University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Football Practice Report: March 25
3/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
Venue: Joe P. Park Practice Facility
Format: Jersey, Shorts, Helmet
Upcoming: Practice (3 p.m., Tuesday, March 29)
Report: Southern Miss went through its second day of spring football drills Friday morning at the Joe P. Park Practice Facility. The Golden Eagles initially scheduled Thursday afternoon as its practice day, but early rains forced the cancellation and pushed the workout back to Friday morning. Under first-year coach Jay Hopson, the squad continues to put in the basics and the Golden Eagle top man has been happy with the progress over the first couple of practices.
Head Coach Jay Hopson
On the offensive install...
"It is going well. For the second-straight day I thought we executed pretty well for a shorts day offensively in the spring. There weren't a lot of balls on the ground. I thought Nick did a great job with some of his reads. Like anything else, we have to keep polishing it up. I was pretty pleased as there was good retention during the entire practice."
About the defense...
"They are just in basics right now. We are just putting in our base defense and slowly working into putting in some five-man pressures. It is pretty simple right now."
On the identity that he is trying to establish...
"We are working on executing and doing the little things right now. We certainly want to play hard, as well be fast and physical. That is the Southern Miss way. We are trying to fine tune things and get our precision better."
On now that he is able to see the team live, are they who you thought they were,,,
"We've got great kids and they are working hard. They are a joy to be around and we just have to go to work."
On Nick Mullens...
"He has so much football savvy. He has a high-football IQ - a great football player. It's fun when you see a senior quarterback with that type of ability and knowledge. He has looked great the first two days."
Senior Quarterback Nick Mullens
On being physical under Coach Hopson...
"We were certainly a physical football team under Coach Monken, but Coach Hop is that old school Southern Miss hard-nosed football. He believes in a unified defense and a unified offense - and that unifies the team."
On that unity..
"Eleven brothers are hard to beat and that is what we are going to live by this year. Everybody is going to do their job and that is how it is going to go."
On bringing physicality to his position at quarterback...
"As a quarterback, you have to be the toughest player on the field. I help to influence those guys on the outside and those guys have to be physical. If we can continue to play smart and physical then we will be a great team.
Tickets: Season tickets for the 2016 Southern Miss home season can be purchased by going online at SouthernMissTickets.com, or by calling the Athletic Ticket Office at 1-800-844-TICK (8425) as well as visiting the Pat Ferlise Ticket Center on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
