BLOG: Monte Kiffin Q&A

KNOXVILLE — This one of three pre-Orange and White game blogs is an excerpt of Thursday morning’s 20-minute interview with University of Tennessee defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin.

The Volunteers cap Lane Kiffin’s first spring as head coach with Saturday’s 3 p.m. scrimmage, which will feature an offense-versus-defense scoring system.

Here is the interview with Lane’s father.

Opening statement:

KIFFIN: “I think the best thing, and Lane’s alluded to it, is the energy we’ve had out there. It’s a new system, and guys are making some mistakes and we can do better at this or better at that, but the biggest thing is we’re playing hard, playing fast and playing together. I’ve been through spring ball before — not for a while, but it’s (nearly) the same in pro football — and the last couple of days, guys are thinking, ‘Boy, it’s about over, and I can relax a little bit, kick back and get ready for the spring game. All my family and friends are coming in.’ But no, no. Not yet. The spring game’s not until Saturday. The last time I checked, today is Thursday. And tomorrow’s Friday, right? So we’re going to practice hard today, and we’re not going to practice hard tomorrow, because tomorrow’s Friday. And then we’re going to play hard on Saturday.

“I felt like Tuesday was unbelievable. I don’t how many people saw the goal-line (work), but it was like, ‘Wow.’ I pointed out, I said to our guys, I like that deal where our players are saying, ‘Let’s don’t call it off yet, Coach. Let’s have us another couple of plays. Give us a chance to win on defense. Give us a chance to win on offense.’ I like that. And then maybe, if one our games didn’t work out at the end this fall, and it’s the fourth quarter, the last play of the game, and they score or something, maybe we can do that with our opponent. ‘Hey, give us another chance. We’ll stop you next time, OK?’ I don’t know if they’ll go for that, but any way, we’ve been having a lot of fun.”

“As far as our personnel, I think that we’ve really done a good job of mixing that up. Nothing’s etched in stone yet. We’re going to come back in the fall, and we’re still going to compete. We have a lot players that are very, very close to being a starter or not a starter. Like I tell the players and emphasize to them all the time, and I think it’s very important to coaching, then when you play on game day, everybody that goes on that field is a starter. I’m serious. You’re a starter when you run onto that field. It’s not just, ‘Our team is made up of 11 guys on offense, 11 guys on defense and 11 guys on special teams.’ You don’t run into the game at Neyland Stadium in the second quarter against Western Kentucky and say, ‘I’m the backup linebacker, and I’m in the game now.’ Or, ‘I’m the backup nose tackle.’ You’re in the game. You’re a starter. We try to approach it that way, and I think our players have accepted that, and we do have a lot of competition going right now. That’s good for our team, and good for the players.”

Q: What are your thoughts on defensive end Chris Walker’s spring performance? He’s certainly looked impressive from the outside.

KIFFIN: “He’s a very explosive player. I noticed in the offseason workouts at 6 o’clock in the morning, he was there every day, never late, working hard. But then to see him really go out on the field and do it and put it into a football perspective and be the kind of player that we’re looking for. He’s got all the intangibles, but could he really do it? He can, and he’s got a great future. I think Coach O(rgeron)’s done a great job with him, and I think he’s maxing out right now, because he has the ability. He’s 235 pounds. There are defensive ends around the conference and college football that are bigger, but he plays awfully strong with 235. He does it with his hands — he’s so good with his hands — and he’s got the great quickness to get off the blocks of a big offensive tackle.”

Q: You probably tried avoiding preconceived notions about any of your players, but most who follow the Vols would call defensive-line depth a potential concern. How would you evaluate the line’s spring performance?

KIFFIN: “Inside, Montori (Hughes) has really helped us. Dan Williams went from 338 to weighing about 313 right now, and he’s really bought in. He can’t play that heavy, and he’s a better player now. And we’ve got some other guys that have come along. Our defensive ends are probably a little stronger position right now than our tackles, but we still need to improve there with our players here. We’ve got maybe an incoming player or two that can help us, especially inside. We’ve gotten better, but we still can use some more depth.”

