Q&A with Chris Thomsen

ABILENE -- While in the middle of summer recruiting and getting ready for upcoming 2010 football season, ACU head coach Chris Thomsen sat down for a question-and-answer session about his team and his expectations for the upcoming year:

Lance Fleming:  Talk about where you're program is in the middle of the summer?  How do you feel everyone is progressing and working  right now?

Chris Thomsen:  We've got a lot of guys back in the summer working out, and seeing them around the building their attitude seems very good.  They're focused and working hard.  I think they all sense that we can have a really good team, and they want to carry that through the summer.  The summer is such a critical time in their development and I believe the attitude is good.  We're not able to get out there and watch them or work them out, but you can sense their attitude when they're here in the building that their motivated and ready to go.

LF:  I heard you say at the end of last year that you believed that this 2010 team could be your best team.  What gives you that kind of confidence in these guys?

CT:  Mainly because we have 25 seniors and most of them have been with us for four years.  They've had four years in the playoffs to look back and really learn what it takes.  They've all made some adjustments in their work habits and in their approach to each other.  I believe this team has great chemistry already.  There's a trust factor there, and I believe that's critical to winning.

LF:  I think a lot of people would hear that and think that there's no way the 2010 team could be better than the 2008 team that had guys like Billy Malone, Bernard Scott and Johnny Knox, among others.  What sets this group apart from the 2008 team?

CT:  At that time in 2007 and 2008 we were still learning some things.  The 2008 season was a great learning time for these guys who are leading our team now.  They saw that we had Billy, Bernard and Johnny and we didn't win the national championship.  So now you go back and scratch your head and say, 'OK, what's it going to take?'  We had a good run last year, and the same team stood in our way for some of the same reasons.  Sometimes I believe the experience factor with both coaches and players is the biggest thing.  On top of that, there's some talent on this team.  You look at that front seven on defense and there's some real talent there.  Offensively there's some real talent there.  Our punter and kicker are back.  You can have all the experience in the world, but you still have to have some talent.  Northwest Missouri is a great example of that.   They've got experience, but they've got talented football players.  All of those factors make you excited about the upcoming season.

LF:  Speaking of Northwest, obviously the two losses in the playoffs the last two years you've said you've learned a little bit more each year you've played them.  What are a couple of those key elements?

CT:  I believe the progression throughout the year is huge.  Guys have to be able to understand that improving from a technique standpoint and in your knowledge of the system is crucial.  If we're watching Northwest Missouri the last two years and not understanding that then we're not paying attention.  How much better were Blake Bolles and Jake Soy in Week 13 than they were in Week 1?  It was night and day.  Those guys are proof of the makeup that you have to have in the commitment to getting better.  I believe our guys have that, but maybe not to the level that they need to have it and that falls on me first, but then the players have to respond to that as well.  We've all got to get better as the season goes along and making sure we're improving and that our chemistry is developing.  That's another thing you see with Northwest Missouri is that they're still enjoying being around each other and playing the game together that late in the season and I think that's what we've got to figure out in order to get to a national championship game.

LF:  It's not just Northwest Missouri State now, though, it's four other teams in your own division that could be standing in your way: West Texas A&M, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Tarleton State and Midwestern State.  Talk about those four teams.

CT:  You talk about Northwest Missouri, but then you look at your conference and you realize it's going to take everything you've got just to have a chance to go back and play those guys in the playoffs.  Not to mention Angelo State, which has its quarterback returning and he's a great player.  Incarnate Word comes into the LSC South and they'll be improved over last year.  Northeastern State will be better as will Eastern New Mexico and East Central.  It's a tough league all across the board.  Four teams went to the playoffs last year and one went to a bowl game, which shows the strength of the league.  All of those teams are trying to do the same thing we're trying to do.  Everybody's looking for the same formula to get out of the conference and have a chance to go play and beat Northwest Missouri and get out of the region.  The challenge is getting through the brutal part of the conference and get back and get another shot.

LF:  The schedule sets up completely differently this year with Tarleton State, Texas A&M-Kingsville and Midwestern State right off the bat in LSC South play.  The last few years you could kind of build toward the end of the regular season when you had West Texas, Tarleton, Kingsville and Midwestern as your final four games.  Talk about how this changes your season?

