Weird media avail today, just basically me and Joey Johnston from USF's official site on the call asking questions except for the most tone-deaf stupid question in a while to open from Leo Haggarty. He asked Aiken who is talking for the first-time at USF as an assistant about Duke pulling out of the ACC/NCAA Tournament.
ON HIS BACKGROUND PRIOR TO GETTING HIRED AT USF
First of all played High School ball from little town Easley, South Carolina, grew up our vacations were kind of going to away football games, and that just happened to be at Clemson and then you know, we'd watch old games in our van. So I'm definitely just the guy is love football, loved every aspect of it, went to college and just kind of wanted to be a part of the game wasn't quite good enough to, to play collegiately but I still loved it want to be a part of the game was fortunate enough where coach Swinney's first full year in the spring with my first-year as a manager, and kind of learned there and then from there, I was able to get kind of a student-assistant job upstairs and be able to just kind of learn there and my flat first was ready to go coach High School ball. But I just again, kind of right place right time the Lord really took care of me was able to be around some great coaches, and they liked me and just kind of kept learning and learning and ended up got a graduate assistant job at University of Birmingham, working with the quarterbacks. And that's the year the program actually shut down. And by the grace of God, Coach Swinney had some spots at Clemson open up, he hired me back and coach Scott had a lot to do with that. gratefully indebted to him to get me back as a video GA after six months moved up to kind of an analyst spot. And really rest is history just kind of was able to move on to that senior analyst spot clumps in there for six years and just be able to learn, definitely indebted and eternally grateful just to be have some great coaches to be able to monitor and obviously some great players too, that comes in to kind of open that pathway up.
ON BEING AROUND CLEMSON AT THE GROUND FLOOR OF THEIR RISE
When I was at Clemson we actually lost to USF in a bowl game. I was there. I was on sideline and so you know, definitely I've seen kind of how to build a program I've been able to watch under how to do it the easy way. There's no there's no elevator success. You definitely got to take the stairs. And I've seen a a university kind of changes mindset, which that's what I'm super excited about. I'm super excited about the leadership here at South Florida from the top from the top down, you know, and that's, that's Michael Kelly, man. He's on board. I love him and love his passion. That's our president. That's coach Scott. That's the staff he surrounded around and also being at UAB, you know, I took over and join the UAB staff and coach Bill Clark in 2014. And they just went three and nine the year before and my first year here, it was definitely a lot of the same things, just getting the right attitude of belief, getting the kids to buy in love them, you know, pull a family together and we ended up going 66 and got bowl eligible. Now they cut the program but, ended up brought back and pushcarts did a good job. But yeah, so I think those things things I can draw on. No doubt seeing that kind of clips and thing, rah, rah. rah, before you know it, it's just second nature to be able to win.
ON THE RUNNING BACK ROOM
I'm super excited about the running back room. I'll be honest with you. Whenever you take a new job, you obviously did not recruit the kids and you don't really know what to expect and ask from an athletic standpoint, that's also from an attitude standpoint. Are they going to be on board? Are they good? Are they Got to appreciate and really buy into what I'm posting, I'll just be honest, these kids from day one have want to be coach, they're humble, they're hungry, I've been able to see a move around. And it's not just one guy. I mean, I'll be completely honest with you. I hate we lost Leo (Leonard Parker) he was having an awesome, mat drills, he got two chips, which are things coach Scott kind of gives up gives out to particular players, not everybody gets them, he earned that twice in two different days. But he missed out, but the other guys, all four of them are really working their tails off, and now five, Mychael (Hamilton) from from safety and he's done a great job, but all of them within their, you know, within their own way have great things that they can contribute. They're quick, they're fast, they're tough. They give great effort. They're physical, and, and they're really getting the mentality that I like, and I've been very, very pleased and just their buy in and what they're able to do.
ON WORKING WITH CHARLIE WEIS JR. AS THE OC
Coach Weis, he's awesome. And I'll be honest with you, that's one of the reasons I kind of took this job is because I'm one I knew the culture coach Scott was going to get in place. And I knew, I just know the kind of man he is, and nobody's going to be able to know how he's going to run things. I don't number two, I know some people on staff, but the people that did not know, you know, in football circles, you asked around Utah, and within a year, I've really been able to hear great things about the people that coach has hired that I didn't quite know, I mean, you know, just asking guys here, there, man, he's a great coach, but he's a better man. And for me, that was a big thing, while being my wife, we decided to move our kids, you know, get down here, we'll have a second one here in April, but just great people, but I've loved coach wise, he is also he is a rising. He's a rising star. I mean, if you can say rising, he's kind of, you know, see 27. But it's been really good to collaborate with him and kind of pick his brain on some things that I've seen, because I've studied a lot of the things he's done, but maybe I didn't quite know, the coaching point. And he's been able to kind of add that coaching point. And that really, really pleased with that. And that's been good for me personally, just to kind of bounce ideas off him and Okay, that's why you guys do that. I like that. I like that a lot. So very, very pleased with that.
