Baylor HC Dave Aranda
It’s a happy locker room. I’m proud of the guys, the coaches too. At halftime is probably the best way to speak into this, I think everybody wants to do well and contribute, and be seen and recognized for their efforts, and I’m so appreciative of that. At halftime, I felt a nervous energy from the coaches and some of the players. I was hearing some F-bombs in the locker room, and generally that’s not us. I feel like the second quarter was that too. You could feel some of that, just the nervousness, and all of it. You’re in a battle and you’re trying to get it right, and it ain’t going right and all that. Some of the talks at halftime were that. I think some of what we were fighting was expectations, it’s supposed to be like this or it used to be like that, and I have to do a better job of being out in front of that. I think it’s imaginary stuff.
Sometimes as coaches we’re supposed to be this or supposed to be that. From where we think and where it’s at, I think it’s all good. But we don’t want is to get in the way on that journey to be what we can become. We’re working as best we can to see people and dealing with where they’re at and not get in the way of it. There’s a lot of that in this game. Some gritty, ugly stuff that I think you have to go through to get to the beautiful, clean, polished shiny stuff. I think in the process of doing that, how we handle it as coaches is so important. To do it as a teacher and kind of like a guide, and give guys the courage and ability to still show up even amongst failure and disappointment. We’ll see.
With the game, I’m thankful for the four quarters. I thought there was energy throughout. There was a good edge by the offense, and some violence from the start of the play to the end. Those are things that haven’t maybe been there the previous two games. So I’m thankful for that. Execution-wise, we were able to execute after mistakes. Those are things that are kind of unseen a lot of times and unappreciated that are just part of it, but it takes so much to go through it because if you’re the dude you’re humiliated and embarrassed, and you have to trust guys to show up after a mistake and give it their all.
(Richard Reese breakout, have you seen that potential) Yes. Since fall camp he’s been giving that. The wide zone is such that O-line wise you’re running off the ball and running back-wise you’re on a track where that tight end is, and you’ve got one read and at a certain point you have to make the cut and go. When you do make it, you have to be real forceful and confident with that cut. There is an element that you’re running into this (waving hands back and forth). You wish it would be clear, and sometimes it’s not clear, and it looks like this and you have to kind of put your shoulders down and go through it. It takes a little moxie to do that, and he does that really well, and was able to pop a few too, which helps confidence in everything. So I’m excited for him. After the run, he always gives it back to the official. You love to see the purity in all of it, and I’m excited about what can become with him.
(What have you seen from the OL and DL through the 1st 3 games) I think the defensive line, we’re battling through some . . . we’re missing some guys. So, we missed another guy today (Cole Maxwell). Today was probably the most we’ve struggled with the run. But, there were some throw downs that they ran it. So, it was a good job by Texas State of having numbers and going against the numbers. So, it took a little bit for us to make adjustments to all of it, which we eventually did. But, I feel really good about the defensive front and their ability to run stop, and then I thought today the pass rush was better, too. I think that was a huge emphasis for them. Apu is a great example. We’ve had three games, Apu’s been a captain twice. His story – and I’m hesitant to speak on it, because it’s not through yet. But, I think just his growing maturity and his leadership is just way appreciated. Last week at BYU, in the huddles, he was saying all the things I would say. And when you say kind of weird stuff, you recognize your words when somebody else is saying it. So, I’m seeing it, and Apu is like, ‘Dude, come on, man.’ What he was trying to do is he was seeing guys with big eyes, and he was trying to get to them. I should have seen it prior to him, and I didn’t. So, that’s just the care factor and the giving of himself is way cool to see. So, I think that growth and what they have been doing I think is good.
Offensive line-wise, I think there’s been a lack of edge. Edge would be the violence and the force that you unload on people. And all between the start of the play and the echo of the whistle. And I take a lot of responsibility for that. I have not taught that as much as I should. Last year, I talked about it a lot, because I think those guys thought edge was after the play, talking this and pushing that. So, to really clean that up last year was a whole thing. And I don’t know, my mistake for not speaking it enough. We spoke on it quite a bit this last week, and we showed signs of that today. Not that we’re there by any means, but we found the interstate. So, we can kind of open it up now.
(Lot of new dudes, how much of that contributed to the nervous energy) I think that’s our team, I think that’s it. It’s crazy how just everything is a thing. To where, there’s no real detail, there’s no real experience that’s really too small. Because I think those experiences will frame opinions, and those experiences will frame mindsets. So, if the mindset ain’t right off that experience, then we just have ourselves another problem, because now they’re going to go into a thing thinking this or thinking that. And clearly, that’s not it. So, there’s just a whole lot of work with the young people. But, you love the energy and you love the optimism and you love the want-to. I think the challenge for coaches is to really have compassion for themselves, as coaches. We’ve got young dudes, they’re going to give everything they’ve got, let’s create an opportunity, the best environment for them to do that. But if it ain’t, it’s going to be all right. We can fix it. All the tightness with the coaches for sure makes it to the freshmen and it makes a bigger impact on them than maybe a senior. So, it’s been quite a bit, but I think we’ll continue to have young guys play. And they did great today.