CT:  Well, there's really no time to feel our way through the early part of the season.  We kind of felt our way through the quarterback situation early last year, but we won't have a chance for any of that this year.  We start with Washburn, which  is a perennial top-25 team and then go back to Northeastern and as I said they'll be better.  Then East Central will be in Abilene, and both of those programs (NSU and ECU) have added people this off-season that everybody's kind of raised their eyebrows about.  Then you've got Tarleton coming here, going to Kingsville and then coming back here for Midwestern.  Four of first six games are against teams that were top-25 teams last year so it does set up a lot differently, which is why the summer program is more important than ever.  Summer camp is critical.  We've got to have a great early part of the season because we could be out of it if we don't.

LF:  Let's talk about some guys that you're counting on for this year.  Tell me first about a guy who had started to come on last year before he got hurt in (wide receiver) Raymond Radway.  How's his rehab progressing and what do you expect out of him this year?

CT:  Raymond is really a big key for us this year.  He was making a lot of progress last year before he broke his hand, but that's fully healed.  He gained some confidence last year.  He's a big body type who can really run and is a great competitor.  We found out a lot about him.  He broke his hand against Tarleton State and came out the next week against Kingsville and had a couple of big third-down catches.  We're really excited about what he can give us this season.  He's a big key because you've got Edmund Gates and you've got Kendrick Johnson, both of whom have explosive ability.  Raymond needs to factor in, and Chris Fowler needs to step up.  Chris had some injuries last year, but  he's a quality receiver.  That position is huge in the development of our team.

LF:  I know you lost a couple of receivers, one to grades (Terrell Woodall) and one who quit this off-season (V.J. McElroy), where do some of the younger guys fit into the receiver rotation?

CT:  Darian Hogg is a 6-2, 200-pound redshirt freshman who had a really good spring and I'm impressed with him.  He's not a burner, but he's got a big body and is intelligent and can do some things.  Then Taylor Gabriel is an undersized guy but has great quickness and body control.  Hopefully both of those guys can factor into the receiver position and help us with our depth.

LF:  Ben Gibbs is coming off a broken leg, but he's a great looking prospect at the tight end position.  Talk about Ben and what you think his contribution could be this season.

CT:  Ben's just like Raymond; he was coming on and got hurt in the second game with a deep thigh bruise that kind of held him back.  And then about the time he was getting his stride back he breaks his leg.  Injuries are his biggest obstacle right now.  He had been away from football for three years, so you hope that another year of training and conditioning will help him. He works as hard as anybody on our team so I feel good about his potential to be durable.  He's a great receiving threat as well.  Factor him into that receiving group as well, even though he's a tight end.  You go down the list – Edmund Gates, Kendrick Johnson, Raymond Radway, Chris Fowler and Ben Gibbs – all of those guys were plagued by some injuries and that was the story and that's what caused a lot of inconsistency in our passing game. 

LF:  Talk about your offensive line.  You replace Tony Wasington with Neal Tivis, but you've got three starters returning in Royland Tubbs, Trevis Turner and Matt Webber.  That should make you feel good about that position.

CT:  I feel good about that group and feel really good about Neal Tivis taking over Tony.  Neal's been in the program for four years and he's transformed himself into a pretty powerful 6-5, 295-pound guy.  He's a good athlete and really smart and I believe he'll do a great job for us.  Josh Perez is a redshirt freshman who had a really great spring filling in for Levi Wolfe, who was a fifth-year senior last year.  Josh really won that job in the spring.  Dyland Blount came in from Kilgore and those guys will battle it out again in the spring for that guard spot and then we've got an experienced guy in Chad High over at left guard behind Tubbs.  We've got some depth at guard, but we've got to develop some at tackle.  Larry Landry and Blake Spears and we've got a freshman named Logan Hoppenrath coming in, and out of that group we've got to find some depth at that position.

LF:  Obviously the one position that everybody talks about when they think about your offense is quarterback.  Where does that position stand right now?

