Football Fall Camp: Freshman Class Adjusting to Camp Life
The Kansas football program made headlines during the offseason by bringing in a large, highly-touted junior college class – all in an effort to replenish talent and depth while helping the Jayhawks become competitive quickly. Kansas head coach Charlie Weis has also invested in the longer term future of the team with a small but talented freshman class. As fall camp part held another two-a-day session Wednesday, including a practice under the lights in Memorial Stadium, the leader of the Jayhawks made freshman available to the media with selected quotes listed below.
Quoteables
Jordan Darling, Fr., Quarterback
On the quality of practices this late in camp…
“I wouldn’t say we’re getting tired, we’re not getting flat. The practices are very sharp. The way we look at it and the way the coaches tell us to look at it is, we only give them so many hours in a day of our time. Give 110 percent of those hours and the rest of the time you can do whatever you want, you can go watch Netflix, do whatever you want. People really keep the tempo high, and they keep the concentration high, and that’s going to lead to success.”
On Coach Charlie Weis’ playbook…
“I was pretty wide-eyed at first, it’s really a lot to take in, but you don’t take it in all at first. Coach (Ron) Powlus has a really great way of teaching things to break things down, make it a lot simpler than it actually looks. You just go step by step, obviously the first week and a half of camp was pretty redundant for Mike (Cummings) and Jake (Heaps) especially, but for Montell (Cozart) and I things were just flying all around. We’re learning pretty fast actually, he’s pretty pleased at how quickly Montell and I are learning the offense so we’re excited.”
On Coach strength and conditioning coach Scott Holsopple…
“He’s crazy [laughter]. It’s awesome though. He likes to bring the term bring the juice, bring the enthusiasm and he does every day. That transfers through us. Our first workout, it killed me. He’s always jacked, he’s always enthusiastic. We lifted over the summer, the freshmen did at 6 a.m. so we were up at 5:15, and we come in there and he acts like he’s been up, he acts like it’s noon and he just slept in all day. He’s always like that, it’s high energy, high tempo, high focus, everything. You can tell the results, I could definitely tell. I went from 23% body fat down to 17% in a month and a half. I was a little chubby when I got here.”
Montell Cozart, Fr., Quarterback
On camp…
“Camp is going well. Coming in I was very nervous, it was very different from high school camp. They told me it was three weeks long I was like ‘wow’. Camp is going well. The weather has been good to us, we haven’t had to worry about that. Individually I’ve had a pretty good camp, I’ve been getting a lot of mental reps while Mike (Cummings) and Jake (Heaps) are going and then when it’s time for me to come up there I’ve got to make the best of every opportunity I get. Camp is going really well, I like the way the team is going, we are going to do some good things this year.”
On Coach Holsopple…
“I was like this guy is wild. I had the 6 a.m. lift group, and this guy is riled up. We are coming in dreading working out. But he gets you right, he put on 14 pounds on me during the summer. My body’s definitely maturing, that’s something I knew was going to happen coming in. Coach Holsopple and his staff, that’s a great staff. The conditioning and everything we do is really good.”
On the transition from high school to college…
“The biggest transition is definitely managing your time. I had to do that a little bit this summer, taking summer classes and also being able to manage football. I would always have to make a set schedule about things I had to do, organize myself. That’s been the biggest transition from high school to college.”
Colin Spencer, Fr., F-Back
On the biggest transition from high school to college football…
“The biggest transition overall is the speed of the game and how everyone is flying around all of the time.”
On how the offense has looked during camp…
“The offense is looking good. I am very pleased with how everyone has been performing and I think we’re in store for something this year.”
Ben Johnson, Fr., Tight End
On how much weight he gained this offseason…
“I gained roughly 15 to 20 pounds. I am at 240, but I feel faster now than I was in high school.”
Thoughts on redshirting this season…
“Coming in you always want to have the mindset that you want to compete with other players at the same position, but really that is not up to me as far as the redshirting goes, it is up to my coaches.”
Colton Goeas, Fr., Linebacker
On something not a lot of people know about him…
“I am a big time surfer. I have been surfing since I was about six years old.”
On the biggest transition from high school to college…
“I am slowly getting used to all of the plays, tempo of the game, the speed and just learning the system.”
Tweetworthy
James Sims Named To 2013 Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Watch List: http://t.co/S6WRsqg1PA #kufball #jointhechant pic.twitter.com/GP4uTchxUJ
— Kansas Football (@KU_Football) August 21, 2013
Looking Ahead
Kansas head coach Charlie Weis will conclude the media portion of fall camp with a press conference at the Anderson Football Complex Friday at 11:45 a.m. (CT). Subscribers to Jayhawk Digital Passport can watch or listen to the press conference live by visiting www.kuathletics.com/digitalpassport. Subscriptions to the digital platform, which will feature live audio access to all football and basketball games and most of the volleyball, soccer, baseball and softball schedule, start at $2.95 for a day pass, $6.95 for a monthly pass (recurring), and $49.95 for a yearly pass. Subscribers can also access archived press conferences and games.
Kansas will open the 2013 football season by hosting South Dakota on Saturday, Sept. 7 in Memorial Stadium. Game time is slated for 6 p.m. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by contacting the Kansas Ticket Office at 1-800-34-HAWKS or via the web at KUAthletics.com.
KUAthletics.com: The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund contributions, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos and much, much more.
