MWC Media Day is over, but before I left I had a chance to talk to some of the players that made the trip. Here are some thoughts:
–Part of TCU senior safety Tejay Johnson’s major is sign language. He hopes to one day be interpreter for the deaf. He has some family members that are deaf, but said he doesn’t use his sign language on the football field.
–San Diego State senior Andrew Preston will play the “Aztec” position in defensive coordinator Rocky Long’s 3-3-5 scheme. When Long was the coach at New Mexico he had a guy named Brian Urlacher play that position. It’s a hybrid linebacker/safety that makes a lot of plays. Preston, a former linebacker, was outrunning the linebackers in winter conditioning so the Aztecs had him run with the DBs. When he held his own there, the move to the Aztec was made.
“It’s an honor to play the Aztec position, it’s the most important on our defense,” Preston said.
–BYU junior offensive tackle Matt Reynolds has had two older brothers play for the Cougars, and his younger brother, Houston, also is an offensive lineman on the BYU roster. Lance Reynolds, his dad, was a former BYU player and is a current assistant coach.
“Not nearly as much as you think,” said Reynolds when asked if there was a lot of pressure being a Reynolds and playing at BYU. “It’s been a great experience for me and my family. We run a lot of the same plays my brothers did (both also were offensive linemen) so I can call them and ask about certain plays or techniques. It’s not a case of trying to be better than my brothers, but how can they help make us better players.”
–”It’s an honor to be on Utah’s final team in the Mountain West Conference,” senior offensive lineman Zane Taylor said.
–Wyoming players David Leonard and Chris Prosinski plan on going home for a few days before they have to report back to Laramie next week for fall camp. I asked them if any of the new players caught their eye during summer workouts. Both said true freshman linebacker Oliver Schober from Germany was impressive. At 6-0, 240, Prosinski said he has the body to play sooner than later. Both also mentioned true freshman defensive back Marqueston Huff showed good speed during the workouts.
Loading ...