USF held a virtual media session on Tuesday and I jumped on and here is what these three talented young men had to say about spring ball.
JIMMY HORN JR
I gained more power at 170, wants to get to 175 or 180, good where he is at, more explosive and stronger and now he can bench 245. On the field, feels more explosive and still fast, maybe got faster.
Felt too light last year, but still strong
The offensive adjustments haven't been too much of a change, a couple of things got fixed still the same and I’m adjusting pretty well to the system.
Got to be a good team player, it will come, but I’m a team player, I’m not a selfish player, I’m going to block first. You can’t start offense without blocking and you can’t be selfish, everyone has to eat.
The biggest adjustment I learned from when I first got to USF was how to read coverages better and coming out on the field, my dad told me everyone is bigger and stronger and I didn’t believe him until college, everyone was bigger and stronger, I’m trying to gain weight and get stronger.
On Battie, when we started the game off at Houston and kicked the ball, it was the same picture and design in practice, the same guy I looked for on the block, I knew if he hit the hole at full speed, we knew that he’d be gone. When he took the second one back in that game, we knew he was gone, he is a good running back and he can make plays and that helps his game a lot. Last year, there were a couple of times I got the ball back there, there were a couple of mistakes and I didn’t make a big return, now we are on the same page, they will have to make a smart decision on which one of us they kickoff to.
In college CeeDee Lamb, he used to block a lot, everyone in the league blocks, I don’t know who the best blocker is, that is something natural we should do as receivers and don’t be selfish, you’ve got to run your man off.
Jimmy Horn has a pendant he wears with his grandma on it, tattoos of her and a seat cover on his car with Lisa Horn.
KELLEY JOINER JR.
I think we’ve started off well, coach Trickett talks about being a detailed team and the little things matter. As far as the couple of practices we’ve had we’ve shown growth from last year. Outside of the facility, we communicate a lot with each other and we talk to each other while someone is doing a play, building a strong relationship.
On the differences in the offense, he uses the backs more and more routes and check-downs for the backs and uses the RBs real well.
Towards the end of the year last year, we started to step it up, the details and the little things that will get us over the hump. Wearing the right things to practice, doing things the right way, taking notes in meetings and those sorts of things will get us over the hump.
I have to be smarter and take care of my body, I had bad shin splints last year and I’ve been in the training room trying to catch a head start on that coach Artis has been doing a good job of getting us bigger, stronger and faster.
I never really saw myself as a vocal leader, I like to lead by example, as an older guy out there I have to work on that more communicating through plays and practices more. I’d rather lead by example though.
When I first arrived, I was really 158-160 when I first got here, I’m not 188 want to peak at 190 pounds. I feel more explosive at this weight, so that is a good thing, I’m still working on that and I feel much better as a player.
BRIAN BATTIE
It is a great feeling to be an AA, I can’t let it get to me too much, my teammates are happy about it and that is the most important thing, you need the right teammate and coaches. Sometimes you can feel too good about something and then you fall off because no one is holding you accountable.
It is evident that a lot of teams won’t kick to me, so I’ll have less opportunities at the kickoff position and I know my teammates will do what they do.
Jimmy is just as dangerous as me back there, he has speed, vision and is aggressive, the teams don’t have a choice either kick it out of the end zone or short, teams will have a problem, once they kick to Jimmy more, he can take things to the crib. I’ve got total faith in Jimmy taking it to the house, he is just as happy when I score and I know he can do. So we will either get good field position or they’ll have to kick it out of the end zone.
Coach Trickett is a great dude off the field and a great coach on the field, can’t say anything bad about him, great person and coach. He is putting a couple of new schemes in there and he likes speed and is real passionate about speed, I can do the things he wants to do from the RB position, catching the ball and running routes and flipping the field, that is a big thing in college flipping the field, I like the way he coaches and how he has been doing things.
He just likes to play fast, after one play is over we get to the next play, he likes to play with fast players and get after some mismatches and speed is the ultimate goal for the offense.
We got a different alignment, he is real hard on it, we run a lot more routes out of the backfield, that is one of a few things he does differently, it is similar to coach Weis, but some different tweaks to it.
All the backs have to catch the ball and make plays in the open field and we’ve been working on our hands a lot, we are already pretty good at that, catching the ball isn’t really your main focus, but we’ve spent a lot of time on that.
I feel it is the little things, some plays everyone did their job and the RB missed a block or missed a hole that can be a game-changing play, our biggest issue last year was we were not finishing. AJ our stretch and conditioning coach took it on our shoulders, he thought we needed to be stronger in the second half of games. Everyone locking in in the weight room and doing your job on the field. When you break down plays from last year a few plays and mistakes add up, could’ve put up more points, we could’ve made more plays and stopped other teams too.
