Spring Breakdown: Catching Up With Defensive Coordinator Brandon Bailey
5/4/2023 11:00:00 AM | Football
Taking a look at the Eagle Defense
STATESBORO - With spring practice in the books and summer workouts around the corner, GSEagles.com is sitting down with each of the three coordinators from the Georgia Southern football program to get their take on how things look after 15 practices. Up next is defensive coordinator Brandon Bailey.
Q: What are your overall thoughts on the defensive line coming out of spring ball?
A: On the defensive line, we've got a couple of guys on the edge who were for real playmakers. They can go. We're trying to hone in some of their juice and ensure they're doing it from an assignment-sound standpoint, but those guys made a lot of plays. I'm excited about that group for sure. On the interior, we had a couple of guys who had good springs. Some of these guys were young guys, and some were even walk-ons, but we need to grow in that space. We've got to become a little firmer on the inside.
Q: What about the linebacking corps?
A: I feel good about the linebackers with Marques Watson-Trent, Khadry Jackson, Davon Gilmore, and Tarian Lee Jr. And then you saw guys like Jon Ferguson take steps forward at times. We're going to be able to have a group there that is productive and makes plays and tackles. We want to grow, and we will learn the scheme a little better, but I was pleased with where they finished up.
Q: Moving to the back end, can you talk about the secondary?
A: If you look at the safety spot, I think you'd look at TJ Smith. He had a huge spring, and I feel really good about him. And you even saw Tyrell Davis come on there at the end. Cam Williams and Justin Meyers had solid springs, and we look for them to grow as they get more comfortable with the defense. Outside at corner, we had a lot of situations where we got in one-on-one situations this spring. We won some, and we lost some. So we got to become a little more consistent out there, but I feel really good about Damel Hickman, and then we got some other guys who showed flashes, but we've got to become more consistent.
Q: Let's get to some superlatives. Who do you think were your top two or three newcomers that really stood out?
A: Damel Hickman stood out a corner. Davon Gilmore absolutely had some flashes where he showed what he could do. TJ Smith stood out all spring.
Q: I know you weren't here last year, but who are some guys who didn't play a lot last year but had really good springs that Eagle Nation needs to look out for?
A: Marc Stampley II had a monster spring really fired up about him. I think he's found a nice home at nickel, as it fits his skill set better.
Q: Who were the guys who stood out in general?
A: Guys who need to be mentioned and recognized publicly would include TJ Smith. You need to look at Marc Stampley II. You need to look at Damel Hickman. You need to look at Kierron Smith. He is a walk-on who took a bazillion reps like a freaking soldier. Marques Watson-Trent is another one. All of those guys had those guys have big springs.
Q: Let's talk defense as a whole. I know you were in an odd position coming in so late, but what are your thoughts on your defense after the spring, and what do you still want to work on once preseason comes?
A: So we set out some spring ball objectives before spring that were conducive to the timeline and were obtainable but also challenging. I think we did those things. We wanted to set the culture of who we are on defense, and that really doesn't have as much to do with schematics, but it's more about play style, attacking the football, and trying to create takeaways. One of the biggest things I observed from practice one to practice 15 is that our kids are excited about playing defense again. An excited defense is always playing faster than an unexcited defense. So that was the biggest thing. I wanted us to learn the base foundation of our communication system and the words we use, and I think we accomplished that. And then I wanted us to establish our communication standard, which was kind of up and down at times. But towards the end. I think we were doing that pretty consistently. Those were kind of our spring objectives. Now we've absolutely got to grow as we add volume and then add a few more wrinkles to help create confusion for offenses. But we want to continue to do those things. We want to communicate at a high level. We want to play really fast. We want to take the ball away. There are going to be things we do every single day, all throughout the season, that are conducive to enhancing that piece of our defense. As we grow within the scheme, it'll just give us more opportunities to do those things.
