(Photo by Adrian J. Hernandez / New Day Review)
Aug. 5, 2017 at Wayne Densch Center
Availability: HC Scott Frost, LB Shaquem Griffin, QB McKenzie Milton, DB Tre Neal
HC Scott Frost
After a short break for players to take Summer B finals, Frost was pleased with how the Knights looked back on the practice field.
Good. I think the good part about this is we’re gonna be able to get our guys recovered and in the middle of camp. With rules changing the last minute on us, we’re trying to do the best we can to manage the time. We gave guys time off so they can finish finals and make sure they’re finishing summer semester the right way. It’s always a little sluggish when you come back out after that kind of layoff, but I thought our guys did a good job of practicing hard.
The Knights have had seven practices so far in training camp, giving them a full week’s worth of practice. So far, Frost has noticed improvement.
It’s still early, but I’m seeing really good things. I’m seeing improvement almost everywhere across the board. Our execution still has to get better; our attention to detail’s gotta get better. The effort’s there, and I’ve seen improvement.
Strength-and-conditioning coach Zach Duval has helped the Knights gain size over the offseason.
I don’t know if I can point to an incident during the season, but just looking at the difference in our guys, their strength level, their conditioning level, speed, body-fat percentage—everything’s improved. Give a lot of credit to Coach Duval and his staff for that. It’s gonna make a difference. That, with some more depth this year, hopefully we can play better in some fourth quarters.
Among the quarterbacks, Milton and Pete DiNovo are the only two scholarship quarterbacks returning to the team this season. Between the two, there is a potential quarterback competition.
Everybody is doing some good things at quarterback. Young guys have a ways to go, as far as learning everything and making sure they can operate at the pace that we wanna play at. That’s the biggest challenge is not just knowing it, but knowing it in the fraction of the time that most people need to know it. McKenzie’s done some really good things. Pete’s dangerous when he takes off with it. So we’ll keep letting that play out but seen some good things from everyone.
When training camps open, defenses tend to be ahead of the offense, as far as being ready for a game. While Frost believes that is true for his team, he believes the offense is competing better than last year’s.
I think the defense is still ahead, but I think the offense is competing better than we did a year ago. We’re better up front. We’re blocking better at tight end. I think we’re better on the perimeter, got a bunch of backs, and everyone just knows the scheme better. So, there’s better competition out there, but we have a really good defense. Coach [Erik] Chinander does a great job.
This offseason, Frank Verducci was added to the staff as an offensive analyst. The former offensive coordinator at the University of Connecticut has been brought in to help the offense as much as possible.
We lost a quality control last year, so we just kinda wanted to bring a consultant in. Frank’s a guy that a few of the guys on the staff before, and he’s had experience in this league, so it’s just one more set of eyes to try help us.
Jordan Franks and his fellow tight ends have been impressive during camp.
Jordan’s doing a good job. You know he’s a guy that shows up and goes to work every day. Between him and [Michael] Colubiale and [Jordan] Akins, I feel really good about our tight end position.
Running back Adrian Killins is a versatile player and a “special kind of weapon” for the Knights that Frost wants to take full advantage of this season.
We haven’t switched A.K. We’re gonna us A.K. where we need A.K. He’s a special kind of weapon. We just gotta make sure we get him on the field and get him in the right spots.
Alabama transfer and former safety Shawn Burgess-Becker is making the move to outside linebacker this fall after a year of playing linebacker on the scout team.
Yeah, you know, Shawn had to sit out last year after the transfer, and he beat us up on scout team. And he was mostly playing Nickel Sam. So, we moved him down there to see what he can do. He’s done a really good job. He and Shaquem are playing the same position, and there’s not much a drop off when Shawn’s out there. So both those guys are special players.
LB Shaquem Griffin
Coming back from the short break for finals, Griffin feels rested and believes that this rest will be good for the team going forward in camp.
Definitely. Having a break allowed us to get our legs back under ourselves and be able to come back and just go fast again. Because, when we started, we started off fast, and that’s the tempo that Coach Frost wanna teach. And that’s the good thing that we was able to come here and take a couple days off, get our legs back under each other and just be able to get treatment and get the bumps and bruises off of us and get back to practice fast again. I just feel it’s the first time that I ever did something like this, and it kinda feels good to take a day off and come back, and you more hype than anything to come back ‘cause you been taking so long off, and it just—going throughout the meetings, it make the days long, and you like, “Man, I’m just ready to go back to practicing.” I think that’s kinda good for them to do that for us and kinda bring the excitement back. It’s something different, and it keeps us on our toes.
