WKU Football: Breaking Down the Coach-Speak From The First Two Weeks of Fall Camp

How do you get past a whole bunch of nothin' and get something out of an interview?

As we draw closer to the start of the season, we gather more information in the form of post-practice reports and interviews. These are great examples of how you can read more into what they’re saying than just what they’re saying.

It’s how they say it.

That’s where you can get the most info if you know what you’re hearing.

Camp is when the most progress is made, and internally, the teams will have so much information about what they think they have. The trick is, they are almost always completely closed off from the public and the coaches and players do everything they can to leak as little as possible.

So we get these vanilla interviews with coaches and players and there’s no real information, right? No way! There is plenty of information they give away, even if they follow the script.

So what I want to do is shed some light on some things we need to be looking at, but also, let’s shed some light on what certain things might actually mean when coaches say what seems like a bunch of fluff.

WKU Defensive Line Coach Carson Hall

I don’t know about you, but defensive line is certainly a point of concern for WKU, at least for me. When you lose several quality players along the D-Line (Brodric Martin, Lorenzo Hernandez, etc.), if you don’t put someone immediately capable of big things in there immediately, your defense can struggle regardless of anything else.

Entering 2023, WKU has lost virtually everyone, both starters and rotational players. Some guys that were redshirted and some transfers will absolutely have to come in and be impactful, or WKU’s stratospheric possibilities will go to the wayside. If WKU wants to win 10 or more regular season games, the Tops will need a defensive line that can do something.

Carson Hall is the new Defensive Line coach, and he gives a nice interview. However, there are some repetitive comments. So what the heck is he really saying?

Q: “How’s the group looking?”
A: “Really good.”

Essentially, he also says they’re practicing hard, etc. Well, of course they are, Coach! But he also says they’re doing what they’re being asked to do and my read of it says he’s pleased overall with the effort. Of course, this video is from the first practice, but a coach is not going to just give out positive praise like that if he thinks his players are giving a crappy effort. From experience in the past, they’re not saying they’re pleased if they’re not remotely pleased at all.

“No jobs are won. Everybody’s competing for spots.”

WKU plays a lot of players, but this definitely tells me (maybe) they don’t have a “dog” out there on the defensive line. Donut Evans is a linebacker, so he doesn’t count in this part of the discussion. Obviously he’s an incredible player, but I believe it seems like they have people they believe in, but this unit is probably not going to have a (developed) Brodric Martin or Quanterus Smith type of disruptor. That person may develop at some point, but I don’t think they know who that is yet. Again, this is from day one of camp. You never know who you’ve got on day one, anyway.

Sifting through the early camp fluff

Although he’s definitely looking for people that care. Lazy D-Linemen miss out on a good portion of their plays because they’ve already given up. But there really isn’t much there.

Q: “So many new guys: How difficult has that been?”
A: “Uhh, ya know it really hasn’t been that difficult.”

Again, positive response with zero negative. That’s just a good healthy sign that he doesn’t seem deeply concerned with his group’s focus, at the very least. Tyson Helton has this ship running tightly. Everything seems to be confident and sure from everybody. Just in general, this team knows how good it could be. There wasn’t this type of confidence a decade ago. Sure, they knew they could, but it just seems like a different level of focus than I, personally, was ever a part of. It’s really eye opening to know what practices were like before and to see one now. Coach Helton’s practices are incredibly efficient.

“There’s a big accountability in the group.”

Again, it just speaks to the culture at WKU. There’s plenty chance to insert a lack of confidence and I just don’t see it. The only thing I can see is a lack of a proven superstar. But I think they think the D-Line will probably be fine.

“Frame and athletic ability.”

Speaking on Colorado transfer DL Ryan Williams, Hall seems to really like Williams’ attributes. When a coach talks about a player in depth like that and he (Williams) is already been made available to the media, you pretty much know this guy is starting. He may just be a rotational player, but I find it hard for you to like a guy that much from a Power 5 program with experience and do anything with him but start him. Although it’s not shocking, expect Ryan Williams to start for Western Kentucky very quickly in 2023, if not even being the impact player WKU is looking for on the defensive line.

Willie Taggart, Jr.’s Move to Wide Receiver

Remember in my article before camp began, if they’re switching people out of positions, that tells you something. Now, in Taggart Jr.’s case, he was probably not going to see the field unless Austin Reed and Bronson Barron (and maybe one more QB) were injured. Then the QB room would seemingly open up for business and any of the other two or three guys (including Taggart Jr.) would possibly be on an even playing field.

So yes, from an emotional, “omg, that’s Willie’s son!” perspective, yes, it’s interesting that a guy that played QB at FAU a little bit has immediately changed positions.

However, I think the far more interesting (and indicative) move is moving him to wide receiver. We know wide receiver has little known depth. Malachi Corley, Michael Mathison and Dalvin Smith are the unquestioned starting three, but behind that, it’s up for debate who steps in from there. The fact that they didn’t put him in at DB or RB, for example, tells me the receiver position was the definite position they thought Willie could possibly come in and play immediately. Watch the WR depth, and let’s see if Willie, Jr., finds his way on the field. If he does, he’s either a diamond in the ruff type of find, or they really didn’t have anybody they could trust.

WKU Head Tyson Helton-Practice #5 (Aug. 8)

Q: “What are you looking to accomplish this week?”
A: “So far, we’re on pace to be right where we should be. The team’s staying relatively healthy.”

Well, first of all, he didn’t really answer the question. Of course, he’s not going to come out with every detail of what they’re focusing on, but he does go a bit out of his way to say he’s overall feeling fairly well. Also, talking about the health is interesting. From sources and this comment, it does seem like for the most part, the team really is pretty healthy at this point. I don’t believe he would say an exact comment like that if one of the core superstars were injured.

“There’s a lot of competitions up for grabs. Still got a long way to go. Lot of situations we’ve got to work through.”

I think the overall feel is that this team is going to be solid and the indications seem to be that they’re not having trouble motivating the players overall. I do sincerely think the last part about situations to work through really suggests they think they have some weaknesses that are going to have to manifest a solution quickly or they could have some issues.

On Newcomers

One thing he says stands out to me, besides the vanilla stuff about camaraderie, is how the new guys are older, so they’re busy competing for jobs. That tells me a few things very quickly: They went out and got some newcomers that they thought could steal some jobs, and they also felt they needed to do that in order to be elite at certain positions. They need a majority of the newcomers to come in and be impact players, or they could have some weaknesses.

Who is standing out?

When asked about standout guys a week into camp, interestingly he goes specific and mentions the offensive and defensive lines. I find that noteworthy, considering those are two of the biggest question marks on the entire team. It’s nice to hear that he thinks the big men up front are doing a decent job on both sides of the ball, even if it’s a little bit of coach-speak. He wouldn’t say that if he didn’t like what he’s seeing there. That’s a strong indication that he thinks they may be ok there.

“Some of the skill players we’re counting on on offense have shown up like they should.”

That’s a pretty big nugget right there. That may not seem like much, but the more I watch, I think they’re a little worried about the receiver position besides the aforementioned trio of Corley, Mathison and Smith. Notice he said some of the new guys have shown up. “Some” not all. Also, they’re counting on them. Meaning, “If they don’t show up, we could have a problem on our hands.”

On a more general note, later in the video, he talks about them going full pads. They went mostly shells (full pads from the waist up, shorts on the bottom) early on in camp and as they got into the start of the second week, they started incorporating full pads. In today’s football, going full pads is pretty rare. Most teams will go full pads once a week during practice. During camp, they’ll usually hit them hard in week two and by week three, they’ll usually back off because people get injured. The fact they’re going full pads a couple of days in a row means they’re feeling good about risking some injury. Whenever they really hit, there will be injuries that crop up.

OC Drew Hollingshead-Practice #10 (Aug. 15)

“Told our guys we needed a better response from the last couple days of practice.”

Every camp has lulls in it. There’s no way every day is incredible. You have a bunch of 18-24 year old’s learning how to be men. It’s important to see the team bounce back from crappy practices. Camp is an absolute grind for everybody. The fact they’re pleased enough with the response is satisfactory.

Q: “Anybody come out of this weekend that maybe made a case for themselves?”

He responds with the backup quarterback situation immediately, so that tells me they probably now have a pretty good idea who the backup is going to be. He goes on with some stuff about switching it up and creating competition, but I think he showed his cards when his immediate response was backup QB to this question. I think they solidified a pecking order, even if they don’t name the rotation yet. My gut says Bronson Barron, for sure.

More interestingly, he continues to say:

“We need to find some consistency at receiver. We know who we got in Malachi and Dalvin and some of the other guys, but we’ve gotta find those next group of guys so we can see how they react when the spotlight’s on them.”

This is just confirming the feeling. Keep in mind, this was an issue last year and Jaylen Hall and a few others stepped it up midseason and made things work. However, it’s indicative that receiver may be one of the thinnest position groups on the team in terms of players they can confidently throw out there and know those people will get it done. Also, no mention of Mathison in any interviews? What’s up with that?

Talking about keeping things fresh and not expecting things to just come to them, he also mentions offensive skill positions again and also says some linemen need to step up and come to the next level. It’s interesting hearing them talk about specific lists of goals they set for each player. Helton’s staff seems to articulate some specifics for players beyond just reaching a certain weight and trying to be the best they can be. They’re giving them tangible goals to reach toward individually and as groups. That’s something that wasn’t as prevalent a decade ago. Sure, they had goals, but it wasn’t a part of the culture to articulate that.

The Tops are Going to be Fine

I think the main thing that stands out to me is the energy and the focus. It is so different from what it used to be. Everyone is aware of things bigger than, as Andrew Jackson so eloquently told a young Willie Taggart, Jr., after he asked him if he was named after the President, “I just play football. That’s all I do.” When players and coaches are asked something, they have real thoughts. They don’t have to lie or go much into the canned response.

I think the biggest concern seems to be, oddly enough, on the offensive side of the ball. There’s not much internal or external chatter about the defense. It seems like the defense is going to be fine. Maybe the defensive flaws will come out later in camp, but right now, there’s not a lot of indication of a serious issue.

For a team that has as high expectation as the 2023 Hilltoppers do, the biggest question mark as we approach the end of fall camp seems to be who’s going to catch the ball from Austin Reed. Depth was a known concern, and it may be a season-long project.

One thing that wasn’t in these videos that really stood out to me that went against some things I was thinking was offensive lineman Wes Dorsey’s comments on the O-Line. He commented that the O-Line was going to have a lot of depth. That’s really nice to know. The last several years, if WKU had serious injury, the Tops could have been in deep trouble. Mark Goode went down last year and the Tops were still historically good, despite losing him early on.

The year before, WKU was great up front. But there wasn’t a bit of depth. Even if it’s not 10 or 12 deep, this situation seems better than I think most would anticipate.

If anything notable is said between now and kickoff against South Florida, we’ll have you covered. But, we are so close to football time and the Tops seem to be on the right track.