UAB’S COORDINATORS RECAP 2024 SPRING PRACTICE
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - April 7 2024
UAB offensive coordinator Alex Mortensen and defensive coordinator Sione Ta’ufo’ou stopped by to talk with the media following the UAB Spring Showcase on Saturday at Legacy Pavilion. Here is what each one had to say.
ALEX MORTENSEN
What are your thoughts on how you played today?
“Once they got into the flow of the game, I thought guys played well. One thing we made a big deal of was, is everybody is responsible to do their job, to know what to do. I was pleased with that even when we got down the line, when the second group and third group got in, I thought, by in large, they executed, made plays and knew to do. That was good to see. There were a couple of rough moments early. What did please me was that first group didn’t self destruct. They kept their poise and kind of got back. Once they got in the flow of the scrimmage, they played really well.”
Was today indicative of how you played this spring?
“I think today was largely representative of how the spring has been. I think there have been points where we probably played better up front. I think the first 9-10 practices, we played really well up front. I thought we ran the ball well. We protected the quarterback well. We protected inside-out. There were some things today, where at the line of scrimmage, maybe we had a couple lapses. I think that maybe was, I’m not going to stay a step back, but maybe not a mirror of what we’ve done for the last two and half, three weeks.”
What are your thoughts on a deep receiver group?
Yeah, really excited about our receiver group. I think we have a lot of really good players there or guys who have an opportunity to be good players. We lost a lot of receptions walking out the door. Tejhaun Palmer and Skull Brown were two of our three leading receivers last year. All those receptions are out the door. So, there is a tremendous opportunity for these guys. What’s really pleasing in their development in their detail, their technique. They’re starting to understand why we do things and that’s starting to show up. There’s a bunch of guys, I think all have an opportunity to really help us at receiver. Last year, we had a lot of guys get catches. (Jacob) Zeno was second in the country (in) completion percentage and we spread a lot of those around. I think in some ways we may be able to do that even more because I think there is more depth in that room right now.
Jacob Zeno mentioned recently how comfortable he is coming into second year of system. Have you seen him become more comfortable this spring?
I think Jacob has definitely been more comfortable in the offense in his second year in it. I thought he did a good job of taking it on the first year. Like I mentioned a second ago, for him to finish second in the country in completion percentage and do some of the things he did, he took on the information well. Now, we’re really challenging him. We’ve put a lot of pressure on him. Now, can you take being really good and become a great player. Part of that is knowing our offense, becoming masterful in it and part of it is knowing the players around you. Having some new guys, we took steps this spring and I think that’s going to important over the summer for him and the receivers to think each other’s thought. That will allow him to play with even better anticipation than he is right now, hopefully.
What did you think about your running game this spring, particularly with a pair of key backs not able to practice for the most part?
I really like (Lee) Beebe a lot. I really liked the way he played this spring. I liked the way he played last year, too. I still think his best days are ahead of him. You mentioned running the ball, a lot of that, obviously, starts with the offensive line and the tight ends. We’ve got a quite few offensive linemen back. We picked up a couple of guys in the portal that we believe are going to help us. I think the guys that are back are working to get better. There’s also more depth in the room that we recruited. Then, there was some young guys from last year too, that didn’t necessarily play but now they’re looking to compete for time. I think all that can contribute to the run game. We really want to run it well and run it better. It’s still a work in progress. To not have Isaiah Jacobs out there and not have Armoni Goodwin out there, was good for Beebe to get more reps and more carries. We’ll only be better when those guys get back.
What steps still need to be taken?
I’m not just saying this to sound cranky or anything. Everything needs to get better. There’s not a single area where I’m going, ‘Hey, we’re good enough here.’ Every single thing that we’re doing needs to get better. We’ve taken steps on the level of detail. Those things have improved. I think the first year, you’re trying to get your system in. You’re coaching the details and the fundamentals but it’s never where you want it to be. The second year, all of our guys get the ‘how.’ They’ve already got the ’what’, now can they get the ‘how.’ To where every detail of the offense is done at a masterful level. That’s the challenge in front of us. It’s what we have to do.”
SIONE TA’UFO’OU
What is your overall assessment of the defense today?
“They made plays when they could. Early, I thought we played pretty well. As the scrimmage progressed, we got kind of tired (and) made a couple of mistakes here and there. Overall effort, I was very proud of them. Overall communication, I was very proud of them. I think, if you look at spring ball in general, you kind of got to know what you’re looking for and what your goals are. For us, the foundation was important. What are our foundation points, let’s get those knocked out. Let’s make sure the kids can auto correct. Let’s make sure kids are running to the ball. Let’s make sure it’s relentless pursuit of getting to the ball. Someone said this the other day, if you loaf, you might as well go play for the other team. Setting that standard and getting us to hold each other accountable to running to the ball. You know that it’s not personal, it’s really trying to be our best.
Were the scrimmage mistakes more mental or physical?
A little bit of both. I think we got to get everybody reps. We got to put everybody in a good position to evaluate them. I actually liked that everything didn’t go well. We’ve got to figure out our growth, too. We spent a lot of time this offseason on brotherhood and how to have poise in tough moments, something we’ve really been trying to grow to. So, when things go bad, how did we act? Sometimes I made some of the play calls late because I actually wasn’t looking up. I was looking at our players, trying to see how they were reacting. Are they communicating? Are they pointing fingers? I was looking at the sideline, like is this group communicating? You could hear them trying to fix it on the field. You could hear the sideline trying to fix it. I was really happy with that.
What did you see from your pass rush this spring and in this game?
“Through the growth of spring ball, I love that they are playing with technique. You see the second and third reaction starting to apply. You see the timing of some gains starting to happen. Then, I thought, today, we got cheated out of a couple sacks we had. I thought the kids did a really good job of applying some pressure and getting home.”
How much has the defensive line grown?
“Football games are won in the box. Everyone only sees the outside of this thing. That thing – o-line and d-line – if they can really push themselves to maximize their potential we can play some good football.”
How have the transfer portal additions on the defensive side played this spring?
“I think they have done a great job filling needs. But I think they are even better people. When we went and got this group of young men, especially on the defensive side, we were very conscious of what kind of person they were. We were very conscious that they weren’t coming in thinking they just owned it. They had to come in and earn the respect of their teammates and they had to come in and be a part of something bigger than themselves. If this isn’t about all of us, then we are are going to struggle.”
What are you still wanting to see some the defensive leaders?
“Just the consistency, but I think that’s part of anybody. The habits, the discipline it takes to win, that thought process of going from good to great. The little details you have to pull off to go from good to great. Or, from where we were, from being not very good to where we are trying to shoot for, we have to be constantly holding each other accountable and constantly holding a high standard.”
From your view, you get a good look of this, what do you think about your team’s wide receiver group?
“They’re deep and they’re good. It’s a deep group of receivers.”
Were there many you faced last year that had that kind of depth of talent?
“I would say no. But, then again, I am kind of biased in that conversation. I do think we have some dynamic playmakers on offense. One of the best things for us is our offense is dynamic. I don’t think our kids realize how good this offense really is and is going to be.”
How much does that help you grow defensively by facing them in practice?
“It’s huge. The formation adjustments, the competitiveness, the growth of the o-line is huge. We get a real picture of what it really looks like.”