Spring Football Outlook - Oregon State University Athletics

March 17, 2000

Corvallis, Ore. - (DENNIS ERICKSON, OREGON STATE HEAD COACH, HAD THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS ON BEAVER FOOTBALL PRIOR TO THE START OF SPRING PRACTICE)

QUESTION: WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH THIS SPRING? "I think spring practices are pretty much always the same. No. 1, you want to establish what you are going to do offensively and defensively. When you review what you did the year before, there are always some changes you want make offensively and defensively to best fit your personnel. We will make a few changes this spring here and there to accomplish that goal. We also need to identify who are starters will be. We lost some players at certain positions and we need to fill those holes. We need to develop our young players and establish some depth. Those are the things we need to get accomplished this spring."

QUESTION: NOW THAT YOUR SYSTEM HAS BEEN IN PLACE FOR ONE YEAR, DOES THAT CHANGE YOUR APPROACH TO SPRING PRACTICE THIS YEAR? IF SO, WHAT WILL YOU DO DIFFERENTLY? "I don't know that we will get more accomplished, but our goals will change a little. We have our base offense and defense in already, so now it is a matter of continuing to improve and get better at what we do offensively and defensively. We will see vast improvement this spring from where we were a year ago, just because we know what we are doing with our base package."

QUESTION: YOU HAVE A NEW DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR IN CRAIG BRAY, DOES YOUR DEFENSIVE PHILOSOPHY REMAIN THE SAME? DO YOU PICK UP WHERE YOU LEFT OFF? "Our philosophy will remain the same, but Craig will add some things. Any time there is a coaching change it is a plus for you in the sense that you can add some things to your package that will make you even better. Craig has had a lot of experience, but the base part of what we do defensively will not change."

QUESTION: WHAT WILL BE YOUR APPROACH THIS SPRING WITH SPECIAL TEAMS? "We won't change our approach this spring. We spent a lot of time on special teams last year and will continue to do so this spring. Special teams will be involved in all of our practices this spring and we need to continue to improve in those areas. Both of our kickers return (punter and place kicker) and spring to them will be like the regular season. We will try to put our kickers in a lot of pressure situations during the spring."

QUESTION: WHERE DO YOU FEEL THE STRENGTH LIES WITH THIS TEAM AS YOU HEAD INTO SPRING DRILLS? "We have a lot of starters back on offense and defense. Most of our receivers are back. Our quarterback is returning. I would say our running back situation is extremely strong with Ken Simonton, Antonio Battle, Patrick McCall and Eric Mobley available. We have some depth at running back. We have some veterans coming back in the offensive line, but we will have to fill in some areas on the offensive front. Both of our tight ends are back, so we have some experience there. I feel very good about our defensive end situation with DeLawrence Grant, LaDairis Jackson and Kyle Rosselle coming back. That is an area of strength. Our outside linebackers with James Allen and Darnell Robinson is an area of strength. Our secondary is probably the strongest part of our defense because we have everyone returning.".

QUESTION: WHAT ARE YOUR CONCERNS AS YOU HEAD INTO SPRING DRILLS? "Out main concern on offense is filling some spots on the offensive line. We need to replace Jason White and Aaron Koch. Right now we are in the process of moving Keith DiDomenico to right guard and Chris Gibson will play center. Jared Cornell will be healthy this spring (started in 1998 before suffering knee injury) and can help us at guard. Solidifying the offensive line is a concern. We need to replace Roddy Tompkins and Imani Percoats as receivers, but we have a lot of veterans who have played coming back. As a result, the receiving corps is not as big a concern. I think our biggest question on defense is at the tackle positions. We lost both starters at tackles (Aaron Wells and Shawn Ball). This is an area where we need to have some people step up and come through this spring. Eric Manning and Charles O'Neal played as backups last year and are the most experienced tackles returning."

QUESTION: WHERE WOULD YOU ANTICIPATE YOUR BIGGEST POSITION BATTLES THIS SPRING? "I think there will be battles at every position. One thing that we were able to do was play a lot of people last year. As a result, there is going to be competition at all positions this spring. I don't see anyone having it made."

QUESTION: HOW SET IS THE DEPTH CHART HEADING INTO SPRING DRILLS? "Everyone has to earn their position in the spring, that is what football is all about. Obviously we have some people returning that played very well for us last year. In the offensive front you have a player like Keith DiDomenico who has started for two years, but it will be a position change for him this spring. Robert Sykes is coming back at one guard, but he has to continue to get better, as does Mitch White at right tackle. Ken Simonton has to battle with Antonio Battle and Patrick McCall at tailback. It will be a battle at every position this spring."

QUESTION: TALK ABOUT YOUR QUARTERBACK SITUATION AND WHAT YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH WITH THIS GROUP THIS SPRING? "We need to continue to improve at quarterback. Jonathan Smith needs to improve, there is no question about that, and he will improve. There will be a battle there with Shayne House, Tyler Thomas and Nick Stremick. We need to find out who is going to battle for No. 1 and who will end up being two, three and four. Nothing is etched in granite there, but I feel good about the quarterback position. People have to emerge at that position. As we enter spring drills, Jonathan is No. 1 and the question is whether someone will challenge him. If someone doesn't challenge Jonathan, then who will be No. 2. There is definitely a battle at quarterback, plus we have two freshmen coming in this fall."

