GoHens Training Camp Media Interviews

[Big R]

UD Football Training Camp Interview Excerpts - 2025

When the media has an opportunity to conduct interviews during training camp, they are all conducted via Zoom on specifically scheduled days. On most days, the media reps are Kevin Tresolini (News Journal / Delawareonline), Andy Walter (Bay to Bay News), myself, Scott Klatzkin (WDSD radio), Dan Steenkamer (Hero Sports, and Feathersandfieldgoals.com) and Bryce Leslie (Feathersandfieldgoals.com). Occasionally, others will join in.
In my reports, I try to stick to reporting only questions I have asked out of respect for the others reporting on their own sites. If there are exceptions, I will note them.

QB’s & WR’s 7/28/2025

Coach Archer
GH:
Coach, I wasn't there this morning so I wasn't able to see for myself, but with 17 receivers, how important is it to have the number of capable quarterbacks that you have in order to keep those guys working so they're not just standing around?

Coach Archer:
Yeah, it was great. I mean, when we were doing our routes on air today I thought we looked pretty sharp, and those guys were putting the ball where it needs to be. So, you know, especially with this transition we're making, depth is important. We're not going to be able to just play 3 or 4 receivers. (At) quarterback, if we have to play more than one - we'll see, but as far as receiver and skill positions, hopefully we can play 4 running backs, and 4 tight ends, and 8 or 9 receivers. That's only gonna keep us healthy; it's going to make us better and keep guys engaged and working hard.

Coach Goldrich:
GH:
Hey coach, you know, you look for some similarities from quarterback to quarterback but there are also differences in their playing styles. What would be the similarities that you're looking for? And, in these guys, what would be the differences in their capabilities or the skill set that they're bringing?

Coach Goldrich.
Yeah, you know, I think we’ve actually done a nice job of balancing the room. We have some more “pocket style” guys that are really going to do a great job of processing information, locating the football, getting the ball out on time - those types of things. And we do have some great athletes in the room too, you know, guys that are running really fast - able to make some people miss in open space. In terms of the similarities, there's a couple of guys that have some things about them, but I don’t know that we’ve created an exact replica in the room. They're all really good at certain things and we're still figuring that out snap-to-snap. Some of the differences you'll see. Some guys are staying in their lane and doing what they should do at a high level consistently, whether that's managing at the line of scrimmage, making decisions - those types of things I mentioned. But I think there's diverse options in the room in terms of what we have and what's available. So, these guys will continue to fine-tune what they're going to be really good at and knowing their roles. We're not going to ask them to do things they're not great at – “be who you are and let that take you to the top”.

Scott Klatzkin: (I’ve included this question from Scott because it leads into my next question).
Coach I think when we got Riley Trujillo, it was maybe the first time that the fans got a sample of like - “Oh we're in FBS now, we can get a guy that was maybe a Top 300 guy out of high school and get people of this caliber coming out of high school” – so, I think that was important, and congratulations on a good “get” for him - obviously, a lot of competition. What does he bring to the quarterback group?

Coach Goldrich: Unbelievable athlete to start. First day you kind of saw some flashes of it - he was able to tuck the ball down and run and got to show a little bit of a burst there, and he was able to step up with some conviction in the pocket and make some decisions, and when he lets the ball fly, he's got arm talent with the best of them. Now, similar to EJ, it's getting him in this system and getting him to slow some things down - getting him comfortable processing. He’ll get a shot to compete here, for sure, too. He’s done a great job to this point – it’s early to tell, but he’s already elevated the room, that’s for sure.

GH: Kind of a follow up to the Trujillo question - and this goes back to Zach Marker, too - when you bring in a transfer quarterback, are there things you have to “unteach” them based on what you want them to do, versus what they were being taught to do at their previous stop?

Coach Goldrich: Yeah, working with quarterbacks, in general, a lot of times you're gonna have some sort of foundation where they're going to be able to connect the dots back to a way they first learned it. And it's a little harder when you have a a guy that's been in college in the same system for three years and then he transfers over because those things are so set in his foundation of learning that are sometimes harder to break. For a guy like Riley, who was really only there for about a year, he has some connections, some similarities, that he's trying to work through that he remembers from his time at UCF, but even more so, I'm seeing he has a lot of stuff he's still breaking habits from his high school days when he ran the same offense and did more triple option type things. You still see some of those behaviors pop up for him. So, you do have to find a way to reteach some things, but usually with quarterbacks, once they understand the flow of what you're trying to get out of them, they're able to connect new dots relatively quickly. He's done a great job of that - hasn't seemed to slow him down in his learning progression at this point.

Zach Marker:
GH: Zach, with the time you've had in the system now, obviously you probably have a better grasp than most of the other guys in the room - maybe Nick is close to you - what are you working on most? Is it is developing even further your understanding of the system? Or is it just making sure that, with your health back to where it is, being able to do those sorts of things that you know you can do?