CT:  Going through the spring I felt like all three of those guys – Mitchell Gale, Zach Stewart and Clark Harrell – all improved, but I still don't feel like anyone separated themselves from the pack.  The first couple of weeks will be critical because whoever performs the best over those two weeks will probably get the start against Washburn.  It could be any one of those three guys.  All three of those guys do good things, but all three have shown some inconsistency and so it's time for somebody to step up and solidify themselves.  We might end up playing with two guys, we don't really know yet.  This team, in a lot of ways, will go as that position goes.  Mitchell Gale works really, really hard; Clark Harrell works really, really hard; Zach Stewart is working hard this summer so somebody has got to emerge there.

LF:  Is that a position where you might look to bring someone in this summer to compete for the starting job?

CT:  Yeah, I mean we're open to that just like any other position.  If we find a guy that we think could really upgrade the position and help our team we'd go after that guy.  This time a year finding transfers is hard.

LF:  We talked about this a little bit earlier, but your front seven could make this the best defense you've had since you've been the head coach and maybe the best ACU defense in quite a while.   How much of what you're able to do defensively hinges on your secondary?

CT:  There's a lot of proven guys in the front seven, but we lost Tony Harp at safety.  That guy was a beast; one of the most competitive and toughest guys and one of the best leaders we've ever had here, period.  Richard Havins has stepped into that leadership role, and I'm really proud of what he did this spring.  L.B. Suggs moved to safety from linebacker and he made a lot of plays back there this spring.  We'll bring a couple of transfers in to compete at that position.  At corner we've got some guys there: Drew Cuffee has a lot of experience and then James Wlilliams and Mookie Lewis both played some last year, but we'll add some competition to that spot, too.  It's like quarterback on offense, too.  A lot of our success on defense will depend on how quickly those guys gel because there will be plays when we don't get to the passer and the secondary has to hold up and defense and right now that's a huge question mark on our team.

LF:  Talk to me about Aston Whiteside and his impact on what you want to do defensively and what that could be this year.

CT:  He's just a guy with an innate ability to rush the passer, and we saw that when he was just a young guy in this program.  He's got a lot of respect from the other coaches in this league.  He's a huge part of what we do defensively because he's going to win a lot of one-on-one matchups and apply immediate pressure to the quarterback.  What's been encouraging about Aston is that sometimes a guy who has success as a freshman and sophomore has a tendency to drop off, get overconfident and not work hard.  But his work ethic has actually gone up and he's been able to see in his time here some great workers and he's beginning to emerge and really develop in that way.  I'm hoping for his best year yet in 2010.

LF:  Tell me about young guys on both sides of the ball that maybe people haven't heard of yet, but that might make an impact in 2010.

CT:  I mentioned those two receivers that we red-shirted, but right now the guy we're all excited about is Josh Perez.  He really had a great spring at guard.  He's a strong kid; probably more physically developed than most freshmen you bring in.  He's really smart with a tough mentality.  He reminds me of the Sam Collins or Nathan Young-type guys who are far enough along at this point to be starters and then can go on to become a cornerstone player in this program.  He shows those traits.  One of the other guys we red-shirted last year, Caleb Withrow from Dallas Christian, had our top 40 time and top 5-10-5 shuttle in our spring testing and he's a tough, strong kid who can really run.  We might move him to corner to help us there.  And I think he'll factor into the kick return game.  We've got Kevin Washington and Eric Edwards as the starters at inside linebacker, but right now Thor Woerner would be the third guy at inside linebacker, and that third guy will play a lot and factor in big on special teams.  We're really excited about him.  He's a great kid who works really hard.  Tony Battie had a great spring, but we're so deep at outside linebacker that he'll probably be limited more to special teams.  But I look at Tony and Chris Jones and some other guys like I did Arthur Johnson four years ago and Casey Carr, and those are the next guys that will make their mark on special teams and then start to fill in as older guys leave so we're excited about those guys.

LF:  What has to happen for this team to be playing into middle and late December?

CT:  Obviously we have to stay healthy.  But just the progression as a team, the chemistry part.  Just trusting each other and buying into the program and not having disruptions.  I think this team has a chance to be really good in that area.  And then just the focus and commitment to getting better each week.   We've got guys in the secondary who are going to have to learn to work together; the quarterback position has to come on; we've got to stay healthy at receiver.  Those are big keys, but I think this team has a chance to be really, really good in all those areas.