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Skins Quotes 11/25/19: Bill Callahan

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November 25, 2019

Interim Head Coach Bill Callahan

On whether he talked to QB Dwayne Haskins Jr. about missing the final play:
“Yeah, I did. It was disappointing and I think that it's an experience he'll learn from as he matures and understands it's a 60-minute game. It's never over until it's over. I think he was caught up in the emotion of the game itself – youthful exuberance, I would call it. I think it got away from him a little bit, but I think he's fully aware that professionally his mind should be on the game throughout the duration of 60 minutes.”

On whether the team will fine Haskins Jr. for missing the final play:
“I think it's a great learning experience for him. I think he'll learn more than any finable offense that you could ever give somebody. I think the message is pretty clear.”

On how he feels the clock management was handled during the game:
“I just felt that I could've done a better job just bringing the clock down a little bit more and then taking the timeout a little bit later than what we did.”

On whether clock management is something he has to get used to again:
“No, I just thought it was a little premature in terms of banging the timeout. I felt good about the field position we were at. Just left a little bit too much time on the clock for our defense to handle.”

On Haskins Jr.'s wrist injury:
“Like I said last night, I went in to see the medical people and, yes, there was a slight wrist injury to his wrist. It was reported this morning, so I don't know to what extent if it's going to be a bad bruise or a slight bruise. To what extent, how that plays out we'll have to see.”

On what has allowed WR Steven Sims Jr. to find success in the return game:
“Like I said last night, I thought [Special Teams Coordinator] Nate Kaczor has done a great job with the special teams unit. I thought the return game was excellent in every aspect. We start the game with a 33-yarder, put us in good field position. We didn't capitalize on it, we went three-and-out and turned it over, and then he came back and answered with a 91-yard return touchdown, which was fabulous. He's made a lot of plays like that similarly throughout the year and he's becoming more active in his role as a wide receiver. As a slot, we're putting him in more man-to-man type of situations where he can beat man coverage. He has unique quickness, sudden change. He has the ability to separate and really set a defender up and get open. I think it's a little bit more of a progression. He's not the tallest receiver. He is shorter, but he's explosive, he's fast, he's quick. Sometimes, I think in the draft what happens is everyone's looking for the great size and speed, and sometimes guys like [WR] Steven [Sims Jr.] get overlooked at times, so it was a good job by our scouting department to pick him up, bring him in and have him excel at what he's doing right now.”

On whether Sims Jr. will have an opportunity to return punts this season:
“Oh yeah. I think he's been in that role as a backup, he's competed for that role so there's always that opportunity ‒ that opportunity exists if needed.”

On why it was the right time to challenge the players in a private team meeting:
“I challenge our team every week. It's just a matter of how you challenge your team. I think there's a difference in how you challenge your team and talk to them and them to know how you truly feel about certain things ‒ fair, honest. I'm pretty open in terms of what I think, how we're doing and where we're at. Maybe a little different tone than normal, but it was heartfelt, it was passionate. I think the message was really clear. We needed to start fast, play harder, play better than what we have been doing.”

On the inherent risks when addressing the players with harsh criticism:
“It's not a game for the faint of heart. It's a pretty physical, mentally tough game that we play when you cross the white line. You got to be able to be tough minded, take criticism, take hard coaching. Some take it well, a lot of players came up to me afterwards and said they appreciated that. I just do my best. I know when you have a large group, in any large group dynamic, you're going to have people that favor things that you do, you're going to have your detractors, maybe some guys that it maybe doesn't appeal to. The message was clear throughout the team, it wasn't pointed at one person or one position, it was clearly a team message.”

On whether he'll share that message:
“No, I would rather keep it private.”

On what makes DT Jonathan Allen ready to lead as a young player:
“When [DT] Jonathan [Allen] came here, interesting enough, the background he has having grown up here in this region and then going to the University of Alabama and playing in a successfully program, a highly competitive program where they compete day-to-day at a very high level, that's how those from that program are raised. That's where they come from. That's what they're accustomed to and that's how they train and it's how they live. When you have guys like him, [DT] Daron Payne, [LB] Shaun Dion Hamilton and you go on-and-on, Landon Collins, those guys have a competitive nature to themselves that's really unique. You can see why that program has been so successful year-in and year-out. The consistency of that program, how they practice and also how they train, how they prepare for meetings, everything that they do is at a very high level. Everything is important in that program in winning. They want to win. They love to win. Once you get a taste of that, you don't want to go the other way. They get frustrated when you're not at a winning level or doing things on a winning level, whether it's practice, whether it's the weight room, the meeting room, the team room, they're highly, highly competitive kids. These players, they demand that. I feel that's my obligation to them is to give them something everyday to make them better, to make them more motivated, more inspired to play well.”