Georgia Southern opens its 2023 season on Saturday, Sept. 2, at home against The Citadel. Season tickets are on sale through GSEagles.com/Tickets.
SPRING RECAPS:
Offense
Special teams - Thursday, May 11
Q: What are your overall thoughts on the defensive line coming out of spring ball?
A: On the defensive line, we've got a couple of guys on the edge who were for real playmakers. They can go. We're trying to hone in some of their juice and ensure they're doing it from an assignment-sound standpoint, but those guys made a lot of plays. I'm excited about that group for sure. On the interior, we had a couple of guys who had good springs. Some of these guys were young guys, and some were even walk-ons, but we need to grow in that space. We've got to become a little firmer on the inside.
Q: What about the linebacking corps?
A: I feel good about the linebackers with Marques Watson-Trent, Khadry Jackson, Davon Gilmore, and Tarian Lee Jr. And then you saw guys like Jon Ferguson take steps forward at times. We're going to be able to have a group there that is productive and makes plays and tackles. We want to grow, and we will learn the scheme a little better, but I was pleased with where they finished up.
Q: Moving to the back end, can you talk about the secondary?
A: If you look at the safety spot, I think you'd look at TJ Smith. He had a huge spring, and I feel really good about him. And you even saw Tyrell Davis come on there at the end. Cam Williams and Justin Meyers had solid springs, and we look for them to grow as they get more comfortable with the defense. Outside at corner, we had a lot of situations where we got in one-on-one situations this spring. We won some, and we lost some. So we got to become a little more consistent out there, but I feel really good about Damel Hickman, and then we got some other guys who showed flashes, but we've got to become more consistent.
Q: Let's get to some superlatives. Who do you think were your top two or three newcomers that really stood out?
A: Damel Hickman stood out a corner. Davon Gilmore absolutely had some flashes where he showed what he could do. TJ Smith stood out all spring.
Q: I know you weren't here last year, but who are some guys who didn't play a lot last year but had really good springs that Eagle Nation needs to look out for?
A: Marc Stampley II had a monster spring really fired up about him. I think he's found a nice home at nickel, as it fits his skill set better.
Q: Who were the guys who stood out in general?
A: Guys who need to be mentioned and recognized publicly would include TJ Smith. You need to look at Marc Stampley II. You need to look at Damel Hickman. You need to look at Kierron Smith. He is a walk-on who took a bazillion reps like a freaking soldier. Marques Watson-Trent is another one. All of those guys had those guys have big springs.
Q: Let's talk defense as a whole. I know you were in an odd position coming in so late, but what are your thoughts on your defense after the spring, and what do you still want to work on once preseason comes?
A: So we set out some spring ball objectives before spring that were conducive to the timeline and were obtainable but also challenging. I think we did those things. We wanted to set the culture of who we are on defense, and that really doesn't have as much to do with schematics, but it's more about play style, attacking the football, and trying to create takeaways. One of the biggest things I observed from practice one to practice 15 is that our kids are excited about playing defense again. An excited defense is always playing faster than an unexcited defense. So that was the biggest thing. I wanted us to learn the base foundation of our communication system and the words we use, and I think we accomplished that. And then I wanted us to establish our communication standard, which was kind of up and down at times. But towards the end. I think we were doing that pretty consistently. Those were kind of our spring objectives. Now we've absolutely got to grow as we add volume and then add a few more wrinkles to help create confusion for offenses. But we want to continue to do those things. We want to communicate at a high level. We want to play really fast. We want to take the ball away. There are going to be things we do every single day, all throughout the season, that are conducive to enhancing that piece of our defense. As we grow within the scheme, it'll just give us more opportunities to do those things.
Georgia Southern opens its 2023 season on Saturday, Sept. 2, at home against The Citadel. Season tickets are on sale through GSEagles.com/Tickets.
SPRING RECAPS:
Offense
Special teams - Thursday, May 11
Players Mentioned
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DB
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DL
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DB
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