It’s a happy locker room. I’m proud of the guys, the coaches too. At halftime is probably the best way to speak into this, I think everybody wants to do well and contribute, and be seen and recognized for their efforts, and I’m so appreciative of that. At halftime, I felt a nervous energy from the coaches and some of the players. I was hearing some F-bombs in the locker room, and generally that’s not us. I feel like the second quarter was that too. You could feel some of that, just the nervousness, and all of it. You’re in a battle and you’re trying to get it right, and it ain’t going right and all that. Some of the talks at halftime were that. I think some of what we were fighting was expectations, it’s supposed to be like this or it used to be like that, and I have to do a better job of being out in front of that. I think it’s imaginary stuff.
Sometimes as coaches we’re supposed to be this or supposed to be that. From where we think and where it’s at, I think it’s all good. But we don’t want is to get in the way on that journey to be what we can become. We’re working as best we can to see people and dealing with where they’re at and not get in the way of it. There’s a lot of that in this game. Some gritty, ugly stuff that I think you have to go through to get to the beautiful, clean, polished shiny stuff. I think in the process of doing that, how we handle it as coaches is so important. To do it as a teacher and kind of like a guide, and give guys the courage and ability to still show up even amongst failure and disappointment. We’ll see.
With the game, I’m thankful for the four quarters. I thought there was energy throughout. There was a good edge by the offense, and some violence from the start of the play to the end. Those are things that haven’t maybe been there the previous two games. So I’m thankful for that. Execution-wise, we were able to execute after mistakes. Those are things that are kind of unseen a lot of times and unappreciated that are just part of it, but it takes so much to go through it because if you’re the dude you’re humiliated and embarrassed, and you have to trust guys to show up after a mistake and give it their all.
(Richard Reese breakout, have you seen that potential) Yes. Since fall camp he’s been giving that. The wide zone is such that O-line wise you’re running off the ball and running back-wise you’re on a track where that tight end is, and you’ve got one read and at a certain point you have to make the cut and go. When you do make it, you have to be real forceful and confident with that cut. There is an element that you’re running into this (waving hands back and forth). You wish it would be clear, and sometimes it’s not clear, and it looks like this and you have to kind of put your shoulders down and go through it. It takes a little moxie to do that, and he does that really well, and was able to pop a few too, which helps confidence in everything. So I’m excited for him. After the run, he always gives it back to the official. You love to see the purity in all of it, and I’m excited about what can become with him.
(What have you seen from the OL and DL through the 1st 3 games) I think the defensive line, we’re battling through some . . . we’re missing some guys. So, we missed another guy today (Cole Maxwell). Today was probably the most we’ve struggled with the run. But, there were some throw downs that they ran it. So, it was a good job by Texas State of having numbers and going against the numbers. So, it took a little bit for us to make adjustments to all of it, which we eventually did. But, I feel really good about the defensive front and their ability to run stop, and then I thought today the pass rush was better, too. I think that was a huge emphasis for them. Apu is a great example. We’ve had three games, Apu’s been a captain twice. His story – and I’m hesitant to speak on it, because it’s not through yet. But, I think just his growing maturity and his leadership is just way appreciated. Last week at BYU, in the huddles, he was saying all the things I would say. And when you say kind of weird stuff, you recognize your words when somebody else is saying it. So, I’m seeing it, and Apu is like, ‘Dude, come on, man.’ What he was trying to do is he was seeing guys with big eyes, and he was trying to get to them. I should have seen it prior to him, and I didn’t. So, that’s just the care factor and the giving of himself is way cool to see. So, I think that growth and what they have been doing I think is good.
Offensive line-wise, I think there’s been a lack of edge. Edge would be the violence and the force that you unload on people. And all between the start of the play and the echo of the whistle. And I take a lot of responsibility for that. I have not taught that as much as I should. Last year, I talked about it a lot, because I think those guys thought edge was after the play, talking this and pushing that. So, to really clean that up last year was a whole thing. And I don’t know, my mistake for not speaking it enough. We spoke on it quite a bit this last week, and we showed signs of that today. Not that we’re there by any means, but we found the interstate. So, we can kind of open it up now.
(Lot of new dudes, how much of that contributed to the nervous energy) I think that’s our team, I think that’s it. It’s crazy how just everything is a thing. To where, there’s no real detail, there’s no real experience that’s really too small. Because I think those experiences will frame opinions, and those experiences will frame mindsets. So, if the mindset ain’t right off that experience, then we just have ourselves another problem, because now they’re going to go into a thing thinking this or thinking that. And clearly, that’s not it. So, there’s just a whole lot of work with the young people. But, you love the energy and you love the optimism and you love the want-to. I think the challenge for coaches is to really have compassion for themselves, as coaches. We’ve got young dudes, they’re going to give everything they’ve got, let’s create an opportunity, the best environment for them to do that. But if it ain’t, it’s going to be all right. We can fix it. All the tightness with the coaches for sure makes it to the freshmen and it makes a bigger impact on them than maybe a senior. So, it’s been quite a bit, but I think we’ll continue to have young guys play. And they did great today.
Last edited by a moderator:
