Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Q&A Part II with Rick Stockstill
12/28/2020 5:00:00 PM | Football
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — With 2020 nearing its close and the college football season complete for Middle Tennessee, the Blue Raiders are turning their focus to the future and this is part II of our Q&A with Rick Stockstill.
Just like everyone in college football in 2020, COVID-19 created challenges all year long, from canceling spring practice and summer workouts to altering schedules, players going in and out of the lineup, and day-to-day routines flipped upside down.
The Raiders might not have finished with the record Stockstill had hoped for at 3-6, but he's plenty excited for what's coming back in 2021. He sat down to talk more about the team and what next year will hopefully look like for MT.
Can you give us a little bit of a crash course for what you're looking to improve on this spring?
"[On offense], I want to get more production in the passing game and less production in the run game from the quarterback position and put that in the running backs. I want to improve our overall scheme, overall production, of running the football. That means our offensive line has to get better, our running backs have to improve. We also have to do a better job of protecting the ball.
"I also talked about explosive plays on offense. We have to get better at that. I think if we can get better at explosive plays our scoring will improve. We have to score more than what we have. We only averaged 22 points per game. Especially in today's world of college football, you have to be able to score. I think if we can improve in our explosive plays both in the passing game and running game, that's going to lead to the opportunity to score more points.
"Conversely, defensively, we have to get better on third down. We were bad there. I thought at times we did a really nice job of stopping the run, really in the last part of the year. We have to tackle better … and we have to do more tackling drills and more competition against each other where we're tackling each other. We'd started doing that late in the year and we got better. We didn't do it early, because we didn't have as many people with quarantining issues, and, honestly, I was still figuring out how much of that we could do with COVID-19 so we wouldn't have contact tracing issues.
"I hope we [have spring practice]. Our players need it from an improvement standpoint, and they need it just for trying to get back to as much of a normal way of living as we can."
Your offense will bring back a lot of firepower and starters from last year's team. What do you want that side of the ball to look like?
"The last game against Troy … we come back and hold them to 17, hold them to 10 for 59.5 minutes. I thought the defense was lights out in that game, and I thought really, for the first time, we played complimentary football. The offense controlled the clock, we were able to run the ball better … and that was good to see.
"We have a lot of guys coming back offensively … but we have to improve our running game. We weren't very productive running the ball, and that's an area this offseason we have to get better. We were good at times in the passing game, and at other times, we weren't as productive. … I'd like to be a 275, 300-yard-per-game passing attack and get more production out of our running game and be a 175-yard rushing team. … Moving forward, we have to improve throwing the ball and our running game with our running backs."
What about your defense? You had a lot of young guys perform, and Greg Grate and Jordan Ferguson really had breakout seasons.
"Defensively, when you look at the big picture of things, we had a lot of young guys play, and we didn't have a spring practice or a summer for them to practice and improve before the season.
"Greg [Grate] had a really good year. It was the first time he's ever played safety — he's been a corner, been a nickel — and he didn't have a spring practice and not much of a summer. He continued to get better and better each week … and played hurt. The toughness he showed and displayed going through the year playing hurt like he did, I have a lot of respect for Greg Grate.
"Jordan Ferguson, I thought, had a really strong year. It was the first time he's ever played defensive end. He's been a defensive tackle. He didn't have a spring to practice and didn't have a summer, so he was learning throughout the season. Now that he's had that and hopefully a spring practice, he'll be even better."
The NCAA announced early in the season that players would have an added year of eligibility if they so wanted. How challenging does that make structuring your roster?
"When they announced that, I talked to all the seniors and told them I didn't need to know then, but needed to know pretty soon what their thoughts were. We had a handful who knew they weren't coming back, they were graduating and getting on with their life. We had a handful who were coming back. Then, we had another handful who wanted to think about it. … I wanted to get through the season, and that's when I sat down with each of them individually and asked if they were sure.
"You go into this season, and you think you have 22 signees, because you have 22 seniors. All along, you think you're signing 22, then this comes along, and that's cut in half. That's why we only signed three guys in the December signing class, because we wanted to make sure we're getting our needs at specific positions.
"What you also have to understand is you have to look at the 2022 class, because the juniors you have on your team right now, they could leave next year. Potentially, you may have 32, 35 guys who leave after next season, and you can only replace them with 25 scholarships. Then, you're 10 under the 85-scholarship limit.
"It's been very time-consuming. I've put a lot of thought into it and tried to manage it the best we can."
You mentioned the three players who signed in the early signing period. How excited are you for them to join the team?
"I'm excited about all three of them.
"Nick [Vattiato], the quarterback, I love him. I love his intangibles. I love his moxie. His toughness, competitiveness, leadership, all of those intangibles are good, and he's a good player on top of it. He can make all the throws.
"Elijah [Metcalf], he didn't have a senior season. His high school didn't play football this year, so that's tough on him. You're basing everything off what you saw going into this season, and that can be hard on a coach. He's a mid-term guy who will get here in January, and that will help his improvement to make up for what he didn't have as a senior. If we get to have a spring practice, it will be like his senior season. He'll be a slot guy who is good in space, catches the ball and is a good athlete.
"Jakobe [Thomas], from Tullahoma, is a really good athlete. He has great size potential. I think once he gets in the weight room, he has a chance to be a 195, 200-pound safety for us. He's very athletic, was a good running back and a receiver [in high school]. He's a good tackler and has good ball skills."
How optimistic are you as the calendar gets ready to flip to 2021?
"I'm not a doom and gloom guy. I'm positive. I feel good about this, feel good about where we are. I can't wait to get started. I told each of our players when I met with them, I can't wait for Jan. 25 when we get back. I'm going to be jacked up and excited with a ton of energy to get going, because I'm excited about what we have coming back and about this team. We're going to get better, and we're going to get better fast, and this team is hungry to get better."