Zach: Yeah, maybe a mix of both. I think like the health aspect - mostly in the training room and the lift - I can do a little bit more to myself to prepare for a 12-game season. But in the in the chalk room, with the coaches, it's more-so becoming that “coach on the field” and being able to line guys up and tell them what to do. And then, having that kind of second coach out on the field and check some stuff off before it even happens and really make adjustments on the field that coach Carty would want or coach Goldy would want - taking that a step further in the offense sometimes that a lot of younger guys can’t tend to do as quick.

Nick Minicucci:
GH: Nick, where do you think you’ve advanced or improved the most since the end of last season?

Nick: Well, if you guys didn't know, I didn't do any spring ball because I had surgery on my shoulder, but I'd say being mentally prepared - taking the next step. I've been watching a ton of film, studying the playbook more and more every day, because I think I have a great physical set - I think the mental is just going to push me forward. And if I'm watching more film, hanging out with the guys more, going over plays - I just think it's kind of pushed me to the next level.

GH: And you think you're fully recovered now from from the shoulder?

Nick: Absolutely! I wish they would let us go live but they won't (big smile). And it was my non-throwing shoulder, so we're good.

Riley Trujillo
GH: Riley, when did you get up here permanently to start practicing? And then you made a decision (what school you’re going to transfer to) based on visits that you made, and that sort of thing. But now that you've been here, how does what you've seen compare to what you thought you were getting into when you made the decision to come up here?

Riley: So, I'd say everything that they kind of put in front of me, they've lived up to. You know, they told me that there's a room where we’re going to compete, and we're going to get after it, and we're going to play great football, and we're going to toss that rock around, and we're going to have a chance to make plays on our feet. So far, everything has been going that way and I'm really grateful to be here. And I got here in June.

GH: Riley, is it unique having a head coach who is so involved in the offense and calling the plays, plus having a quarterback coach (Coach Goldrich), and an offensive coordinator like coach Archer, as well? So, there's three heads in there, but obviously coach Carty is kind of the lead.

Riley: Oh, yeah - for sure! You know they're all really masters of the game. You know if you’ve got a question about anything you could ask any of the three of them and they're going to give you a great answer. So, honestly, with them I feel like they're keeping me on pace learning and everything, and it's going great so far.

Thomas Amankwaa
GH: Hey, Thomas – did you know Max (Patterson) when he was at Rutgers, and did you have an opportunity to talk to him before coming down here? And then the second question is - you were flip-flopping back-and-forth and playing offense and defense. Do you think playing defense might help you a little bit as a wide receiver – getting that coaching on defense and understanding what they are looking for on that side of the ball?

Thomas:
Yeah, me and Max did play together for two years at Rutgers - he was there when I got there. He was actually the host when I was just visiting Rutgers, so you know we talked back and forth these past couple of years, past couple of months, and we have a good relationship. And me playing defense definitely is a huge help that I was on that side of the ball for two years. I can see coverages - you know look at the safeties, look at the corners and how they align and all that kind of stuff to help me, and put myself in the best position to make a play on offense.

[Caldwell Chicken]

Enjoyed reading this and really appreciate you sharing.

[HENJOHN]

Great stuff Rich. Thank you

[Masshen97]

Fantastic interviews as always!

[SussexJay]

Yes, thanks a lot Rich. Great info. Season is coming soon...time to get pumped up,!!

J

[finpxz1]

Thanks again Rich...great stuff as always!!!

[mpwerrell]

As always Rich, great job…and much appreciated!

[Gannonfan]

Awesome work, Rich, thanks for this!

[Big R]

DC Manny Rojas, Asst HC & Safeties Coach Art Link, Safeties KT Seay, Jason Scott & Kahlil Ali 7/31/2025

DC Manny Rojas

GH:
Hey, Coach just following up on a comment you made about how, in FBS, there are more teams that employ the 3-3-5 scheme. I know Coach Heacock at Iowa State is pretty well known for that, and KSU runs it, and I think even going back in the day Rich Rod, during his 1st tenure at West Virginia, he ran it back there. My question is, when and how did you become a proponent, in the first place, of the 3-3-5?

