What Charles Kelly said before Jax State's game at New Mexico State

Jacksonville State head coach Charles Kelly spent the bye week stripping things down to the basics. The Gamecocks return from a 15-day break with a Wednesday night trip to New Mexico State (7 p.m. CT, ESPN2), and Kelly said the focus has been on fundamentals — stance, alignment, eyes, technique.

"Do what we have to do to be able to play your best for six seconds, and then when that play is over, go to the next one," Kelly said.

Kelly identified the New Mexico State rushing attack as the best his team has faced this season. Running back James Jones leads CUSA in rushing, and Kelly said the patience of the Aggies' backs is what makes them difficult to defend. Kelly also praised NMSU head coach Tony Sanchez for how he has built the program since taking over.

"It'll be the best running attack that we played against," Kelly said.

Kelly described the patience of NMSU's backs as the key to what makes the rushing attack work.

"They're very patient, and they find that crease," Kelly said. "When you pour water on the floor, water is going to go to a crack. Well, a good running back, you're going to find the crease in that defense."

Kelly also gave a window into freshman linebacker Jameson McCollough, whose father Eriles played at Jax State. Kelly said he has known the younger McCollough since he was old enough to walk and coached his father in Jacksonville. Kelly recruited McCollough's brother at Tennessee. He described the freshman as smart, instinctive and mature beyond his age — and said playing ability does not have an age limit, only a maturity limit.

On the offensive line, Kelly pointed to the development of Ryan Walker, Lucas Mrachkovskiy and Lance Johnson as a group that has grown into the personality of the team. Kelly said the offensive line room has 23 players on the roster and credited the experience of Johnson and Lucas Mrachkovskiy for helping younger players learn what it takes to compete at this level.

Full transcript

Coach Charles Kelly

On the bye week and the team's approach:

Coach Kelly: "I think our guys have had a good week. Our focus has been to work on us to make sure we get better fundamentally — from stance, alignment, where we put our eyes, technique — because that's what wins football games. It's not about schemes and all those kinds of things. It's being able to execute and do your job for basically six seconds at a time. That's where our focus has been, and that's what we've narrowed it down to. Do what we have to do to be able to play your best for six seconds, and then when that play is over, go to the next one. Play your best for six seconds. That's what we've done. But I like their attitude. I like the way they came out. The energy was good. Got good work in. We got to work a lot of guys that you might not have seen in games so far, but when you go through a season like we have, there's going to be some of those guys that show up towards the end of the year. Only way you learn how to play this game is to play, and we got a lot of good work in."

On New Mexico State and head coach Tony Sanchez:

Coach Kelly: "I've watched them a lot because it's worked out where I've been able to see them. Tony Sanchez and I are friends, and I got a lot of respect for him. I say that every week — I think it says the respect that I have for the coaches in this league that do such a good job. But I have a lot of respect for him because he's built his team. When he took over that program, there wasn't a lot left over there for him, and he just gradually built that team, and it fits his personality. Two things that stand out to me: their running game — I mean, it'll be the best running attack that we played against. James Jones is the leading rusher in Conference USA, but all their backs are really good, and they got guys on the outside that can make plays on the perimeter. They do a good job on the offensive line of doing what they do best. And defensively, as you watch them, they can run, they have a lot of movement. They're bringing guys from different places, and they're very sound in what they do."

On bowl eligibility and consistency:

Coach Kelly: "I will say this: we have not focused and talked about bowl eligibility. We haven't. What we have talked about is consistency, and you're right there. The consistency is what we want to focus on. We want to be consistent as players. We want to be consistent as coaches. I say it, but I believe it. If you start worrying about, 'Well, I've got to do this to get here and do this to get there' — now you got external factors coming out, and now you can't do your job. We want to be able to eliminate that. But to your point, what you said is exactly right. Our focus has been on the consistency."

On whether the break was needed:

Coach Kelly: "Yeah, I think so. Everybody in here has been with us since we started. We started the last week of July. We played week zero, and we played some really good football teams. Even the games we lost — when you look back, they have two losses between them, and they were very competitive games, and they're very physical games. Every game that we played in conference has been very competitive, very physical. I think we needed the break to be able to work on us more, and that's kind of where our focus was. And we needed to get some guys back healthy. We've lost a couple guys for the year, but we've been banged up a lot of places. We feel like that has helped us throughout this off week."

On New Mexico State's run game and RPOs:

Coach Kelly: "They have some RPOs. They are an RPO team, but to me, they run the duo play, all the basic run schemes that they have. What stands out to me about their backs is they are so patient. They're very patient, and that's a sign of a good back. They're very patient, and they find that crease. When you pour water on the floor, water is going to go to a crack. Well, a good running back, you're going to find the crease in that defense, and that's what they do such a good job of. But they do have RPO games off of it, and they have guys on the perimeter that can make you pay. It makes you have to tweak some things coverage-wise sometimes to be able to handle that."

