This week we spoke with Husky linebacker and special teams coach, Bob Gregory.
The coach touched on several subjects, and we will highlight some of the more notable items discussed…
** Gregory said that Miki Ah You has made “really good progress”, as he comes back from a minor injury. Ah You red-shirted last season regardless, but Gregory said he has “big upside”.
** The same could be said of MJ Tafisi, who suffered a devastating injury after playing in seven games last season, “He’s close to 100%”, Gregory said, “I love his energy.”
** Gregory didn’t pinpoint any one guy who could take a leadership role in 2020, “it can come from anybody”, he said.
** Asked about Daniel Heimuli’s progress, Gregory said he “started off slow” and then made progress on the scout team and also during the winter. Gregory said he was just “slower to start” but that he was such a physical and impactful player in high school, he feels Heimuli has a good future at Washington.
** Josh Calvert, who also missed the season due to injury, did enroll early so that helped him to be a little ahead of the curve, but right now Gregory said he’s still a “question mark” and is “on track but just hasn’t been able to do the same workouts that others are doing.”
** Gregory talked about using Trent McDuffie and Kyler Gordon more on special teams this season.
** Gregory also noted that, despite Washington’s recent history of having the best defenses in the Pac-12, last year was “not as well”. But said that they have better depth going into 2020 and they’re a “hungry, physical, athletic group”. He’s excited about the competition.
** There was a question about “gaps” in recruiting, but Gregory pointed out that Washington lost a player who transferred, and then DJ Beavers had to quit football. “We ended up…with a hole in classes”, he said. Gregory also explained that they have to recruit and allot scholarships by position so they cannot be heavy in one position, and in 2017 they elected not to take an ILB because they had Beavers. “Then you lose a guy and it can have an effect”, he said.
** I asked Gregory about what goes into deciding whether a player will redshirt or go ahead and play, he said that it’s a “little bit tricky”, but it has helped that the NCAA allows players to play up to four games and still redshirt. Last year they did this with Alphonzo Tuputalu, but the coach said they don’t want to burn a redshirt unless they know a kid can contribute the entire season. He mentioned that a lot of it is just “picking it up”.
** Coach also said that recruiting is going well, despite the setbacks.
** Finally, Gregory talked about his message going into 2020 with his linebacker group. He said that after every season he sits down and evaluates the season. He said a big message for 2020 is just to have “great communication with each other” and to play “as physical a game as you can.” Coach wants to see his linebacker “harass” the quarterback, whether or not they even get a sack.
Tomorrow we will be talking with receivers coach, Junior Adams.
