BATON ROUGE — An estimated 5,500 fans showed up at LSU’s Charles McClendon Practice Facility on Sunday afternoon for the annual football Fan Day.
The fans battled the heat and storm clouds to get a chance to meet head coach Les Miles, the rest of the Tigers coaching staff and the 105 players in fall camp.
Prior to Fan Day, the players fielded questions from media from around the state and region in the indoor practice facility for just under an hour.
Miles also addressed the media for 30 minutes in front of a full house in the new Football Operation Center, prior to offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher and defensive coordinator Bo Pelini.
LSU FOOTBALL MEDIA DAY
August 14, 2005
Head Coach Les Miles
Opening Statement…
“Summer preparation’s underway, and the team is making some improvement. We’re disappointed at the loss of Alley Broussard. He certainly had a great summer and was in a position to contribute to this team, but that won’t happen. His teammates miss him as a player and as a person, but this is a good football team, some more opportunities were made by his departure and we’re going to miss him. But we’re going to move on and be very productive.
“The offense is progressing. The quarterback position is one where some decisions need to be made, but the offense is executing better than they had. I think the defense may well be ahead of the offense at this time. They’re running to the ball and there’s a greater attention to turnovers and takeaways on their side of the ball I think they’ve come along well.
“On special teams, our kicking is better than it’s been. We’re looking forward to making improvements. This is just the start. We have one full week of two-a-days and one full week of class before we get to game week. We’ll need every one of those players and segments of preparation to be a good football team.”
On managing the full contact in preseason to avoid injuries…
“What you try to do is spread it out as much as you can, but (Broussard) had three carries that day and it’s impossible for him to practice football and not sustain some type of contact. I’d have to say it’s a very rare occurrence the way it happened. Things like that happen. It’s football. If it wasn’t a sport where you could get injuries, it would be a much different sport. The game has to have this and go beyond it. It was just a one-on-one tackle, a guy got him in the hole and he twisted it. I can tell you that if you watch it on television you would not think it’s a serious injury.”
On his scrimmage philosophy…
It’s more of start with a few numbers (of snaps) and increase to bigger numbers. Our last scrimmage was around 50 live snaps for the first team and 20 other of what would be thug snaps of good solid contact as we close out the two-a-day schedule. I want to say we had as many as 12 live snips with the first team in the last short scrimmage.”
On his three scholarship quarterbacks…
“I think all three of them are very talented guys. I think JaMarcus (Russell) has a very talented arm and he’s getting more comfortable with the system. Matt Flynn, again, can throw the football well and maybe is a little bit better at scrambling in the pocket. The young quarterback we have (Ryan Perilloux) has all the talent. He can throw the football and is getting comfortable with the system. So all three are coming along and will continue to compete for that position.”
On how a quarterback will earn the starting role…
“They need to make sure they can read what the defense is giving them. They need to know which play is the right play and look at the play and make the right decision with the ball. If they do those things and have the ability to compete, they would take the job.”
On canceling the morning’s practice…
“We’ve been working hard and decided to give the players some time off their legs. We wanted to get a real break for them rather than just have a light practice so they could come out to media day and fan day.”
On the team’s talent…
“On the offensive side we have a really strong offensive line and two or three tight ends who could really step forward and wide receivers who can run and catch. Certainly there’s some talent there. How it comes together and how we’ll function on offense we’ll see as we move forward. Defensively, I think there is probably more talent. The defensive line is appears to me to be real stacked with Kyle Williams and Claude Wroten. Our linebackers have gotten comfortable in the system and appear to be running to the football. Kenny Hollis has probably lost 14 or 15 pounds and is running extremely well. I think our backers will be a strength of the team with E.J Kuale and Cameron Vaughn. And in the secondary, I think there is plenty of talent there. We have two veteran safeties – LaRon Landry and Jessie Daniels – and we’ll be very talented and very fast. In the area of the kicking game, I think we have talented punters and kickers and I think that they are making improvement and will continue to.”
