On Monday, I got the chance to talk with Shane Beamer one-on-one.  We went over all of his players.  Here’s the transcript of the interview.

On his initial impressions of Joel Caleb at tailback: “Did ok.  Was really good from a mental standpoint.  They had a pretty good group of defensive linemen that we’re planning on playing against Alabama.  Our offensive line, we had a lot of guys in there who aren’t going to play against Alabama.  So there was a little bit of an uphill battle as far as the run game goes.  He did really good mentally, showed some toughness on some things.  The biggest thing with Joel is right now he’s thinking a lot as he’s learning what to do.  He needs to continue to get more comfortable and confident with what we’re doing so he can just play faster.  When the ball is in his hands, all that other stuff is over, now it’s time to be a playmaker and run and make plays, and that’s what we’re looking to see.”

On how Caleb performed in pass protection: “He’s doing really good.  Very good.  Couldn’t be more pleased about that.  We did a 1-on-1 blitz pickup drill with Coach Foster and the linebackers last week, and he showed that he’ll stick his nose in there.  I’ve got no concerns about his toughness, no concerns about his technique or his want-to.  Now it’s just a matter of learning all the protections.  We’ve got a lot of protections in, and then at the line of scrimmage we have a lot of adjustments off those protections.  There’s a lot of bullets flying once he lines up.  That’s the biggest challenge right now, is getting more knowledgeable as far as that stuff goes.”

On his impressions of Trey Edmunds , and whether there is less wasted motion when he runs: “Yeah.  Coach Loeffler always said he’s a bull in a china shop in the backfield.  Lots of wasted movement, arms are going everywhere and all that stuff.  The first few days he was very good, very smooth, very polished.  The last couple days, we got a lot of offense in and he’s kind of been a little bit all over the place with technique and fundamentals, so we’ve kind of got to reign him back in and get him back to that.  But there’s no question, he looks more like a tailback now.  He’s smoother running the football, he’s smoother when he’s in the backfield, and that comes with confidence and experience.”

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