Coach Rojas:
Sure. Back in 2009 I was at Liberty University, and we actually dabbled in this kind of structure without even really knowing what we were kind of getting into and kind of doing - which was cool for me when I was at Lafayette College, and I went back to our old Liberty days and I brought some of that stuff with me. And when I was at Lafayette College, we transitioned some of that stuff against a couple of teams we needed to, and it really helped us, it was really good. And then, when I came back here in 2020, Chris Cosh in the defense, and Danny Rocco, they were going to this structure, and they actually got a lot of this from Iowa State. And since I took over in 2020, we've kind of made it our own. And, honestly, Rich, we look at a lot of teams that are like us - South Florida, Iowa State, Kansas State to name 3 of them. I know Todd Orlando at South Florida very well, and then even Jim Knowles, at Penn State, who now is at Ohio State - he did some 4 down 3 high safety structure stuff when he was at Oklahoma State in 2022. He did some 3 down, 3 high structure stuff - a little different, little unique. So, we've studied some guys in the past. But there are some prominent guys that have done it. Tony Gibson at NC State, we watched him 2 years ago. So, there are some guys that have done it. We kind of take pieces. But at the end of day, it originally came from Iowa State, but we've kind of made it our own.

GH:
And one follow-up question. I know everything now is “one day at a time” and “one game at a time”, but I have to ask you - when the schedule came out, did you happen to circle November 1st on the calendar?

Coach Rojas:
(Laughs out loud). You bet your butt I did! I'm excited to go back to Liberty, Rich, and I haven't been back since I was at the University of Richmond. We played down there, I think in 2014, and we won in a triple overtime on an interception so I'm excited to go back there. I know the atmosphere there, I know the people there - the crowd will be awesome, it'll be intense. It's their homecoming and Hall-of-Fame game, so it should be a great atmosphere, so I'm excited to go back.

Art Link

GH:
Hey coach, before coming to Delaware did you have any experience with the 3-3-5 defense and having three safeties instead of two? And if you didn't, how did you adjust to that and how did you become familiar with having that third safety to coach?

Coach Link:
Actually, Chris Cosh, who was here as the defensive coordinator, was, believe it or not, my defensive coordinator for one year post-COVID at Christopher Newport University. And the two of us dabbled and experimented installing this along with another guy who was there. So, this was coming about at a lot of places - it was being studied. And the verbiage that coach Rojas runs, it came from coach Cosh and the head coach here. I learned it from from from Cosh when he was at CNU and so when I got here there was lots of carryover, believe it or not, in the verbiage with Rojas and me. So, I can kind of speak his language a little bit. But, yeah, certainly, doing it full time took a little learning and understanding how it all fits. And the one thing about this defense is you have to know how the D-line fits, to the linebackers, to know how the safeties fit, and that's what makes it unique that a lot of people don't realize how all the run-fits work because the the D line plays a role in it.

GH:
And how do you define those 3 positions at safety and how might that be different?

Coach Link:
So, we have our field safety, our middle safety is our “Rover”, and then our boundary safety we're calling our “Jack”. That is how we term it when one plays predominantly into the boundary, one plays a little bit more in the middle of the field, and then our field safety leans more to being more like a corner or nickel corner, and ends up covering the guys in the field. So, that's how we term it. Sometimes there are slightly different attributes depending on, one might be in the boundary plane on tight ends and and one might be out in the field, covering.

GH:
Hey, coach, I asked Coach Rojas about this as well. But what's it like, and what does Noah Plack bring to your room? I mean having coached him and then having him here now as a coach (he’s actually a GA, but I referred to him as a coach), what's he bring in your room?

Coach Link:
Yeah. So, Noah Plack has been amazing for me in the room, because when we're sitting there.and especially when I have a couple of these guys that have been around, he’ll lean on them, too. He'll say, “That's not the standard that's been set forth by the older guys that were here before you. And me and Kendrick Whitehead would do this.” “Here's a pointer - shoulders down”. He's great. He's going to be good as a technician for me in my room, too. I'm leaning on him - I’ll say to him “If you see something here that you would have seen, like, “Hey, I get a high hat read from the guard. It's easier than the tackle, and I'm able to insert into the run game faster.” He's able to give those guys some of those coaching points that he had playing it, which is awesome. And so it's great to have another guy to lean on - another checks and balances. “Hey, what did we check to before that? Did that make sense?” Or he'll say, “That doesn't make sense”. And that helps, too. He's another guy just recently removed from the game, and he's bright.

KT Seay: KT is soft spoken and a man of few words

GH:
Hey, KT, one of the things you mentioned, and actually Coach Rojas mentioned, as well, is how important communication is, and how he feels that communication right now on defense, even in training camp, is pretty tight, better than it was, maybe even going back to 2022. What do you attribute that to? I mean just playing together more, knowing what everybody's doing?

KT:
Basically, just trusting everybody, just being able to get the calls to everybody. So, everybody can be on the same page. If we're wrong, all wrong together.

GH:
Okay. But to develop that trust. I mean, is it just repetition and being together?

KT:
Repetition, and just film work. Just studying plays together, and film, and just going over the plays together.

Jason Scott: Coach Rojas described Jason as being “cerebral” and, indeed, he came across that way.(Also a sneaky sense of humor.)