Q: Could you elaborate more on Hughes, specifically?

KIFFIN: “I think that’s really been the big surprise. I know the first day I got here, they had the workout at 6 in the morning, and he was struggling. And I said, ‘What’s the deal with that big guy?’ And they said, ‘Well, he’s a young guy,’ so I’m thinking, ‘Well, we can redshirt him and maybe he’ll be a player someday.’ But then he just kept getting in better and better shape, and then we put the pads on, and he loves football. He’s very aggressive. He’s going to help us.

“Last Saturday, he didn’t play quite as well, because a lot of it’s new to a young player like that, a freshman or high school senior or whatever. Our offensive line is doing a lot of good zone blocking, and everything’s coming from a different direction. He still needs a lot of work.”

Q: Will Wes Brown play defensive end, defensive tackle of both when he returns from this week’s knee surgery?

KIFFIN: “He’ll play both, I think. We’ll go into the season with him playing end and tackle. Wes is a starter, but we have to decide whether he’s a starter at tackle or end. He’s very much in the picture, and he can do both. Some of our ends aren’t built quite the same as Wes, so they’re going to really be true defensive ends. But he can play both, and I think that helps a lot. I think you’ve got to be flexible in your situation, because you’re going to get injuries and those types of things, and maybe this player isn’t playing as well as you thought, so you’ve got to be able to play both. That will really help. The few days he was in there (at tackle), he was doing good things, and then obviously he got hurt.”

Q: Obviously Eric Berry hasn’t been allowed to go through full-contact drills this spring, but what are your thoughts on him, to this point?

KIFFIN: “I just tell everybody, and I’m not exaggerating at all ... that I’ve been in the pro game for so long, and you go out and evaluate all the players. And he’s going to be one of those pro prospects that I would say this: Wherever I am with the 32 teams, whatever pick I have in the first round, I’m taking Eric Berry. Because, you know what? Some people are really good in the box, and some people are good in the middle of the field, and some people have really good ball skills, and some people have got it all, but they’re not quite as sharp. Some people have everything, but you kind of wish they liked football a little bit more, or maybe they could be a better leader. But he can run, he can hit, he loves football, he’s a leader, he’s a good guy, he’s smart. He is.

“Isn’t there something that maybe he’s not as good at yet? I don’t know. I haven’t seen that yet. He hasn’t gone live yet, but I’ve seen enough tape from last year where he’s not going to all of a sudden his last year — well, I don’t know if this is last year — but he’s not just going to say, ‘Aw, this year, I’m not going to hit.’ We have to keep him out of (contact) as is, right now, with the pads on, but he’s not supposed to go live. Like today, it’s not a scrimmage, but he’ll still be trying to blow somebody up.

“He’s a special guy. We’re very opportunistic to have him here, as new coaches.”

Q: How tough of a transition has it been for these guys to learn the system you’ve run so well for so long at the very top level of football?

KIFFIN: “I think it doesn’t really matter if it’s me, or anybody that comes in. Coach (John) Chavis going to LSU, that’s going to be a new transition for those players. Any time you bring in a new system — and it’s the same way on offense — that’s the way it is. It’s not necessarily the scheme; it’s just new. It’s new terminology — what you call for formations, the way you read the keys.

“Every coach is so much different, and there’s a lot of ways to do it. And I just think, like I mentioned before, the hardest part for me has been all the rules, like the 20-hour rule. I’m used to just hanging around there, going up there on Saturdays to work out with players, like the new free agents and stuff that want to get some extra work. You can’t do it here.

“Now everybody’s the same. I wish we didn’t have all these rules. Now this is my first year back (in college), so I’m not calling the NCAA and changing all these rules, I don’t think. I don’t think that would go over real big. But I think there’s a lot of rules, and for players that want to really get better, it’s hard.

“Now I think you’ve got to have rules — I’m for that, all the way — but it’s been a big transition for me.”

