Quotables: Kevin Prince
How important are days like today for building a winning program?
Kevin Prince: "They're pretty important, especially with the coaches not being able to come out here and be with us. It's important for us to get out here, the captains especially. Myself, Rahim, Micah taking the linemen in the meeting room - just taking that role, making sure things get done because their aren't coaches out here, that's huge."
As quarterback, do 7-on-7s give you the opportunity to reaffirm your trust in a target or establish a new trust?
"It helps to gauge people, especially the young guys who you haven't seen play. I've seen Anthony Barr make some plays - I think he'll be able to contribute for us early - and there's no way to know that without things like this. Just by looking at a kid, you won't be able to know what he can do. And you get to reaffirm who you can count on; Nelson and Taylor have been out here doing their thing. Then again, there's guys who haven't necessarily stepped up like they should, come out as often as they should, and it helps to know who you need to talk to and regain their focus."
Has football become 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for you?
KP: "It's got to be. A lot of the guys are starting to feel that way. I see guys in the film room more often. It's just got to be. If we want to take that next step and become a big-time program, that's what we have to do. You have to take this seriously."
Besides Barr, who are the other guys that have stepped up in your mind?
KP: "Man, there are some big-time guys. You can just tell by the size of these guys. It's tough to say for the defensive linemen we got just because we're not doing contact, but as far as offense, I like Jordon James a lot. He's a quick guy, real down-to-earth, smart. He seems like he can pick up things, and what really helps is if you're smart and can pick up things. Barr's like that. So is Malcolm Jones, even though we're not running the ball that much right now."
And defensively?
KP: "You've got AO, who's just a physical specimen, just making plays out here all the time. Deitrich Riley's really been doing well. The first week we were out here, I think he had a couple interceptions. He's got really good what Coach Chow calls 'giddy-up' speed. When he gets beat, he can make that space up. He'll be a player for us. It's exciting to see those guys come in and probably able to compete for us right away."
Thank you Jon. I hate to get my expectations up in the off-season but this is pretty exciting.
Hey douchebag Rob, since you poke fun at spelling/grammatical errors made via twitter (by USC recruits), here's another one for you. Courtesy of Ex-Bruin Matt Barnes.
"Its official I AM A LOS ANGLES LAKER. I wanna thank u for all ur patients and understanding. This is a dream come true!!!"
Whats funny is this comes from an athlete AFTER having attended your institution. I doubt Cerritos College could have learned him any better.
Omitting one letter. Wow.
Exactly the same as not knowing how to spell your mascot.
I think the suc was referencing Matt Barnes' "patients".
Oh well...glad to hear he's happy. It was fun watching Barnes for the Warriors a few years back.
Also, can't wait for football season....
@NorCal Bruin, "I think the suc was referencing Matt Barnes' "patients".
What is wrong with "patients"? maybe Matt has a medical practice on the side and he was referencing his client list?
Most $c players couldn't say half the words Matt used...let alone spell them.
I love the ex Bruin lakers players...but I HATE the lakers!!!
GO BRUINS!!!!
Arthur - King of the Britons, why are you pickng on me?
And whats the matter with Matt's spelling? I don't think it looks to bad.
Or were you talking to Bruin Rob? I think he's on vacation.
What are Britons, anyway?
Hah! I didn't even read past "LOS ANGLES"...
But I guess my thinking was that one mistake was not the same as another that was made repeatedly, forcing his future coach to correct him...
Oh, and BTW - A giant THANK YOU to whoever fixed the posting delay.
I know I was crying about it for a while, so I am sincerely grateful...
After matriculating at UCLA as an undgraduate, I took my postgraduate work at the USC Online College of Medicine and Other Things, where I received my Medical Doctorate.
When I wrote "I wanna thank u for all ur patients and understanding" I was indeed thanking all my Tweet recipeints for referring patients to me.
FYI - My USC MD is not only online, my patients are as well!
My, my. The humor just keeps getting more and more scintillating. Anybody care what Kevin had to say? Sounds like he's taking a definite leadership role and is pumping up the guys. When the pads are on, we should know who's serious and who ain't. Can't wait for September. Keep up the great work, Kevin. Good post, Jon.
To Coach Thom's point:
How about a criteria to rate our QB? I'd suggest the following:
1. Ability to make all the throws required to attack a defense on every play.
• Arm strength to throw the deep out (Yes)
• Accuracy to drop a deep ball into a WR’s hands (To be seen)
• Touch to hit a running back out of the backfield/WR screen (Yes)
I. Ability to make quick and decisive decisions under pressure.
• Pocket intelligence (A bit antsy as a Frosh)
• Instincts to feel pressure (Yes)
• Can create a play when things break down (Yes, he runs with balls!)
3. Mobility to avoid the rush:
• Can sidestep pocket pressure (Yes)
• Get outside the pocket to accurately deliver the ball on the move (Yes)
• Ability to scramble and gain yards (Yes)
4. Physical toughness to take a hit (broken jaw); psychological toughness to stare down the defense and get up and do it again (Absolutely).
There are a few quarterbacks that can do it all, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning and perhaps Brees, but after that there is a great dropoff.
I never played quarterback at a serious level, but permit to express some observations that I had at the intramural level when I quarterbacked my fraternity team.
It is a position that requires instant decision-making. You have to ignore the on-rushers. It is hard not to lock into your favorite receiver. It is difficult to determine which receiver is open with so much movement of so many players. You have a tendency to take a risk, perhaps unreasonable, of trying to get the ball to a receiver who is not completely open.
In short, it is a position at the college level (and forget the Pros) that requires more skills than any other position in any other sports. And perhaps that is why few college quarterbacks are great.
@Arthur King of the Dooshbags:
Are there any athletes at USC that even know how to spell their nickname? Dude I suggest you follow on tweeter your USuCk athletes and see how many of them even know how to spell a simple word such as "was" or "be" or "what" the lingo today by anyone under 30 or even older is due to our "hip hop" generation, quit being so anal, don't you know it's "kewl" to misspell simple words?. However there is not excuse for spelling "trogan" - that makes no sense.
Go BruWins!! :)
How about a post Jon... I keep on checking throughout the day and nothing. I know Dohn spoiled us but dang... There's all these rumors that Hundley is set to pick Washington, can u look into this? thanks.
bruinbiochem06: how about a link to the rumors? we might as well just start running this thing ourselves, no telling how long before anyone notices.
MichaelRyerson,
They're just rumors on the Scout blog, http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=12&f=1738&t=6147666
but they're reporting that radio stations in Washington and Greg Biggins from ESPN think he is a Udub lean. With Locker leaving this year, I feel that their QB position is up for grabs next year and might seem tempting for Hundley. I wouldn't be so concerned if it was any other recruit, but like Jon said, he is likely our most important recruit for 2011.
bruinbiochem06: with the anticipated shift to the pistol, it's a little hard to get a good read on how critical any true qb is going to be but Hundley is special. here's hoping.