Offense is progressing, according to DJ Williams and Nick Hill
- Tom Weber
- Aug 5
- 3 min read
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois has practiced six times in seven days, so quarterback DJ Williams and head coach Nick Hill are starting to get a feel for what the offense can do.
Q&A with DJ Williams
How is the offense progressing?
We're starting to hit more deep balls in these last couple practices, getting better, just timing-wise, getting used to these receivers, me settling in with pressure in my face. The offense is growing. We're also getting our offensive line to mesh well, gel together.
Can you have a dominant running game this year?
Yes, sir. We have the backs to do it this year. God-willing, if those guys stay healthy, we have something dangerous back there, a lot of talent, a lot of different personalities, a lot of different playing styles. We have speed, power, finesse. I feel very confident about that group.
Talk about the talent you have at wide receiver.
Fabian McCray, that's my guy from Chicago. I've seen him play from afar for a while. It's good to be on the same team as him now. He's been flashing. He gets mad at me if I'm not hitting the deep balls. We're starting to mesh well together. He knows me personally, so he can talk to me and I know it's all coming from the good of his heart.
Vinson Davis coming back has been a big part of our offense, just bringing back that maturity, that veteran leadership that we needed. His talent and skill set has been great. We have Jathen Jones, who brings a lot to the table, who has been here for a while. It's time for him to go show what he can do. He's a big part of this offense. Tae Marrero, Kyle Thomas, Jackson Parker, a lot of people that the fans don't know much about yet, but they are great players.
Q&A with Coach Hill
Are you satisfied with where the offense is after six practices?
I think as a coach, you never feel great coming off the field. Then you get in the film room and there's a lot of different combinations of players playing, and that's to be expected here through six practices. So if the effort, energy, the intent of practice is good, then we have a chance of getting better every day we're out here.
You talked to the team about the importance of staying focused the entire practice. Can you elaborate on what you told them?
Games now are so long with timeouts and you get to the field maybe two hours before the game. If you think about that even in your own life, it's challenging to be really focused for that long. In football, you've got to refocus a lot. There are lulls in the game, momentum changes, and you have to be locked in. If not, you're blowing timeouts because you don't have the right people on the field based on personnels or a call. And that takes a focus on the sideline. It takes a focus from everybody.
Those are the type of details great teams are great at, where you don't catch them in anything. They're detailed. They understand what's being called. We've got to be a team that represents that.
Practice #6 Insiders Notebook
The units are taking turns having the upper hand in practice each day. It was close, but today was advantage-defense, mainly because they didn't give up many explosive plays.
