Texas defensive coordinator Vance Bedford was all business during his weekly press conference on Wednesday.
Bedford typically cracks jokes, stirs the pot, and has fun during his session. Instead, Bedford was more direct and serious than he’s ever been. Here are the highlights of his media session:
- Dylan Haines did not play against UTEP due to a concussion injury, but Bedford said the safety will “probably” start against Cal.
- When asked about the pass rush this season, Bedford said he is excited about the production, and expected that. However, Bedford did not expect that kind of productivity this early in the season. Bedford said, “The guys are playing hard, and that’s the key. You give great effort, especially getting to the quarterback, good things can happen for you. Eight sacks right now. I’m excited about it. Hopefully, going forward, that will continue to happen for us.”
- Here is Bedford on Malcolm Roach’s impact this season: “He’s a coach’s son. When he got here on campus this summer, first thing he asked, ‘Coach, where’s the playbook? Can I go watch video?’ He’s worked at learning what to do, and how to do it. He’s taken coach (Brick) Haley’s teaching to the field. He’s a lot like (Breckyn) Hager, and I mean from his effort. He gives you great effort all the time. That’s something special that he brings to the table. What you saw this past weekend, that’s who the kid is. He’s going to give you everything he has. He (may not know) what to do, but he’s going to go 100 miles per hour. He’ll make a play doing that same thing Hager does. I think the kid’s got a bright future for us.”
- Bedford said Cal’s Davis Webb is an excellent quarterback. He’s big, has an arm, sees the entire field and can make all the throws. Bedford said if Webb was in the Big 12, he would be a top four quarterback.
- Even though Texas’ defense played well against UTEP, Bedford said, “We had a better team. We really did. We should have done what we did to be honest. We gave up that one big play we were disappointed in. We didn’t fit the run right. We missed a tackle in the back end. But we were supposed to go out there with our d-line and our linebackers and control the line of scrimmage, and they did that, for the most part. We were excited to see that when you are supposed to win, you go out there defensively and do a solid job.”
- When asked about the potential greatness of the defensive backs Texas signed in 2015, Bedford said they have a way to go before they are mentioned with the former great secondary players at Texas. Bedford said last year’s freshmen are doing on-the-job training because they had nobody to learn from when they stepped on campus.
- Here is Bedford on Holton Hill’s lack of playing time: “It’s a combination of a lot of things. First game, Kris Boyd didn’t get in there except for special teams. Guys have a hot hand We’re trying to develop guys, rotate guys in there, and that’s part of what you’re seeing right now. We stay moving guys around trying to find the right fit. The biggest thing you try to find (out) with you guys is (if) they can compete. You need to earn your way. These freshmen, a year ago, came in here and they walked around and they played and all of a sudden, people are saying, ‘Man, you guys did a great job.’ They were inconsistent last year. You saw flashes. Our thing right now is if you don’t come to practice every day and practice hard, or you have the opportunity to get in the game, and you don’t do what you’re supposed to do, there’s a good chance you might not touch that football field. That’s just where we are with a lot of those guys right now. That’s like Kris Boyd didn’t play a lot in the first ball game. That’s part of it. We’re going to challenge this guys all the time to do things right all the time, be consistent in practice, and go do it in the game.”
- Bedford was asked which defensive players have met or exceeded his expectations and said, “None of them. We’re at the University of Texas, and the expectations are to go out there and play great defense and win ball games. We haven’t met those expectations. We’re sitting at 2-0 because our offense has done a tremendous job. Right now, our punter (Michael Dickson) has done not a good job, he’s done a great job. When you have a punter that can pin them back like he’s pinned them back, and an offense that can score points, you should be sitting at 2-0. We have a lot way to go, so right now, we have a lot of guys, as far as the defensive staff is concerned, have not met the expectations we need to make to continue to do what we’re doing, and that’s to win ball games.”
- Bedford said they are a pressure team that will continue to bring the heat against Cal. He said Cal is going to make big plays, but the team sometimes gets in trouble after turnovers. Bedford said the teams that defeated Cal applied pressure and caused turnovers.
- This was Bedford’s explanation for running a 3-3-5 defense against UTEP: “It was an opportunity to really get five defensive lineman out there. It was a 3-3-5 and it wasn’t. You look at Hager, you look at Roach, they were playing the outside backer. We brought Hager 25 times. I think we dropped him seven times. We knew if he was out there, he was going to hit somebody. We were concerned in pass coverage, to be honest. It was more of a 3-4 look than a 3-3-5 look, because a lot of times you saw him on the line of scrimmage because of the type of offense they ran.”
- Two things Bedford said his team is focusing on this week: getting a hand up on pass attempts and stopping the run (that includes a 5-yard hitch that turns into a big play).
- Bedford on his freshmen defensive tackles: “Jordan Elliott has played in the first two ball games to give us some time. (D’Andre) Christmas played some in the last ball game to give us some time. Those are the two guys right now that probably has the biggest push, and (Gerald) Wilbon. Wilbon has played in both games. Those guys got to give us between 10 and 15 plays every game to take some hits off of Poona (Ford) and Chris Nelson and (Paul) Boyette and Charles (Omenihu). We’re rotating those guys in as the season goes on and on, and they will play more and more. You just need those guys to get through the season.”
