Pete Shinnick interview (post recruiting article)

[mat1992 2,235]

On Wednesday afternoon from the Field House, I was able to speak with head coach Pete Shinnick about his latest recruiting class, last season and more in a lengthy interview.

Pete Shinnick on last season
“Very pleased with the victories that we got. How we fought, played and finish. To go to UNH and win that game. To go to W&M and win that game. I think if Rhode Island wins, beats us, they are in the playoffs. Looking at some of the other 7-4 teams that go in. Those three wins I feel very good about. And other two well”

Things to work on
“Our consistency. We have to have more consistency. We have to handle certain moments better. Some games, we were down 10 and didn’t  phase us. Some games, we were down 10 and it phased us. We need to handle those situations better. We’re working on trusting the process, encouraging them, and believing in your teammates, not everything is going to go your way. It really doesn’t matter because we’re going to play the way we play. I think the UNH and URI game are great examples of what we’re capable of doing. We have to tap in more of that.”

On discipline
“Too many (penalties). We want to be the smartest and most disciplined team in the country. That’s something that we’re working on this off-season. Our part of our mantra is to win the field position battle and you can’t give away field position with penalties.”

On the CAA
“I felt we had a very good grasp of the CAA (coming in). The thing that you don’t know until you do it and that you’re in it…I’ve been following CAA scores for a long time. When you see a 24-17 score, when I saw that, I couldn’t tell you that Richmond was 8-1 and Monmouth was 2-8. I came from a league where you were challenged week-in and week-out. This is very similar. That you better be on point, if not, it doesn’t matter who you are playing. You look at us vs. Albany, they were a Final Four team and we had the ball at the one-yard line to go overtime on 4th and 1. Then you look at us vs. A&T. They didn’t have a win, and they were battling us and everybody they were playing. It doesn’t matter who you are playing, you are going to get challenged week-in and week-out. I knew that. But to experience that was different.”

On recruiting in the CAA
“We're going to do what we do. We proved that we could be competitive with everyone in the league. We have a guy that we’re looking for at every position. We have a certain aspect of who that guy is and what that guy is capable of doing. Every league is going to be offensive and defensive line driven. You have to be very good at those two spots no matter what you’re doing.

On Delaware moving to FBS
“Everybody has their own niche. You look at the success of what JMU and Jacksonville State did. There is a lure to that. It’s a lot of money and a big chunk. To each his own. They must think there is something out there that is alluring to them.”

On future of FCS
“The FCS has always been his middle component. D2 has 160 teams. FBS has 130 teams. FCS is around 110. You just have West Georgia who bumped up. You lose somebody and you gained somebody. Having been at NAIA, D2, and FCS, I like what we have at FCS.”

On recruiting class compared to first class
“The difference is that we’ve been recruiting guys for a year as opposed to a month or two. I’m really happy with the guys we signed in last year’s class. KJ Brooks was a freshman All-American out of that class. Matthew Luonga played a lot of football. Elijah Bivens, a juco, played quite a bit. We had our camps and spoke at some clinics. We signed five guys out of Maryland from the HS ranks. We want a 3-4 hour radius, which is going to be the focus. We signed guys from Texas, Kansas, Florida, Alabama, and West Virginia. As we do that, I feel like all of those were connections and ties to certain areas. We felt like that we could get 10-13 freshmen that would be a great start. We had a couple of guys enter the portal that we weren’t anticipating. We ended up filling those needs with freshmen. We signed 17 freshmen. Love the projection and athleticism of that class. The majority of those guys are going to come in and have the opportunity to compete. Over the course of the summer is where added Rodney Roane, Carter Runyan, and we added a handful of guys who were in their senior year. They were one and dones. We did that so that this year’s freshman class could be what it is. We’ll probably add 3-4 guys after the spring and continue to build it. We got who we felt great about and we left some gaps on purpose knowing that will be some guys who will up in the portal that will fit our needs.”

On NIL
“We have the GOH Collective at Towson. We are trying to build and grow that. We don’t run into that in recruiting. That’s more of an FBS that. We’re not finding many guys that they are going to this FCS because they are doing this. We have a handful of guys doing their own thing and some guys are doing their own clothing brand, some guys have some deals here and there. That’s part of the process and we encourage them to do it. That’s part of this process. You get a guy that does well and what’s going to happen to them. I like it if I guy does well and he’s excited about staying. We only had a couple of guys who were in the transfer portal.”