Q: What have you seen from middle linebackers Nick Reveiz and Herman Lathers this spring?

KIFFIN: “They’re doing good. They’re getting better. I think Nick’s really jumped out and showed us some things that maybe people didn’t think he could do. I know he’s short or whatever. I don’t know exactly how tall he is, but I know when I first talked to them, I told Nick and the whole defense that ‘I don’t care how tall you are; I don’t care how fast you run; I don’t care what you weigh; and I don’t care what you bench press.’ If you make the play, you make the play, and I see is 56 making a lot of plays.

“You don’t line up out there and right guard from Western Kentucky says, ‘Hey, how tall are you?’ You go play. You go play ball. I’ve coached a lot of players that are a little bit shorter. He has really played well.

“Herman’s just young. Every rep he’s getting is new to him. Again, it’s just the experience, especially with a new system. He was young last year, and he’s still young, and a new system being thrown on top of that ... he’s behind a little bit. But he had his best practice Tuesday. He’s got some talent. Once he gets a feel for it, there’s just so much about a defense playing. I just love guys playing fast, but you can’t play fast if you’re thinking. As a coach, as a coordinator, how much can these players do in the new system?

“We have a lot of volume on our defense. There’s a lot of neat blitzes, but we can’t run them all. I love to blitz, but if you blitz and we don’t know what we’re doing for sure and the right guy’s not covered, it won’t work. I think we have to watch that as coaches.”

Q: What about the linebacker position, overall?

KIFFIN: “I think our situation isn’t as strong as the secondary or our defensive line, so I think we just need to keep working more and more. Aside from Rico (McCoy), our ’backers really haven’t played much, even though they’ve been here and been in the system and they’re acclimated to college football. But we’re still young, even though some of them aren’t going into their sophomore year.

“LaMarcus Thompson’s another example. He had his best day Tuesday. That’s all I want to see, is them getting better and better, but we’ve got to hurry up and get there, because these guys haven’t played a lot.”

Q: What about the safety spot opposite Eric Berry? How’s that competition going? Obviously, Demetrice Morley’s dismissal complicated things at that position.

KIFFIN: “We’re just moving people around right now, trying to get a good look at it. We’re fairly flexible there right now, but I don’t know who it’s going to be, for sure. It’s going to be real battle there, with who is going to start there. I don’t think we’ll know that until right close to game time, and I’m talking about getting close to the season.”

Q: Is former starting cornerback Dennis Rogan a possibility at safety? He’s played there in the past.

KIFFIN: “Dennis can do both. Dennis is a little bit like Wes Brown. He’s flexible. He can play both corner and safety. Dennis was issued a challenge at corner, and we’re using him at both places. He’ll play both Saturday, safety and corner. He’s a playmaker. The thing I like about him, when you go back to watching film from last year, he played well. He played well Tuesday, too. He made some plays. He hasn’t played as well early as maybe we wanted him to, and he’s been challenged, and he’s really come back and responded. We feel good about that.”

Q: Will your incoming freshmen be given realistic chances to compete for starting positions?

KIFFIN: “Yes, they could. A lot of them will come down to them being here this summer, and how fast they pick it up this summer and that type of thing. I think that we, as a staff, are going to do that. That’s Lane’s philosophy, coming from Southern Cal and Pete Carroll.

“I can tell you that when I was a freshman walk-on at the University of Nebraska, years ago, we started out as freshmen and went down to Texas A&M in College Station. And, shoot, boy, we lined up and we played. But again, how fast they pick it up is big. And there’s nobody where we’re saying, ‘Oh, you’re a highly touted four-star or five-star player, so you’re going to be our starter.’ It won’t happen that way. They’re going to have to win. But there’s a difference between that and giving them a chance to earn that position. Maybe some of them are ready to play, and some of them are not, but you won’t know until you put them in there.