On how LB Cole Holcomb has grown as a player:
“[LB] Cole [Holcomb] played well. His tackle points led our team and he had the sack, as well. There are so many aspects where he can read, react. He works hard, he's diligent, studies, he's intuitive – he has all the traits that you want out of a linebacker. I think [Linebackers Coach] Rob Ryan has done a great job in his development and bringing him along so early in his career. Just having the awareness and, like I said, the instincts of feeling out plays, knowing plays, improving in his coverage and applying the pressure that he does when he's asked to blitz and he does those things pretty well.”

On whether there's a challenge to avoid overloading young players like Holcomb with information:
“I think you give a player as much as you can give him and you'll hit that point as a coach where you know that it's too much for them, but I don't think you just sit there and just spoon feed a player in terms of your installation. They have to learn the system, pick up the install, pick up the plays, the concepts and move forward and give it to him as much as you can, and then repeat it over and over and over again. That's where I think [Linebackers Coach] Rob [Ryan] has done a great job with him.”

On how Haskins Jr.'s performance improved under pressure:
“I thought he took a real step in the fourth quarter in crunch time where we needed him. He made plays with his feet, he escaped the pocket, made a positive first down. I thought he performed under pressure as well as you can possibly perform and that's the exciting dynamic about his play. There were throws of course that we saw throughout the game where he might have overthrown a few, missed a few throws, but if we connect on those – [Offensive Coordinator] Kevin [O'Connell] and I were talking earlier this morning – he might have had a three or four touchdown day. I mean that was viable.”

On whether Haskins Jr.'s mistakes were mechanical or mental:
“I think it was a little bit of everything. I think at times he can rush, at times he's a little bit too strong with his arm, at times he laid it out there too far. I mentioned yesterday, I'd rather have the missed hit than obviously a ball that's low and inside that's obviously in a position to be picked, but I thought he really learned throughout the game and the playbook expanded, it got more vertical for him, he unleashed a couple throws – the third and long throw when we were backed up was a great throw to [WR Kelvin Harmon] and we just missed, we just missed by a foot. There's other plays that he was on target and other plays that as he reads through the progression he'll learn a little bit better. He'll learn from this experience and this game especially not only about the reads and the progressions, but I think he'll learn a little bit more about his footwork and his base, and where it needs to be and how his feet need to be set to make a more accurate type throw.”

On how a young quarterback goes about correcting his inaccuracy:
“I don't think he was way off. I wouldn't say he was spraying the ball all over a lot. I think he was just missing. There were times where – I mean, you're talking about maybe a foot here, maybe a little bit more air or trajectory better could have possibly been the difference between the incomplete and the huge, huge explosive play. I don't think he's far off at all, I just think it's a matter of more experience and in terms of correcting it, going back to his fundamental techniques, making sure when they are correct he is good. There are clearly enough examples on film today as we watched as a staff and as a position, watching his feet. When they're right and his eyes are right and his timing is right, he gets through the progression, his delivery was accurate and he's making plays. So there are a lot of positives that came out of this game about his performance and there are a lot of things he's got to learn to get better at as well.”


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
November 25, 2019

Interim Head Coach Bill Callahan

On how he feels the clock management was handled during the game:
“I just felt that I could've done a better job just bringing the clock down a little bit more and then taking the timeout a little bit later than what we did.”

On whether clock management is something he has to get used to again:
“No, I just thought it was a little premature in terms of banging the timeout. I felt good about the field position we were at. Just left a little bit too much time on the clock for our defense to handle.”



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm glad that he was asked this question. Callahan really screwed that up yesterday. It seemed like he didn't know what to do. That FG should have been sailing through the uprights as time expired. Ultimately it doesn't matter since Callahan won't be here next year. But you still want to teach your young players good clock management, especially late in the game.
 
I really like the way Callahan communicates in these pressers. He's always humble, he takes responsibility when he should, and he finds a way to hold his players accountable while protecting them at the same time.
 

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