Bedford typically cracks jokes, stirs the pot, and has fun during his session. Instead, Bedford was more direct and serious than he’s ever been. Here are the highlights of his media session:
- Dylan Haines did not play against UTEP due to a concussion injury, but Bedford said the safety will “probably” start against Cal.
- When asked about the pass rush this season, Bedford said he is excited about the production, and expected that. However, Bedford did not expect that kind of productivity this early in the season. Bedford said, “The guys are playing hard, and that’s the key. You give great effort, especially getting to the quarterback, good things can happen for you. Eight sacks right now. I’m excited about it. Hopefully, going forward, that will continue to happen for us.”
- Here is Bedford on Malcolm Roach’s impact this season: “He’s a coach’s son. When he got here on campus this summer, first thing he asked, ‘Coach, where’s the playbook? Can I go watch video?’ He’s worked at learning what to do, and how to do it. He’s taken coach (Brick) Haley’s teaching to the field. He’s a lot like (Breckyn) Hager, and I mean from his effort. He gives you great effort all the time. That’s something special that he brings to the table. What you saw this past weekend, that’s who the kid is. He’s going to give you everything he has. He (may not know) what to do, but he’s going to go 100 miles per hour. He’ll make a play doing that same thing Hager does. I think the kid’s got a bright future for us.”
- Bedford said Cal’s Davis Webb is an excellent quarterback. He’s big, has an arm, sees the entire field and can make all the throws. Bedford said if Webb was in the Big 12, he would be a top four quarterback.
- Even though Texas’ defense played well against UTEP, Bedford said, “We had a better team. We really did. We should have done what we did to be honest. We gave up that one big play we were disappointed in. We didn’t fit the run right. We missed a tackle in the back end. But we were supposed to go out there with our d-line and our linebackers and control the line of scrimmage, and they did that, for the most part. We were excited to see that when you are supposed to win, you go out there defensively and do a solid job.”
- When asked about the potential greatness of the defensive backs Texas signed in 2015, Bedford said they have a way to go before they are mentioned with the former great secondary players at Texas. Bedford said last year’s freshmen are doing on-the-job training because they had nobody to learn from when they stepped on campus.
- Here is Bedford on Holton Hill’s lack of playing time: “It’s a combination of a lot of things. First game, Kris Boyd didn’t get in there except for special teams. Guys have a hot hand We’re trying to develop guys, rotate guys in there, and that’s part of what you’re seeing right now. We stay moving guys around trying to find the right fit. The biggest thing you try to find (out) with you guys is (if) they can compete. You need to earn your way. These freshmen, a year ago, came in here and they walked around and they played and all of a sudden, people are saying, ‘Man, you guys did a great job.’ They were inconsistent last year. You saw flashes. Our thing right now is if you don’t come to practice every day and practice hard, or you have the opportunity to get in the game, and you don’t do what you’re supposed to do, there’s a good chance you might not touch that football field. That’s just where we are with a lot of those guys right now. That’s like Kris Boyd didn’t play a lot in the first ball game. That’s part of it. We’re going to challenge this guys all the time to do things right all the time, be consistent in practice, and go do it in the game.”
- Bedford was asked which defensive players have met or exceeded his expectations and said, “None of them. We’re at the University of Texas, and the expectations are to go out there and play great defense and win ball games. We haven’t met those expectations. We’re sitting at 2-0 because our offense has done a tremendous job. Right now, our punter (Michael Dickson) has done not a good job, he’s done a great job. When you have a punter that can pin them back like he’s pinned them back, and an offense that can score points, you should be sitting at 2-0. We have a lot way to go, so right now, we have a lot of guys, as far as the defensive staff is concerned, have not met the expectations we need to make to continue to do what we’re doing, and that’s to win ball games.”
- Bedford said they are a pressure team that will continue to bring the heat against Cal. He said Cal is going to make big plays, but the team sometimes gets in trouble after turnovers. Bedford said the teams that defeated Cal applied pressure and caused turnovers.
- This was Bedford’s explanation for running a 3-3-5 defense against UTEP: “It was an opportunity to really get five defensive lineman out there. It was a 3-3-5 and it wasn’t. You look at Hager, you look at Roach, they were playing the outside backer. We brought Hager 25 times. I think we dropped him seven times. We knew if he was out there, he was going to hit somebody. We were concerned in pass coverage, to be honest. It was more of a 3-4 look than a 3-3-5 look, because a lot of times you saw him on the line of scrimmage because of the type of offense they ran.”
- Two things Bedford said his team is focusing on this week: getting a hand up on pass attempts and stopping the run (that includes a 5-yard hitch that turns into a big play).
- Bedford on his freshmen defensive tackles: “Jordan Elliott has played in the first two ball games to give us some time. (D’Andre) Christmas played some in the last ball game to give us some time. Those are the two guys right now that probably has the biggest push, and (Gerald) Wilbon. Wilbon has played in both games. Those guys got to give us between 10 and 15 plays every game to take some hits off of Poona (Ford) and Chris Nelson and (Paul) Boyette and Charles (Omenihu). We’re rotating those guys in as the season goes on and on, and they will play more and more. You just need those guys to get through the season.”
Last edited:
