By Bill Trocchi
Vandymania sat down with Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson in mid-June, 2006.
VandyMania: The fans have not really come down from the UT win yet. Have the coaches and players?
Bobby Johnson: Oh yeah. We’ve been through several phases of our program and what we have to do to get ready for the season. It has been business as usual. We had our offseason program, and then of course, spring practice. Now we are in our summer program, and we have a bunch of guys in summer school. They are just focused on getting ready for Michigan.
VM: What did you think of the coverage of the NFL Draft when some analysts portrayed Vanderbilt as Jay Cutler and 10 guys that didn’t know what they were doing?
BJ: You did get that drift from a bunch of guys. I didn’t think it was very fair to our team. They were probably uninformed about the program and the strides we’ve made and how much we’ve gotten better at other positions. Truly, the fact that we were better at other positions, like offensive line and receiver, gave Jay a chance to show everybody what he could do. That helped Jay as much as anything. I’m sorry those guys didn’t get a little credit for it.
VM: Were you in favor of playing at Michigan rather than playing MTSU at home?
BJ: There was a lot of debate about that. We went back and forth within the administration. There were arguments both ways. Once we decided to do it, everybody is on board and committed to going up there and playing as well as we can possibly play. If we do that, we’re going to have a chance to win. We are looking forward to a great opportunity now and our guys are stepping up and working hard in the offseason. They know that Michigan game is going to be big and we have to be prepared if we want to have a chance to win.
VM: Will the offense change now that Jay Cutler is gone?
BJ: It probably would have changed a little bit if he had another year. We’re always tweaking it to see if we can be more efficient. When you have somebody like Chris Nickson and Mackenzi Adams that can run, you have to take advantage of it. We’ll have some different wrinkles in there that probably didn’t show up last year.
VM: Is the quarterback situation up in the air a little with the Richard Kovalcheck transferring from Arizona, or is Chris Nickson still the clear No. 1?
BJ: Chris is No.1 right now, but just like every position, if we have someone come in here and is the best, then they are going to get in there and play. That’s what happened with Earl (Bennett) last year. You can’t just say somebody has a job for the whole year. I think bringing Richard in gives us a lot more depth at the position and experience. During spring practice, that problem reared its ugly head. Chris was unable to practice and MacKenzi was taking every snap. We looked at that and said, if that happens during the year, those guys were going to be backed up by two true freshmen. When the opportunity came with the new rule change, it was a no-brainer for us.
VM: He’s a lot easier to evaluate than a high school prospect since he’s played Division 1-A ball already. What have you seen from Kovalcheck?
BJ: He’s played against some very good teams in big stadiums under pressure. So that’s a good thing. We think he’s got a lot of talent. He’s pretty cool and calm under pressure. Those are the things you want in a quarterback. He’ll be a good fit with our returning quarterbacks.
VM: Are you going top have to get creative to get Earl the ball more this year?
BJ: We’re going to get Earl the ball, there’s no doubt about it. We did a pretty good job in the spring of finding ways to get Earl the football especially in third-down situations when everyone knows we want to get him the football. Those are the challenges. First and 10, when you have a chance to run or pass, it is a little easier. Those key downs, when everybody knows you want to go to Earl, that is when you have to be creative.
VM: Will Cassen Jackson-Garrison be asked to carry the ball almost exclusively if Jeff Jennings is not healthy?
BJ: No. We feel good about Jared Hawkins. We think he is going to be an excellent back. Steven Bright will be able to run the football. Even some freshmen may come in and have a chance. Cassen will be called on a bunch, whether Jeff is healthy or not. We feel like both those guys are quality running backs in the SEC.
VM: Can Jonathan Goff have as big of an impact as Moses Osemwegie had the past couple of years?
BJ: He certainly has the potential to do that. Jon has a great body. He is a physical specimen. He has the desire to be a great linebacker. He’s just what you want. Is he going to be the kind of guy to run around and get all those plays done? We certainly hope so. He ended up being one of our steadiest guys last year. We used to take him out in third-and-long situations, but he made himself better and we started keeping him in because he was getting pretty good at it.
VM: Talk about your secondary. You probably feel pretty solid at safety and not so solid at corner?
BJ: Well, no. We feel like we have some good people to play corner. Josh Allen and Jared Fagan played well in the latter half of the season. Sean Dixon is back. He was out in the spring, so we’ll get him back. We’ve got Joel Caldwell. He had an excellent spring. Darlron Spead is a natural player who is somewhere around the ball. We have more candidates to play than we’ve ever had, so that’s a good thing. At safety, we’re not loaded there with depth. Reshard Langford will be one of the top players in the conference and Ryan Hamilton has a chance to come in and do some good things. Ben Koger is extremely steady. We have concerns about the secondary because of the youth, but we’re fired up about it, too.
VM: What are the two most important things you need to concentrate on to get that winning season?
BJ: We’ve got to be smart on offense. Our offensive staff does a great job of putting our quarterback in a position where he can do things that he’s capable of doing. That is going to be the No. 1 thing is steady play at quarterback. If we can get that, we’ve got other weapons. We can get the ball to George (Smith) and Earl and Marlon (White) and Cassen running the football. We feel good about the offensive line and the depth there, so if we can get some steady quarterback play, we’ll have a chance on offense.
Defensively, we’ve just got to be more consistent. We’ve had some good spurts, we just have to do things consistently. We have to make it tough for people to drive the football on us.
VM: Last year, I asked you what freshman might have a big impact, and you said Earl Bennett, so you were right. I’ll ask you again the same question – who will be your top freshman?
BJ: If you count redshirt freshmen, I think Ryan Hamilton has a chance to be an excellent football player. He’s got a knack for being in the right place.
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