08-26-2023, 05:54 PM
Taylor's last press availability of camp:
* It's interesting to go through the discipline of watching all these interviews and feeling like you pick up the mannerisms and attitudes of guys you watch a lot. I only met David Shaw in person once but after all the time I spent watching and dissecting him I felt like I had a PhD in Shawology. It will take me a while to get there with Taylor but I do feel like I'm getting a better sense. The thing that really struck me about this interview was that while Taylor is always his authentic self and never too high or too low and all that, this interview had a tension to it that has largely not been the case this year. It's very subtle and I'm not trying to say he was short with anybody or looked like a different person, but it just felt like a heavier weight on him than what we typically see. I would guess there are two factors and I woudn't hazard a guess on relative weight between the two. First, this conference realignment drama keeps dragging and that's a really big deal for the football program. Second, the season is approaching. I can feel him getting a bit more taut, maybe even a bit nervous (or at least eager to get that first one in the books).
* I'm pretty much at the point of disregarding Taylor's top-of-availability comments on how the day of practice went. I've joked that some players went to the Crash Davis school of interviews with their cliches, but if we're talking about vacuity every Taylor interview ever is "they did a good job, have gotten better, learned how to practice....we're not there yet but we're getting better." The positive spin is that this is just him practicing what he preaches of having an authentic sense of self, focusing one day at a time, focusing on day-by-day improvement as part of the process, and so forth. More negatively it's just a public-facing muscle memory of replaying the same talking points until you can get off the mic and back to the non-public stuff. Taylor talked about players being tired of playing against each other and the same is probably true for him with these interviews. Only so much you can say (or want to say) at this point. It may be more interesting to hear him when we get to game weeks than it is hearing the fourth version of this spiel.
* On the QB competition, it was odd to hear basically a repetition of what he said the previous week
(three guys, some separation), as if a week of practice didn't matter. However, he was very terse about it, not his usual style. I think it may have been a big tell that he said "I'm not ready to comment on it yet" and then shut up. This would be consistent with having made the decision but seeing only downside in saying much about the competition publicly because he isn't ready to talk publicly. Maybe the plan was to get through camp, break the news to the belligerents in the competition, let the news cycle through the team, and then announce publicly a decision only once it's not airing internal business publicly. If he hadn't had the requisite conversations with the losers of the battle (or maybe it's one QB1 and a QB2 still alive for snaps against Hawaii and only one loser), anything that could come out of this interview is just a headache. Now, if we do have a QB1 my personal preference might have been to let all that play out before this availability so that the news could break (and any associated media attention/drama can play out) before game week. Oregon State, Cal, Arizona State, Illinois, Houston, Virginia Tech, Auburn, Virginia, Georgia, etc. all took that tack and named their starting quarterbacks in the last 7-8 days. If we do have a QB1 I think it's annoying how long Taylor has waited. But there are other possibilities too, such as no clear winner. The fact that Taylor has now talked about separation several weeks in a row makes me think he's just waiting for the right time to make it public and that we will hear about a QB1 by Tuesday (but that's awfully close to the game! Hopefully team already knows). Haven't ruled out possibility it will be multiple QBs getting series against Hawaii, in some configuration.
* The follow-up on playing multiple QBs in the opener was interesting but it's easy to read too much into it. It was one of those tense, terse, answer the question and then shut up answers. All he said is he's not against playing two QBs in the opener. Answering this way helps him move on to other subjects. It may mean two QBs in the opener is a live possibility, but it also may just mean he isn't ready to comment publicly on the plan. In my mental accounting of the data points, it slightly increases the possibility of a time share against Hawaii but really only slightly. The way he answered is not inconsistent with a starter being named. It's all just somewhat awkward because the clock is ticking on a starter to be named. Six days out coach!
* Taylor went through the whole process of getting better as part of the spring-summer-camp cycle, but I'm not sure he really said anything. Obviously all teams go through this cycle. It's nice he says we're a different team than we were at the outset but not sure how much weight to put into that. This is also where he talked about how we're tired of playing each other. There does seem to be a camp fatigue that's set in, for him at least.
