Tennessee defensive backs coach Willie Martinez met with the local media on Tuesday ahead of the Vols matchup against NC State in Charlotte.
Martinez discussed his thoughts on Tennessee’s secondary in the opener against Chattanooga, what areas they need to improve and much more. Here’s everything Martinez said.
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On how Tennessee freshman Boo Carter played in his first game
“I thought he did a great job. We had a couple guys that played for the first time and he was one of them and (he) made some plays. The moment wasn’t too big for him. And obviously we’d love to see what he looks like this game, because obviously you’re trying to make the biggest improvement from game one, game two. But I thought he played well.”
On Tennessee defending NC State’s Kevin Concepcion, the challenge he presents
“He’s a great player. We’re aware of it. He’s been very productive in his career. Just not doing more than your job, really. Just do your job. Obviously eye discipline, be aware of where he is at. Because he can move. He can be in any kind of position. He can be in the backfield obviously. He can be on as an outside receiver, he can be an inside receiver.
He is a ball-in-hand guy. But no more, no less. Not doing more than what your job is. And then obviously being disciplined and know, don’t let the motions and the shift get you off of what your assignment is. And that’s what they do. They do a great job of their scheme and we just got to do a great job executing.”
On how he would like to see Boo Carter improve from week one to two
“I think for the most part, all the guys, right? You want to make the biggest improvement from game one to game two. There’s no preseason games, obviously, in college. And to be able to play the amount of guys you played in the first ball game, to get the experience, the ones that didn’t have it, we just want to see the alignments maybe a little bit better. The communication has to be a lot better. That’s where we got to improve on. And that’s player to player. It’s not so much someone like Boo or or whoever it is. It’s got to be between the whole back end. And we want to see the improvement of communication, getting lined up at a faster pace and getting our eyes when they belong.”
On if Tennessee’s secondary performance against Chattanooga was about what he expected
“We kept saying that you got to come out in midseason form. Like I said a little while ago, you don’t have preseason games or you have scrimmage and we just scrimmage ourselves. So we had to be at midseason form and that had to be with the communication, the alignments then obviously executing the defense and I thought for the most part we did that. Obviously we got some things that we had to correct, things that we didn’t like how we executed. And I think that, this is a different game from a standpoint of how much more they give us, and we got to improve tremendously with communication like I said just a minute ago. But I thought they played hard. I thought they played energized. I think that for a first ball game it was pretty good. It really was from the backend standpoint, the entire defense.”
On the challenge of facing a quarterback with as much experience as Grayson McCall
“He’s athletic. He’s obviously had a lot of success in the previous spot that he was at and he’s got leadership, he’s got good awareness, field awareness of what defenses are doing. So you got an experienced guy back there with some weapons and I mean, the players, athletic players outside in the receiver position and tight end position, running back position. So we got to make sure that we’re well aware of the situations in the ball game. You don’t have an inexperienced guy. He’s had a lot of success. We just got to do a really good job of trying to create long situations on third down and stay out of third-and-shorts and where they’re actually controlling the situation. But he’s obviously a tremendous player. Obviously, he can beat you with his running along with his arm, so he’s proven that in the past.”
On his experience with the new technology on the sideline
“No, it was good. It was good to be able to show them the picture as opposed to drawing it on a board. And anytime, obviously you can see it live, what it looks like live, what they just did five minutes earlier was good. It was good for communication, obviously. It helped us a lot”
On how he thought Jermod McCoy played at corner against UTC
“He’s gonna continue to grow and get better and better. I saw a guy that, his experience showed up in situations. We had a defensive call down in the red zone where he was very aware of what he was getting based off the base and the call and he knew what to anticipate, what kind of route the receiver was playing. The experience. The little things. He’s got great field awareness. His experience showed up in that moment and in some other plays, too.”
On how he felt Jalen McMurray played at corner with Rickey Gibson III (hamstring) out
“Yeah, I think for the most part, those guys played really well. I mean, Jalen was again, the same thing I just answered, you know what I mean? Someone who you can see has experience. Some of his decision-making and alignments and having the feel of what’s coming with the DMD and the formation, that showed up. So the experience showed up. There was a lot of plays he was being attacked on, but there were some that (the Chattanooga quarterback) didn’t have a chance to throw it, where he (McMurray) looked really good on and kind of knew what was going on. So his experience really helped us.”
On freshman corner Kaleb Beasley
“For Caleb, he had a setback early on in spring and to work to get to where he’s at right now is really good, you know, ’cause he missed a lot. And for him to catch up on some of the reps he didn’t have that some of the other guys had, and execute it in the game. He wasn’t perfect, by no means, but to see the calmness of a freshman in his first year — obviously I know he is a year earlier like most are now — but to make adjustments — didn’t do it quite well like it was supposed to be on one of the plays he had — but he was able to take the coaching and the adjustment and it was seamless the rest of the way, so it was really good.”
On freshman corner Marcus Goree Jr.
“Marcus got in there late, was really good. It was awesome to get Marcus in there at the end. Made a tackle and a nice play on a seam route that they threw. So it’s good to get all the guys that got in there. That’s a tremendous advantage to get those guys that experience in that situation.”
