The Kevin Sheehan Show - Are They Ready Or Not?

Episode Date: August 28, 2022

Kevin with a weekend pod recapping the preseason finale against Baltimore. Ben Standig jumped on from M&T Bank Stadium to discuss final cuts and more. After Ben, Maryland Football Head Coach Mike Locksley joined Kevin to preview what should be Locksley's best team so far in College Park.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it, but you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Chean Show. Here's Kevin. All right, guys, a special podcast late on this Saturday night following Washington's preseason finale against Baltimore. Ben Standing is going to jump on the show here in moments from M&T Bank Stadium. And then following Ben, Terps coach Mike Loxley will be my guest to help us preview what should be his best team since he arrived. in college park four years ago.

Maryland is a 21-point favorite in their opener Saturday against Buffalo in College Park. My bookie is a place you can make that wager if you like the Terps laying 21. They are going to be an explosive offensive football team. Now, will it happen against Ohio State and Michigan? I don't know, but it might happen and probably will happen against the likes of Buffalo. MyBooky is the presenting sponsor of the podcast tonight, and my bookie wants you to sign up using my promo code and they'll double your first deposit.

Yeah, it's a double deposit bonus. It's quick, it's easy. A $250 deposit puts $500 in your account. You can use your funds to bet instantly on as many games, contests, and props as you want. College football got underway today. Big upset, Northwestern beat Nebraska, right in Dublin, Ireland, 31 to 28. Scott Frost in his last 10 games in Lincoln, one in nine,

our good friend Tim Murray tweeted this out, the point differential during that one and nine streak minus two points. I mean, they have been so close. But he made a decision today to kick an onside kick in the third quarter up 28 to 17. They didn't get it. It totally turned the game around. The natives are restless in Lincoln. Scott Frost better get it done and better get it turned around in a hurry. I wish I'd given Northwestern out as the first smell test pick of the year, and you could have bet it at My Bookie. To claim your bonus at My Bookie, register today.

Use my promo code, Kevin D.C., that's Kevin D.C. It'll add more excitement to the games and the sports you love. We are just over a week and a half away from the actual NFL opener. the Rams and the bills a week from Thursday night. Right now you can bet on team win totals. You can predict the Super Bowl winner or use the MyBooky prop builder to secure your winnings. Your winning season begins today exclusively at MyBooky. Again, use my promo code, Kevin D.C.

And if there's something already written in the promo code section, erase it and write Kevin D.C. All right, Washington finishes up its preseason as the commanders, the first ever, preseason as the commanders winless. They lost to Carolina, 2321. They lost to the Chiefs 24 to 14, and they lost to the Ravens in Baltimore, 17 to 15, extending Baltimore's NFL record preseason win streak to 23 games, right? 23 games. I'm pretty sure that's what it is.

Sam Hal did his best to end that streak. He went the whole way as Ron Rivera chose to sit, all of his offensive starters. Just a few players like Jamon Davis, Benjamin St. Juice, among the players to be at or near the top of the depth chart that played, everybody else given the night off. We kind of guessed that would happen this week when he said the starter's minutes would be limited. And I said, you know, he said something similar last year before the preseason finale against the Ravens and played nobody. So that's what I predicted would happen. And for the most part, it did. He sat everybody.

and I don't know if that's important or not. And that's what I want to mention real quickly. You know, it's a mixed bag in this preseason with NFL teams playing or not playing their starters. Specific to this final weekend so far, Brady started tonight against Indianapolis where Matt Ryan played the first three offensive series for the Colts. No less so far, no less than 11 starting quarterbacks have played this weekend and they're still. more games scheduled for tomorrow. So it could be that close to half the teams in the league decided that with the opener more than two weeks away, it made more sense for them to play some of their starters and their starting quarterbacks in particular than not play them

at all and have them have basically a three-plus week layoff before the opener. Because that's what it's going to be for Carson Wentz. It'll be three weeks. He played last Saturday. and it'll be just over three weeks before he plays against another opponent. I mean, Ron must be confident that his group is ready to go. Or he's just confident that playing his starters wouldn't be worth the risk, that the reward, excuse me, just isn't worth the risk of losing them to injury. And I understand that concern, and a lot of teams understand that concern. But still, there are starting quarterbacks playing.

James Winston played last night. Looked good, by the way. That's a team that I am really starting to think has a chance to be much better than maybe people are thinking in the NFC South. I think the Saints, if Winston can stay healthy, with Thomas back, with Alave, with Kamara, with a pretty good defense. I think they've got a chance. But anyway, I digress.