JIMMY HORN JR
I gained more power at 170, wants to get to 175 or 180, good where he is at, more explosive and stronger and now he can bench 245. On the field, feels more explosive and still fast, maybe got faster.
Felt too light last year, but still strong
The offensive adjustments haven't been too much of a change, a couple of things got fixed still the same and I’m adjusting pretty well to the system.
Got to be a good team player, it will come, but I’m a team player, I’m not a selfish player, I’m going to block first. You can’t start offense without blocking and you can’t be selfish, everyone has to eat.
The biggest adjustment I learned from when I first got to USF was how to read coverages better and coming out on the field, my dad told me everyone is bigger and stronger and I didn’t believe him until college, everyone was bigger and stronger, I’m trying to gain weight and get stronger.
On Battie, when we started the game off at Houston and kicked the ball, it was the same picture and design in practice, the same guy I looked for on the block, I knew if he hit the hole at full speed, we knew that he’d be gone. When he took the second one back in that game, we knew he was gone, he is a good running back and he can make plays and that helps his game a lot. Last year, there were a couple of times I got the ball back there, there were a couple of mistakes and I didn’t make a big return, now we are on the same page, they will have to make a smart decision on which one of us they kickoff to.
In college CeeDee Lamb, he used to block a lot, everyone in the league blocks, I don’t know who the best blocker is, that is something natural we should do as receivers and don’t be selfish, you’ve got to run your man off.
Jimmy Horn has a pendant he wears with his grandma on it, tattoos of her and a seat cover on his car with Lisa Horn.
KELLEY JOINER JR.
I think we’ve started off well, coach Trickett talks about being a detailed team and the little things matter. As far as the couple of practices we’ve had we’ve shown growth from last year. Outside of the facility, we communicate a lot with each other and we talk to each other while someone is doing a play, building a strong relationship.
On the differences in the offense, he uses the backs more and more routes and check-downs for the backs and uses the RBs real well.
Towards the end of the year last year, we started to step it up, the details and the little things that will get us over the hump. Wearing the right things to practice, doing things the right way, taking notes in meetings and those sorts of things will get us over the hump.
I have to be smarter and take care of my body, I had bad shin splints last year and I’ve been in the training room trying to catch a head start on that coach Artis has been doing a good job of getting us bigger, stronger and faster.
I never really saw myself as a vocal leader, I like to lead by example, as an older guy out there I have to work on that more communicating through plays and practices more. I’d rather lead by example though.
When I first arrived, I was really 158-160 when I first got here, I’m not 188 want to peak at 190 pounds. I feel more explosive at this weight, so that is a good thing, I’m still working on that and I feel much better as a player.
BRIAN BATTIE
It is a great feeling to be an AA, I can’t let it get to me too much, my teammates are happy about it and that is the most important thing, you need the right teammate and coaches. Sometimes you can feel too good about something and then you fall off because no one is holding you accountable.
It is evident that a lot of teams won’t kick to me, so I’ll have less opportunities at the kickoff position and I know my teammates will do what they do.
Jimmy is just as dangerous as me back there, he has speed, vision and is aggressive, the teams don’t have a choice either kick it out of the end zone or short, teams will have a problem, once they kick to Jimmy more, he can take things to the crib. I’ve got total faith in Jimmy taking it to the house, he is just as happy when I score and I know he can do. So we will either get good field position or they’ll have to kick it out of the end zone.
Coach Trickett is a great dude off the field and a great coach on the field, can’t say anything bad about him, great person and coach. He is putting a couple of new schemes in there and he likes speed and is real passionate about speed, I can do the things he wants to do from the RB position, catching the ball and running routes and flipping the field, that is a big thing in college flipping the field, I like the way he coaches and how he has been doing things.
He just likes to play fast, after one play is over we get to the next play, he likes to play with fast players and get after some mismatches and speed is the ultimate goal for the offense.
We got a different alignment, he is real hard on it, we run a lot more routes out of the backfield, that is one of a few things he does differently, it is similar to coach Weis, but some different tweaks to it.
All the backs have to catch the ball and make plays in the open field and we’ve been working on our hands a lot, we are already pretty good at that, catching the ball isn’t really your main focus, but we’ve spent a lot of time on that.
I feel it is the little things, some plays everyone did their job and the RB missed a block or missed a hole that can be a game-changing play, our biggest issue last year was we were not finishing. AJ our stretch and conditioning coach took it on our shoulders, he thought we needed to be stronger in the second half of games. Everyone locking in in the weight room and doing your job on the field. When you break down plays from last year a few plays and mistakes add up, could’ve put up more points, we could’ve made more plays and stopped other teams too.
