2017 Jacksonville State Football
Preseason Football Media Day
July 26, 2017




 
Head Coach John Grass
Opening Comments:
"Everybody is excited that football season is here, and it is finally here. I do not know where June and July went, but we are ready to go. We have had a really good offseason and it started in the weight room in the winter to spring practice and then in to this summer. We are in as good of a shape as we have ever been in heading in to camp. I really like this team, they are blue collar and they come to work every day, are a pleasure to work with and you don't have to worry about them doing their job. There are a lot of questions out there and every team is responsible for its own identity. We do not talk about the streak in the OVC and other stuff that has happened over the last three years. I think all the accolades in the preseason do not mean much and do not add up to anything. We are right where we want to be and all of the talk is a pat on the back to the previous classes that have laid the foundation. Our guys know that they are responsible for this team's chemistry and their own destiny. I feel like they are excited about what is in front of them to get to where they want to be. We have a lot of experience coming back, which is a good thing, because they are battle-tested and I think the team leadership is excellent to this point. We return a lot of guys defensively and we are two-deep at each position. I don't think we have ever had that much depth on that side of the ball. We have a lot of guys that have played a lot of snaps, so it is hard to even pull out a starting line up because of our depth. We have nine starters coming back on defense and a ton of guys that can play, so defensively we can be as good as or even better than we were last year."
 
"The question I get all the time is how are you going to replace Eli (Jenkins). It seems like he was a fixture in the program, he is a dynamic guy and we will certainly miss him and the other seniors we lost. When you have the kind of guys that have come through the program in the last few years, you miss them more from that perspective than the player perspective. We are not going to replace him. I just think you can't. I think he owns many of the records at the school at that position and he is now with the Los Angeles Chargers. We have a few guys that will be competing for that job and they are very talented. They have people around them that will make their jobs easier. We have depth on the offensive line. We have a blue collar receiving crew that can get the job done and a pretty good group of running backs. I can't wait to watch this group compete on Saturdays because they just love to compete and that is the culture of the program. We look for good people and guys that love to compete. When you have those kinds of guys, it just makes you better and creates that winning culture. They are ready to play on game day and that is the fun part of all this."
 
On the quarterback position and Bryant Horn's progress
"Let me tell you how much I know. Bryant (Horn) came in as a walk-on and had a redshirt year and I told him he was moving to defense and that he would never play quarterback here since he had about five guys in front of him. He proved me wrong. He is a coach's kid, very smart player and never says anything, so we move him to safety. We then moved him closer to the ball and tried him out at linebacker and on special teams. He started on every special teams unit that season and played about 20-25 snaps at linebacker. We go in to the spring prior to last year and Eli (Jenkins) is out after having shoulder surgery and we did not have anyone that was getting the job done. I talked to him about moving back to quarterback and did great in the spring and turned out to be our backup quarterback last year. I think you will be impressed by his accuracy and how well he throws the ball. He makes great decisions and he will surprise you running the ball. We have two guys in Bryant and Kendrick Doss that can get the job done."
 
On All-American and Academic All-American OL Justin Lea
"We have had so many good men come through here and Justin is one of those guys. Everything he does, he does it right and is always on time. He is working on a masters degree right now. I remember when he was a freshman. We were trying to redshirt him because he was our sixth or seventh lineman that season. He traveled during his redshirt season and he would be doing homework on a Friday night. It has been fun to watch his development. He is a competitor and really put on the weight and has had a great career. He has been a great representative of Jacksonville State football."