I mean, tonight, Justin Fields, Jacoby Brissette started, Tua started, as I mentioned, Brady and Matt Ryan started. You had last night, you had in New England, you had Mack Jones getting the start, didn't look very good yet. Trey Lance playing the other night. You had James Winston, as I mentioned. So yeah, teams are even teams with, you know,

quarterbacks that they're confident in are playing some of these guys. And again, some teams are not. I don't know whether or not it will ultimately, be something that you could even prove matters. But the bottom line is, Ron Rivera's teams have been notorious slow starters. They've also been fast finishers. We've documented that since the day he got hired,

and it really hasn't changed here. Last year, obviously the last few games were a disaster, but that was really, you know, there's a reasonable explanation. It was lots of injuries and lots of COVID. But they had a four-game winning, streak late November into early December. They were playing their best football of the year before COVID hit. And obviously they finished strong in 2020. This has been kind of his hallmark as a coach.

Slow starts, fast finishes. The slow starts include seven of his 11 seasons as a head coach starting one in three or worse in the first four games. Seven of his 11 seasons as a head coach. seven of his 11 seasons as a head coach. The first four games, in seven of those 11 seasons, he's been one in three or worse than one in three. So I, and then by the way, in several seasons, it extended to one and five, one and six, one and five again, one and five again, two and six.

You know, he was one in five here in 2020 and two and six last year. I can't tell you if playing starters in the preseason more would change that. I actually believe, and I've said this many times, it is a strong signal to me that a coach is a good coach. When you see that coach figure things out during a season and then watch his team get better and play its best football at the end of the year. I think that's the mark of a good coach, somebody who figures it out and has his team playing its best at the end of the year. Gibbs was obviously one of those coaches. I think there's something positive about that. But strong finishes don't mean that you can't start strong too. You know, start well and improve from a baseline of, let's say, three and three or two and two or four and three rather

than from one and five. But what is clear is that he must have a certain level of belief that Carson Wentz and the offense in particular are all going to look ready when the games begin to count two weeks from tomorrow for them against Jacksonville. We shall see as far as the Baltimore game goes. Here are a few takeaways, and really these takeaways also serve as a look ahead as well. Takeaway number one is, again, Rivera not playing the starters, really not playing the starters much at all in the preseason. I mean, Carson Wentz and the starting offense really never had a series altogether because of some of the injuries to the offensive line. But in terms of him, he ended up getting, what, seven total series in the preseason? They need to prove him right that they didn't need the live work, you know, especially considering they didn't get a team to scrimmage against this summer.

Again, takeaway number two. Sam Howell, it's the preseason. He's playing against Baltimore's two's three. and fours and whatever. I just, I liked the way he competed. You know, if you watch college football and you've watched North Carolina, what you saw tonight is really a lot of what you've seen

from Sam Howell as a college quarterback. And I mentioned this after the opener against Carolina in the preseason, he's got a lot of Taylor Heineke in him. He's a gamer, he's a play extender, he's a playmaker. The big difference is, is that Sam Hal's got a bigger arm and can make more throws.

than Taylor Heineke. He was 24 of 35 for 280 yards a touchdown, took five sacks, rushed eight times for 62 yards. You know, in a game in which Washington, you know, generated near 400 yards of offense with him going the whole way. Look, he's the third string quarterback. Taylor Heineke's going to start as the backup. And I was not a big fan of Howell coming out. I thought he took, you know, like tonight, I thought he took a lot of sacks at Carolina. made a lot of bad plays in trying to make big plays and sometimes got himself into more trouble

than it was worth. But he's got some talent. There's no doubt about that. And in this day and age where mobility at that position is crucial, he has it. Just something to keep in mind really more for next off season and a conversation about him if this season doesn't go well, maybe towards the end of this season, certainly I would hope that if this season were to go south in a big way, that instead of riding the season out with Taylor Heineke, they would ride it out with Sam Howell. That would make more sense to me. But we're putting the cart before the horse because obviously we're hopeful that they're not in that position to make that decision.

But I thought Sam Howell really showed in a lot of the opportunities he had in the preseason, and we knew he would have a lot of opportunities in the first season. preseason. I thought that he just showed what he did at Carolina. He's a gamer, and he can make some plays. Takeaway number three, Diami Brown, I've been hinting at this now for three weeks, and I know that some of you picked up on it, and I didn't come out and say that Diommy Brown was in trouble, because I'm not even sure that I knew that or felt that. I just had an educated hunch that he wasn't having the best of camps, that they were loaded at the position, And that, you know, don't be shocked if, let's just say he's playing a lot in the preseason finale

so that he can show them something to stick. They loved him coming out of Carolina. And he got to play with his college quarterback tonight. He dropped two big third downs, including a touchdown pass that was well thrown by Sam Hal. He tried to one-hand it. He shouldn't have. And that was a catchable ball for a touchdown. I don't know if it would have made the difference.