ON WHAT HE IS LOOKING FOR FROM THE RB POSITION IN THIS OFFENSE
Well, first of all, it starts with kind of just having the right mentality. And it starts with great effort all the time, efforts non negotiable. And that's the one thing that I came in, you know, a big priority, I wanted to make these guys because number one, the way you look at the running back position now is it doesn't have to be a one guy thing. You look at the NFL, you look at all the successful college team, it can be a three to four headed monster. And so I tell these guys, like, Hey, you got to give me everything you got. And when you're tired, what's up, man, because I do believe after seeing the guys in my room, we have guys that are capable of doing the job and, you know, really can bring different things to the table. So that's number one great effort, great effort all the time. Number two, man, you got to be physical. This is a physical game. It's a tough game. It's a physical position. And the guys know that I expect that I mean that that's the mentality. And that's, that's, that's physical toughness, that's been able to load your shoulder, lower your pads, get that extra yard on third one step up, when a linebackers Blitz and put your face in the fan and protect the quarterback, that's also a mental toughness. You know, that's when we're in summer conditioning. Hey, Stan, straight up, and not only yourself, but your teammates in the unit that's uh, you know, when things maybe aren't going great, the momentum, maybe we throw a pick six or something like that, it's okay, I'm going to move on to the next play, the game still going on. And so those are the two things I'm really big on number three 100%, ball security, you know, as a running back, you have to protect the ball. And so we work that every single day, we talk about it every single day, I'm probably on the guy's nerves already, because I'm all the time talking about that stress that hiding tight, you know, not dropping your ribs below your elbow squeezing in between your chest, not swinging the ball when you're running. And then before we got to protect the quarterback more and pass protection, what we use, we said Secret Service mentality. You know, we're always going to be there at any moment to somebody gets within reach of that quarterback, and we're past protection, we got to throw our body and take that bullet for okay. And so those are kind of things that that I stress, just the main things that obviously some other core things. And the fifth thing I'll say is knowledge, you have to have a knowledge of what we're doing. I think the old saying is what you know, would you rather have a guy that runs for four and plays for eight or a god maybe runs for eight and plays for four? Well, my question is, you know, my answer is I want a guy that runs four forward and plays for two. So the point of that is Hey, guys, you might be fast. But let's translate that field let's know what's going on. And let's know your job. And you know, the whole job of the play understand everything. And so those are the things I stress and, again, the guy's got a really good job of buying into that. I can't complain at all really, really pleased with with my guys, his players and people. They've been very All right. Thank you, coach. Go, let's go now.
ON HIS BACKGROUND PRIOR TO GETTING HIRED AT USF
First of all played High School ball from little town Easley, South Carolina, grew up our vacations were kind of going to away football games, and that just happened to be at Clemson and then you know, we'd watch old games in our van. So I'm definitely just the guy is love football, loved every aspect of it, went to college and just kind of wanted to be a part of the game wasn't quite good enough to, to play collegiately but I still loved it want to be a part of the game was fortunate enough where coach Swinney's first full year in the spring with my first-year as a manager, and kind of learned there and then from there, I was able to get kind of a student-assistant job upstairs and be able to just kind of learn there and my flat first was ready to go coach High School ball. But I just again, kind of right place right time the Lord really took care of me was able to be around some great coaches, and they liked me and just kind of kept learning and learning and ended up got a graduate assistant job at University of Birmingham, working with the quarterbacks. And that's the year the program actually shut down. And by the grace of God, Coach Swinney had some spots at Clemson open up, he hired me back and coach Scott had a lot to do with that. gratefully indebted to him to get me back as a video GA after six months moved up to kind of an analyst spot. And really rest is history just kind of was able to move on to that senior analyst spot clumps in there for six years and just be able to learn, definitely indebted and eternally grateful just to be have some great coaches to be able to monitor and obviously some great players too, that comes in to kind of open that pathway up.
ON BEING AROUND CLEMSON AT THE GROUND FLOOR OF THEIR RISE
When I was at Clemson we actually lost to USF in a bowl game. I was there. I was on sideline and so you know, definitely I've seen kind of how to build a program I've been able to watch under how to do it the easy way. There's no there's no elevator success. You definitely got to take the stairs. And I've seen a a university kind of changes mindset, which that's what I'm super excited about. I'm super excited about the leadership here at South Florida from the top from the top down, you know, and that's, that's Michael Kelly, man. He's on board. I love him and love his passion. That's our president. That's coach Scott. That's the staff he surrounded around and also being at UAB, you know, I took over and join the UAB staff and coach Bill Clark in 2014. And they just went three and nine the year before and my first year here, it was definitely a lot of the same things, just getting the right attitude of belief, getting the kids to buy in love them, you know, pull a family together and we ended up going 66 and got bowl eligible. Now they cut the program but, ended up brought back and pushcarts did a good job. But yeah, so I think those things things I can draw on. No doubt seeing that kind of clips and thing, rah, rah. rah, before you know it, it's just second nature to be able to win.