 

Main goals of recruiting
“We wanted to get bigger on the defensive line. So I think you see the guys we signed are over 300 pounds or close to it. We wanted to get more athletic in the secondary. We signed seven guys in the secondary that are all dynamic and athletic players. We wanted to continue to grow our O-line. The two guys we signed are very athletic and move extremely well. I think we have the TE of the future from Alabama. Kind of fits that mold what a Carter Runyon looks like. We have three senior running backs and we wanted to get two young running backs. We got Ike (Daniels) who has four years of eligibility left from Syracuse and signing Caddy (Phillips) from HS after winning back-to-back state titles there. We really kind of addressed all the needs we had. We have depth. If you look at our LB crew with the transfers we signed, all the transfers have an opportunity to play. Fred (Alfred Thomas) from Florida will have an opportunity to play as a freshman. Really excited about all the depth we were able to add. (QB Winston Watkins, Zakaa Brown, Jasin Shiggs are early enrollees, Ike Daniels all transfers are here).”
 

[mat1992 2,235]

Second Part

Secondary

"One spot we left open for a transfer (CB). Zakaa Brown and Jasin Shiggs are here. They will get a ton of reps and we'll see where they are. The beauty of college football is that you get a guy who played great and had an amazing year and has an opportunity to play at the next level (Javier). Then you have to replace him. We have some guys on the roster who will take some of that void. Justin Toler was great on special teams last season, but didn't play a lot at corner because Javy was playing well. Shafeek Smith played a lot for us at a lot of different spots. (Sean Tucker) is starting to click for him. Andre Stewart, a Kentucky transfer, went home to help his family. His father was ill. "

Safety

"We signed Kaden White out of juco. He comes in and adds instant depth. Jasin Shiggs is here. Xavier Terry played a lot for us and played well. The three freshmen that we signed. Two safeties from Florida will add to that."

On playing freshmen

"He has to pick up where he left off as a senior in high school. I've never been one to say oh that's a rookie mistake or that's a freshman mistake. I started two programs where I played 70 freshmen in the first two years in two different programs. To me, there are bad decisions and good decisions. If a guy keeps making bad decisions, it's not because he's a freshman. It's because he's making bad decisions. Towson, going back to the year before I got here, you look at Mason Woods and Dan Volpe, who were freshmen All-Americans. KJ Brooks last season was a freshman All-American. KJ wasn't jumping off-sides 10 times in a game. He's a good player. In this era, we feel like some of the guys we've signed five years or three years ago, probably wouldn't be there.I'm playing freshmen if he's better than who we have. The beauty of building a team is not limiting yourself is that an older guy has to play. The beauty of putting it together, we put KJ Brooks next to a Jean Germain, who has played and has the experience. They can communicate. We put a freshman corner out there, there has to be an older guy that can help him through the process. We want to play the best guy. For the longest time in recruiting, I would say if you are the best, we're going to play you. If you are the same, we're going to play the older guy. With 17 freshmen, 10-13 skill guys, there are going to be a lot of opportunities for these guys to play."

On breakout players in the spring 

"Our two defensive linemen in Rian Rosenbaugh and Shamir Boyd. Both are 300-pounders. They will have an opportunity to excel. Shamir is coming off an injury and will be non-contact. Rian did play the last couple of games and is still a redshirt guys. Center Ian Miller on the O-line was in our two-deep. We kept his redshirt. At left guard, Marist transfer (Ibrahim Giwa) has the opportunity along with Flo Staehler. They will be the main competition for left guard. Dan Volpe at left tackle. Ralph Paige and Volpe were deserving of their CAA honors. (Paige) is the glue. We need to play the backup a little bit. Alex Desire stepped in and did a nice job, but Paige is a different guy."

 

 

[mat1992 2,235]

Third Part 

On Carlos Davis, QB from UMass/Western Carolina

"I've known about him since he was at Western Carolina. I want to say that he went to Western Carolina, I saw him at junior college. I knew the head coach and offensive coordinator at Western Carolina and followed what he did. Always thought he was dynamic and electric and then when he came out and was getting in the portal out of Western (Carolina), we tried to get him a year ago. He got the UMass opportunity and when he went in the portal this year, I thought he was done. He was able to use a medical redshirt this season. Here's a guy. We need depth at QB and competition. He was a great fit being a Baltimore guy. He's been fantastic. First day, he walked on campus, he knew guys on the team. In the recruiting process, he knows people. It's been fun."

"We have a returning starter who started 11 games. That's the position you want to be in. You want to be in a spot where you have great competition here. For Carlos to grow his game, if you look at Western Carolina, he got hurt at the end, his stats where for 6.5 games. A little different deal. He has to be the guy we saw on film. He has to be an accurate thrower. That's what everybody who has coached him says that he throws an accurate and catchable ball. He has to take control of the offense and has to be the leader that everyone says he is. That plays into great competition with what Nate does well. You look at Nate's misses, that's not what you want. Nate will be the first one to tell you that 'I left stuff out on the field. Opportunities out there.'. That's will competition will hopefully do. Sean Brown is still in the mix. Winston Watkins is in as a true freshman. We're excited about the competition we have."

