Shawn Quinn Mail Bag – April 12th: Your Access To Savannah State Football
Welcome 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 full interview in the podcast version or read the questions in the text version below!
Want your question to be featured in next week’s edition? Email it to christian@espncoastal.com!
Rob – Savannah:
Being a former defensive player, is it tough to adjust to coaching the other side of the ball?
CSQ: It’s interesting, because for most of your career it’s: offense vs defense, and now you’re looking at it, instead of half-part, whole. I’ve enjoyed taking a step back and watching the whole thing. I have caught myself, at one point on film, wanting to jump when we got an interception, but I have to be Switzerland now instead of being one of the “warring parties”. It’s been fun. You see it from a different perspective, and get the whole picture. The guys are doing a really nice job on offense, and it has been fun to watch them improve. Each day is a little improvement, and our guys are doing a nice job. But it’s different, that’s for sure.
Billy – South Carolina:
Can you tell us about the two returning quarterbacks that we have on the roster?
CSQ: We have two returners, D’Vonn Gibbons and Craig Grant, and both of those guys are doing a really nice job. They’re both really good runners and have taken to it like fish in water. Done a great job of learning the offense in the limited amount of time we’ve had. One of the reasons we crafted the offense the way we did is that we thought it fit their skill set. It was a style (of offense) that we wanted to run, but we also thought it would be something to accentuate the way they run and throw the football. They’re physical guys and they a do a nice job with the ball in their hands.
Robert – Savannah:
I’m really excited that y’all are playing a couple games in Atlanta this year!
CSQ: We’re excited. We have a great alumni base there. The thing that excites us is: we have a huge number of games in that state of Georgia. Some in South Carolina, within a couple of hours of us, and in North Florida. Every game we play will be inside a very drivable distance for our fans. Our fans will be able to see us play every week if they want, and hopefully they will. That’s what’s great about this new conference, the rivalries have been renewed, we’ll have great attendance. Instead of playing people 13 hours away, we’ll be playing right in our backyard.
Katie:
Now that you’re already in spring ball, what are some goals that you’ve set in place for your team?
CSQ: Learn to be competitive in everything we do. There’s a winner and a loser in all of our drills. Our guys have to understand that they have to be accountable to each other as a team. We want to make practice very demanding and very physical. Our guys learn to compete and work hard, but also to work as a unit. We’re trying to take away the individualism and create more of a team atmosphere. Start every practice off with a competition, right off the bat. The guys have loved it, that we’re practicing harder and physically.
Mike – Savannah:
Who are some players that have stood out to you this spring?
CSQ: Nicholas Garner, a safety out of Florida that didn’t play a whole lot as a freshman and kind of was a back-burner guy. He’s done a really nice job for us. I tell you what, our offensive line, collectively, has seen a bunch of improvement with them coming off the ball. Our tailbacks too, I thought D’Angelo Durham, Chris Scott, and a couple other guys have done a really nice job. CJ Cole has done a really nice job. Really good progression from some guys that weren’t impact players for us last fall. We also have some linebackers who have played a lot, and I’m excited to see them continue to grow.
The Tigers will play their spring game on April 27th.