Ron Rivera actually said tonight after the game that there were four to seven spots up for grabs. I don't know if Diami Brown was one of those spots. We will find out Tuesday at four. I think he's on the final roster, but I'm not sure, and I wouldn't bet on it. But if he is on the final roster, he is in that inactive role, is my prediction. Another takeaway from tonight. Joey Sly missed another kick. I mean, I'm going to ask Ben about this. I want to see what. Rivera said about it if anybody asked him about it. But, I mean, you can't have another year with kicker issues. Joey Sly's got a massive leg. You can't miss the kind of field goals that he missed.

I mean, tonight's field goal attempt was a 43-yarder. I mean, it was hooked badly. He missed a PAT in the preseason game against the Panthers. I don't know if they're going to bring in another kicker this week. I don't think they are. Jamin Davis is another takeaway for me tonight. He was out there early and I thought he looked good. I think he's playing more athletically and not thinking as much. Kooley pointed that out. If you missed Kooley on the podcast Friday, it's there. Kooley had watched the first two preseason games and had some thoughts on Jamin Davis in particular. You know, they wanted to see him out there a little bit. He had a tackle for loss early in the game. I don't know what we're going to see from Jamie Davis this year, but he is an athlete, that is for sure.

And he's got some speed. And if he can just go play football and just go get the ball. But that's not the way they play. They play a very gap sound system. You've got to be there to play the system and be disciplined. I think Jamie Davis, they should have known that when they drafted him. It was probably too early. Dax Milne, another takeaway from tonight.

They love the guy. They have liked the guy. Rivera mentioned him. I saw somebody tweet out in the post game, which is going on right now, that he's stood out all summer long. They liked him before the summer began. They liked him last year. They used to like Diami Brown.

Not as much anymore, I'm afraid for Diami. Although, to be fair to him, again, they've got legit depth at the position. Lastly, just, you know, an annual reminder, the roster, when it gets cut down to 53 on Tuesday, doesn't mean that that's going to be the roster we see against Jacksonville, especially now with the three preseason games, and the time that you have to prepare a new acquisition for the regular season. It used to be the cuts came on Saturday, eight days before the regular season began. Now, you know, they come 12 days before the regular season begins,

and so you have more time to prepare a player that you claim off waivers. Secondary depth, linebacker, tight end maybe. look for Washington to perhaps be active when you get a lot of players released from other teams. As far as that cut down date on Tuesday goes, Ben Standing will join me next and tell us what he thinks about some of those final roster spots. I don't know if he's got his 53-man projection out yet, but we will check with him right after these words from a few of our sponsors. jumping on the podcast right now as he is getting ready to leave Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium following the end of the preseason. Thankfully, a 1715 Washington loss. Baltimore extends their NFL consecutive win streak in preseason.

All right. So here we are. Two weeks from tonight we'll be sitting here on the eve of the regular season. Did this preseason training camp in preseason, make you more confident than you were going into it, less confident in the team than you were going into it, or are you in the same spot you were two and a half, three weeks ago, four weeks ago now?

Yeah, I think I'm in the same spot now that we're done. I mean, it's kind of ebbed and flowed, but, you know, we've seen the upside potential with Carson wins in the offensive. The opposite isn't played tonight, but we've seen the potential there with the deep ball in particular, and we've also seen some of the concerns that have been mentioned before we got here. You know, the defense, I think by and large did a lot of good things throughout the training camp,

but then we saw in the two preseason games they played in full, they still have those struggles on third-down defense. I think we see some of the young guys, notably John Dodson, ready to contribute, but we still have questions at linebacker and cornerback, at least from a depth perspective, So that's why I'm like, I don't know. I mean, I'm sure there are some things that have changed to a degree, but in total, I still feel like I have sort of the same, you know, on, I haven't said one and injured questions as I did in many cases before all this started.

So, you know, I'm still in that eight, nine win range, but that's kind of where I'm still at. Yeah, I mean, eight, nine wins is optimistic. I mean, eight to nine wins puts them in contention for a playoff spot and what is perceived to be a weakened. NFC. So that's not, you know, people might say, oh, that sounds pretty pessimistic or negative. No, that's actually optimistic. That's over their projected win total, which is seven and a half. So why do you think, I mean, I kind of had this sense, and I think you did too, that Ron Rivera wasn't going to play anybody. He kind of said similar things last year before the Baltimore game and

didn't play anybody. Why do you think he chose not to play his starters, especially on offense where, you know, Carson Wentz didn't get that much work with the starters in the preseason? I mean, I have to imagine the overriding factor is just caution because of injuries, right? I mean, you know, we see, you know, we saw in that, what game was yesterday, Carolina, where their starting kicker gets hurt and Sam Darnold gets hurt. And, you know, obviously, it's a physical game and things happen. Other games happen where people even get hurt, but I have to be that's the overriding factor.