With how long and how much a grind camp can be, days off are much appreciated.
Well, us and the offense is going at each other all day, and, you know, you’re gonna get a couple bumps and bruises, you know, with the competition between us two. You know, we always going at it with each other. From lifting weights to just the spring camp. And I’m just thankful for him to give us us an opportunity to take a break and, you know, get back ready to back at the offense or vice versa. It gives us the best out of all of us. You know, you’re not tired; you’re not slowing down to rest just because, you know, “I’m feeling a little sore, and my legs out under me.” So, it keeps that tempo up. You know, it’s like muscle memory. We going fast in the beginning, and we just stay fast throughout the entire camp.
After the first full week of camp, Griffin believes the team looks “great.”
They looking great. I’m excited. Every day, come back here just—it just make me think more like, “I can’t wait to get to the season.” I’m looking back at the board and stuff and counting down the days. I can’t wait to get to the 18. I know I’m going to post me a picture somewhere. It’s exciting to see how fast the guys are just growing. And not only just on the field but off the field. We stay together; we walk everywhere together, and we eat together; we talk amongst each other the entire camp, and that chemistry that we got—it’s amazing. You got guys that wanna do extra work and come back and just do extra things. It’s something new that we haven’t really seen before, and I just feel, as a team, we hitting heights that we’ve never seen before.
Quarterback isn’t the only position with competition. Frost has said he likes to have competition at every position, and linebacker is no different.
They looking great. The competition level, it goes up every single day. And just from film, all of us just be going at it. Just, “Oh, I know this, and I know that,” and then you got Shawn getting into it. “Oh, man. I know this,” and, “Oh, you forgot about that.” It’s just having guys being able to go at it just not on the field but in the film room and just going over plays. It shows a lot. It’s not just competition on the field and how talented you are. It’s about what you know. And when we on the boards, it’s still a competition. “I know this. Oh yeah. You forgot to put that when you was on the board.” And then having Coach [Jovan] Dewitt not only teach us but have us go to the board and teach all the outside linebackers. It kinda give you a sense of—if you can teach it, that means you know it well. And that’s a good thing that Coach Dewitt is teaching us.
Another year in the system has done wonders for the defense, and Griffin can tell just by where the team is at in camp at this time compared to last year.
It’s a total difference. You know, last year, you got guys who are still trying to figure everything out, and that was a whole thing. But, now, guys know it; guys know the expectations. They know the level of what Coach Frost and what Coach Chin want and all the other coaches. It’s a big difference. You know, everybody got a new level, and they only progressing each and every day.
As far as if the defense is ahead of the offense in camp, Griffin wouldn’t go that far and thinks the two sides of the ball have a healthy competition.
I won’t say we ahead of them. I feel like the competition between us two, it spirals. And, you know, it can go either way. I feel like the defense or offense is gaining. They gaining ground every single day. And I feel that it’s way more competition than ever. You got guys—they really going fast. I think that’s the best way to put it. They going really fast.
Griffin said he speaks to his twin brother, Shaquill Griffin, who plays for the Seattle Seahawks, every day.
We talk every day. Right before bed, he talk to me. Obviously, there’s the time difference, but—so after practice, he always call me when he in the locker room. We just talk about each other’s days, and I tell him what I did today and what I can work on and vice versa. So we kinda just communicate with each other.
The two brothers will often talk about what is happening at each other’s facility.
Usually when he FaceTime me, the camera is facing the other way. I’m just listening to him talk, but he showing me the facility and being on the field. You know, talking to coaches and the players and stuff. So he make me feel like I’m already there.
UCF’s 2017 recruiting class is making an impression on Griffin.
To be honest, the freshman group that we got, it’s hard to pinpoint just one because they all stepping up. You know, just being here for so long, and, you know, you got the one or two guys who might stand out for the freshman group. But you got guys in this freshman group who just standing out, period. It’s not just one or two. It’s three or four or five or six, and, you know, having that, you got guys who’s committed. You got guys who’s in tune with what’s going on and taking initiative. Like, when I’m sleeping in here, I see some of the freshman linebackers come in and be waking me up trying to get extra work in. I was like, “You know what? Let’s go ahead and get up and see what I can give back to the freshman.” ‘Cause they wanna learn. I’m willing to teach.
Team chemistry has been a focus for the Knights.
The whole thing is being in camp, you don’t have that time to go out and experience different things. So our whole thing is to just get the young guys with the older guys and stay around the facility a little bit. You know, not just film room-wise and looking at film, but we walk around the facility. We go back and forth to lunch, and we just talk to the guys. You know, I don’t want them to feel like it’s just the older guys and the young guys—it’s one specific group. And I want the young guys to know that. So, when they come and talk to us, we as one unit. Defense, when we together it’s one unit. It’s not older guys and young guys. We all as one.
QB McKenzie Milton
Like his teammates, Milton appreciated the couple days off from practice.
Coach Frost and Coach Duval, they set up a pretty good plan to keep us fresh and keep our legs under us so we can have a great camp and get rolling in the season.
Milton sees his offense moving quickly.
We’re moving pretty quick. We’re making strides, but, at the same time, we gotta fine-tune the minor details and make sure that we’re not taking reps off; make sure we’re sprinting on and off the field. Just the little things. Take care of the little things. We’ll be alright.
Milton thinks at this point in camp, the defense is ahead of the offense.
Yeah, I’ll probably say the defense is ahead of the offense right now. I think we probably have one of the best front sevens in conference, and we got some young DBs, but they can run. But we trade blows throughout practice. Defense will get one; offense will get one. It’s competitive out there, for sure.
If Milton wants to exchange ideas with members of the defense, he turns to Griffin, Jamiyus Pittman and Pat Jasinski.
Definitely Shaquem Griffin. He always encourages me to get better every day, and he’s obviously out there chasing me around during practice. Jamiyus Pittman is another guy. They’re both great leaders. And I’ll say Pat Jasinski, too, the middle linebacker.
The running backs have been standing out to Milton.
I think the competition looks great right now. I think we got a lot of backs that can play for us and I think we’ll be pretty deep this year.
Jawon Hamilton is one of the running backs Milton believes looks better than last year.
Yeah, I would say so. I would say so. He’s running. He’s hitting that extra gear this year, I would say.
In the second year of Frost’s offense, Milton feels much more comfortable.
Definitely more comfortable. I mean, last year, coming in, the speed is a little faster. You’re getting new to the playbook. Having one year under your belt, you start to recognize coverages better; you start to know a little about protections and stuff like that. So, it’s definitely been a learning process and definitely feel some growth.
Milton couldn’t think of one specific play that he thought stood out in practice, but he thought DiNovo ran the ball well.
I honestly can’t think of certain play but, I’ll say Pete DiNovo was running out there pretty good today. He’s making some plays on his feet. He looked good.
DB Tre Neal
Neal is still adjusting to his new leadership role.
We’re looking good. I mean, coming together each and every day. You see a little progress. Taking baby steps. So, by the time we get to game day, we’ll be fully ready. But it’s new for me. As far as—still, I kinda did it in the spring. It’s still kinda new, just being the leader. They guys that they look up to me. I’m trying to push myself just so they can see, “Okay, he’s pushing himself. I need to push myself also.”
Just like linebacker and quarterback, there is a competition at safety too. Kyle Gibson is the other starter next to Neal, but that doesn’t mean the safeties aren’t competing.
It’s looking good. We had to move Shawn out to outside linebacker, but we still got four really good safeties I think that will be ready to play. Richie Grant, he’s having a hell of a—a really good camp also. And then Antwan Collier, the true freshman, he’s having a really good camp, also. So, I mean, I’m really excited with those guys, you know. Being—just case I go down, I know they’re ready to come up and step up and play.
Cornerback is a position that the Knights have little experience at with two new starters this season.
It’s really good. I mean, it’s, you know, iron sharpens iron. One day, some people have a good day; some people have a bad day. We trying to build a consistent thing. And once we find consistency, we know, “Okay, he can play.” Kinda right now, it’s a little inconsistent, but there’s guys playing really good right now. But it’s looking really good.
For Neal, corners like Rashard Causey and Nevelle Clarke have played well so far.
Chris Johnson is having a really good camp. Keenan Johnson, the JUCO transfer, he’s having a really good camp. Brandon Moore, he’s having a really good one, too. Just gotta pick up. Get a little bit more guys on the boat. Just kinda get more people so we can play.
