4/8/2002 - Football
Spring Football Report #9
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Navy Quarterbacks/Fullbacks Coach Ivin Jasper
Q. You have nine practices in, what is your take on the quarterbacks so far.
A. They are still learning. It's a different process for them. A lot of things are different. There is a lot more reading. I am pleased to a point. The main thing is that they are trying, they are listening and they are learning. If they were just going out they're and going through the motions and not trying to get better, then it would be different. But they are trying real hard, they are learning and they are making progress. Hopefully by the end of the spring they will have an idea of what it takes to be a quarterback in this offense.
Q. Talk a little bit about Craig Candeto and what kinds of things he brings to the table as a quarterback.
A. The main thing when running an option offense is its always good to have a kid that ran the option in high school and Craig did that at DeLand. I know Craig from recruiting him at Georgia Southern so he is familiar with some of the things we do. I told him it is like riding a bicycle; you never forget what to do. As far as reading it and knowing when to pitch the ball, he's a natural.
Q. Talk a little bit about the fullbacks, it looks like you have some decent depth there.
A. Yeah we do. That's the one thing down at Georgia Southern, we had one guy that we kind of depended on and if he got hurt it kind of went in the tank. Here you have two seniors in Bryce McDonald and Cee Harris, who have shown a lot of leadership; they play hard and give great effort. You also have young guys like Eckel (Kyle) and a kid today who kind of stepped up in Brimage (Michael). We have some good depth there and it is just the matter of getting reps and learning how to make their reads, we are still a little shaky at that, but we'll be all right.
Q. How important is the fullback in this offense?
A. I have always said this is a quarterback/fullback offense, those are the guys that are featured. At the same time, when we were here before, we kind of spread the wealth. This offense can do anything. Some days the QB is the main guy, some days the fullback is the main guy and sometimes the slot backs and receivers are the main guys. We want to be balanced so the defense doesn't know where it's coming from.
Q. You have been involved in this offense for a long time, you have played in it at Hawaii, coached it at Navy and Georgia Southern and was the offensive coordinator at Indiana State, and it is really a diversified offense. A lot of people here triple option and they think you are going to run the ball all the time, but this offense can put up big numbers throwing the ball if that is what the defense is giving you.
A. This offense is not anything like the wishbone. We put guys in positions where they can be dangerous as runners and receivers. I have been around it for awhile and there have been years where we averaged 400 yards a game passing and years where we averaged 400 yards a game rushing. We have done it both ways and the thing about this offense is you can have both. We can be a high powered running team and a high powered passing team. It's just a matter of taking what the defense gives you.
