Collins opened up recapping Saturday's scrimmage in Boddy Dodd Stadium that was a dress rehearsal for game days. He said it was for families of the players and staff only and because they have so many new players they wanted them to see what a Friday night looks like and a game day. They did Yellow Jacket alley like they would in a normal game week non-covid for the first time in a while.
They scrimmaged for 2 hours on Saturday and good competition on O and D on Saturday.
This week they are still in camp mode for a few more days, but they are adding crowd noise to practice to get the players ready for the Benz and BDS week two as well.
Collins praised his four new transfer OLs, Pierce Quick, Paul Tchio, Corey Robinson II and RJ Adams and how they picked up the offense and coach Key's teaching. He said that Joe Fusile the walk-on guard is another guy they really happy with and he has a chance to be in the two-deep or more this fall and ATL. Joe has worked really hard to put himself in that position.
Collins said that Weston Franklin has really developed and progressed in his short time at GT and has performed at a high level in the scrimmages.
Collins said that Luke Benson had 3 catches for 57 yards in the scrimmage and Peje Harris has really impressed him with his work at TE and H-Back after making the move from WR. He gives them something in the passing game there along with Benson.
Collins said that EJ Jenkins is an impressive physical presence out there and he has been a great addition to the WR room as has Dylan McDuffie for the RB room. McDuffie had over 50 yards rushing on Saturday. He said that Hassan Hall who was here in the spring, Dylan and Dontae Smith make a really strong threesome of RBs.
Collins said that Zeek Biggers his stature and presence is impressive when you see him on the field, but his development under coach Turner and coach Knight and his fundamentals and relentlessness has stood out to him. Horace Lockett also has started making some waves at DT of the young guys and they like Daniel Carson as well who has really worked in his 3 1/2 weeks of GT football.
Collins said Noah Collins probably had his best day at GT on Saturday and he was a noticeable force as an OLB/DE and he needs to continue that development.
Collins said that Kenny Bennett gives them a long and physical corner who can also play nickel.
KJ Wallace is similar and can play multiple spots like Bennett as well as nickel and they are competing.
Collins likes the transfers they added to the CB room Eric Reed Jr. and Ahmari Harvey as well as Khari Gee at the safety spot.
Collins also shouted out Kenyatta Watson II at CB and they are excited to finally see what he can do on the field when healthy and they like what Kenan Johnson is doing as well.
Collins said that Jude Kelley was 4-4 on Saturday on FGs including a 46 and 47-yarder.
He said that David Shanahan had a good day punting and they practiced some live type punt return scenarios to challenge and try to find their punt returner.
I asked Collins about Jim Chaney and John Hevesy's roles on the staff and he said that Chaney's job is to help him with the big picture on offense especially since he is spending more time on the defense and Chaney is also scouting ahead the next week's opponents and getting ideas ready for the staff. Collins said that Chaney has a list of things every day after practice they can improve on offensively and some ideas for the offense as a whole they can work on.
Hevesy is an old friend of Collins and he is an old OL coach with 17 years in the SEC, but his role is actually helping the defense prepare each week by helping them understand how teams plan to attack GT and how to game plan. He said he is an invaluable resources to Collins.
Collins had Chip Long on the field for the last scrimmage and he said they are still working on who will be in the box and one the field and they were having a meeting about that to finalize a plan for the Benz.
Collins said that Key worked very hard this year to build more stable depth with cross-training of all the OLs so most of them can play left or right at their positions or guys like RJ Adams or Will Lay can play center/guard as well.
I asked Collins for an update on Leo Blackburn's status and when he will return to practice and he said he appreciated my question but he does not talk about injuries. Collins has only talked about injuries that are season-ending typically in the past so that bodes well for Leo's return. Collins said they are bringing the injured guys out later after treatment for practices so you won't likely see them in any photos anytime soon either.
Collins was asked about Clemson's plan to use two QBs DJ Uiagalelei and Cade Klubnik in the GT game and he said they are not in full Clemson game prep mode yet, but that was something they looked at being a possibility over the summer when the staff began their game plan for the game. He said they will switch to full Clemson mode on Monday. GT actually has a couple of extra practices to prepare for Clemson because of the game being on a Monday. They will actually have a Tuesday practice on Thursday and so forth concluding with a Friday session on Sunday. They will give the players next Wednesday off.
Collins said they had to come up with a whole plan of how to prepare for the first three games because of the Monday night game with a Saturday game that same week and then moving back into a normal week for UCF because they have to adjust a lot of things because of when they can and cannot practice especially right after Clemson.
Collins said they are still using the Catapult system, but they also added the Sparta System as well. It is hard to explain what it is, but it is something designed to help avoid injuries by using scientific data and AI modeling based on measured performance with biometrics.
We also spoke with Myles Sims and he said he feels like they are still in camp for a few more days even with school starting and they are looking forward to focusing on Clemson next week.
