Spring Practice Report, Day 6: Rams continue to make small improvements each day
3/30/2018 1:37:00 PM | Football
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Q&A with junior cornerback Anthony Hawkins
FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- The Colorado State football team conducted its sixth practice of the spring on Friday, and the coaching staff continued to see gradual improvements from the Rams.
"Today was our sixth practice, a padded practice. I've seen a little bit better tackling from the defense," Bobo said. "I saw us be able to throw and catch a little better offensively. I see a little bit of improvement each day. (Next week) we will go Wednesday, Friday, Sunday and scrimmage on Sunday for our ninth practice. That will kind of let them go out and play, but we are getting there. We are thin, but it's a good thing we are thin because guys are getting some reps, and guys are getting a lot of reps that may not have gotten a lot of reps as a chance to build depth, but I do think we are getting a little bit better. We still have a long way to go, but that's okay."
The practice began with Bobo declaring that today was a "competition Friday" and had a spontaneous session of one-on-one board drills.
"We did not have that planned today, I just did not like how we were warming up and going through the walk-through and just trying to do some board drills through practice and just kind of wake practice up," Bobo explained. "We've got a great opportunity all those guys in practice I told them, 'You're blessed to be able to come out and play football' and we got to be excited to come play football. It's a competitive game and it is a physical game and we have got to be more physical. If we are not going to be physical then I am going to create physical moments for them and make them face the issue."
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Tight ends coach Joe Cox has been working with the three tight ends on the roster (Isiah Pannunzio, Cameron Butler and Griffin Hammer) and he likes what he's seen from the group so far. With only three players, Cox has been able to work very closely and he believes it's providing valuable learning opportunities for the trio.
"That is the best part," Cox said in regards to being able to work closely with all three tight ends. "I mean, it is hard when you get to certain periods and you might have a few plays in a row where you have two tight ends on the field and you can tell that they are getting gassed, which is good for them right now, but every period I am able to sit down and go through stuff on the side with guys and I am able to get a lot more one-on-one coaching, which is huge. That is what spring ball is all about, but those three guys are definitely getting quality reps, and getting a lot of reps, and I am able to really monitor every single thing my guys are doing, whereas it might be tough as a receivers coach where you might have four guys out there at the same time. You might have a (graduate assistant) that's watching one side and you are watching one side and you don't really know what happened at practice on a lot of plays until you watch it on film. But I am able to watch every single rep with immediate feedback and that is what is huge for those guys right now."
Bobo also announced today the addition of T.J. Roundtree, a graduate transfer offensive lineman from Louisville, to the program for the 2018 season.
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NEWS: @CoachBobo_CSU has announced the addition of 6-foot-6 OL T.J. Roundtree as a graduate transfer for the 2018 season.
Q: Have you seen any good movies recently? Why would you recommend those to other people?
A: Black Panther and Baby Driver. Black Panther is a good movie because it challenges dominant ideology. It shows what people are not used to seeing in society. It shows a black hero, African-American heritage, and what being an African-American is really about. I'd recommend it because it's not really advertised out here as much. I'd recommend that movie just because it actually gives us a pedestal to actually take that to the next level, to show people what we're really about and that we're not really just a negative race because sometimes society targets us as a negative race, so I think it's just a positive push for us to do better.
 Q: If you could have any superpower, what superpower would you choose?Â
A: I would want to teleport. Right now I'd probably teleport to the ice bath because I'm hurting pretty bad. But those days after conditioning, I'd probably go somewhere across the country or somewhere I could lay on the beach and just relax my body. I'd teleport to see family all the time. I would love to do that and do this job… I'm from Dallas, Texas. I would love to do this job and be able to be with my family at the same time. That would be great if Colorado was in Dallas, but it's not...
 Q: What brought you to CSU?
A: CSU stayed with me from day one. They were true to me and I stayed true to them. Other schools kind of fluctuated when signing day came around, but CSU was there from day one. They had a great recruiting staff, I loved the campus on my visit and in academics, they had what I wanted. I always wanted to major in Journalism; they had what I wanted and they had a great program. CSU is home for me right now.
 Q: What do you want to do with your degree?
A: I want to go into Sports Illustrated, on the editing side of it. I want to get my writing license, and then I want to be able to edit and maybe publish some things; maybe blogging, maybe like a live blog. But I want to be more on the editing side, not on the air, just to get my writers license. That would also help—you know everybody's dream is to make it to the league, but if I were to make it to the league, that would be a great pedestal to push me right over to Journalism and sports broadcasting.
 Q: What songs are on your playlist right now?
A: Religious wise, I'm a Christian, so I've been listening to a lot of Kirk Franklin's "The Storm is Over Now", "Renew the Fire" by Leandria Johnson, I'm a big Gospel fan, I'm from down South… I'm a Baptist guy, so Hezekiah Walker, John P. Kee, all of those… Then for the urban side, the youth, I've been into Migos, but the weight room has burnt us out on Migos, so there's this rapper—he has a funny name—Yellow Beezy's "That's on Me"… You can't ever forget about the J. Coles and the Kendricks and then the Drake "Take Care" album is always great.
