He's understandably been rather giddy the last few weeks, finally getting the chance to slow the game down for his players and really coach. His guys could use some teaching, too — seven of the Blue Raiders' eight corners are either freshmen or sophomores.
Gilstrap missed out on basically two years of spring ball. He wasn't hired until March 31 during the 2019 spring period, giving him just a couple of practices with the team, then the 2020 spring was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We sat down with him to discuss getting back to practice and how much fun he's having coaching the young group of cornerbacks.
You have a couple of practices left this spring. How good was it getting back to spring ball this year?
"It was really good. We have some young guys that really needed it that have never had a spring practice before. We are really, really, really young in the cornerback room, and I'm excited about this young group. Spring ball has been beneficial to us from a teaching standpoint, and that's what they need. They don't need a lot of rah, rah, yelling and everything like that. They need to be taught how to play the position, because this is a group full of raw talent."
Did not having spring and summer practices impact your group more than others last year because of how youthful it was?
"It really did, because we were young, and those guys needed that time to develop. At cornerback, it's a position where you can always be tweaking something and getting better at the little things. At corner, you can be the most athletic guy and can't put it together because conceptually you don't pick up a lot of stuff.
"Spring practice would've benefitted us last year, but there was no excuse. Other teams didn't get spring practice either. Would it have helped us? Of course. But, other teams didn't have it either."
How has your young group progressed this spring?
"The main thing I've seen is guys are learning how to play the position. The game is slowing down for the Jalen Jacksons and Quincy Rileys of the world. I'm really excited to see how those two blossom. I love what Deidrick Stanley II and Davon Martin have brought to the table from the standpoint of some grit and true toughness, not fake toughness.
"It's been really beneficial for those guys having this spring, because they're learning how to play the position and it's slowing down for them. … A lot of those guys are freshmen and sophomores, and that's exciting for me, because they suck up any information that you give them. They have zero ego, and they just come in and bust their tail."
How excited are you to have the next few years with basically all of your corners?
"I think those guys have tremendous upside, and I don't say that about too many guys. I love this group. We have guys like Teldrick Ross learning both safety and corner this year, and that's a plus. Now, you have a guy who can process the whole secondary and teach the other guys. Quincy and Jalen are freakishly athletic — Quincy is a 4.4 guy every day of the week, and Jalen, I don't know how fast he can run and high he can jump — and they're still learning how to play the game of football. When you see them blossoming, that's really good. I'm going to keep on our guys, because I want to see them have a future both inside and outside of the game."
Some of your corners have played some safety in practice and scrimmages this spring. How important is it for them to learn how to play all over the backfield?
"That's really important, because they can understand each play conceptually where their help is, where they can force a guy, where they can work their leverage and articulate to their teammates where they'll be. They can see the whole picture. Sometimes at corner, you can just say, 'I got my man, this is what I'm going to cover,' and you can get selfish sometimes. When you learn how the whole back end works … then the game slows down for you even more."
There were a few pass breakups during both spring scrimmages. How do you turn PBUs into INTs?
"We just have to keep working, man. Honestly, knock on wood, this has been some of the most interceptions I've seen in a spring since I've been a part of Middle Tennessee football, and Kevin Byard intercepted a pass every day when we were here together. Just seeing guys outside Reed Blankenship go make plays, it's been exciting. … We had some balls that hit us right in the forehead that weren't even PBUs, they were dropped interceptions. That shows some immaturity, but that's part of spring practice and part of the process."
After two years of basically no spring ball for you, how good has it felt being back out there, and how can your group move forward from here?
"This is really my first year to get a whole year to coach and recruit. I'm excited to just be comfortable and be able to coach without learning what's going on. Last year was a blur because of COVID-19, and the year before, I got here in the middle of spring. This is really the first time I've had a chance to just coach these guys, and it's been really nice.
"I don't like the feeling of losing — when I played here, we didn't lose much. So, I have a chip on my shoulder and my guys have chips on their shoulders … and I think highly of this group. I might put pressure on them by saying this group is special on and off the field, but I expect them to rise to the occasion."
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April 13, 2021 at 06:02AM
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Spring Q&A: Gilstrap happy with CB's spring work - GoBlueRaiders.com
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