On Winston Watkins

"He was one of the first QB offers and we offered him back in the summer. Like a lot of guys, he wanted to see what was out there, opportunity. We just kept recruiting him and he came to a couple of games. Once the season ended, we went to the house and he committed. He has the arm and feet. He's young and growing. He can do everything we want a guy to do. I kept watching his single-game highlights and then looking at his stats and growth. When he came to camp, he made every throw we asked a guy to make. He has the release and quickness. I'm fired up that we have him on campus."

On WRs

"With DK (James) back, it's huge and we have John Dunmmore back (played just 2 games). Chris Chosen is back. He came on later on in the year. He had some tweaks here and there. He's in a great place right now with two years left. London had a nice year. The guy that we lose that was a contributor is Daniel Thompson. The two guys that we signed have a chance to play. Cleveland (Charlton, 6-4, 180) and Nayad Walker (5-10, 170) have a chance to get in the top eight. I feel like we have a very well-rounded WR crew. You didn't know how dynamic and electric that DK was and until he gets hurt and dang, that's terrible. That guy is making things happen."

On RBs

"Trey (Engram) has come in and has done a really good job. There are only five RBs this spring. He'll get a lot of good looks. (Preferred walk-on). D'Ago Hunter is a unique individual at a 10-yard and 20-yard radius. Those punt and kickoff returns. He's electric. Chris (Watkins) stepped up and did a fantastic job. We have 3 senior running backs that can all play. We only saw (Tyrell) Greene a little bit and he might be the fastest and strongest of all of them. He had a hamstring injury that kept him from getting him to where he needed to be on."

Ike Daniels

"Got in four games. Syracuse had a coaching change. They were looking for something different. We liked him. To get him as a freshman and for him to be here right now is huge. Excited for what he brings. Caddy Phillips will be here in the summer. He's an under-the-radar guy. His school has 35 D-1 guys. He was their most steady guy. Ran for almost 1,000 yards in his junior year. Always had an explosive play and might be a diamond-in-the-rough. It's hard to replace a D'Ago Hunter. From a productivity standpoint, you can replace him. From some of those dynamic plays, that will be hard. I like our depth there. We have an answer for everything you see in this league as well. Devin (Matthews) and Greene can be short-yardage rushers. Devin has proven that is doesn't have to be block-perfect for him to make something happen."

On D-line

"We'll move some people around (to replace Gibbs). Ernie SMith was as productive as any offensive lineman we had and played about 1/3 of the time. He had as many sacks and tackles for loss and played 1/3 of the time. Dion Crews-Harris had a very good year as a nose guard and we'll probably move him around a lot. Brock Wallace played a lot as a backup. We lose Jesus and Tylen Wallace. Smith and Brock can move in. Junee Dunbar (6-0, 305) played. He's had a great off-season. Rion and Shamir and the freshmen coming in (Tre Birch 6-2, 315, JR Stegall 6-3, 295). We'll probably look for a transfer DL as well."

At EDGE

"That Will spot. Makye was with us before we dismissed him. Rodney Roane and Jakari Patterson played well. We'll probably move a lot of guys around. Find the best combination we can."

On inside LB

"We brought in Bronson Peters (6-1, 215, juco), Will Middleton (5-11, 215, Saint Francis U.) and John Gioia (6-1, 230, Wagner). Three transfers to go along with (Evan Rutkowski), Elijah Bivens. We'll have some sort of combination between all those guys. We recruited Middleton at UWF. He got a full offer to play FCS and took that. We've liked him for a long time. We like his experience. John Gioia had 80 tackles, Peters had 60 tackles. We've had a lot of tackles. Peters runs very well and is a weight room junkie. John and Will move well. We'll be a little bigger up front and a little quicker at linebacker."

Goals for the spring

"What are the areas we have to improve upon. We have a lot of areas. Now it's fine-tuning. What fits this personnel group? What fits this group? What are the calls we can be successful at. Our highlights are as good as anybody in the country. Our lowlights are bad. More highlights, less lowlights. Being a more consistent team, week-in and week-out, also day-in and day-out in how we prepare and how we approach this thing."

On Javier and Gibbs' chances to make the NFL

"Gibbs is a very athletic guy. Everyone who came in, that's what they liked about him. Robert has a chance. I told every NFL scout that from the day we walked in and until the last game, that guy got prepared. Kept improving and kept growing. He's training hard for it. Part of his pro day."

[Blazer49 186]

Thanks Mat

[TigerFan54 102]

Thanks for that extensive report.

Unless I missed it, there was no mention of Chris Watkins, who scored the winning TD against URI. Did he enter the portal?

[TigerFan54 102]

Just now, TigerFan54 said:

Thanks for that extensive report.

Unless I missed it, there was no mention of Chris Watkins, who scored the winning TD against URI. Did he enter the portal?

Oops -- never mind. I see him now.

[sr16 158]

Thanks for posting this, good read.