 Q: What was it like transitioning from wide receiver to cornerback after your freshman season?
A: I would say it was a challenge but it was the best move for me. I don't regret it a bit. If I could go back and change it, I wouldn't because it was the best move for me. We had a lot of depth in receiver and I wasn't getting the play time I wanted but the transition put me on the field and that was really what I was all about. I was all about helping our team and I was all about getting on the field. Everybody wants to play on Saturdays, but what I focused on is what we did to build up to Saturday. It was the preparation. I had a great foundation with the staff, with the players around me. I had great leadership in my teammates—three seniors that led us last year, and then I had great coaches, great coaching staff and I have a great coaching staff now, so it was a great transition, great transition for me.
 Q: You led the team in interceptions last year, including getting one in the bowl game. What is that feeling like when you cause a turnover?
A: It's electrifying. It's electrifying. It's like the crowd raises you up and your team raises you up and it's a great time. But at the same time, you think about it and you have fun and you 'hoo-rah' and then you're back locked in. You have your fun at that moment, but you think about it and you're back out there because it's only one play of the 82 snaps that you take in the game. All it takes is one to get beat and that's another touchdown. That pick you just got is taken away, that touchdown you just gave up. It's living in the moment, but I enjoy the moment.
 Q: What are your personal goals going into the 2018 season?
A: Basically just doubling stats as far as picks… getting more involved in the tackling game and eliminating big plays. You eliminate big plays, you eliminate touchdowns. That's how you become a great defensive backer and a great player—just eliminating big plays. Everything in front of you, you can tackle, but everything behind you, you can't. You're running it down. So I'd say eliminating big plays, stay on top of everything and getting more involved in tackling and doubling stats.
 Q: How about your goals or things you are looking forward to unrelated to football?
A: I plan to, hopefully, get this 3.3 GPA this semester to keep my 3.0 cumulative. I want to stay declared in my major and declare my major in journalism and social communication. I have to achieve a certain grade in business courses in order to keep my minor. I plan to just stay on track with those. Also, I want to just get one of those medals—the academic medals—because a lot of the time people look at us and have this stereotype of 'they're football players… bare minimum… communications major… easy.' I want to be different and stand out from the norm. I want to achieve it in the classroom too and better my relationship, religiously.
 Q: What can you benefit from most during spring ball?
A: Be a learner of the game. Honestly, that's how I'll benefit the most. We have a new staff and we have some new faces on defense, also. They're learning just like we're learning, but at the same time, some guys—'you don't know it all.' Just because I've had some experience on the field and I've played a couple of snaps, doesn't mean I know it all, so it's always having your ears open and your mouth closed, keeping a level head and being a student of the game will help me a lot improving on my technique. This is when a lot of guys' technique falters, so that's the main thing I focus on in practice and going into the season.
 Q: Favorite football or coach memory at CSU?
A: That's hard… I think the best experience we had football wise—I'm going to say on the field and off the field because I really can't choose, there are two categories! I've had a lot of bonding with my coaches and my teammates.
On the field I think my favorite memory was a Nevada game (last season). We won that 44-42. We won that game by two points… It's coming down to the wire and we're getting hype on the side line and I remember Kevin Nutt Jr. and Justin Sweet and also Shun Johnson were standing on the sideline and it was like, 'I'm not going to be the one. I'm not going to be the one.' And we were in a play, we were going to fake to our side, they threw it up and every time they'd pass it down and the clock strikes zero and we start celebrating in the middle of the field and it's crazy. The band's striking up, I mean that was probably one of the coldest memories and it just ran chills down my body. It was great. It was a great win and my family was there—that's why it was a great memory for me. The Nevada game, it had to be. Coming down to the wire, fourth quarter, and any team that can finish, that's a great team. And I miss those guys at the same time. That's why it's a great memory for me, as the young buck and now they're gone, so that's why it's a great memory for me.
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Off the field, it has to be Hawai'i. We went to Hawai'i to play Hawai'i. They took us down to the beach because we thought we weren't (going to the beach)…We were right there by the beach the whole weekend and we were like, 'man, they're not going to take us to the beach once.' So one day, we're coming from our 'Fast Friday' and Coach drives down to the beach and is like, 'Alright guys, get out' and we're like 'Really?' Everyone got to swim out to the reef and it was just a great experience, taking pictures… that's another great experience. Being in football, you get to travel a lot, you do things you never imagined, places you've wanted to go, but only dreamed of going. You've been all over the country now and so it was great because technically we thought we were out of the country because we were in Hawai'i, even though it's part of the United States, it was great, so that's probably one of my favorite memories.
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The Second Annual FORTitude 10K road race, which will finish in the new stadium, is scheduled for Labor Day, Sept. 3, 2018, on the weekend between the Rams' first two home games. Registration is open now for the community race at the Early Start rate of $45, with special pricing for ages 14 and under, and 65 and over. Registration increases to $50 after July 4, 2018. Click here for more.
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