* It's interesting to go through the discipline of watching all these interviews and feeling like you pick up the mannerisms and attitudes of guys you watch a lot. I only met David Shaw in person once but after all the time I spent watching and dissecting him I felt like I had a PhD in Shawology. It will take me a while to get there with Taylor but I do feel like I'm getting a better sense. The thing that really struck me about this interview was that while Taylor is always his authentic self and never too high or too low and all that, this interview had a tension to it that has largely not been the case this year. It's very subtle and I'm not trying to say he was short with anybody or looked like a different person, but it just felt like a heavier weight on him than what we typically see. I would guess there are two factors and I woudn't hazard a guess on relative weight between the two. First, this conference realignment drama keeps dragging and that's a really big deal for the football program. Second, the season is approaching. I can feel him getting a bit more taut, maybe even a bit nervous (or at least eager to get that first one in the books).
* I'm pretty much at the point of disregarding Taylor's top-of-availability comments on how the day of practice went. I've joked that some players went to the Crash Davis school of interviews with their cliches, but if we're talking about vacuity every Taylor interview ever is "they did a good job, have gotten better, learned how to practice....we're not there yet but we're getting better." The positive spin is that this is just him practicing what he preaches of having an authentic sense of self, focusing one day at a time, focusing on day-by-day improvement as part of the process, and so forth. More negatively it's just a public-facing muscle memory of replaying the same talking points until you can get off the mic and back to the non-public stuff. Taylor talked about players being tired of playing against each other and the same is probably true for him with these interviews. Only so much you can say (or want to say) at this point. It may be more interesting to hear him when we get to game weeks than it is hearing the fourth version of this spiel.
* On the QB competition, it was odd to hear basically a repetition of what he said the previous week
(three guys, some separation), as if a week of practice didn't matter. However, he was very terse about it, not his usual style. I think it may have been a big tell that he said "I'm not ready to comment on it yet" and then shut up. This would be consistent with having made the decision but seeing only downside in saying much about the competition publicly because he isn't ready to talk publicly. Maybe the plan was to get through camp, break the news to the belligerents in the competition, let the news cycle through the team, and then announce publicly a decision only once it's not airing internal business publicly. If he hadn't had the requisite conversations with the losers of the battle (or maybe it's one QB1 and a QB2 still alive for snaps against Hawaii and only one loser), anything that could come out of this interview is just a headache. Now, if we do have a QB1 my personal preference might have been to let all that play out before this availability so that the news could break (and any associated media attention/drama can play out) before game week. Oregon State, Cal, Arizona State, Illinois, Houston, Virginia Tech, Auburn, Virginia, Georgia, etc. all took that tack and named their starting quarterbacks in the last 7-8 days. If we do have a QB1 I think it's annoying how long Taylor has waited. But there are other possibilities too, such as no clear winner. The fact that Taylor has now talked about separation several weeks in a row makes me think he's just waiting for the right time to make it public and that we will hear about a QB1 by Tuesday (but that's awfully close to the game! Hopefully team already knows). Haven't ruled out possibility it will be multiple QBs getting series against Hawaii, in some configuration.
* The follow-up on playing multiple QBs in the opener was interesting but it's easy to read too much into it. It was one of those tense, terse, answer the question and then shut up answers. All he said is he's not against playing two QBs in the opener. Answering this way helps him move on to other subjects. It may mean two QBs in the opener is a live possibility, but it also may just mean he isn't ready to comment publicly on the plan. In my mental accounting of the data points, it slightly increases the possibility of a time share against Hawaii but really only slightly. The way he answered is not inconsistent with a starter being named. It's all just somewhat awkward because the clock is ticking on a starter to be named. Six days out coach!
* Taylor went through the whole process of getting better as part of the spring-summer-camp cycle, but I'm not sure he really said anything. Obviously all teams go through this cycle. It's nice he says we're a different team than we were at the outset but not sure how much weight to put into that. This is also where he talked about how we're tired of playing each other. There does seem to be a camp fatigue that's set in, for him at least.