The experience and talent of the front seven is something Neal is thankful for because it makes his job “a lot easier.”
It makes it a lot easier. You know, they getting after the quarterback. We got a lot of vets coming back. A lot of those guys played last year. I don’t think we lost anybody from the defensive line from last year. So we bringing all those guys back. They all seasoned; they’ve all played reps; they know how to play, and they’re getting after the quarterback, so it makes our job easier.
With all the new starters on defense, a big focus for the team this year is to not suffer a setback in production.
Me and Kyle Gibson, we talk about it all the time. We feel that, you know, just ‘cause we backups last year doesn’t mean we weren’t ready to play. I mean, we were ready if anybody went down, we felt like we could step up and do an even better job than they did. So, it’s kinda one of these things where you have to believe in yourself, and we believe in our group, as a group that we can be better than that last group. We believe, as a defense that we can be an even better defense even though we lost a few guys, but we still believe that we can be even better. It’s another year in the system, so we’re a lot more crisp with the calls; a lot more confident with our calls, also. So, we believe we can do better than that.
Now that the offense has a year under their belt in Frost’s scheme, Neal has noticed how much farther along they are compared to last year.
They’re a lot farther than they were last year at this point. I feel like they—they’re kinda more advanced in kinda the scheme that they’re doing. They got a lot more advanced. We might be a little a bit ahead of them, but…it’s not too far of a gap. Those guys have come along great—especially offense. They’re giving out calls quick. You can feel the tempo how they want it to be ran. You kinda feel it out here now that they know everything.
Last season, the Knights’ offense ran 75 plays per game, good enough to be ranked 30th in the nation. This season, the tempo may be even faster.
I feel like the guys are in a lot better shape, also. So, you know, even the offensive line—we can’t snap the ball unless they’re lined up. I feel like all of them as a whole, they’re in a lot better shape. So it’s like, “Oh crap,” on defense. We gotta pick it up, pick up. ‘Cause, you know, last year, we had a little bit of time. It was little tempo but not the tempo they wanted. Now I think they’re kind getting to the tempo that they want, and it’s kinda putting pressure on us. So we have to kinda zone in and be even more confident, even think a little bit harder about our calls.
Neal thinks that Moore is an under-the-radar player that can make a big difference for the team this year.
I think Brandon Moore is gonna be a guy to look out for. I know he’s a young guy, and he’s still got a lot to learn, but you can see it in him that if he digs in and takes it, he’ll be a really special player. Offensively, I think Emmanuel Logan-Greene’s gonna be really good. I think Bentavious [Thompson], he’s gonna be a really good player. I’ve seen a lot of good things from him. Otis [Anderson]. Those guys are really—they’re kinda surprising me. I see them with the ones and I’m like… They’re with the ones, but then, you know, they’re out there making plays with these guys.
For Neal, the top play of practice came from DiNovo as well.
I think it is probably the one with Pete. He’s running crazy. It was like old school Madden when you’re running with Michael Vick. That’s how we has running today. I was like, “Oh, my goodness. Somebody stop this man.” Like, literally, he’d get the ball, snap it, run, and he’s gone 30 yards. Then next time he’s out there, he’s gone another 30 yards. I’m like, “What’s going on?” But, I mean, he was running wild out there. It looked like a video game how well he was running.
For Neal, the expectations for the team this year are nothing less than a conference championship.
I mean, our expectation is conference championship. I mean, we bring back a lot of key pieces at key positions. And, yeah, everybody loses players all the time. But we’re recruited to play. I expected myself to be able to play and to be able to produce at the same level if not a better level. And I think everybody has that, and they feel that about themselves. So, we expect conference championship—nothing less.
As far as best hands among the defensive backs, Neal thinks it’s him.
DBs? Oh, I believe I have the best hands. You ask any of those guys, they’ll say, “Oh, no, I have the best hands.” I think, you know, you can go watch on film. But I feel like I have the best hands out of everybody.
On offense, Neal thinks Jordan Akins and Tre’Quan Smith have the best hands among offensive players.
I think Akins. He has really strong hands. It’s hard to fight the ball away from him. But, you know, Tre’Quan, he is definitely that guy. But Akins—I think he has really strong hands. He’s a big body guy that just kinda box you out, and he goes up and gets it.
For more on the Knights during preseason camp, follow Ryan on Twitter at @NDR_RyanWeiss.