ON THE RUNNING BACK ROOM
I'm super excited about the running back room. I'll be honest with you. Whenever you take a new job, you obviously did not recruit the kids and you don't really know what to expect and ask from an athletic standpoint, that's also from an attitude standpoint. Are they going to be on board? Are they good? Are they Got to appreciate and really buy into what I'm posting, I'll just be honest, these kids from day one have want to be coach, they're humble, they're hungry, I've been able to see a move around. And it's not just one guy. I mean, I'll be completely honest with you. I hate we lost Leo (Leonard Parker) he was having an awesome, mat drills, he got two chips, which are things coach Scott kind of gives up gives out to particular players, not everybody gets them, he earned that twice in two different days. But he missed out, but the other guys, all four of them are really working their tails off, and now five, Mychael (Hamilton) from from safety and he's done a great job, but all of them within their, you know, within their own way have great things that they can contribute. They're quick, they're fast, they're tough. They give great effort. They're physical, and, and they're really getting the mentality that I like, and I've been very, very pleased and just their buy in and what they're able to do.
ON WORKING WITH CHARLIE WEIS JR. AS THE OC
Coach Weis, he's awesome. And I'll be honest with you, that's one of the reasons I kind of took this job is because I'm one I knew the culture coach Scott was going to get in place. And I knew, I just know the kind of man he is, and nobody's going to be able to know how he's going to run things. I don't number two, I know some people on staff, but the people that did not know, you know, in football circles, you asked around Utah, and within a year, I've really been able to hear great things about the people that coach has hired that I didn't quite know, I mean, you know, just asking guys here, there, man, he's a great coach, but he's a better man. And for me, that was a big thing, while being my wife, we decided to move our kids, you know, get down here, we'll have a second one here in April, but just great people, but I've loved coach wise, he is also he is a rising. He's a rising star. I mean, if you can say rising, he's kind of, you know, see 27. But it's been really good to collaborate with him and kind of pick his brain on some things that I've seen, because I've studied a lot of the things he's done, but maybe I didn't quite know, the coaching point. And he's been able to kind of add that coaching point. And that really, really pleased with that. And that's been good for me personally, just to kind of bounce ideas off him and Okay, that's why you guys do that. I like that. I like that a lot. So very, very pleased with that.
ON WHAT HE IS LOOKING FOR FROM THE RB POSITION IN THIS OFFENSE
Well, first of all, it starts with kind of just having the right mentality. And it starts with great effort all the time, efforts non negotiable. And that's the one thing that I came in, you know, a big priority, I wanted to make these guys because number one, the way you look at the running back position now is it doesn't have to be a one guy thing. You look at the NFL, you look at all the successful college team, it can be a three to four headed monster. And so I tell these guys, like, Hey, you got to give me everything you got. And when you're tired, what's up, man, because I do believe after seeing the guys in my room, we have guys that are capable of doing the job and, you know, really can bring different things to the table. So that's number one great effort, great effort all the time. Number two, man, you got to be physical. This is a physical game. It's a tough game. It's a physical position. And the guys know that I expect that I mean that that's the mentality. And that's, that's, that's physical toughness, that's been able to load your shoulder, lower your pads, get that extra yard on third one step up, when a linebackers Blitz and put your face in the fan and protect the quarterback, that's also a mental toughness. You know, that's when we're in summer conditioning. Hey, Stan, straight up, and not only yourself, but your teammates in the unit that's uh, you know, when things maybe aren't going great, the momentum, maybe we throw a pick six or something like that, it's okay, I'm going to move on to the next play, the game still going on. And so those are the two things I'm really big on number three 100%, ball security, you know, as a running back, you have to protect the ball. And so we work that every single day, we talk about it every single day, I'm probably on the guy's nerves already, because I'm all the time talking about that stress that hiding tight, you know, not dropping your ribs below your elbow squeezing in between your chest, not swinging the ball when you're running. And then before we got to protect the quarterback more and pass protection, what we use, we said Secret Service mentality. You know, we're always going to be there at any moment to somebody gets within reach of that quarterback, and we're past protection, we got to throw our body and take that bullet for okay. And so those are kind of things that that I stress, just the main things that obviously some other core things. And the fifth thing I'll say is knowledge, you have to have a knowledge of what we're doing. I think the old saying is what you know, would you rather have a guy that runs for four and plays for eight or a god maybe runs for eight and plays for four? Well, my question is, you know, my answer is I want a guy that runs four forward and plays for two. So the point of that is Hey, guys, you might be fast. But let's translate that field let's know what's going on. And let's know your job. And you know, the whole job of the play understand everything. And so those are the things I stress and, again, the guy's got a really good job of buying into that. I can't complain at all really, really pleased with with my guys, his players and people. They've been very All right. Thank you, coach. Go, let's go now.
