OPENING STATEMENT
Great to have a week off
They love where they are as a team
They have a challenge with Ole Miss; they need to show up and play better than they did before the bye but he has faith they will.
Ole Miss is known for its offense but its defense is improved and disruptive
They’re excited to play
On health
Jaylen Mahoney is back, hasn’t had any setbacks, he should be a full go
Xavier Castillo is back and cleared protocol
Brayden Bapst is practicing again, they need to keep him progressing as Devin Lee did (Lee played part-time on return)
Quincy Skinner is back and is a full-go
Miles Cecil and Ben Cox are back
Daevion Davis is still long-term but he’s progressing, he’s got a ways to go
Bradley Mann is out for the season and will have season-ending surgery, that’s a tough loss but they’re excited about his future
So (otherwise) the bye week was good to them
Lane Kiffin said Ole Miss hasn’t played as well in the second half because other teams rotate players, is that a priority for Vanderbilt?
Any time you can do that against tempo, you’ll stay fresher, longer
They do that anyway
Some of their depth is young
They have to grow that depth in critical situations
Mike Wright in the game plan?
Said he would’t be a good coach if he went into too much detail, but they’re spending some time on that now
Mike is one of their best 11, but it’s challenging to rotate QBs
It would be situation-driven
How has Ole Miss managed to be so disruptive?
They have good design and they pressure a lot
They’ll have to be really good at identifying and picking up pressures
It’s a challenge and they’re excited for it
Last year Vanderbilt’s defense played well vs. Ole Miss, how does Vanderbilt repeat that?
They’re not interested in repeating since it wasn’t good enough
They’ll want to capitalize on where they played well last year but they haven’t talked about it
They didn’t leave Oxford feeling good about things, they want to play better
On playing at home after 28 days away
He’s hopeful they’ll have nice weather, it’s rained and they’ve had lightning delays
They want to put on a great performance at home and they’ve not done that yet
They had a chance vs. Elon but sputtered in the second half
Turned it over too much vs. Wake
How did they manage being blown out by Alabama and recovering from that?
Honestly you don’t ever get over that but you have to evolve and get over that
The point differential challenges your ego and your ability to see clearly
They have to get past the emotion of that and see how they were responsible in the result and learn from it
No matter how they feel they have to move on with heightened self-awareness and use that for good
It starts with me and how I handle it and it’s part of our journey, he has to support the team and the vision of the program and that’s what he signed up for
They have to live in it for 24 hours and they they have to get back on the climb of growing as a program
That’s a temporary challenge; they have to stay committed to a vision
But the team is resilient and he feels they got past that quickly
Lane Kiffin is aggressive on fourth down, does that change their approach on either side?
Defensively, yes, there are certain situations in which third down becomes second down because you anticipate a fourth-down snap
On third and nine, you may stay committed to a base look because you’re expecting a run
Offense is about dictating the terms so they’ll stay committed to their plan and that’s unique to who they are and won’t change
Ole Miss has fumbled a lot, how crucial is it to get recoveries?
It’s “mission critical,” they’re talked in the past about how limiting possessions is essential
They’ve created a turnover 14 games in a row
Ole Miss has had a 100-yard rusher in five games, what’s that say?
He’s impressed with the various ways they’re effective
They take what you give, if the run is there they’ll find it
They’ve got a good QB and explosive skill guys
Their chunk plays come after they apply pressure with tempo, so you have to dig into your reserve and make sure you’re in the right spot
Last game, they split the box and the back didn’t have to change course in some spots like that
You have to be in the moment as the pressure mounts with tempo
Their ability to defend is a focus on them, their design and their structure
They’ll utilize the other two phases to limit possessions
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