Rick Minter Talks His Depth Chart

By: LONNY DEMAREE

Coach Rick Minter

When asked about the firming up the depth chart Minter said they have been working with the same people at most of the positions for the last 10-days. He said there are battles still going on for two three starting spots but they are mainly attempting to shore up the backups. He said - "Guys like UK (Collins Ukwu), he's going to be a starter," Minter said. " (Farrington) Huguenin and Taylor Wyndham, they've got to get reps. So we got some battles. We've got some guy who've got the job but we need to find out who the first off the bench will be." He said they've got some iffy situation and they've just got to roll those through and Let it sort itself out and keep those guys fresh at the same time.

At the Sam Linebacker : Miles Simpson is being pushed by Josh Forrest with Cory Brown lining up there, too.

At the weak side backer (Will) : Malcolm McDuffen is being pushed by Tyler Brause with Khalid Henderson and Demarius Rancifer not in any particilar order, getting reps.

At the Mike (middle backer): Avery Williamson anchors down the middle. Jabari Johnson and Pancho Thomas are the backups.

The coach said - "Tyler Brause knows both Mike and Will so we are just trying to spread our depth out and get our guys that know how to get lined up on the field."

He said they are anchored down on the front: Donte' Rumph and Mister Cobble and at the corners are Cartier Rice and Martavious Neloms. and on the back end there's Mikie Benton, Ashley Lowery, and Dakota Tyler. "Those young kids fitting are in nicely but we still haven't figured out what kind of playing order they will have but they've all done a good job."

Ask the difference in Cobble now as opposed to when he had to lose a year of elegibility? "He's really matured both mentally and physically. He's 300-plus and understands our package pretty darn well. He's come so far emotionally. He did not run from the ills of his past and so he's done a nice job getting himself back from that setback, playing through some pain last year and is playing like a true leader for us right now. He's a full blown man right now."

Minter alluded to the experience factor. However he said some guys play a lot more for two reasons; 1) because they have more experience; 2) and because of not having anybody to replace them that you are comfortable with. He said in a perfect world they would like to have 27 or 28 kids. Minter said - "Who you play the most is who you trust the most. Most of the time if a dog is going to tree he's going to tree as pup."

Minter said on last Saturdays in which the offense got the best of them, he thought they learned a lot because a lot of the third down situations that they could've gotten off the field were situations they hadn't seen before. He said it's a learning experience so when they see it again they will know how to react. "I thought we had a good practice Monday and I thought we were on our way to having a good practice today (before the thunder and lightning came). I thought we overcame what we didn't do Saturday."