On freshman linebacker Jameson McCollough:

Coach Kelly: "That's probably an unfair question because I think I've known him since he was old enough to walk. I had an opportunity to coach his father here, and he comes from a great family. Had an opportunity to recruit his brother when I was at Tennessee. First of all, he and Tank are two different young men. They're great young men, but he wants to make a legacy of his own. He's very smart. He's very instinctive. They hear me talk. He's got some alpha in him. He knows how to bite, and you want that on defense. Doesn't say a whole lot, but when it's time to go, he's ready to go. For his age — but I say this, and I believe this — football, being able to play football, does not have an age limit. There's a maturity limit. So if you can be mature, no matter how old you are, it gives yourself a chance to play. He's very mature where he's at in his career, and he's one of those guys that's not going to get satisfied."

On coaching his former players' sons:

Coach Kelly: "I am old, but the older the violin, the sweeter the music. I've actually had three guys that I've coached in the last five years who I coached their father. Have one working for me right now — Kristian Story, I coached Clifford here back years ago. That's an honor, to be honest with you. If a parent trusts you enough to let them coach their child, to me, that's something that you take a big responsibility to do. But as I told Jameson, I'm not recruiting him because of his mother and father. I appreciate the way they raised him, but we recruited him for him, because he's a good football player, and he's going to get an opportunity just like everybody else. The one thing our players will tell you is that they're going to get treated the same. They're going to get the same opportunities, and we'll be very direct with them about where they stand."

On the Saban documentary on ESPN:

Coach Kelly: "As you know, as good as anybody, I'm very OCD. If I start something, I want to finish it. So when I watch Landman, I want to watch the whole thing. When I watch Marshalls, I want to watch the whole thing. When I watch the Saban documentary, I want to watch the whole thing. I was able to see some clips when I went to the premiere in Tuscaloosa the night it was released, so I did get to see some clips. People asked me, 'Have you seen it?' I said, 'I lived it.' I'm very thankful I lived it."

On the interior offensive line — Luke Mrachkovskiy, Lance Johnson and Ryan Walker:

Coach Kelly: "We always believe that it always starts up front on the lines of scrimmage, both sides of the ball. Ryan's another young man that when we recruited him here, all I remember him asking was, 'Am I going to get a fair shot?' That's all he had. I said, 'Absolutely. If you're the best one, you'll play. If you're not, you won't.' Just that direct, and he didn't ask for anything else. Just, 'Am I going to get a fair opportunity?' All those guys, I think they have a good relationship. They're very close up front. Our numbers are better on the offensive line than they were a year ago. I think we've got like 23 offensive linemen on the roster. Got some banged up, but they've worked hard. They've developed. When you see the linemen, they're always together. I think Lance and Luke, because of their experience last year, have helped the newer guys and younger guys come on to understand it. It's not from an ability standpoint. It's teaching guys what it takes to compete at this level all the time, because the intensity that you have to play with — your offensive line and your defensive line, they're kind of going to set your personality of your team. We always talk about the quarterbacks, but it always starts with those offensive linemen."

OL Ryan Walker & LB Jameson McCollough

On what clicked in the FIU game:

Ryan Walker: "I personally think our game plan for that really opened that up for us, because we were just able to play open football and just run off the ball. That definitely helped out, and we put in hard work, preparation, mentally, physically."

On earning his first start (McCollough):

Jameson McCollough: "I kind of felt a joy of excitement. Coming into college, it was one of my goals — my top goals — to be rotating in the starting lineup. When I finally got that opportunity, it was one of the best feelings for me."

On the bye week:

Jameson McCollough: "I feel like we could have kept on playing, but it's more about us recovering and preparing for the long run. Right now we're nowhere near done with our goal. Our goal is really to win the conference, be the best Conference USA team and make a push for a playoff run."

Ryan Walker: "I think the bye week helped out. We needed a little bit of rest, but we're also focusing on the little things — getting better with our detail, technique, all that stuff. I think that's just going to help us out in the long run."

On his father's Jax State legacy and his decision (McCollough):

Jameson McCollough: "It helped out a little bit. With Coach Kelly — like he said, when he coached my dad here, recruiting my brother — when he came and talked to me, it just felt right. It's like a backyard to me, like a second home. When I made the decision to come here, I knew it was right."

On transferring from North Alabama (Walker):

Ryan Walker: "When I hit the portal, Coach Kelly and them reached out, and my official visit here was my first official visit that I went on. Came here, met all the coaches, and it was just — we hit it off. It was great. I was like, I've got to come here. I don't have a choice. I have to."

On stopping New Mexico State's run game (McCollough):

Jameson McCollough: "On defense, we just need to do our job — gap responsibility, having our eyes on our keys, playing three-count football like our defensive coordinator says and building a wall. Their running back is a good back, a great back. He will take the space if you give it to him. If we build that wall and play our football, we can hold them."

On the run game getting going recently (Walker):

Ryan Walker: "Coach Ross. He's a great coach, and we just trust his technique, and trust the mindset that they want us to play with — just open up, play ball. They focus a lot on not having anxiety in games and stuff like that. I think it just helps everybody out. They don't care about mistakes going into games. They just want us to play our brand of football."