Sims said he tries to bring the same enthusiasm every day to practice regardless of how he feels. He said he tries to instill that in his teammates because, "the body follows the mind if you tell yourself you are going to quit you are going to quit and if you tell yourself you be in there, you will be until it is over." He said he tries to uplift his teammates as much as possible.
Sims said that EJ Jenkins is the biggest receiver he will see this year and he brings great competition to the WR/CB battles and he makes him work on his discipline and technique to cover him and that has been good for the CB room.
Sims said he can play the field or boundary and Coach Tillman has taught them how to have that flexibility and how to know the assignments based on where they align. He said he has to make sure his teammates know it too and they hold each other accountable.
Sims shouted out Clayton Powell-Lee as one of the young DBs that has caught his attention in camp. He said CP Lee as he calls him had a pick in the scrimmage last week and he is playing safety and doing a great job and overall he likes all the freshmen they brought in.
Sims said that Chris Weinke does a good job of helping his QBs eliminate tendencies practice to practice and he thinks he will have figured out a tell on what the route is and Weinke has eliminated that by the next practice.
Sims told the story of how he got his 0 number again. He told this to me at media day but I was the only one he told it to apparently.
"I feel like a number doesn't define the player but I want to zero because I just wanted a single digit. And there's well there's a famous quote by Gandhi about zero representation, you gotta reach the point of zero first before you can do anything else and I feel like I represent that well.
Sims learned about the Gandhi quote from Joseph Ranseth a self-help person. Here is the quote he is referencing.
“I strive to make myself zero.”
By “zero”, Gandhi was referring to arriving at a place of such selfless love that each thought, word and deed was motivated wholly by the welfare and well-being of others, and not for his own gratification. He didn’t claim to have arrived at that place, in fact he often admitted quite the opposite, but he was striving.
I believe this is the missing link in leadership today.
One does not arrive at “zero” without a significant amount of inner work.
It requires letting go of the need for validation and approval (quite a task in today’s social media world), and abandoning the need for self-aggrandizement. This is especially difficult – and now even more important – in our celebrity-centric culture that would have us believe that contribution follows significance, instead of Gandhi’s paradigm: significance is the unsought-for-by-product of contribution.
OF NOTE:
The open period was very short today but there were a couple of nice plays made in 11v11. Dontae Smith scored a couple of touchdowns in the red zone, Nate McCollum caught a TD pass and LaMiles Brooks had a very strong PBU to stop a score.
As coach Collins talked about in his presser the kicking was also on point today and David Shanahan had a good day punting.
They scrimmaged for 2 hours on Saturday and good competition on O and D on Saturday.
This week they are still in camp mode for a few more days, but they are adding crowd noise to practice to get the players ready for the Benz and BDS week two as well.
Collins praised his four new transfer OLs, Pierce Quick, Paul Tchio, Corey Robinson II and RJ Adams and how they picked up the offense and coach Key's teaching. He said that Joe Fusile the walk-on guard is another guy they really happy with and he has a chance to be in the two-deep or more this fall and ATL. Joe has worked really hard to put himself in that position.
Collins said that Weston Franklin has really developed and progressed in his short time at GT and has performed at a high level in the scrimmages.
Collins said that Luke Benson had 3 catches for 57 yards in the scrimmage and Peje Harris has really impressed him with his work at TE and H-Back after making the move from WR. He gives them something in the passing game there along with Benson.
Collins said that EJ Jenkins is an impressive physical presence out there and he has been a great addition to the WR room as has Dylan McDuffie for the RB room. McDuffie had over 50 yards rushing on Saturday. He said that Hassan Hall who was here in the spring, Dylan and Dontae Smith make a really strong threesome of RBs.
Collins said that Zeek Biggers his stature and presence is impressive when you see him on the field, but his development under coach Turner and coach Knight and his fundamentals and relentlessness has stood out to him. Horace Lockett also has started making some waves at DT of the young guys and they like Daniel Carson as well who has really worked in his 3 1/2 weeks of GT football.
Collins said Noah Collins probably had his best day at GT on Saturday and he was a noticeable force as an OLB/DE and he needs to continue that development.
Collins said that Kenny Bennett gives them a long and physical corner who can also play nickel.
KJ Wallace is similar and can play multiple spots like Bennett as well as nickel and they are competing.
Collins likes the transfers they added to the CB room Eric Reed Jr. and Ahmari Harvey as well as Khari Gee at the safety spot.
Collins also shouted out Kenyatta Watson II at CB and they are excited to finally see what he can do on the field when healthy and they like what Kenan Johnson is doing as well.
Collins said that Jude Kelley was 4-4 on Saturday on FGs including a 46 and 47-yarder.
He said that David Shanahan had a good day punting and they practiced some live type punt return scenarios to challenge and try to find their punt returner.
