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"Even D.C. [Jefferson], I would throw him in the mix. He played last there and kind of split time with Shamar [Graves]. You look at [Paul] Carrezola and [Tony] Trahan and Malcolm Bush and Evan Lampert and all those guys are going to get reps. I love it because they have a new coach and all got a fresh start with Phil. It will be interesting to see. D.C., as I have said many times, he has all the tools to be as good as there is and again, we have to connect the dots."

On anybody other than Mohamed Sanu playing in the wildcat formation and will it be a part of the offense again:

"It will be part. Maybe not somebody that is not on our roster right now, maybe we have some ideas for guys that are coming in. I would be premature to speak of that. That is some place I think a guy can come in that is very athletic and not have to think too much and use his abilities."

On whether you feel rejuvenated with a young roster:

"I don't know if it is the young kids or where we are in the program. I feel very good about our staff. I am very comfortable with our staff. They are excellent teachers. It has allowed me to do some things programmatically with the leadership council and spend more time with them. I just think it is a team that has the makings of really coming together. Whether we do or not, who the heck knows. That is going to happen over the course of this spring, this summer and then heading into the season. I think we have a chance which is exciting."

On Antwan Lowery's move to the offensive line:

"He is a very talented guy that we thought could bolster the offensive line. We know he can play on defense and generally if he can play on defense he can do a pretty good job on offense. It will be a learning curve, we are not naive to that. It is good that we are doing it in the spring and he gets a chance to work at it. If he is as natural as I think he will be, he will have a chance to compete for playing time."

On who you think will emerge as leaders in the spring:

"I think we have a good nucleus of leaders and off all ages too. It is a good mix. I mentioned Howard [Barbieri]. Howard is a guy that is immensely respected on the football team. I think Tom [Savage] is another guy and Mohamed [Sanu]. Those guys work so hard and are so committed to what we believe in. Scott Vallone is a young guy that I think leads by example more than talk. Kordell Young I think is a guy that does a good job in that light. There are a lot more guys like that. I just feel we have a good group. Part of being a good leader is having good followers. I think we have some guys that realize that these are the guys that know how to get it done. They have done it. Let's follow them and see if we can't all get this thing down. We are still in the infant stages of this 2010 team but I kind of like the way it has got a chance to shape up. We will say who gets healthy, who comes back from injury. There are a lot of variables. It is nice when you have your quarterback returning and you have some defensive lineman returning. It is a good place to start."

On a pecking order at linebacker:

"I don't know if there is a pecking order. [Antonio] Lowery has experience. I think Steven [Beauharnais] came on really well at the end of the year. He is a very talented guy. A guy like Ka'Lial Glaud, who played on special teams, and I think now is his time to lineup and go. I have every bit of confidence that he can. Then you have a guy like Jimmy Dumont who is just there all the time. Manny [Abreu], it is his time now. He has had opportunities and stints as a starter and he is in and he is out. Here it is Manny. You have a chance now to be the guy for two years. You have to grab it and go with it. You have good competition there. I don't think it will be for a lack of skilled players. I think some of the young guys will have a chance to compete too come August if they can learn the scheme."

On where Steve Beauharnais will get a shot at middle linebacker or not:

"We are kind of mixing that up a little bit. It is kind of like the offensive line. I want to find out who the best three are. We can do that in the spring but I don't want to do too much moving around come training camp. We have done that too but that has been out of necessity. Right now we are kind of investigating so we will move some guys around a little."

On whether you can tell if freshmen enrolling early makes them stand out in training camp:

"We have the summer bridge program where the NCAA has made legal where freshmen can come in who are on scholarship. That has kind of bridged that gap a little bit but I think you can definitely tell. A guy who spends the entire spring and goes through winter conditioning with your team has a different toughness. No matter how you slice it, they have a different toughness then the incoming freshmen. No matter how hard guys work and no matter how great a high school program they come from, it is just different. It is a different level of expectation, physically, mentally, the whole deal. You are playing up in class. I think you get a little taste of it in the spring, you are better prepared."

On redshirting the freshmen cornerbacks last year and its impact this year:

"We were able to redshirt some really good players last year, really as a group for the first time. Cornerbacks is one position but I think on the defensive line we redshirted some really good players too. They are going to get their first mix of being in the mix and really competing. I think those cornerbacks really got a chance to compete. Obviously with Devin [McCourty] graduating there is a position up for grabs. They are all up for grades. It wasn't like David [Rowe] was a shutdown, lockdown guy every snap. There will be some competition at the corner spot. I think Joe [Lefeged] is the leader back there. He will get them lined up and play with great intensity and lead by example. Joe has become a little more vocal too which is good."

On any changes philosophically on defense:

"No. I think ‘could we have performed better' absolutely but I think we were top-10 or top-20 in most categories in defense and we just have to keep doing that. You keep doing that year-after-year and that is the sign to me of a really good defense. You are not a flash in the pan. Some years you are in the top-five in some categories and some years you drop back a little bit. You don't want to drop too far back. I think we do what we do. We always tweak coaching points but not things that I think will be very noticeable."

On the competition at place-kicker with Kyle Sullivan and San San Te:

"Without a doubt. Kyle [Sullivan] gets his chance to compete. Not that he didn't in the fall, but when you got a game staring you down the throat in 30 days, the guy has to clearly be better for you to do that. Now, I think there is a time. I will do, as I do many times, make some situations with the appearance of pressure and see how they respond. I think San San improved as the year went on as he felt better and better coming off that back situation. Teddy [Dellaganna] is going to be very important. To have both your punter and your place kicker returning is something that I think gets overlooked but I think it is big. The thing that we don't have is our longsnapper returning with Andrew DePaola graduating, we really need to solidify that. We have guys in place and guys that can do it well but until you can do it in a game, we will see."

Closing Statement

"I appreciate you coming out and look forward to Tuesday. It should be fun."

SOURCE: RUTGERS