He ultimately played three starters a little bit on defense, Jamie Davis, James, Smith-Williams, and Benjamin St. Hughes. But other than that, everybody else got the night off of them, some pre-game work. And, you know, I just think, I think they just probably figure they'll get as much out of practice as they get in these things, whether that's fair or not, I'll leave that up to the coaches. But, you know, I think that's got up to the ultimate reason.

biggest storyline to come out of the preseason was what? Out of the preseason. I mean, I mean, Chase Young didn't play, but I kind of still on some level, that was the answer. I mean, at the start of all this, we kind of knew he would miss a little bit of time, but now we know it's at least four games. You know, whatever this defense is going to be, it's not all on him for sure, but obviously he's a huge component.

So the fact that he's going to be out of least four games, and I would probably get more than me. that. You know, they're going to have to figure out how to, you know, make up for that. Obviously, they have James Smith-Williams and, you know, some other guys, but they don't have anybody with his potential. And, you know, when we talk about, like, when we look at these, like this third-down defense over the last two games, I think the lack of consistent pass rush and discipline

that Rivera has talked about has been part of the, probably the big reason why teams have been able to convert on third. So, you know, I think that's going to be a huge factor. for sure. There's other stories, of course, the Antonio Gibson situation at running back. Yeah, that's. Carson Wentz. Yeah, I think the Gibson thing more than anything else. I mean, we obviously understood that they drafted a running back and that they liked him and that they probably had some concerns. But I don't think we saw essentially after one preseason game, Gibson being demoted in Brian Robinson, Jr. being elevated to the starting running back position.

To me, that was kind of one of the biggest storylines or certainly the biggest surprise maybe. I guess somebody could have predicted that. I wouldn't have predicted it for the opener, but I think that's what we're going to get. Yeah, I think this is accelerated faster than any of us would have imagined. I mean, I guess I'll pat myself on the back slightly by saying, you know, going back before the draft. You're calling for a running back. I can say it. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. being all that. And then even, you know, as we were, I was writing some things for the website, for the athletic about, like, fantasy football type stuff. And it was a lot of, like, look, in terms of Antonio Gibson, I think, you know, be prepared. He's going to get less touches. That may make them more effective, but ultimately, I think he's going to get less work. And for me, like, Brian Robinson looked at the part of that early down back that Gibson just didn't. And obviously, like we said, it just played out more, it's been accelerated far more, far quicker than I think anyone could have imagined. So I'm with you. I mean, that was a bigger

surprised that it's taken, that's gone like this. And it does look like Robinson would be, you know, the term starter, I think it can be confusing because, like, Jamie McKissick to take the first nap, but in terms of who's going to get the most touch, especially on early down, I think that's typically what we're talking about with the leadback, and it doesn't feel like Robinson's going to be that guy. What did Sam Howell prove, if anything, tonight? Well, I think if you saw, for people who didn't watch his last season in North Carolina, I think you've got a sense of how that went because he was on the run throughout this game.

And that was the deal with him at Carolina. But what you saw was a guy who can move. He's unafraid. Hopefully that doesn't get him hurt at some point down the line. But he's not big, but he's a little burly. He's not afraid to run. And he also, I thought was pretty effective throwing the ball for the most part. I think they easily could have had some more points.

Yami Brown had a couple drops. the potential game time two-point conversion it looked like just from the Washington for the press box that it was there and had Cole and Coles. Yeah, and Colton bringing up. I thought Hal showed pretty good poise. You know, he's got that arm. So, you know, I think if we don't see him again until next offseason, I think he's shown. He's a pretty interesting guy.

And I've been saying, like, I wonder if over the second half of the year there becomes a reason that they need a backup, what would happen there? because obviously Heineke is a clear answer now and maybe is throughout the year, but Hal has more physical tools. And, you know, I wonder if they at some point would think, hey, that's the better way to go. But either way, they have a guy who needs to be interesting for next year, whether that's a potential backup or, you know, who knows what else. Tuesday at 4 is the final cutdown date from 80 to 53. What you've done a 53-man projection.

