Jaylen Kelly-Powell, he’s done a nice job. He comes in from a good high school program. He’s been well-coached. He’s really technically sound for a young defensive back. His man-to-man skills are definitely there. They flash. He’s done a nice job so far.”

For Khaleke [Hudson] and Josh [Metellus], for them to be kind of moving back and forth between safety and that VIPER position, does that help them or does it hurt them not being able to focus on one spot?

“I think it helps them. After last year having a whole season under their belts just playing one position for Khaleke, now having to play another position, I think it gives him a better understanding of the defense. You know, once you play different positions, things start to make sense and they come together. You see the big picture. I think it’ll help them definitely in the long run. I think VIPER’s a good position for him with his physical traits, Khaleke, and I think he’s done a nice job so far.”

[After THE JUMP: the differences between a Rover and VIPER, and what the staff looks for when recruiting those positions]

Does Kinnel do some things from a leadership standpoint?

“Yeah. I mean, Tyree, he’s the oldest guy back there in our room, in the safety room, and he’s a guy that coaching may be in his future. He’s kind of taken to that role. He’s taking young guys aside and showed them the ropes, trying to show them all the little details of the position and he’s definitely helped me back there kind of giving a different, player’s perspective to those young guys that have come in.”

What’s the challenge of working with younger players and getting them up to speed for game preparation?

“I think the biggest challenge really is getting them to open up and communicate back there. Playing the safety position, you’ve got to be able to line guys up and make checks, and if they’re not confident in what they’re doing they’re not going to be as loud. In our stadium we’ve got 110,000 fans and you’ve got to be loud and be able to communicate.

“That’s one thing that’s been somewhat of a difficult adjustment, just getting them to open up and communicate and get the system down. I think once they do that, they’ve shown a lot of potential skill-wise with their ability. I think the ceiling is high for all of those young guys.”

With the way Don Brown likes to play defense, does that make it easier in some ways on safeties or give you more to deal with in terms of putting so much pressure on them that those guys have to be in place and--

“Yeah, there’s some pressure. Our Rover position, he’s got to get everybody on the defense lined up. A freshman--especially those guys—they come in midyear. They should be in high school going to their high school prom right now and they’re here trying to get guys lined up that they were watching on TV last year, so I think that’s a bit of an adjustment for them.

“But I think the good thing about playing in Coach Brown’s system is we’re gonna bring pressure, so we don’t have to cover very long. We’ve got guys up front that are gonna bring it and get after the quarterback, and that makes our job easier.”

I know safety’s kind of a cerebral position. Are you keeping things simple for now with them or are you giving them the whole deal?

“We threw a lot at them the first couple days. You throw a lot at them and see what sticks and kind of go from there. Like you said, they’ve done a nice job so far learning and taking it all in. I think now we’re at the point where it’s kind of—you’re learning the finer points of the system and all the details to take you to the next level.”

What type of progress has Keith Washington made?

“Keith, he’s having a decent spring. I mean, he’s come a long way from when I first got here. He’s made some plays this spring. He’s a competitive kid. He doesn’t like to get beat. He’s kind of hard on himself sometimes, but he’s made a nice progression this spring.”

Has he worked some at safety or has he been staying at corner?

“He’s been at corner. He’s been at corner.”

Who from among the wide receivers has given your group a particularly hard time?

“A lot of the wideouts have been injured. We’ve been struggling to keep guys healthy. I think Tarik Black’s had a nice spring so far. He’s flashed some ability. Nate Johnson’s another guy who showed up. He’s a wiggly receiver in there in the slot. Our safeties have a tough time covering him at times, so he’s had a nice spring, I think.”

Can you describe that growth dynamic, because yeah, there’s young corners, but there’s also some young and pretty talented receivers; the push-along, pull-along thing, can you describe that?

“Yeah, they’re competing against each other. They’re making each other better. We’ve got some talent over there at the receiver position and it only makes us better. I mean, I’d rather be going against a talented young group than an experienced group that doesn’t have much talent. They’re definitely raising our level, our performance level.”

In terms of what you want to see and lessons learned, maybe they get beat but it’s something that they learn from. Are you seeing a lot of that in terms of young defensive backs making young mistakes but bouncing back a little bit?

“Yeah, I mean, there’s definitely a lot of mistakes made, and we anticipate them making mistakes as young guys, but I think you said it exactly the way we try to tell it to them: mistakes are gonna happen [and] it’s all about bouncing back, going on to the next play and not letting your mistake shut you down for the rest of the game. You’ve always got to go on to the next play and put the past behind you. Learn from your mistakes but then again don’t let it weight you down in your mind. You’ve got to move on to the next play.”