“I’m not saying put them in there in the first game. I’m saying put them in there in practice to find out if they can do it and compete. You can’t have them back here and say, ‘Well, you’ll get three reps today,’ or ‘You get a couple of reps.’ You’ve got to give them the reps. That’s where Lane’s taking the philosophy, and that’s what we’re going to do — get these players the reps. Now if they’re not ready to start, they’re not ready to start.”

Q: How much of your defense has been installed this spring?

KIFFIN: “Probably about 90 percent. There’s probably another 10 percent that we could do. It depends on how we come along in the fall, early in camp. I feel pretty good right now. I just love coming in after practice and watching the guys get better (on tape). It’s exciting. I get excited to go show them the tape.”

Q: That seems like a good percentage. Are you ahead of schedule?

KIFFIN: “No, no. I don’t think we’re ahead. I’m not saying that. No, no. We’re way off. We’re just getting better. To start with, we were a long ways off. We’re not ready to play right now. We will be, but we’re not ready right now. It’s hard, but these guys are good people. They’re studying hard, and they’re good players, and they really want to do what we want to do.

“Lane’s shifting and giving us a lot of motion, and giving us a lot of looks, which is good. He’s got a lot of volume in his offense, and he’s trying to get the shifting and motion and things like that, so that’s kind of taxed us a little bit. Sometimes you’ve got to crawl before you can walk, but you can’t always do it like that. It hasn’t been that simple.”

Q: How much different is it coaching a few teenagers again?

KIFFIN: “It’s not that different. You’ll get a rookie who came out as junior, like Gaines Adams coming out of Clemson, and he started his first year. It hasn’t been big. Lane played high school football, and his younger brother, Chris — who is a G.A. at Nebraska right now — he played. Chris, my younger son, was at Jesuit High School there in Tampa, so when I had some time off in the summer, I’d work with the high school kids and stuff like that. I even helped coached the offensive line one year at Bloomington (Minn.) High School when I was with the Vikings. It was a lot of fun. I’d give those guys a tip sheet on Thursday night, and I’m on the phone with them at 10 o’clock at night, when we’d just broken away from the office with Coach (Tony) Dungy and Denny Green. I’d be calling these high school guys at 10 o’clock at night, and asking them, ‘Did you read the tip sheet I gave you?’ The high school coach wanted me to do it, and I enjoy that stuff.

“It doesn’t matter — high school, college or pro, you’re still a coach. I’m not saying that bragging, I just love it. I just love coaching ball.”

Q: Shane Reveiz — Fuad’s son and Nick’s younger brother — is bracketed with LaMarcus Thompson at first-team strongside linebacker. Is it a good or bad thing that the Reveizes, who came here as walk-ons, are near the top of the depth chart?

KIFFIN: “I think it’s great. It’s like (undrafted) free agents in the NFL. I came from Nebraska, which was a big walk-on program. For years, I coached there and played there, and I think you treat everybody the same. I think even the veteran players and scholarship players respect that, too. If it works out, it works out. Just because you’re walk-on doesn’t you’re not going to pushed aside or favored.

“The best players play. That’s the way it is. Line up and play, and if they get a scholarship, they deserve one.”

Q: Has coaching with your son gone as you planned?

KIFFIN: “It’s been a new experience. I call him, ‘Coach,’ because I’m his assistant, and he calls me, ‘Dad.’ It’s fine. Really, we talked all this over before I came here. We didn’t expect any problems, and there haven’t been any. I’m really having fun, and I’m really having fun with these other coaches — the young college coaches and new coaches and things like that — and I just love the atmosphere.

“I love pro football, I really do, and Tampa Bay was awesome. But like I’ve told you before, this is some kind of place around here. There’s two seasons around here, football season and recruiting season. You pick up the paper every day, and everywhere you go they’re talking about the Vols and the Vol Walk. I’ve never even done the Vol Walk. I’m excited for Saturday for the Vol Walk, and that’s just the spring game. With the pros, we needed a Buc Walk or something like that. I don’t know. We never had those types of deals. I’m having fun here.”

Read Saturday’s Times Free Press for additional UT coverage.