Josh Banderas

On the linebackers’ competition
“I think the competition is going to be the same. Nobody during the season started working harder, doing anything different than before, but it’ll be the same, but a lot more people have experience now. It’s just kind of more fun because we can all relate to each other more. I think it actually made us closer as a room, just because we’ve all been there and we’ve all had to work just as hard during the week on the game plan family, so we’ve been able to help each other out more.”

On backup linebackers being ready to step when starters get injured after getting experience last year
“Oh yeah, obviously because they have the experience now, what they’re getting themselves into, what goes on in preparing during the week to get to play on Saturday. That’s throughout our whole group though. It’s just a whole other year of everybody getting time, so it’ll really help us in the long run.”

On how he is getting himself prepared for this season
“I think just taking care of your body. I know a lot of the guys started getting more into the nutrition side of things, focusing more on eating right, cut out the Krispy Kreme and that stuff, definitely just taking care of your body, stretching-wise, doing a lot of yoga, going into the actual studio instead of bringing them here in order to get the full benefit. As far as total body health, I think that’s going to be a big factor next season in injuries.”

On what he wants to see out of the defense this year
“If I had to pick one, I’d say more consistency in the offseason. In the film that we watch, kind of what the coaches have said is ‘you put together a clip of three plays that’s all the same offensive play and the same call for us,  and two of them stop in the backfield or good coverage and then the next one is a 60-yard play.’ So just consistency with what we do and understanding the base defense more.”

On why the linebackers excelled under Coach Bray
“I think just his energy and he’s young. It’s really easy to talk to him and it’s really easy to ask questions. He’s been there and done that so if something happens, he’s been in that situation, however long ago, he actually played it. He actually did it. It’s easier to take advice and take direction from somebody who’s been in the position that you’re in.

On Coach Parrella
“We haven’t been around him too much, but from the little that I’ve talked to him, he seems like he’s going to be an intense guy who’s going to get everybody going, but at the same time, like Coach Bray, they’ll be able to relate to him, because he’s been there and done that and he’s played in the league. He comes from here, he knows what it’s about here and instill that in everybody and not just the defensive line.”

On the importance of spring practice
“This is just a time to kind of evaluate for the coaches to see where everybody’s at. For the older guys, go back and refine your basics, go back to just your regular base, as basic as you can get defense and go down to the basics of your footwork and your pass drops and everything and just kind of refine it to get it much better so you can continue into the summer and onto the fall. For the young guys, especially the freshmen, this is their first real ball, to get to go out there and run our defense and show what they can bring to the table and kind of show off a little bit.”

On Mohamed Barry
“I think he’s going to do awesome. If you look at the kid, he’s a really good-sized kid. Running with him and working out with him in the off-season, he’s strong and he’s fast and he’s been the guy to text on the weekends, text some of the older guys and get in the film room and he wants to learn and do all that extra stuff. I’m really excited to see if he can put that on the field and translate all that work he put in the offseason, so it’s going to be exciting.”

On Tyrin Ferguson
“Kind of the same deal (as Mohamed Barry). I know he was probably a little disappointed he didn’t see any linebacker snaps, but he made a big impact on special teams and showed the coaches that he’s going to work hard and he stayed the course throughout the whole season and kept competing in the meetings and kept learning and asking the guys for advice. This will be a good time for him, he’s got a year under his belt. He’s a lot bigger than he was when he came in; a lot bigger, stronger [and] faster. These young guys in the last class have really improved in the offseason and it’s going to be really exciting what they can bring to the table.”

On what he learned from last season
“I don’t think if we learned anything new from going 6-7 and some of those down periods. I think we all knew we were a resilient team, going through the coaching change obviously was kind of a new experience and going 6-7 was kind of a new experience. We just kind of reaffirmed that we’re going to stay the course no matter what and believe in the process and eventually like it did towards the end of the season, it kind of picked up. We found our ground and I guess we just learned that we’re pretty resilient and we’ve got some good guys and some good leaders on this team.”

On the second year with the new coaches
“It feels more comfortable off the get go with these coaches and the new staff. They’re real easy to talk to and get along with and now after a whole year, a whole season, all these experiences and stories we have now, I guess it would be a lot more comfortable and it’s nice not having to start from step a, now we can start from s or whatever and pick it up where we left off.”

On Dedrick Young
“Just kind of his demeanor, it’s always been calm, he never gets flustered, you’ve got to force the kid to smile, he’s always just smooth all the way through. He’s really mature for being a freshman, coming in and playing all those games, but he handled it very well and he should be one of the leaders on the team no matter how young he is.”

On how the lineman are trying to fill the voids from starters no longer on the team
“The lineman, they’re one of the groups that does the most, as far as extra things after running and weights and stuff. They’re the ones going back out on the field and doing lineman drills that Coach Cav (Cavanaugh) has been giving them. I think Cav’s really got them into this mindset that they need to be the main core of the team, or at least the offense for sure. They really have their head on straight and I think any of them could really pick it up because they put the work in for it. As for the defensive line, they’ve obviously gone through three coaches since I’ve been here. They’ve really showed that they can stick together as a group. They’re doing drills too and sticking together and I think they’re going to be a pretty good group. I know we lost a couple real good guys, but I don’t see much of a drop off, if any, maybe an improvement, coming this year because the guys have really shown that they’re working hard and getting in the film study and stuff.”