 
Tracking the Longhorns: Aug. 6
Aug. 6, 2008
Running Backs Coach Major Applewhite On Vondrell McGee, Chris Ogbonnaya and Fozzy Whittaker: I just see a lot of excitement. It excites me as a coach to have three guys that are really hungry to play. Vondrell got some reps last year, Chris had some reps, Fozzy's extremely hungry to get out there, so all three of them want to play, all three of them want to start. That's what you want as a coach. Seeing them excited gets me excited as a coach, and they go out there with a great attitude every day. On the offensive line: They're going to do a great job. Coach McWhorter does a great job with the offensive line. I had the opportunity to continue to work with him for two and a half years, so I have the utmost confidence in the offensive line, and that starts with their work ethic and the habits they create in practice. We as running backs have got to model our behavior after that offensive line and have an aggressive attitude in the run game. On the running backs' attitude despite the competition: You would think with three guys going for one spot that there would be some guys that are a little bit self-centered, want to get that starting spot, but all three help each other out on the practice field, they're all excited, they get excited when the other one picks up a blitz, they get excited when the other one makes a run. That's what you want, that's what you've got to have, because one of them could have the hot hand on Saturday and he's going to play more. That's just the way you're going to have to substitute them.
On his continuing education on the running backs: I'm gaining information each day. These coaches have a book on them that have been here. This was my 18th practice with these guys. You've got to keep in mind some of those were scrimmages in the spring. I'm still learning them, getting a chance to see how they used the month of June and July to get prepared. That's interesting to me to see how these guys prepared themselves over last two months, and how it's paid off for them in this early part of practice. On if he's encouraged by what he's seen so far: Absolutely. There was a lot of carryover from the spring as far as understanding schemes. All three made strides physically in the off-season with Mad Dog. They did a great job, they've all come to camp in great shape and they're all competing for the starting job. On Will Muschamp: Will's record speaks for itself. He's been with the Miami Dolphins, he's won a national championship at LSU, had the number one defense in our conference in the SEC. His career speaks for itself. He's extremely multiple. He doesn't let a quarterback see the same thing over and over again. He moves his fronts, creates a lot of pressure, and his guys play with his same passion. That's what I saw last year at Auburn. It wasn't extremely complicated when they played us, they just played us hard, they played very tough. He has a lot of multiple things that he can show a quarterback, so I'm excited about it. On the no-huddle package: No-huddle went well for the first day, a lot of carryover. We added to our package. To see those guys take it straight from the chalkboard and the meeting room, it's encouraging. It's going to continue to grow, and that package is going to give us a lot of advantages. QB Colt McCoy On how the first full-squad practice went: I felt like we went right into it. The young guys kind of watched, paid attention, got a feel for how a team practice works. Overall, I was pleased. On how the young receivers fared tonight: Pretty good. I'm sure you saw them tonight, too. They looked pretty good. They're getting off the ball. The defense is showing us a lot of man-to-man. They're doing a good job of getting off the ball and getting open. That's going to help us. On the package with John Chiles: It's good. With John on the field I feel like we can do a lot of different things - line him up at receiver, I threw him a couple balls tonight, put him up in the backfield running kind of an option thing. It's fun, and I think he likes it too. On Malcolm Williams: I like throwing the ball deep to Malcolm. He does a good job of not letting the defense put their hands on him. He's big and strong and gets off the line. He's coming along every day. He's catching a lot of balls. We spent a lot of time together in the summer, working on his hands, playing with tennis balls and things like that. He had a good day today. OL Chris Hall On Chris Ogbonnaya, Vondrell McGee and Fozzy Whittaker: Chris is a senior, and he's such a great leader. If you guys could have been around in summer and off-season workouts, you would have seen that. He is such a great leader. Vondrell, everybody already knows Vondrell. We saw him score a bunch of touchdowns with great runs. Vondrell's great. Fozzy, if you hang out at practice, you'll get to see Fozzy make some quick moves. He's got some pretty good shakes on him, and he'll jet off on somebody too. They all bring something great to the table, and the competition is only great for our team. On Major Applewhite: Coach Applewhite has done a wonderful job coaching (the running backs). It's been so good to work with our running backs and Coach Applewhite. QB John Chiles On the adjustment between playing quarterback and wide receiver at the same time: It's not that much of an adjustment just because as a quarterback I should know what the receiver's going to be doing, so I think it makes it a little bit easier. On how it feels to have a package created for him: It does feel good to play. Last year, my freshman year, I was getting a little frustrated sitting on the bench. It does feel good to be out on the field making plays. On what he's working with Coach Davis on in the passing game: We're just trying to get my footwork, as far as the passing goes, just being able to line up with the targets, thinks like that. RB Fozzy Whittaker On the camaraderie among the running backs: We're all good players in our own mindset. We feed off of each other. It just makes each and every one of us a better back. On Chris Ogbonnaya and Vondrell McGee: Chris, he's a big powerful back, but he's dropped his weight, he's getting his speed back and he's much quicker. He still has the same power. Vondrell has the same power, but he's shifty and quick. On the running back competition: There's not really any heat. It's friendly competition. It's a committee more than one person trying to win the starting spot. All three of us are playing to be that starting back, but we all three can play. OG Cedric Dockery We've developed two-deep, and Coach McWhorter talks about this line being the deepest line we've ever had. So I believe we're going to do great things this year. We want to get to where we can play two lines. First line goes in, we might play two series, then on the third or fourth series, Coach Brown will put in the second line and they'll move the ball right on down the field. On trusting the back-ups: My back-up - Michael Huey - is a great young guy. He's coming along. I believe that by the time he finishes his career, he'll be one of the best O-linemen to have played here. He has a lot of talent, and if he can keep his on straight he's going to go a long way. WR Jordan Shipley On how comfortable it feels to return kicks: Yeah, I love it. That's one of my favorite things to do, so if they asked me to do it, I'd definitely be comfortable doing it. On if he's ever returned kicks in his career before: I was actually on it for probably five games and they never kicked the ball to me one time. So I've been in there but never have gotten the ball. On how he would assess his career at Texas thus far: It's definitely been up and down. I've been battling injuries the whole time I've been here. I've had some bad luck, but I'm having a great time right now and I couldn't be happier with where I'm at. It's a great place to be and I'm having a great time. On where the injuries have come from: Well a lot of it has to do with my hips have a tendency to get out of line and that causes a lot of my problems. It started when I tore my ACL. That kind of threw everything out of whack and I've just been fighting it ever since then. I'm just trying to take care of myself. On his diet: I just try to eat a lot of lean meats, vegetables and fruits. I eat a lot of dessert, too. I just try to keep it pretty balanced really. On fellow wide receiver Malcolm Williams: Malcolm, he's a big guy obviously that can run. He's really got unique speed for his size and that's going to help him a lot. Plus, he loves the game and he's always trying to learn. I think that's probably my favorite thing about him, he's really personal and ready to learn. RB Chris Ogbonnaya On the competition at the running back position: I think all three of the guys - myself, Vondrell (McGee) and Fozzy (Whittaker) - and even the younger guys, we bring a different aspect to the game individually, and when we put that all together, it makes us a very dangerous group. We just have to capitalize on what we need to work on and continue to get better at those things. On the possibility of a "three-headed monster" at running back: I think that if you can have three different guys that can do three different things, it makes it very difficult to defend. On being an every-down back as opposed to just a third-down back: To me, it's whatever I can do to help the team. I took a lot of pride this summer in getting stronger, getting better and losing a little weight to be able to do that if my number is called. So if the opportunity presents itself, I'll definitely grasp that, but with the guys that we have, you never know. We're very interchangeable. Everybody can do everything. We just have to keep getting better at what we do. On how he lost weight over the summer: Just changed my diet, really. I stopped eating McDonald's and started eating salads, you know. It was difficult but it had to be done, not just for football, but just to be more healthy. RB Vondrell McGee On what kind of style he brings to the table: I think I bring power, enthusiasm, quickness. I think we all bring the similar qualities, also. On how he got the name "bulldozer": Yeah, that's the nickname my Auntie gave me in high school. On how important last year's experience was: It was good getting a feel of the game, getting used to the speed of the game because it's different from high school. So it was good just to get my feet wet. On how comfortable he is with sharing the load at running back: I'm okay with all three of us playing. We're going to need all three of us in the season to get to the end, so it's good. On new running backs coach Major Applewhite: He's been good. He teaches the little things in the game, how to read defenses, different formations they line up in, just the little stuff that you need to know. On how Coach Applewhite's past as a quarterback helps the running backs: He teaches us what the quarterbacks are thinking in the game situations, so it helps us out, too. On what improvements he feels he could make to his game: I think I could get better at blocking, picking up defensive ends and linebackers. |
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