QUESTION: YOU HAD A WINNING SEASON IN 1999 AND A BOWL APPEARANCE, HOW DO YOU RATE YOUR TEAM HEADING INTO SPRING DRILLS, COMPARING IT TO LAST YEAR'S CLUB? "Our expectations are the same every year, we want to have a winning season and go to a bowl game. That will be our goal every year going into every football season. I think this team has a chance to be a good football team, but we have a lot of work to do and a lot of improvement to make. Spring football is very important for us, as is the summer program and fall camp. I think we have a chance to be better than we were a year ago. Does that mean we are going to win more football games? I don't know that. It is something that we must to evaluate as time goes on, but I think we will be as good as these guys want to be. If they keep improving then we have a chance to be very, very respectable."

QUESTION: YOU HAVE A 1,000-YARD RUSHING RETURNING IN KEN SIMONTON WHO WILL BECOME OSU'S CAREER LEADER IN 2000. NOW YOU ADD PATRICK McCALL TO THE MIX. TALK ABOUT THE STRENGTH OF THE RUNNING GAME AND ALSO ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT OUT OF YOUR RUNNING GAME IN 2000? "The running game doesn't start with the backs, the running game starts up front. Again, we must become a better run blocking football team up front. I think we have a chance to have a better offensive front, and this could become a strength for us. Obviously we have running backs. One is proven in Ken Simonton, and Antonio Battle has played some. By adding Patrick McCall, I think we have a chance to be a very good running team. I think we have to identify this spring just what kind of an offensive team are we going to be, and it depends on how well we can run the football."

QUESTION: TALK ABOUT YOUR RECEIVERS AS A GROUP AND COMPARE THIS GROUP TO LAST YEAR! "We had a lot of guys play last year. We lose Roddy (Tompkins), a four-year veteran, and Imani Percoats who started, but we are still looking at guys who played a lot. Robert Prescott played a lot for us. T.J. Houshmandzadeh played a lot for us. We have two starters coming back at three positions. Shawn Kintner had a good year once he got an opportunity to play. Monjero Jones played well at times and Seth Trimmer played. James Newson was hurt before we started fall camp last year and missed the entire season with a broken leg. He will be back this spring."

QUESTION: YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE OFFENSIVE LINE? "There are about 15 players who need to come through for us. We are going to move Keith DiDomenico to right guard because we think Chris Gibson should be a starter at center. DiDomenico will replace Aaron Koch who graduated. Robert Sykes is a returning starter and he needs to improve, as does Mitch White at right tackle. Our left tackle situation is an area where Vincent Sandoval, Paul Davidian and Mike Kuykendall will battle for that starting spot. There will also be some battles at guard. Jared Cornell, a starter in 1998, is healthy (had knee surgery following spring drills in 1999) and has a chance to compete for a starting spot. The great thing that we do have is some flexibility because DiDomenico can always move back to center. What we must good done in the spring is develop some depth."

QUESTION: OREGON STATE HAD THE NO. 1 DEFENSE IN THE PAC-10 AND 9TH IN NATION AGAINST THE PASS AND YOU RETURN ALL FOUR STARTERS IN THE SECONDARY? HOW GOOD IS YOUR SECONDARY? "This is an area that is very experienced, but we still need to continue to improve. We will make some changes in the secondary as far as what we are going to do this year. When you have Terrence Carroll and Calvin Carlyle, are guys who have played. We have experience coming back, but we need to develop some depth this spring. We have some young players, such as Shamon Jamerson and Terrell Roberts, who played some last year, plus Jake Cookus who played quite a bit at strong safety. I have been excited about watching Terrance Gray, a junior college transfer, has looked like a much better player in winter conditioning than he did a year ago. I think our secondary has a chance to be very good if we continue to improve."

QUESTION: YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE DEFENSIVE LINE? "Our question is at defensive tackle. We lost both starters, Shawn Ball and Aaron Wells. This is an area where we must improve this spring. We must have some guys come through this spring at tackle, that will be a big key for us. I feel very good about our defensive ends. DeLawrence Grant, LaDairis Jackson, Kyle Rosselle and Sefa O'Reilly are guys who have played a lot. Ryan Atkinson is a guy who has played well for us at times. He is a guy we will play at end and tackle. Hopefully he can play well as I think he is a real key for us. Eric Manning and Charles O'Neal played last year as backup tackles. We redshirted Brian Tulikihihifo and he has looked good in winter conditioning. Dan Torres is another guy who has a chance to play at tackle."

QUESTION: YOUR THOUGHTS ON LINEBACKERS? "We lost some good football players at linebacker. Anytime you lose a player like Nick Barnett, who we moved from safety, is a guy who needs to come through. We are going to move some people around and find five or six guys who we feel can play inside and outside for us. "

QUESTION: WHAT IMPACT TO YOU EXPECT FROM JUNIOR COLLEGE TRANSFERS? "Lee Davis is a junior college transfer, but he will be a sophomore, so it is little different. I do think he has a chance to come in and play this fall."

QUESTION: LAST YEAR YOU PLAYED FIVE TRUE FRESHMAN. DO YOU HAVE ANY EXPECTATIONS OR THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS YEAR'S FRESHMAN CLASS AS FAR AS PLAYING THIS FALL? "I think you look at your team following spring drills and see where you are and then you evaluate the freshmen as they come in. You don't want to waste a year on a freshman playing very sparingly."

QUESTION: WHAT HAS TO HAPPEN FOR THIS YEAR'S CLUB TO IMPROVE UPON YOUR 1999 RECORD? "That is simple, we have to improve as a team. We have to go into spring practice with the attitude we have had this winter of continuing to get better all the time. We can't be satisfied with what happened last year, going to a bowl game. That is just a start for us. That is the first step. Now we must continue to improve so we are consistently a that level all the time. The thing we must do now is to become a better football team coming out of spring practice than we were at the end of the season last year."