Greg Davis Transcript 4/11

[hawkeye2011]

This is the part I guess I don't understand. I played everything in my playing career: special teams, offense, and defense, but I don't know that playing on special teams in a game was something that wasn't completely replicable in practice. Granted I wasn't playing on a D-1 stage...on kickoff team you learn gap control, sprinting for 40 yards, blowing up or evading the blocker, and trying to make a tackle. There isn't nearly the amount of mental stress on an individual as when you are in a 3 point stance a yard from a DE and a LB lined up over you jumping in and out of a potential blitz.

Playing on scout team your entire freshman year and running with the regular offense are two very different scenarios.

KF needed/wanted/hoped/expected CJF to see the field his sophomore season. The best way to get him ready for that experience was to put him on special teams and just as importantly or more importantly to get him reps with the regular offense in practice. This was "fast tracking" him to the line up his sophomore season.

He didn't believe he had the luxury of having him be a scout team player and redshirting for a year as that would not have put him in a position to be an impact contributor the following year.

Of course hindsight is 20/20, but I understand what KF was trying to do, even if it didn't pay off.