Vanderbilt football head coach Bobby Johnson sat down with Bill Trocchi to discuss the upcoming season.
By Bill Trocchi
Vandymania: What areas have Jay Cutler improved in since becoming the starter?
Bobby Johnson: Just about every area, to tell you the truth. He’s physically stronger and more durable. The main thing is his understanding of what we want of him in the offense and what we want out of the entire offense.
Jay went from just dropping back and slinging it to knowing who every lineman is supposed to block and where every receiver is supposed to run and how they are supposed to run it. He is that kind of guy. He wants to make sure he is doing the right thing and he wants to make sure they are doing the right thing.
VM: What part of his game still needs the most work?
BJ: I wouldn’t say decision-making, because I think he makes excellent decisions. Sometimes, maybe Jay tries to do a little too much. He needs to let the game come to him and let his talents do what he can. I think he improved that a great deal last year. He didn’t throw as many silly interceptions as he did when he was younger.
The other thing is to get more out of his teammates. Not that he is not a great leader. He is a great leader. He needs to demand of them what he is doing.
VM: Why would you say he has had trouble pulling games out in the fourth quarter?
BJ: I don’t think it is all up to him. If it was, we would probably be in much better shape. If we had other players at other positions playing as well as Jay does, we’d have been in much better shape.
The times we’ve had the ball with a chance to win, you can go back through just about every one of them and there is a breakdown other than Jay that caused us not to get it done.
VM: You had a positive turnover ratio last year and you were the least penalized team in the SEC for the third time since you have been here. Those are two areas you must feel you need to keep right there.
BJ: No doubt. The turnovers were a great improvement over the first two years. We can’t kill ourselves with turnovers. That is obvious to everybody. I hope it is obvious to our team. Last year we did a great job protecting the ball and we were a little more aggressive on defense, and the ratio turned around for us.
Penalties, we were the least penalized team, but there were several big penalties during the season that cost us maybe a couple of games, for sure at Mississippi. That is something we preach, and even though we are pretty good at it, we can get better and eliminate crucial penalties.
VM: Do you think you do anything different in preparing your team to have fewer penalties than any other coaching staff?
BJ: I think we approach it more on the post-whistle penalties – keeping your cool and trying not to show everybody what a tough guy you are, what a man you are by cheap-shotting.
VM: How has it been dealing with the loss of Kwane Doster, first in December and January, and then in spring practice?
BJ: Just like you would expect. They were shocked and saddened at first. There was just disbelief that something like that could happen to somebody on our team. I was extremely proud of how they handled it during the actual service and the trip down. That was hard, real hard. We went in that church, and there he was. That was rough on a lot of them. And me.
It turned then from, when the shock was over, to an appreciation that you know it can be taken away from you any time like it was taken away from Kwane. And also an appreciation for what Kwane did for the team. They were thinking about ways to honor him, even if it was just saying something in practice every day. We’re still working on what we are going to do for next season. The players will be active in that decision. It is an ongoing thing.
Now, they are remembering the great things about Kwane and ways to keep him in our memory.
VM: Is there an area of the team where you walked away from spring practice and said, ‘Wow, I think we’re going to be better than I thought here.’
BJ: If we do OK in summer school, the offensive line is going to be better than I thought. We don’t have the proven guys like Justin Geisenger and Brian Kovilisky, but we’re going to have more guys that are capable of playing, if it all works out and everyone is eligible. We’ll have more depth on the offensive line.
VM: On the flip side, is there an area where you are still concerned after spring ball?
BJ: I’m concerned about the depth of the receivers. I think we have excellent quality. Erik Davis is a good player and Marlon White is a good player, but depth-wise, we’re concerned.
VM: Is there a particular incoming freshman you are eager to see play against your veterans in August to see how he stacks up to college competition?
BJ: (Wide receiver) Earl Bennett. No. 1, it is at a position that we need some depth. He was Birmingham Athlete of the Year. I think he just ran a 10.8 100 meter in a meet. He’s got the abilities and the tools. We need to see if he can step up. I think he has the demeanor.
VM: Are you optimistic the kicking game will improve?
BJ: It will improve. We’ll have some competition. I’ll have three guys to choose from. It will be wide open. Patrick Johnson and Daniel Lee kicked well in the spring overall. Jason Houston had a great high school career. I think he’ll be in the mix, too.
Last year, Patrick started off great. He was 6-for-9 and made some clutch field goals. He hit some under pressure. By the time he started going poorly, it was too late to bring Daniel Lee off his redshirt. We didn’t really have a choice. I’m sure Daniel was anxious to show what he could do last year, but it did not make sense to do it.
VM: Was it just mental with Patrick?
BJ: It was definitely mental. He kicked well early. He set the Alabama state high school record for over 100 PATs in a row. And then he couldn’t kick one against Tennessee. It is all mental and I think Patrick has done a good job putting it behind him and realizing it is mental. He has worked on his technique extremely hard. Whatever he needs to do, he’s done it, so he’ll get another chance.
VM: Now that you have been here a couple of years, any thoughts of, ‘I wish I knew ‘X’ before I took this job.’?
BJ: It is an ongoing process. Some things we are working out have worked out with the administration that did not happen at first. We could have saved some time on some things. I wish I knew the inner-workings of the Vanderbilt leadership system.
VM: But you know it better now?
BJ: Yes, and they know me better now. It is give and take. We have a good system now where we communicate. Things are proposed and some are accepted and some are denied. We have some things where they didn’t know why we needed something, and now they do.
VM: Is Vanderbilt the toughest job in America?
BJ: It is the toughest job in terms of your competition and trying to win games against who we have to play every year. But it is a great job when you consider where you work and what kind of student-athlete you coach and who you work with. That is sort of what makes it so tough. You are working with those guys and you want them to be successful. Some barriers are built in that make Vanderbilt what it is. I knew that, and that is why this is probably the only place I would have left Furman for, because you are still coaching true student-athletes, they want to graduate, most of them have high character, it is in the South. It is a great job. To compete against the people we compete against makes it a very tough job.
VM: Finish this sentence: For Vanderbilt to win six games this year, we need to do these three things above and beyond everything else …
BJ: We have to play great defense, better defense than we have been playing. And be consistent on defense. Sometimes we play very well, but we need to do it all the time.
We need to be much better in the kicking game.
We have to take advantage of our offensive weapons, mainly Jay Cutler and his receivers.
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