Give me, is there a chance that there is a surprise? between now and Tuesday night? Yeah, I'm working on my final, final one right now. I'll go to do that once we finish. You know, I don't know if there's anybody that's overly surprising at this point. I know there are some people who mentioned Diombe Brown. I don't see that happening at all, even though he's been very inconsistent this camp. And I would guess it's probably going to be inactive a lot of game days.

Yeah. Because if they keep six receivers, Dax Mill, I think would be the sixth guy, and he'd be the punt returner. So, Brown would sit. Other than that, I don't know. I'm kind of wavering on Khali Hudson, who isn't really a big name, but I think we're all the sort of penciling him in at one of the linebackers. But I don't know.

I just haven't – I think that spot in general. The depth has been questionable for months. It remains that way, and I would easily see them looking to the waiver wire come Tuesday. But I think Clee Hudson, for me, is all on the edge right now either I keep a different linebacker or it just only keep three. I mean, I really don't find this group particularly interesting. And then you got the whole secondary, you know, we just talked to Jeremy Reed with the locker room. He's obviously been on the edge every year he's been here.

He's played pretty well. He's talked about I talked him several times in his camp. He's talked about how he feels he's made a leap in terms of his mentality, his confidence. And that's translated on the field. We saw him make a really nice run stop today. But the question is, how many safeties do they keep? If they keep five, is it him? Is it Stephen Parker?

Or do they not keep five, right? So I think he's on the edge. I think I'll probably have him in, but, you know, he's obviously been on that edge, you know, for the last several years. Is there any concern that they have with Joey Sly after missing two kicks in the preseason? Rivera was asked about that miss, and he was kind of adamant about how Fly just gets like overhyped on whatever his first kick is, and that he tells him Rivera tells Fly to calm down. Then after that first kick, he's better. but that first kick, whatever it is, I guess, he's noticing him.

He's a little amped up, and it's got to chill out if he's going to be missing. But at the moment, I don't think so. We were all kind of joking in the press box that as Washington is driving for the potential game-winning points, you know, we're all focusing on the Ravens of Winning Street, but what happens in Kelly's Flygo's out there and misses a kick. Now we have a story, but it didn't come to that. And I think they're good with it for right now, but, yeah, the game's got to tighten that up if the coach is mentioning that specifically.

If there's a player or two that is on the opening day roster that currently isn't, what positions do they end up being at? Well, I mean, I mean, I think linebacker depth and cornerback depth to me are, you know, highly questionable. I mean, at cornerback, after the top three guys, you know, Fuller Jackson and St. Juice, I mean, you know, you're looking at Danny Johnson, Cornelder, Christian Holmes. I like Danny Johnson and have throughout his time here, but he gave up a long touchdown today. He was picked on a couple times during his preseason.

So I think he's good, but I mean, it's to be on the roster. But, you know, I think they could probably use more than him as the fourth guy. And then, you know, you kind of go from there. So I think that, and then like I said, linebacker, I mean, whether I keep Hudson or not, I don't know if there's, you know, more than four linebackers who I have, making it initially here. So I would easily think they're going to look at the waiver market to see what's out there come Tuesday.

All right. It's a busy week for people like Ben. Follow him on Twitter all week long at Ben Standing. Listen to his podcast. Also subscribe to the athletic. And I'll be retweeting him all week long as well as they get down to 53 by Tuesday at 4 p.m. And then there could be changes because unlike, you know, the past, They'll have, you know, a full week and a half plus, you know, before the opener to get players in here to potentially get ready for a season opener.

Last year, we changed the whole dynamic of that. You got more time to get somebody in here and get them ready for an opener rather than maybe the seven or eight days you used to have. Thanks for doing this. Drive safely and I'll talk to you this week. Awesome, man. Appreciate it, too. All right, up next, the head coach of the Terps. Mike Loxley will jump on with us and help preview what should be his best football team since coming to Maryland four years ago. We'll get to that right after these words from a few of our sponsors.

All right, let's welcome on to the show. The head football coach at the University of Maryland, Mike Loxley. Terps went seven and six last year, blew out Virginia Tech in the Pinstraight Bowl, 54 to 10, and they return a potentially lethal offensive group for the upcoming season, which starts next Saturday, Labor Day weekend against Buffalo in College Park. Coach, you know, you're in your fourth year. I can't believe it's been four years already since you've been back. And I know it's been weird with the pandemic and, you know, no fans there in a shortened schedule.

