UCF Head Coach Scott Frost
Opening Statement:
"I was pleased with it. I thought the enthusiasm was good, Our culture was so much better. Our guys are enjoying football and playing together, that's good. Obviously, there are some sloppy things that we need to clean up, but spring ball practice is more important to me than this game and we made a ton of progress over the course of spring. I think some of that showed up tonight, some of it didn't. But this team is in a lot better place than it was. My advice to them just now was to use that as a platform to have a great summer and keep building on the progress they have made. If we have a great summer I will feel really good about where were going into fall camp with this team and this program and we will try to take some steps forward."
On the depth:
"Actually, depth is one of the things that impressed me the most tonight. There were a bunch of guys that showed up and made plays. Not necessarily some of the guys that I was expecting to stand out. I can name a few of them, but I think our depth will be better. We've got to keep building depth, getting the next freshmen class in will obviously help with depth too. But I think we'll be a deeper team in most positions than we were last year."
On the offense:
"I am really encouraged by offense's improvement. We were really young last year, trying to learn a new scheme. I think that has been spearheaded by the guys upfront. We are blocking better. We creased quite a few 10 and 12 yard runs and some bigger runs. In first downs we're getting four or five yards last year early in the season, but during the second half of the season first down runs we were getting one yard. We were in bad positions.
"Coach [Greg] Austin has done a great job with our offensive line. We still don't have everybody quite healthy at that position yet, but the guys that have been playing are making a ton of improvements. I think they really have led the way on offense with our improvement, but there's a lot of guys that have gotten better over the course of spring. I think as a unit with the ones and the twos, we are playing better football."
On McKenzie Milton:
"McKenzie has had an unbelievable spring. I've been really pleasantly surprised with all the progress he has made in a short amount of time. Some of that showed up tonight, some of it didn't. But, taken as a whole through spring practice, he has had as good of a spring practice as I could have hoped he would have. He is really starting to develop a chemistry with some of the running backs and some of the receivers. I think the offensive line is embracing him. I am really pleased with his progress. That being said, there's a couple other quarterbacks that played pretty well tonight, too, and did some good things. McKenzie's our guy. I'm really happy with where he is and how he's improved mechanically and with his knowledge of our offense. Overall, I thought several quarterbacks did some good things."
On the defense:
"Defensively, we had quite a few guys that played limited reps. We took basically our starting D-line out pretty quick. Shaquem [Griffin] played part of the first half. Some of our guys that are coming back that we know what they can do, they didn't play as much. But I was really pleased with some of the younger guys. There were quite a few points put up, but some of those were the defense creating plays and creating points. I have been really happy with some of the young guys at several positions. I think we re going to have quite a bit of depth at the D-line. I think we have two young outside backers opposite of Shaquem that are playing really well. We got some safeties and have some depth at safety with guys playing well. Middle backer and corner are still the two spots where we are looking for more guys to step up and give us some depth, but the rest of the defense I was really pleased with."
On Emmanuel Greene and the rest of the early enrollees:
"Our coaches did a great job recruiting this past year. I am thrilled with the class we have coming in. The three kids that are here early, Otis Anderson, Antwan Collier, and Manny Greene. I thought they all played great tonight. Getting spring ball under those guys belt is going to give them a tremendous opportunity to help."
Sophomore RB Jawon Hamilton
On Shaquem Griffin's interception - the play of the game:
"They play of the game had to be Shaquem [Griffin], the interception. I don't know how he did it, but it happened."
On his excitement for the season:
"The improvement; the size; the speed; just the offense as a whole. Everything the weight room staff has done to try to teach us is showing from a body standpoint. On the field, off the field, it is just everything and we look like a real offense out there."
On his chemistry with Mckenzie Milton:
"During the off-season, me and Mackenzie and all the running backs developed a relationship. If we just keep that our thing, we'll be unstoppable."
Sophomore DB Brandon Moore
On Shaquem Griffin's interception - the play of the game:
"I said the same thing [that Jawaon said]. The next series, I was joking when I told him I have never seen anything like it, because he caught it like he had both his hands. I was just like wow. That's what really got the game turned up."
On what he's looking forward to working on over the summer:
"My biggest thing was bulking my body up and learning the play book. I was really upset when I had to redshirt but that I realized that I wasn't ready. Now I feel like I can play, but at the same time I got a long way to go as far as getting my weight up and knowing the plays because the game is so fast."
Sophomore QB Mckenzie Milton
On what the play of the game was:
"I think it was the play where Shaquem [Griffin] sacked Pete [DiNovo] and [Michael] Colubiale caught the in on the arrow and scored a touchdown. That shouldn't have been a touchdown, it should have been a tie game."
On how he felt this spring vs. the end of last year:
"Definitely, a year of growth has definitely made me feel more comfortable with my reads, my progressions. The o-line has been doing a better job, so I feel more comfortable sitting in the pocket. Also, the chemistry with the receivers has grown so much. I feel like we are all getting towards a point where we are all on the same page. I feel like if we all keep going down that path that comfortability won't be an issue when fall rolls around."
On his next step in the summer as an individual:
"I want my feet to be relaxed in the pocket – to stay settled. I want my eyes to slow down. I just want our offense to roll. I want us to get going and be the best offense in the conference and I feel like we can get there. I want to put on a couple pounds before fall rolls around, so I can take some hits from the big guys in this conference."
On how he is encouraged by this spring:
"Obviously spring ball is a time to make improvements and grow as a team, but at the same time, we can't get complacent and get satisfied with the strides that we made. Shaquem and I, and a couple other leaders on the team, we got to take it into our hands in the summer to keep growing and keep coming together as a team. I think in the fall it will all payoff"
Senior DB Shaquem Griffin
On his early spring game interception
"It was hype. I mean, I felt like a corner out there and you know what's funny? When I caught it, I was looking at my brother and told him, "Hey, I didn't wear my own cleats, I wore your cleats from last year. I felt like a real corner out there and I got an interception" and we were just laughing on the sidelines because whoever thought I'd change my cleats to a cornerback's cleats and I'd get me an interception."
On the overall performance:
"I feel like when it comes to the young guys on our defense. We have come a long ways. We have a very strong front, D-line and line backers. We are pretty strong up there and just have to fill in the little bits and pieces that we need. I feel like the young guys have stepped up a lot this entire spring. It wasn't just bits and pieces. They stepped up the entire spring. It could have been Monday or Thursday, but every single day of the week they stepped up. It is kind of hard to find guys like that who are willing to take advantage of opportunities their given – that shows in the spring game. You have seen guys like [Nevelle] Clarke and Bam [Brandon Moore]. Those are young guys and it kind of shows you how much they have matured and how much they are ready to play right away."
On the biggest surprise this spring:
"The offense is giving us a competition that was the biggest surprise. Because just to go off of last year, we had those older guys. We had an older group. Just to see the young guys from the offense step up like they did this year. It was crazy like I was tired all the time. It's funny, because going against McKenzie [Milton], one play down the field, and I'm jogging back. I see the whole line running pass me and I hear McKenzie, 'hurry up on the ball!' He is clapping his hands and I'm like all man, 'I'm dead tired.' Just to see that throughout the spring was just amazing. That's just showing McKenzie has taken the leadership to a whole other level. When I see O-linemen outrunning me to the ball, that's how I know they are working and they could have been slowing down but when they say UCFast, McKenzie is getting them there."
