Coach Shawn Quinn Mail Bag: June 14, 2019
Welcome to the Coach Shawn Quinn Mail Bag! Your direct line to Savannah State football! Each week we’ll ask Coach Quinn your submitted questions!
You can either listen to the podcast version or read the text version below!
Want your question to be featured in next week’s edition? Email it to christian@espncoastal.com!
**Note** Coach Quinn and the Savannah State staff would like to invite all high school football players to attend their camp on June 14th & 15th. For more info head to: abcsportscamps.com/ssufootball/
Stephen R. – How is the quarterback battle shaking out? Is it going to go all the way through fall camp?
We have a leader, but we also have a couple more quarterbacks coming in. The core of our program is competition, there’s no guy that has it wrapped up. D’Vonn Gibbons did a terrific job, but we have a couple of guys that will give him a run for his money. If we have two guys that can play, or even three, that’s great, we’ll put them all in the game at once. It’s far from settled, but if we were running a race (Gibbons) is in the lead. We’re excited to see, when we get into camp, where that thing goes. We need someone to emerge, ’cause that position of play was poor last year. We’ve seen improvement, but we need to see a bunch of improvement moving forward.
Lewis from Savannah – Who are a couple of guys that your counting on to be stalwarts this season?
I’d say John Wilson, our corner, who’s a senior. He’s a leader of our team, and an NFL prospect. He’s been about the right thing since day 1. He’s a leader of our defense, along with Desmond Young. Those guys set the pace on defense. Salik McRae is a freshman DT that started the season and had a really good year. We expect him to be one of the better defensive linemen in this league. Offensively, D’Vonn GIbbons is a very talented guy, whatever position he ends up playing he’ll be a stalwart for us. Mike Johnson, a big offensive lineman, has done a tremendous job changing his body. He started hear last year, every game at right tackle. TJ Jackson is another offensive lineman who has done a great job. Jontae Baker, our tight end, had a great spring. D’Angelo Durham, a freshman running back, was our most improved player this spring on offense. He can be a really special player. We see him as our version of Matt Breida. We have a bunch of guys, and we’re going to try to win collectively by playing a ton of guys.
Wally S. – Obviously offensive line is the most important position on the field. Where do you see your unit?
I would agree with that statement. I was at LSU, and one thing I learned from Coach Miles, and it carried over from Coach Saban, was: Being dominant at the line of scrimmage is where games are won and lost. Every position is important, but offensive line and defensive line are your most critical. I think our offensive line has improved a ton schematically. What we’v changed has allowed us to play on our toes instead of on our heels, but that group has a long way to go. A lot of newcomers and not a lot of depth. We have a good group with our first five, once we get past that it’s a little bit of a mystery. We’re very much still a work in progress.