But, man, time flies, doesn't it? Time flies when you're having fun. And I'm still having fun as we enter in the year for, Kevin, and very appreciative of the great opportunity that I've been afforded by being a head coach here at Maryland. So let me not bury the lead here. You know, many of us are as excited as we've been in a while about Maryland football. It looks to many of us from afar that this might be your best team since you've been here

as the head coach. Are we right? Is this your best team at Maryland? Yeah, and again, I'm not big on the comparisons, but I know I did mention that, that this is the best team I've had since I've been back here. I wouldn't say since I've been at Maryland, but since I've been back as the head coach, by far the best team, and not just because of the talent that we have, but the depth that we've created and then, you know,

the type of playmakers that we've been able to develop over the last few years. So from top to bottom, just the understanding and buy-in that we've gotten, the depth we've created via recruiting and the development of our players, it leads me to say that. Before we get into some of those players, you know, you and I talked right before the bowl game last year. And you told me that the extra practice, the time you get to stick together with your team when you make a bowl game is huge. So how does that, how will that extra practice time pay off? Yeah, you know, the benefit is we've talked about just how you can't put a price tag on how valuable those extra 14, 15 practices were that we were able to have, especially with the development piece. And, you know, I oftentimes use the word we're a developmental program, which means we're going to take good players and we're going to do the things necessary over the course of how we train them, how we teach them, and develop them.

and they'll get better because of the time they spend in our program. And so when you look at some of those guys that will be helping us this year, like a Roman Hemby or Antoine Littleton, you know, these guys redshirted a year ago, but those 14-15 practices that they got leading into the bowl game, and those guys like those two were able to play in that game as their fourth game. So they're not necessarily coming in as just an inexperienced freshman or redshirt freshman. they've gained valuable experience, but we've also been able to expedite their growth and their development

because of those practices. And, I mean, that's across the board. You know, we are a young team, and I know we have a lot of returning starters, but we've got a bunch of guys that have played a lot of football, but then when you look at the bottom part of our rosters and the backups and the number two guys, a lot of those guys are freshmen, registered freshman sophomores that have had a chance now to have basically an extra spring ball

to develop their skill set. Leah Tunga Viloa, to his brother for those that don't know, is on the Manning watch list. One of the expected best quarterbacks in the country this year. He threw for over 3,800 yards last year, 26 touchdowns, 11 picks. I thought he had two of the best games of his career when it mattered the most at the end. Mike against Rutgers' end in the bowl game. He's got a really good chance if he stays healthy, all right? Knock on wood.

To set every Maryland passing record this year. and you and I both know, because we've talked about the past, you know, this was a quarterback factory when you and I were at Bird watching Boomer and Reich and Gelbaugh and O'Donnell. And then you were around for it for guys like Scott McBrion and Sean Hill. What are your expectations for Leah this year? Yeah, you know, I've been on a soapbox in terms of, you know, fighting for my quarterback. I really feel like he's a guy, you know, too many people who saw the national. TV game against Iowa that second quarter where, you know, he threw the interceptions, and I get that.

But to break the single-season passing record, to break the completion percentage record, with the type of quarterbacks you just named having and holding most of those records, I just don't think you can take away that he's been able to do that because of one quarter. Now, is he the finished product? No, not at all. And that's where it's our job to continue to develop them. but, you know, he had seven games of over 300 yards passing. You know, his touchdown, the interception ratio, you know,

wasn't perfect or, like, above average, but it was pretty good. I mean, I think he had 11 picks to, like, 27 touchdowns, and that may be a little off. But I really feel that, you know, if he takes the next step, which we expect him to this year, he'll be one of the guys they talk about as one of the best quarterback in college football this year. Yeah, and I thought, again, I thought that Virginia Tech game, I mean, he was near perfect in that game as he was in the Rutgers game.

And it just seemed like after that, you know, big buildup to that Iowa game on a Friday night, you know, last year, that after that, I thought watching him, he settled down and he just kept getting better and better. And I thought he was at his best at the end of last year. Do you agree with that or not? Yeah, there's no doubt. He kept improving, you know, after the Iowa game, and he took the necessary steps. made the corrections and really finished the year off the way you want your quarterback to finish it off. And, you know, the goal now, and we try not to say build on, because obviously last year has

come and gone, you don't get to pick up where you left off. You actually have to start from ground zero. And then, you know, take last year's experiences and hopefully they help us as we move forward into this year's version of the Maryland football family. just like everybody, you know, I expect Leah to take that next step this year. What do you think is the number one thing he needs to improve upon the most? You know, I've said this and I've seen the improvement, but it's what I've been on him about,

it's just the emotional maturity of playing that position. You know, he's a very emotional player where, you know, when things are going good, I mean, he is super amped and hyped and really a tremendous leader. and then when things aren't going so well, I always tell him my little cold word to say, hey, talk nicely to yourself because he's so competitive and he gets down on himself

when he has a bad play that sometimes that bad play leads to another, which leads to another, which we saw kind of in that second quarter of Iowa where he starts pressing. And I think for a great quarterback, to be a great quarterback, you've got to have a short memory,

you've got to continue to kind of not ride the wave the ebb and flow of a game and don't let your highs be too high or your lows too low and just kind of stay in that neutral socket to where, you know, he's got great talent around them. He doesn't have to win the game. He just needs to do a good job of getting the ball to these playmakers in the right positions for them to make plays. We're talking to Mike Loxley, the head coach of Maryland. Let's talk about the playmakers.