On Todd Monken…
“He really watches and sees how the passing game is going in and how it affects each player and makes suggestions that he’s got and get them to a greater quality, maybe speak to them and help them with their routes. Giving him that position allows him to add some strength to the offense.”
On the new football operations center…
“I’ve been in here twice and this is the first time that we’ve operated this room and it’s going to be a very functional facility.”
On having assistant coach Karl Dunbar on staff…
“He’s had great experience with LSU, because he played here and graduated from here. He’s a really tremendous defensive line coach. Behind the scenes, he gives us opportunities to look at the traditions of LSU.”
On if he’s encountered any surprises since coming to LSU…
“I am constantly encouraged. I think the passion that surrounds the football program and the style of people that I run into are committed to excellence. I did not know when I got here that would all be in place.”
LSU Player Quotes
QB JaMarcus Russell
On his expectations for the season…
“I am looking forward to it one game at a time. We don’t have any expectations, and I am just looking for the guys to do a good job.”
On his preparation for the season…
“I think I did a pretty good job as far as summer workouts. The film work and working with the guys.”
On his thoughts of the team…
“We have a great group of guys. Everyone on the team knows what they have to do. I think they are going to do a good job at what they do. It is good going up against some of the best guys everyday at practice. I think we are going to be really good.”
RB Joseph Addai
On his experiences at LSU…
“If I could start all over and do it again, I wouldn’t change it. I have learned a lot doing this. I have had my ups and downs, and I feel like I have become a better man because of it.”
On this being his last season…
“I just feel that I am ready to do a lot of stuff here at LSU. I have learned a lot, so I think I am going to have a really good year. With this being my third running backs coach, and with all the different coaches and different styles I think I have a feel for a lot of different things.”
On his feelings on the team’s preparation…
“Coming into camp, we came with our minds right. At the same time we still have a lot to work on, but I think we are on the right path which will help a lot.”
On the running back competition…
“I think all of the running backs push me harder. At the same time it’s helping me it’s also helping them. Because I’m pushing them and they’re pushing me and I think that’s a good thing. I feel like we’ll be ready.”
OT Andrew Whitworth
On his Senior Season…
“I think that me going into my last season I think that it’s exciting and I get to play with these guys for another year and it’s been great and I love these guys and I can’t wait to get on the football field again. If I’ve learned anything it’s that’s how important it is to get a chance to get out there and play football again. To get out there and get it going and get it working and hopefully we’ll be everything that we want to be. And hopefully for myself I’ll play the way I expect myself to play. That’s all you can ask for. You gotta love the game and I do what I love to do.”
On being a team leader…
“I think that seeing the things that we’ve been through and understanding a little bit about what team camaraderie, I think that shows what a real team is about. I think that you learn from it and you kind of understand it. I think that it’s something that is a good experience and it’s something that makes me a better player. I understand what it takes and I’ve been there and I’ve seen what other guys have done.”
On the team’s maturity…
“I think that there are a lot of guys that are better, a lot of guys that have matured. I think that every camp you have a bunch of guys that have matured and grown up. I think we’re really excited about the talent we have on this team and hopefully we can get all of our talent playing to our capabilities.”
WR Dwayne Bowe
On his off-season preparation…
“My work-outs have been better than ever, I’m talking about me and the team. Last year, I know a lot of people didn’t pass the conditioning test, but this year everybody passed. That right there boosted me up. I went over all my flaws from last year, like my blocking and my concentration, and I worked on that over the summer. I feel that I’m looking really good out there.
On the wide-receiver competition…
“I feel with the depth we have and the competition we have I feel that it can only make me better.”
On his teammates’ improvement…
“Early Doucet and Xavier Carter have really stepped it up, along with a lot of other players like the freshmen who are really working their tail off.”
On the wide receiver’s preparation…
“I’ve had the same feeling that I’ve had when we won the national championship. Hopefully that feeling comes true.”