I asked Collins about Jim Chaney and John Hevesy's roles on the staff and he said that Chaney's job is to help him with the big picture on offense especially since he is spending more time on the defense and Chaney is also scouting ahead the next week's opponents and getting ideas ready for the staff. Collins said that Chaney has a list of things every day after practice they can improve on offensively and some ideas for the offense as a whole they can work on.
Hevesy is an old friend of Collins and he is an old OL coach with 17 years in the SEC, but his role is actually helping the defense prepare each week by helping them understand how teams plan to attack GT and how to game plan. He said he is an invaluable resources to Collins.
Collins had Chip Long on the field for the last scrimmage and he said they are still working on who will be in the box and one the field and they were having a meeting about that to finalize a plan for the Benz.
Collins said that Key worked very hard this year to build more stable depth with cross-training of all the OLs so most of them can play left or right at their positions or guys like RJ Adams or Will Lay can play center/guard as well.
I asked Collins for an update on Leo Blackburn's status and when he will return to practice and he said he appreciated my question but he does not talk about injuries. Collins has only talked about injuries that are season-ending typically in the past so that bodes well for Leo's return. Collins said they are bringing the injured guys out later after treatment for practices so you won't likely see them in any photos anytime soon either.
Collins was asked about Clemson's plan to use two QBs DJ Uiagalelei and Cade Klubnik in the GT game and he said they are not in full Clemson game prep mode yet, but that was something they looked at being a possibility over the summer when the staff began their game plan for the game. He said they will switch to full Clemson mode on Monday. GT actually has a couple of extra practices to prepare for Clemson because of the game being on a Monday. They will actually have a Tuesday practice on Thursday and so forth concluding with a Friday session on Sunday. They will give the players next Wednesday off.
Collins said they had to come up with a whole plan of how to prepare for the first three games because of the Monday night game with a Saturday game that same week and then moving back into a normal week for UCF because they have to adjust a lot of things because of when they can and cannot practice especially right after Clemson.
Collins said they are still using the Catapult system, but they also added the Sparta System as well. It is hard to explain what it is, but it is something designed to help avoid injuries by using scientific data and AI modeling based on measured performance with biometrics.
We also spoke with Myles Sims and he said he feels like they are still in camp for a few more days even with school starting and they are looking forward to focusing on Clemson next week.
Sims said he tries to bring the same enthusiasm every day to practice regardless of how he feels. He said he tries to instill that in his teammates because, "the body follows the mind if you tell yourself you are going to quit you are going to quit and if you tell yourself you be in there, you will be until it is over." He said he tries to uplift his teammates as much as possible.
Sims said that EJ Jenkins is the biggest receiver he will see this year and he brings great competition to the WR/CB battles and he makes him work on his discipline and technique to cover him and that has been good for the CB room.
Sims said he can play the field or boundary and Coach Tillman has taught them how to have that flexibility and how to know the assignments based on where they align. He said he has to make sure his teammates know it too and they hold each other accountable.
Sims shouted out Clayton Powell-Lee as one of the young DBs that has caught his attention in camp. He said CP Lee as he calls him had a pick in the scrimmage last week and he is playing safety and doing a great job and overall he likes all the freshmen they brought in.
Sims said that Chris Weinke does a good job of helping his QBs eliminate tendencies practice to practice and he thinks he will have figured out a tell on what the route is and Weinke has eliminated that by the next practice.
Sims told the story of how he got his 0 number again. He told this to me at media day but I was the only one he told it to apparently.
"I feel like a number doesn't define the player but I want to zero because I just wanted a single digit. And there's well there's a famous quote by Gandhi about zero representation, you gotta reach the point of zero first before you can do anything else and I feel like I represent that well.
Sims learned about the Gandhi quote from Joseph Ranseth a self-help person. Here is the quote he is referencing.
“I strive to make myself zero.”
By “zero”, Gandhi was referring to arriving at a place of such selfless love that each thought, word and deed was motivated wholly by the welfare and well-being of others, and not for his own gratification. He didn’t claim to have arrived at that place, in fact he often admitted quite the opposite, but he was striving.
I believe this is the missing link in leadership today.
One does not arrive at “zero” without a significant amount of inner work.
It requires letting go of the need for validation and approval (quite a task in today’s social media world), and abandoning the need for self-aggrandizement. This is especially difficult – and now even more important – in our celebrity-centric culture that would have us believe that contribution follows significance, instead of Gandhi’s paradigm: significance is the unsought-for-by-product of contribution.
OF NOTE:
The open period was very short today but there were a couple of nice plays made in 11v11. Dontae Smith scored a couple of touchdowns in the red zone, Nate McCollum caught a TD pass and LaMiles Brooks had a very strong PBU to stop a score.
As coach Collins talked about in his presser the kicking was also on point today and David Shanahan had a good day punting.
