Villanova Wildcats football players Norman White, Dustin Thomas and Jimmy Pitts talked to the media on Wednesday evening to give their thoughts about how preseason camp is going thus far. It was a lot of cookie-cutter material, but hell, we'll take anything we can get. Click through that link to see all of what was said - we'll give you some select material from each player and what they really meant to say.
White on his role as a leader:
"I feel like I build the team up when we are down. If we have a bad practice I tell them we have to pick it up, or even if we have a good practice I still have to stay that we need to pick up the tempo or something like that. I want to be the guy to look at to build the team up."
Translation: I'm going to tell people when they're playing like shit, cause I won't accept anything less than winning at this point in my career.
White on playing with a new QB in Thomas:
"Over the summer me and Dustin (redshirt freshman quarterback Dustin Thomas) spent a lot of time going over routes. The adjustment for me is just to keep running routes and get adapted to working with a new quarterback."
Translation: I miss Chris Whitney. I've seen a lot of balls thrown at my feet so far.
Pitts on the young Wildcats team:
"Camp has been a little bit different so far. Right now we are struggling a little bit but we are getting along, we are coming along here and there. It has been some minor mistakes like missed assignments but those are the kinds of things that will get cleared up. During the season I expect that going into games we will be more physical than any team we go against just like we have been for all three years that I have been here so far."
Translation: We lost a lot of good players - anyone expecting us to come out and dominate like the last few years will be hitting the bottle pretty hard this season.
Thomas on his strengths:
"I just believe that I always have the mindset of winning and confidence in my ability to make plays. I want to help everybody stick together and move the offense at the same pace that a team like Oregon seems to move the offense."
Translation: I wish I was the QB for Oregon.
There's no doubt this is going to be a different season for 'Nova football. We've got some great players, guys who absolutely make it to the NFL - but as a team we're breaking in a ton of new faces at key positions. By the end of the year when we play Delaware, we'll be able to compete, but the start to the year could be tough.