You've got NFL wide receivers on this team. You're loaded at wide receiver. Let's start there. Talk about the guys that you have, Jarrett, and coach. Copeland and obviously Dante Deem is coming back. Yeah, you know, the big one for me is a healthy Dante deem is coming back. And, you know, he's ahead of schedule with it. He's gotten through the summertime.

Even if he's at 90%, I mean, 90% Dante is better than most people's 100%. But his leadership was immeasurable. And when we lost him, we lost basically the soul of our team. But having him back has been really helpful. being able to go get a guy like Jacob Copeland, who I have a history with and know, you know, really, really well. It will be a great addition to that room. You know, Rockham, Jared, stepped up big when Dante went down and did a tremendous job picking up kind of the slack of losing a playmaker like Dante,

and he will only continue to get better. You know, you think about him only playing a five games short in season in 2020, and what he was able to do last year, basically a sophomore. more. J. Sean Jones is back healthy and made a bunch of plays for us here doing training camp. And I've been really happy with Todd Belton, the young receiver, that came on strong force last year before he kind of went out with injury. But really talented room. Yeah, it really is. Tell me about your backs. Last weekend, we saw Tayon Fleet Davis score touchdown for the Chiefs in a preseason game against Washington. So he's gone. But man,

you had a bunch of guys step up in that bowl game in particular. What does the back field look like? Who are we going to see next week against Buffalo? Yeah, I mean, you're going to see four guys that will have a chance to contribute. And, you know, if a guy obviously gets hot, we'll ride him. But, you know, we've always kind of played multiple backs, you know, during my tenure, you know, even at other places, it takes more than one to do it. But, you know, having guys like Kobe McDonald coming back who played a bunch for us last year and made some plays.

Roman Hemby is a three-down guy that's great in protection, great in the passing game, and has the home run speed to hit the home run. Antoine Littleton has been one of the bright spots for us in terms of, you know, he's a guy that came in and really worked to change his body. And for a big back, he's kind of a change. has great feet, great hands in the passing game, a physical tough runner. And then you throw in the true freshman Ramon Brown, who has really jumped out with his size and speed for a young guy. He has a body that's ready to play.

I'm excited about him. And Littleton, man, that's a big dude. And as you said, I mean, great vision and great feet for somebody that size. All right, let's flip it to the other side of the ball. Tell me about the defense, the elevation of Brian Williams to defensive coordinator and some of the players over there. What kind of defense is Maryland football going to have this year? Yeah, you know, our defense doesn't get the notoriety, obviously, because of last season, the last couple of years. We gave up a lot of yarders, gave up a bunch of big plays.

But, you know, without being an excuse-making program, you know, losing Fonaget, Gote, losing Deonté Banks, losing Jacquian Bennett doing, you know, a good chunk of last season, and losing our best pass rush and Daryl Chami didn't help us on defense with those type of starters being out. And so what I can tell you is that we're a healthy team now on defense, having Army Fee now come back for a COVID year, you know, back again, having a guy like Mosei and the Citi Qite and Greg China Rose, who's also doing a COVID year and a healthy Chami will help us in the front end of it.

But then the back end, we have three corners that I think are NFL-type corners, you know, Jacoran Bennett, Deontay Banks and Tar Heet Steel, you know, missing two of those guys a year ago didn't help. And then obviously we lost quite a bit in the safety or the back end with, you know, two guys leaving to go to the next level, and Nick Cross and Jordan Mosley. But we played a lot of football with guys like Dante Trader a year ago. Bo Braid played a lot of football force. and then I've been really really happy with the way Glendon Miller and Isaiah Hazel have really come along for the back end. So again, you know, the big key for us playing great defense

and Coach Williams did a tremendous job at the end of the year of, you know, paring down what we wanted to do, getting those guys to play with the type of effort. But, you know, we've got to limit the big plays on the defensive side of the ball and then we've got to make sure we do good job getting some turnovers, which we haven't been able to do here. You mentioned still loved him as a return or two. The player that you didn't mention is your linebacker, 11, Hippolyte, who made so many plays last year.

Yeah, and that was definitely an oversight because Ruben is kind of like how Dante was for us on the offensive side. He's now no longer the young guy. He's a true junior. He's played a lot of football. He's really done a great job of leading that front end of our defense. and she has shown the size and speed to be a sideline, the sideline guy. Omar McCullough coming back as a sideline backer, the addition of Van Derrius Cowler, who transferred in from West Virginia, by the way, Alabama when I was there.

So, you know, we got a lot of second-level pieces that obviously, you know, the goal for us now is to make sure our communication is great, limit the missed assignments, and then try to find a way to get the ball on the ground. By the way, I had a friend of mine say, make sure the next time you've got Coach Loxley on to ask him about his new kicker, the transfer from, I think, Eastern Michigan, apparently this kid is really good. He is. I've been on the record of saying that the best transfer portal player we brought in is the kicker,

Chad Rylan, and he's a guy that's a Grozer Award nominee. Last year, it was one of the best kickers in the country. when I was kind of Coach Zooks, Ron Zook's departing gift for me was going and recruiting Chad Ryland and all he's done is came in and assimilated really well within our culture here, has a big leg. I mean, kicked a 58 yard with the strings a week weekend ago, kicks the ball out of the end zone of Dunch, which helps you in your kickoff cover unit is a weapon. I mean, he basically told me, Coach, once we get inside the 37, and 38. And last week he told me the 40, he says, you know, I'm good. That's my kick line. I'm like

a 40-yard line. 57-yard, you know. 30 was bluffing me. And then he kicked the 58-yard or in the scrimmage. And I said, I guess you weren't lying because he has a big leg and really kicking with a lot of confidence as well. All right. So we all know that Maryland plays in the Big Ten East, you know, not easy. You know, along with the SEC West, the most difficult division of any conference in the country year and in year out. How close do you think Maryland is in getting to where it can compete year and year out with those upper echelon teams, Ohio State, Michigan, etc.? You've told me in the past, you know, it's been interior line play and depth in

particular where you've had to make strides. Is that still it? No, because that's the area, you know, we didn't talk about the O line. Right. You know, we were on the other side. of the ball. But, you know, having three dudes there, Jahari Branch, and Jalen Duncan, Spencer Anderson, who I think all will have a chance to play on Sunday. The development of Mason Lunsford over there, as well as, you know,

young DJ Glaze. And then, you know, we played and got through a year ago with the 7-0-Lyman. Now, I think, because of how we've created depth in recruiting, we've got 10 to 11. And it's the same can be said for us up front where we're rotating, you know, some really

talented players, which allows us to keep guys fresh and keep them on the field, you know, and playing at a high level. So when you ask how far away are we, we're to the point now in year four where we should be competing with those teams. And, you know, to me, that's the next step for us. And not just compete, but find ways to do the things necessary and create the right kind of habits and behaviors that allow you to win those type of games. All right. Let's talk real quickly and I'll let you run. I appreciate the time. The early portion of the schedule, you know, Buffalo, this. coming Labor Day weekend at home. Tickets, by the way, are on sale. It's a 12-noon kick in

college park. You got Charlotte on the road after that, SMU, before you hit the Big Ten schedule. What's the early portion of this schedule look like to you, especially the opener against Buffalo? And that's really the only one that matters. Anybody that follows college football, and you hit on this earlier. But, you know, we've got one of the top five toughest schedules in the country again this year. And it's, you know, because of the schedule that we play in, you know, in conference, you know, we got the top team from the West and Wisconsin and Purdue, big-time teams that are, you know, expected to compete for the Western Division. And then you throw an SMU in there who, you know, I haven't checked the rankings, but I think they're either right outside the top 25 if they're

not in because, you know, I'm more worried about Buffalo than I am an upcoming opponent. But, you know, when you have the third or fourth toughest schedule, I mean, to me, that's why people come to Maryland. Because they want to play against the best. They want to compete against the best. And we're not backing away from the schedule, and we're excited about having the opportunity to go see how it plays out. Can't wait to watch your team this year. Lots of us, as you know, are rooting for you big time. Best of luck to you this year. We'll talk soon. Thanks so much, Mike Loxley, everybody. Thanks, coach. Thanks, Kevin. Appreciate you for having me all.

All right, that's it for the show back on probably Tuesday of this coming week. I am heading out of town. I'm going to be able to do some podcasts from out of town, but I probably won't do one on Monday unless there's a real compelling reason to do so. All right, thanks. Have a good rest of the weekend.