Just like everyone in college football in 2020, COVID-19 created challenges all year long, from canceling spring practice and summer workouts to altering schedules, players going in and out of the lineup, and day-to-day routines flipped upside down.
The Raiders might not have finished with the record Stockstill had hoped for at 3-6, but he's plenty excited for what's coming back in 2021. He sat down to talk more about the team and what next year will hopefully look like for MT.
Can you give us a little bit of a crash course for what you're looking to improve on this spring?
"[On offense], I want to get more production in the passing game and less production in the run game from the quarterback position and put that in the running backs. I want to improve our overall scheme, overall production, of running the football. That means our offensive line has to get better, our running backs have to improve. We also have to do a better job of protecting the ball.
"I also talked about explosive plays on offense. We have to get better at that. I think if we can get better at explosive plays our scoring will improve. We have to score more than what we have. We only averaged 22 points per game. Especially in today's world of college football, you have to be able to score. I think if we can improve in our explosive plays both in the passing game and running game, that's going to lead to the opportunity to score more points.
"Conversely, defensively, we have to get better on third down. We were bad there. I thought at times we did a really nice job of stopping the run, really in the last part of the year. We have to tackle better … and we have to do more tackling drills and more competition against each other where we're tackling each other. We'd started doing that late in the year and we got better. We didn't do it early, because we didn't have as many people with quarantining issues, and, honestly, I was still figuring out how much of that we could do with COVID-19 so we wouldn't have contact tracing issues.
"I hope we [have spring practice]. Our players need it from an improvement standpoint, and they need it just for trying to get back to as much of a normal way of living as we can."
Your offense will bring back a lot of firepower and starters from last year's team. What do you want that side of the ball to look like?
"The last game against Troy … we come back and hold them to 17, hold them to 10 for 59.5 minutes. I thought the defense was lights out in that game, and I thought really, for the first time, we played complimentary football. The offense controlled the clock, we were able to run the ball better … and that was good to see.
"We have a lot of guys coming back offensively … but we have to improve our running game. We weren't very productive running the ball, and that's an area this offseason we have to get better. We were good at times in the passing game, and at other times, we weren't as productive. … I'd like to be a 275, 300-yard-per-game passing attack and get more production out of our running game and be a 175-yard rushing team. … Moving forward, we have to improve throwing the ball and our running game with our running backs."
What about your defense? You had a lot of young guys perform, and Greg Grate and Jordan Ferguson really had breakout seasons.
"Defensively, when you look at the big picture of things, we had a lot of young guys play, and we didn't have a spring practice or a summer for them to practice and improve before the season.
"Greg [Grate] had a really good year. It was the first time he's ever played safety — he's been a corner, been a nickel — and he didn't have a spring practice and not much of a summer. He continued to get better and better each week … and played hurt. The toughness he showed and displayed going through the year playing hurt like he did, I have a lot of respect for Greg Grate.
"Jordan Ferguson, I thought, had a really strong year. It was the first time he's ever played defensive end. He's been a defensive tackle. He didn't have a spring to practice and didn't have a summer, so he was learning throughout the season. Now that he's had that and hopefully a spring practice, he'll be even better."
The NCAA announced early in the season that players would have an added year of eligibility if they so wanted. How challenging does that make structuring your roster?
"When they announced that, I talked to all the seniors and told them I didn't need to know then, but needed to know pretty soon what their thoughts were. We had a handful who knew they weren't coming back, they were graduating and getting on with their life. We had a handful who were coming back. Then, we had another handful who wanted to think about it. … I wanted to get through the season, and that's when I sat down with each of them individually and asked if they were sure.
"You go into this season, and you think you have 22 signees, because you have 22 seniors. All along, you think you're signing 22, then this comes along, and that's cut in half. That's why we only signed three guys in the December signing class, because we wanted to make sure we're getting our needs at specific positions.
"What you also have to understand is you have to look at the 2022 class, because the juniors you have on your team right now, they could leave next year. Potentially, you may have 32, 35 guys who leave after next season, and you can only replace them with 25 scholarships. Then, you're 10 under the 85-scholarship limit.
"It's been very time-consuming. I've put a lot of thought into it and tried to manage it the best we can."
You mentioned the three players who signed in the early signing period. How excited are you for them to join the team?
"I'm excited about all three of them.
"Nick [Vattiato], the quarterback, I love him. I love his intangibles. I love his moxie. His toughness, competitiveness, leadership, all of those intangibles are good, and he's a good player on top of it. He can make all the throws.
"Elijah [Metcalf], he didn't have a senior season. His high school didn't play football this year, so that's tough on him. You're basing everything off what you saw going into this season, and that can be hard on a coach. He's a mid-term guy who will get here in January, and that will help his improvement to make up for what he didn't have as a senior. If we get to have a spring practice, it will be like his senior season. He'll be a slot guy who is good in space, catches the ball and is a good athlete.
"Jakobe [Thomas], from Tullahoma, is a really good athlete. He has great size potential. I think once he gets in the weight room, he has a chance to be a 195, 200-pound safety for us. He's very athletic, was a good running back and a receiver [in high school]. He's a good tackler and has good ball skills."
How optimistic are you as the calendar gets ready to flip to 2021?
"I'm not a doom and gloom guy. I'm positive. I feel good about this, feel good about where we are. I can't wait to get started. I told each of our players when I met with them, I can't wait for Jan. 25 when we get back. I'm going to be jacked up and excited with a ton of energy to get going, because I'm excited about what we have coming back and about this team. We're going to get better, and we're going to get better fast, and this team is hungry to get better."
Players Mentioned
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