Who are you relying on the most in terms of who’s with the ones back there? Is it Tyree and Josh or some other guys, or is it still in flux?

“Well, we’re still competing. We’ll see in the spring game how those guys line up in live competition, but right now Tyree Kinnel, Josh Metellus, those guys are the leaders of the pack in my eyes. They’ve done a good job just from a leadership standpoint. I think Tyree’s done a nice job at communication, getting guys lined up and making checks and I feel comfortable with him in the game right now.”

That’s a big step for him because Dymonte and Delano were seniors and knew the communication stuff. How much bigger of a step is it for Tyree to have to do all the traffic direction?

“It is a big step. He hasn’t really played a full game since I’ve been here now. If he ends up winning that starting job, it’s gonna be on him to carry the load and he hasn’t done it before. But he’s a guy, he was a four-year starter in high school, so he loves the competition. When he did get called on last year, when he had an opportunity to play, he stepped up and did a nice job whether it was on [special] teams or when he came on in a relief role for Dymonte or Delano. He did a nice job, so definitely happy.”

The task of getting everybody lined up, is that even harder this spring given the safeties aren’t just new, it’s 10 new starters on defense and other young guys?

“Yeah, I think really those guys in the second group, they’re in there with all the young guys and I think sometimes they have the harder job because they’ve got to get guys lined up that have no idea what they’re doing. Sometimes working with younger guys next to you makes it even harder, but it makes you a better player. Those older guys, they’ve got to click and they know what they’re supposed to do. But working with older guys is definitely easier, to answer your question.”

Because of that, because you had two defined starters and kind of rode those guys a lot of snaps last year, do you expect there to be more rotation this year?

“I think that could be an option. You know, rotating guys, we’ve got guys that are talented and able to play, so we may end up rotating depending on how we continue to compete the rest of the spring and summer. But the best guys are going to play, so we like to keep it an open competition and we’ll see what happens.”

Are there defined spots for those two guys at safety? Strong and--

“Yeah, we have a strong safety and a free safety. We call him a Rover, the strong safety. We always tell them, the more you can do—if a guy is versatile, if you can do both, that gives the guys value. He’ll have a better chance of getting out on the field if he can do both, so the more they can learn, the better off they are.”

Are either of those guys, Metellus and Tyree, in specific spots or are they switching back and forth?

“Right now they’re in specific spots. Josh has been playing more Rover, Tyree’s been playing the free, but last year both of them played both positions, so they’re smart enough guys where they can go in and play both. So that helps us out. And actually, Josh, he can go and play VIPER as well.”

MGoQuestion: When you’re recruiting, what skills do you look for in a free and strong safety versus a VIPER?

“Well, I think that the free and the strong, we look for a little better coverage skills. They’ve got to cover a slot receiver rather than the tight end. Our VIPER is more a blitzer, a stronger guy. He’s got to cover tight ends whereas a safety’s got to play a little better away from the ball. Backpedaling, speed; you’ve got to be a little quicker because you’ve got to match up against receivers as a safety, whereas a VIPER you’re more so inline playing closer to the ball.”

A good spring outlook for Ambry [Thomas] and Ben [St. Juste]? What have you seen out of those two?

“They’ve shown a lot of ability. Right from the start they’ve both competed and proved that they want to play. They get out there, they’re out there every day, haven’t missed snaps due to injury. And they’ve both shown good man-to-man skills, just from an athletic standpoint. Now it’s just about cleaning up their technique and learning where they’re supposed to be.”

With Ben’s height, have you tried to politic to get him over to the safety spot?

“He’s definitely got a skillset to play safety just as far as his cover skills. Right now I think he’s better off at the corner position. Let him go out and line up and play man-to-man. I think he’s comfortable there right now.”

How do they compare to Lavert [Hill] and David [Long], because those guys have been in the program a year already?

“How do they compare?”

How do those freshmen compare, because Don said those guys [Long and Hill], they’re pretty much penciled in as the starters right now at corner.

“It’s a little different situation because they’re coming in midyear. They’re here for spring ball, whereas Lavert and David, they came in in fall right before the season, so they just kind of got thrown in the mix. And they were taking classes and missed a lot of meeting time early one. From a talent standpoint, they’re pretty even. They’re all really good players with a lot of potential. The ceiling is high for all four of those guys.”

Have you seen Lavert and David separate themselves at all from the guys who just enrolled?

“Um, I think they started ahead of them just from the natural standpoint of they’ve been here a year. In my mind, I trust them to go into the game more so than the other guys because they know the system and technique-wise, they’ve been studying it for a year. So right now I would say they’re ahead of them, but those young guys are pushing them every day.”