BYU Football Offensive Coordinator Aaron Roderick talks with the media during Spring Practice. March 30, 2024
Presented by Mountain America Credit Union
#byufootball #gocougs
We’re improving we get I thought we got better this spring still have a long way to go but um definite Improvement yeah especially in our Run game we we worked really hard at that this spring and I think we’re heading in the right direction obviously everyone interested
In the QB battle uh how’s that going it’s going well and and uh you know it’s only 15 practices and we’ll get another you know about double that in Fall Camp so um still you know working our way through it but I thought both those both
Those guys did a lot of good things this spring what are their strengths that you like most and how unique are they from each other uh they’re actually more similar than they are different yeah they’re both they’re both athletic uh they both uh you know can make the
Throws that we need them to make in this offense and they’re both really smart uh of course Gary has a little more experience overall Jake has the advantage of uh knowing our offense a little better than Gary does so um it’s been it’s been a really really good
Battle the battle going to go into into fall or you going to yeah it’ll go it’ll go into fall what do you want them to work on uh during the summer before fall Camp well uh in Gary’s case it’s just getting more comfortable with our with the language
Of our offense where um he doesn’t you know get to the point where you don’t have to think about what the words mean you just you can just go play you know um and then in Jake’s case it’s just continuing to take great care of the ball he Jake had zero interceptions the
Whole spring I think I think that’s the first time I’ve ever had a quarterback go 15 practices without throwing an interception so um we’ve been not talking about it’s like having a no hitter you know he he made it through practice 15 today without a pick so wow
That was and that was a big deal because last year he had some critical turnovers and so the goal of spring was to eliminate those and he did a good job of that talk about the Run game one have Improvement there what is the biggest Improvement You’ seen is the o line
Running backs what what caused you think they had Improvement all areas I mean the Run game is I keep saying this the Run game is an 11-man deal every play so um we we improved at all line and our tight ends are are playing really well and um then you know it’s also
Quarterbacks getting us into the right play cuz a lot of our run plays are checks um so there’s a lot to it but I think we’ve improved in all those areas what will be the number one criteria for picking the starting quarterback just the one the guy that takes best care of
The ball and moves the team and moves the team best you know so those two things combined but you can you can take care of the ball if you’re really conservative never do anything with it so we want to uh you know that that balance of being able to still be
Aggressive and move the team but also take care of the football in those you noted that red left had no interceptions in those passes how much of that work was deep passes down field that was a lot we we um we ran our offense we throw
The ball down the field in this offense and so was not we were not being conservative or anything like that we were just playing football how important was the physicality here in the spring we talked about it a number of times how beneficial was it to go live and and
Push those guys that way well it’s important because I I don’t know any other way to get better running the ball other than to just go out and hit and be aggressive work at and so uh that’s what we did and did a little bit more of that
Than usual um but I thought it was necessary and again we’re not there yet but we’re going in the right direction I believe will you consider adding another quarter back in the transfer portal post spring no talk about you guys being banged up in the spring just bump some
Bruises you suffered any long-term injuries to your knowledge on the offense um I don’t think anyone that’s going to miss the season right like that yeah we have a few guys banged up but I I don’t I don’t think so are there positions that you feel you need out of
The transfer portal or now coming out of spring well we’re we we’re a little bit low at o line right now just numbers wise I mean we like the guys we have we’re just down a couple numbers so um if we can find an old lineman or two we
Will are you still happy with your group of running backs or I like our running backs um and probably I don’t I don’t see us we’re not actively looking for you know any running backs or receivers or that you never say never you never turn away a great player if somebody
Wants to be here I think at any position um but our need right now is just one two line The Experience level you have in the receiving core if all those guys are healthy how dangerous can this core be uh I think it’s going to be a solid
Group you know all those guys had their moments last year and then they also all kind of had their moments of uh first year in the Big 12 a couple of those guys first year in our offense and um know some ups and downs I think this
Year you’re going to see the experience of you know taking some lumps last year I I expect that to pay off this year for those guys and have a lot of belief in that group is the count of Hill experimented Titan end work absolutely he’s a tight end he’s doing a really
Good job and uh it’s been great because he doesn’t have to battle his weight to to stay light enough to play receiver he’s just he’s 240 245 easy and and uh he’s a he’s a mismatch as a route runner at tight end and he’s a good blocker will you release a depth chart
To your players to kind of let them know where they stand heading into post spring sure yeah we have exit interviews with all of our players in the next week or two we’ll let every guy on this team know exactly where they stand and do you
Have a clear sense of what the starters already look like for your group for the fall not exactly no I me there’s you know you know you’ve got good idea who you’re uh who’s battling for playing time but most of those things will go into fall Camp LJ Martin was pretty
Impressive as a freshman where where does he need to take that next step um just just same thing like you know he had his moments last year too where he looked really great and then there’s things where he’s a rookie and it’s the first time this happened or the first
Time that happened I think next year you’re going to see The Experience show where he’s going to play faster he’s going to make fewer mistakes and he’s going to be even more of an every down player hey R how are you g to evolve as a play caller offensively you know going
Into the second year do you change much or is just about executing you know kind of the Bas the the schemes that you you have in place I think um you always want a little bit of change but if you’re if you’re completely revamping all the time you’re
Probably not going to be good at anything so I think every year you know we’re trying to keep uh the majority of our offense intact but have enough uh enough change and enough Evolution that we’re featuring our best players and that we’re also staying um hard to
Defend after an entire Spring ball early Returns on TJ woods and and gilbride is in their position groups how they LED those positions they’re both outstanding coaches and we’re really glad they’re here very good it’s not having a spring game as the coordinator set you back at
All no in fact I actually prefer not to have a spring game because um first of all in the spring game you don’t want to show anything you know to your opponents and today we did a whole bunch of stuff today it was like first time ever tried
It stuff um which was fun you know and and you can’t do that in the spring game and then secondly in the spring game you’re so worried about getting anybody injured they usually hold out guys and today everybody practiced pretty much everyone um and so yeah spring game is
It’s fun for the fans but for me sometimes it feels like kind of a waste of practice so we got to me we got one more one more practice there sum are newcomers that you’re expecting that you feel could contribute to this team like maybe a Cody Hagen no moyak was out here
Yeah there’s some good players that are going to be joining us and you never really know who’s going to emerge but there are definitely some guys that will be joining us that have uh the ability to help us in the fall if they can get caught up with you know the knowledge
The off knowledge of the offense what are your priorities the next few months what needs to happen uh well we’ll start recruiting real soon to you that’s always That Never Ends um but just continue we got to continue to have a great summer now spring and summer um development is
Going to be key like a lot of our young players and a few of our new guys just keep developing their skill set and also developing in their knowledge of what we’re doing and last one for Coach guys I guess last thing from us how would you
Evaluate your offense based on this time last year versus what you’re seeing this very well I think we’re I think we’re ahead of where we were last year you know last year we uh we lost so many of those offensive linemen it was a whole new group
Um and I was uh you know I thought I thought last year we were I guess farther ahead than I than I thought as far as our development of that group and um this year so I’m a little bit reluctant to say for sure but
I I think I think we’re on the right track I feel like our defense has improved and we’re we’re doing a lot of good things against those guys so I think we’re heading in the right direction but U we know how tough our schedule is so we’re going to stay
Humble and keep working
