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Football
Q & A With Defensive Line Coach Rob Neviaser
April 4, 2008
You're a week into spring practice. How have things gone thus far? "It's going well and we're getting better every day. We try to focus on the three d-line concepts and try and get better at those three things with each practice." Talk about the progression of the lineman from the time you arrived to where they are now. "Guys are working hard. The biggest thing is to make sure we're going in the right direction and make sure we get better every day. The guys are going a good job." What are you hoping the defensive lineman come away with this spring? "There are a couple of things. You want to improve upon your technique every time you practice. We want to improve our intensity, our take-off, and our overall speed of play. We want to be able to play faster and recognize things on the run." What's impressed you most about the lineman in camp? "The thing I am most pleased with is that we seem to be getting better every day. We focus on a particular aspect of the position, and we get better at it. I hope it continues." Talk about your job as defensive line coach and what sorts of system and schemes you're looking to run. "We're going to run what coach Rizzi and coach Trainer finalize. We've talked about some of the schemes, but what they finalize will be our defense. I don't want to give too many insights or give out too many secrets, but we're going to be very aggressive with our techniques on the defensive line." How have the players responded to you? How has it been working with this group? "It's been good. They've steadily improved. Right now, we're not where we want to be, but we're getting better every day. There is definitely a difference in the kids from the first day of workouts to now. We're somewhere around halfway through, and guys are working hard to get better, but there's definitely room to improve." Before coming to URI, did you have a prior relationship with coach Rizzi?
"Coach Rizzi was at New Haven when I was at Yale. We were a few miles apart, and we went down the road to watch him practice a few times. I also knew a few guys who were working with him at New Haven."
You spent four seasons as the University of Delaware and won a national championship in 2003. Talk about that experience and what you're able to take from that experience and bring to URI. "It was great. I'm also glad to be here and that our goal is to win a national championship. That's the ultimate goal and it's achievable, without question. I'm excited to do it here at Rhode Island." One of the key members of that defensive unit was Shawn Johnson, a transfer from Duke who earned A-10 Defensive Player of the Year honors and really anchored that unit. This year, you'll have Chenry Lewis on board from Rutgers. Talk about what having a guy like that on defense does for you and for the team. "I think Chenry can absolutely help our defense. I've seen a little bit of him on tape when we were watching the Rutgers' cutups. Coach Rizzi recruited him and coached him for a few years, and he speaks highly of him. I spent plenty of time with him on his visit and he seems like the kind of person that football is very important to. I liked what he had to say and we expect big things out of him." Aside from its name, how has the league changed - if at all - since you last coached? "I think the league keeps getting better across the board. The coaches and the players keep improving. Hopefully we can compete and win the league." How has your style of coaching evolved over the years? "I think you're always changing and trying to learn from the people around you. It's always great coming to a new staff. It gives you different perspectives and you try to learn from the new coaches you're working with. I like to think we're always trying to change and get better the same way the players are trying to get better. We're trying to find a better way to get things across or practice certain techniques." What's been the most enjoyable part of both living in Rhode Island and working here at URI? "I think the area is unbelievable. It's far surpassed any expectations I had. The people have been great. I'd describe coming to URI the same way. The staff has been great and I'm really excited about this opportunity and to work with these guys." |
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