GH:
Hey, Jason, coming from BC, where I guess you played a two-safety, four-defensive back scheme, to a scheme where there are three safeties and five defensive backs, what kind of adjustment was that for you? Was it much of an adjustment? And what position do you play, and how is it different from what you played at. BC?

Jason:
No, it's not. It's really not too different. I'll just say football, especially defense is almost like a puzzle. So, you know, it fits in gaps for everywhere, you know? So obviously, once you figure out what everybody else is doing, it's pretty easy to figure out where you have to fit in in the defense. So just with communication, especially on the back end, with the three safeties. Usually, if we communicate and the other two people know, if you know what the other two people are doing then, with deductive reasoning, you can figure out what you have to do.
And I'll say, with playing - it's kind of like similar playing safety as well. At BC, I moved around a lot playing free safety, strong safety, nickel. And it's pretty similar here, playing nickel and Jack, which is basically kind of like a boundary, strong safety. So, it's really not too much. The transition was fairly simple, and that's why Coach Link is a great coach, so you know he did a very good job getting me acclimated, and with the scheme.

GH:
And in addition to Coach Link, now you have an ex-Blue Hen, Noah Plack there. What's he bring to the to the room as an assistant coach

Jason:
I'll say some youth, some energy, you know. Obviously, he also has a lot of really good insight, because, you know, he played the position against, like, this new “air raid” offense. Because what? Coach Link? He was playing football like 2005. Something like that. You know what I mean? Tim Tebow! (Smiles)
So, with just being able to have a vet, somebody older in the room that had to go against similar offenses, you know, that is very beneficial. That's when he also just gives little critiques. And, you know, Plack does a really good job because he's not hesitant to speak up, even though he's in a GA position.

GH:
And has anyone mentioned that, when he was here, he was known for laying some pretty big hits on on the other team?

Jason:
No, I haven't heard about that. Plack swears that he's faster than all of us, still. So that's what we talk about.

GH
You need to have someone show you some video of some of his hits.

Jason:
Probably watch the film tomorrow since we got a little down time tomorrow.

Khalil Ali: Just a comment – Kahlil had a big smile on his face during the whole interview and was always laughing,

GH:
Hey, Khalil, I know you're from Pensauken so not far away, and maybe that had a little bit to do with you coming here? But what was the reason you came to Delaware? And how much, if anything, did Jason, being here play into that?

Kahlil:
Yes, Delaware, obviously, you know, because it's close to home. It's like a backyard of mine. Sounds crazy, but growing up I always told myself I wanted to live in Delaware, so this was probably a sign. Jason Scott, you know, coming here on my official visit, seeing him again and reconnecting after the previous year, last year, not being with him, was honestly cool because, like I remember coming and seeing him when I was 17. Now I'm 20 years old going on 21 in January. So just seeing that reconnecting was really cool, and I just can't thank nobody but the Man above honestly.

GH:
And were there other factors besides that, that attracted you to Delaware - like the kind of defense they play, or the coaching staff, or first year moving into an FBS, that sort of thing?

Kahlil:
Yes, I would say, for the most part, really the scheme. And then, you know, just being versatile and just play anywhere in the scheme, and then just to have fun also, and just being around the staff that has, you know, a family first mindset. And you know, having that is really important to me, and makes me feel like I'm real welcomed here. And I also had a big sister as a UD alum here, she ran track - Halima Scott, so …

GH:
Oh, really? I didn’t know that.

Kahlil:
Yeah, yeah (laughs) small world, Rich!

GH:
Khalil, you had a pretty stellar high school career there in Pennsauken, including on offense. When you got recruited, was it always going to be defense, or was there some consideration for you to be a receiver as well.

Kahlil:
I always had a defense first mentality, maybe because my older brother set the path by going to Temple playing corner and then going to Western Michigan playing corner. I always had defensive mind sets from the jump even to high school. My high school coach, Coach Tabb, put me at safety. I was getting recruited as receiver, you know. I did want to play that, but as I got, you know older, I was just like, “No, I can't take no hits. I got to be the one hitting people. I can't. I can't do that.” If I have to. I will, you know I'll be, you know, saying to coach Dye (UD running backs coach, Xavier Dye) like yo, I need some running. I play receiver. I play running back. Let me get some packages, but I'll just be joking around. But if I have to, I will, though.

GH: Yeah. Better to hit than be hit right?

Kahlil: Yeah. Waaaaay, better! (Laughs)

[tenn hen]

thanks R- the more you interpret coach speak, the more you realize it's just football-teamwork, brains, preparation.

[Cluck U]

Big R...knocking it out of the park!

Great job. Thanks!

[CaliHen98]

Awesome stuff, Big R!! I also love the little insights about each player's personality.