March 30, 2006

Transcript of Navy Head Football Coach Paul Johnson's comments following practice on Wednesday, March 29

Q. It looked like you had the team laughing there at the end. Were you trying out your new stand-up routine?

A. We had some birthday's today.

Q. Keenan Little's?

A. Keenan, Mike Von Bargen and Coach Culton. Sean Kearny also got engaged. That's what they were laughing about.

Q. What do you think so far about practice?

A. It's hard to tell. You can't tell a whole lot in shorts. We have a lot of young guys that are trying to learn. Once you put the pads on and the snot bubbles start flying you can figure out what's going on.

Q. How far away are you from that?

A. Friday.

Q. How about the off-season? Did they measure up to your standards?

A. I thought they worked pretty hard. I don't have any complaints with the way they worked in the weight room. I thought it has been pretty good.

Q. Do they appear that they are as hungry as they were last year?

A. It's hard to tell in the off-season. We will find that out over spring practice and over the summer. The off-season conditioning in the winter, they're going to be there. They don't have a choice. I think when you find out is how much extra they do.

Q. How about the competition for guys to move up? Not necessarily the No. 1 or No. 2 guys, but guys that are currently in positions that they might not be playing in the fall or this time next year. When do you start to move guys?

A. We will probably start doing that late next week. If we see a guy that maybe won't play at the position he's at but we think he might have a chance someplace else we will probably move him then. That can be done in fall camp as well.

Q. What's the most important thing for you this spring?

A. To establish some depth. You start to establish a two-deep and find out how deep you are at a certain position and how many guys you feel really good about going into a game. How many defensive linemen do we have that are ready to play or how many offensive linemen are ready to play. Once you establish that you can plan accordingly and if you get a pleasant surprise or two in the fall then that is great.

Q. The freshmen linemen. Have they been able to put on some weight?

A. Some of them have put on some weight. They have started to get their weight back. We will have to wait and see on those guys. You can't tell about the linemen in shorts. We will find out here the next few days who is ready to play.

Q. Will you wait until the fall to name captains?

A. No, we will vote after spring.

Q. Are you happy to be on the practice field and coaching football instead of dealing with other things?

A. Yes. It's good to get out here where nobody can get you on the phone.