Mick Stoltenberg Press Conference Quotes

Nebraska Football
Weekly Press Conference
Monday, Aug. 28, 2017
Memorial Stadium
Pre-Arkansas State

Defensive Lineman Mick Stoltenberg

On physical health and minor head injury during fall camp
“I feel pretty great right now, it was a good camp. I thought it went really well. That was just a minor thing, minor setback. It gave me a week to recover fully and go through the protocol. So I guess it let the rest of my body rest up a little bit, too. We had a good physical week of practice, and I think we are all ready to move into game week here.”

On challenge of a player playing right out of high school, specifically Deontre Thomas and Damion Daniels
“It’s definitely challenging. Physically especially. Me, coming out of high school, I don’t think that I would have really been ready to play that way, especially in the interior. The way they kind of are, physically. They are both really good competitors. You know really able to learn. Deontre (Thomas) and Damion (Daniels), they both kind of came in with the idea in their head that they were going to play and contribute on Saturdays and if things go well for them they will definitely end up doing that. And they both obviously offer different things to the table. Deontre’s a little quicker, more of the pass-rush guy and Damion is obviously, he is just huge, he’s a big plug in there in the A gap and they are both tangibly important to the team, for sure.”

On his own physical progression and preparation for the season
“Yeah, it is where I want to be right now. I’ve gained a lot of weight since last season, I’m about 310-315, kind of in that range normally. I’m definitely excited about how the preparation went, I feel physically ready, it definitely came pretty fast which is cool. The camp kind of flew by, and we are all definitely ready to get rolling here.”

On maintaining speed through physical progression
“I guess it really wasn’t too terribly difficult. I’ve been kind of doing that since I got here. I came in at 260 pounds and that’s about 50 pounds if you do the math. So I’ve been kind of gaining weight every year and just building on that. It’s something I have my routine and everything like that so it’s something I’ve kind of built off of.”

On advantage of the 3-4 system
“Definitely a lot of things as far as preparation goes. Opposing offenses have a lot more to prepare for. You’re blitzing for a lot of different looks and for a lot of different fronts and stuff like that and its something maybe most teams aren’t used to practicing against, if their defense is a 4-3 or whatever. Definitely allows us to have multiple looks and creates a different look for preparation for other teams as well.”

On the biggest thing Defensive Coordinator Bob Diaco has instilled in players minds
“Effort. That’s kind of the big thing, is guys really playing for each other and playing hard. That’s something you could kind of see right away. If you weren’t going to buy into his system he wasn’t going to wait for stragglers. So it was definitely the type of thing where once he came in you kind of knew what the culture was going to be and you had to buy in and I think it has definitely worked.”

On Arkansas State and whether they have his attention
“Yeah definitely. Perennially they are pretty strong in the Sun Belt. They are conference champions I think the last couple years or something like that. They are pretty dynamic on offense, their quarterback is really talented. Offensive line is rebuilt but we’ve heard good things about them. It’s definitely not someone we are going to overlook. We are preparing hard for them because I know they are a dynamic offense and that’s what they set themselves on so it’s something to prepare for, for sure.”

On what other goals he has for this game besides winning
“Definitely stopping the run first off. At least as far as being in the front, setting ourselves up there and stopping the run and the getting after the quarterback a little bit are two things we are focused on for sure.”

On mental difference with new defensive system
“It was a lot to learn but after going through the spring and fall it’s kind of a lot slower now. The game has slowed down a little bit more now that we have had the chance to practice it a lot and work together as a unit. The difference is the defense is a little more second nature to me so it’s not too much thinking about schemes and stuff like that so much as it is about reacting to the offense.”

On why Huskers are so focused this season
“I would attribute that to some of the leadership that has emerged in the locker room. Guys are really pulling each other together. We really aren’t handling any complaining or stuff like that, we are trying to eliminate that, its toxic. Once one guy starts complaining about something it kind of spreads so we are definitely trying to get rid of that and the leaders that have emerged have done a really good job of that.”

On what it means to wear a Blackshirt
“It means everything to me, obviously I earned my first Blackshirt last year and it was a big deal. It was a huge dream come true, and I’m excited to see the first time Blackshirt guys this year, to get it and that will be a pretty cool experience for them."

On teaching young players about handling nerves of playing in Memorial Stadium at night
"We’ve gotten the chance to go in there and visually show them what the game is going to be like. It’s obviously a lot different than practice. The warm-ups, preparation, the sideline, how it’s going to be so we’ve had the chance to explain that to the younger guys and kind of acclimate them to that. Because it is important to not just go in there and freak out because it’s so much different. We definitely kind of explain that to them."

On the long day Saturday before the first night game
“When you sit around the hotel all day on Saturday while other games are being played and you get a chance to watch them it makes you want to get out there quicker, but it’ll be good to play at night, it’ll be fun.”