Ashley Ingram pre-West Virginia State press conference transcripts
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Carson-Newman opens the season against West Virginia State with a noon kickoff Saturday. Below are Ashley Ingram's pregame remarks to the media about the West Virginia State Yellowjackets
VIDEO: Ashley Ingram Press Conference
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Carson-Newman opens the season against West Virginia State with a noon kickoff Saturday. Below are Ashley Ingram's pregame remarks to the media about the West Virginia State Yellowjackets
OPENING STATEMENT:
INGRAM: Well, we're excited to play. Guys have worked hard, obviously, all spring and throughout the summer, and I think they're probably tired of hitting each other. They want to hit somebody else. We've got a good opponent coming in. Coach Pennington's done a great job there. Had a winning season last year, I think won seven the year before that. They are always very athletic, and they have a few transfers that have come in, you know, from Colorado to a starting quarterback from Charleston Southern. So, again, we'll have to play well and know that they're very talented. They scored a lot of points on us last year.
Q1: What sticks out to you about what they do well offensively?
INGRAM: They're athletic. They distribute the ball around to a lot of people. They're spread offense. The big thing I think that we're a little concerned about is all five offensive linemen are returning. And then obviously, athletically, they always have very good players and get transfers in, so there'll be a challenge.
Q2: How do you approach preparing for them given the nature of the transfer portal even with who they have lost?
INGRAM: I would assume that they replaced all those guys with very good talent. Obviously, we won't know until Saturday. The other thing that's concerning is they lost their offensive coordinator now. I think Coach Pennington's obviously heavily involved offensively. They lost their defensive coordinator and then they lost their special teams coordinator. So there's a lot of unknowns for us that we'll just have to figure out Saturday as we go.
Q3: Year one to year two. What have you seen different from your team throughout camp?
INGRAM: I think the guys were great last year, and it's just a continuation of, you know, where we started. I guess about 18 or 19 months ago. The guys are working hard. They're excited to play. We've been able to do a little more on both sides of the ball just because of the familiarity with the guys. So we're excited just to see how it all works out.
Q4: Give me your biggest surprise
INGRAM: Biggest surprise. I don't know if we have a lot of surprises. I think guys are playing about like what we thought, you know, we've stayed healthy. That's obviously very exciting. Jaden Griffin was a transfer that came in on offense. He's been everything that we thought he would be. But I think everybody's played really well.
Q5: Year one for Tyler Almond being fully in charge of the defense. What do you expect from him on that side of the ball?
INGRAM: I would expect we're going to continue to play really good defense. He was here last year with Coach Slade and really with the entire defensive staff. So it's just some carryover from that. Obviously he'll have his own spin on things and there'll be some different things schematically that we'll do. But we'll continue to play hard, we'll continue to be aggressive and I think we'll continue to play really good defense.
Q6: How do you utilize him Jayden Sullins early this year?
INGRAM: Well, obviously he's a very good player. He's talented and we plan to use him quite a bit. So we'll use him in some different ways this year. But he's a very good football player. He's worked hard, he's had a great off season, he's had a great summer and we're ready to get him out there and let him go.
Q7: How helpful is it having Teddy Gleaton healthy?
INGRAM: Oh, it's huge. You know, Teddy was going to be our starter last year. I think he played 13 snaps against West Virginia State. Has some familiarity with the offense. You know, was with us at Navy. Skill set wise, can run, can throw the football, makes good decisions. So we're excited to get Teddy out there.
Q8: You have the potential for emotions in this one. Jyliek Harrington passed away 24 hours away from kickoff between these teams last year. Also on the mind, Colt Sinor, who passed away from cancer this summer. Break down the emotions surrounding those two guys and what they meant to this program.
INGRAM: , Colt obviously meant a lot to everyone here. Carson-Newman tragically lost him this spring. Just what an inspiration he was to all of us. Just a tough young man, a fighter, just a great guy with a great heart, so he's sorely missed. Coach (Tyler) Needs wears a signer, has tape on the back of his jersey out at practice every day. So we think about him often. We're going to have game stickers on our stickers on our helmet to honor his life this year. And then Jyliek, just tragedy. Obviously, I never met the young man, but that was the devastating for our team, for West Virginia State, for his family. Just a senseless, senseless tragedy. So I certainly think it'll be on everyone's mind this weekend.
Q9: What would a good noon crowd mean to this team?
INGRAM: We've worked very hard and we want to put a good product on the field and we want to represent Carson-Newman, which means we want to represent the student body and the alums. But having a big turnout from our student body would be huge.
Q11: Anything else?
INGRAM: We're excited to play and see where we are after all the hard work that we've put in this off season in the summer.
Kickoff between the Eagles and Yellowjackets is set for noon. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 11 a.m. with the AEC Tailgate Show on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), MIX 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
