Senior Bowl: Chan Gailey Press Conference (Wednesday)
By: Sideline Scouting Staff
January 26, 2011
Chan Gailey
Opening Statement: It was another pretty good practice for us I felt like. We're making more mistakes than I would like, but I think that's to be expected somewhat in an all-star game like this, when you have new guys coming in. You have some injuries. You have some different things going on with people moving in and out of positions. Overall, the effort's been great. Their attitude's super. Think they'll continue to work so we can out a good product on the field Saturday.

On Phil Taylor and the defensive line: All those guys are interesting guys. He's not your, probably not the most high-profile guy that's ever walked down the pipe. But he's done a good job and he's worked hard. It's hard for me to comment on one guy and say "hey, this guy's going to do this or going to do that." I kind of am anxious to see how he plays. It's going to be a lot of fun to watch those guys play and to see what he can do. He is a force, I know that.

Ahmad Black
On Ahmad Black: There's guys that have been that size that have played, so yes, he can do it. Can those kinds of guys take the pounding of 16 games and four preseason games, or whatever we end up being. Who knows? But can they do that? I think time will tell on that. He certainly has the talent to do it. There's no question about his talent level. There's no question about quickness, speed, ball skills, things like that. The one issue will be safety, corner. Where does he end up, and how does he fall?

On 26-year-old Danny Watkins: I think you disregard that totally. I mean, you really have guys coming from BYU that are a lot in the same situation who have been on the two-year mission and have come back and are 25, 26 years old when they first start to play. I think you have dismiss age in this thing and say, "he is what he is. Let's evaluate what he is." Don't say what he might be and when he might falter. Because he's older but he hasn't played as much football, he may have more hits left in him. Who knows. I think you take a look at the guy and evaluate for what he is, and he's done an excellent job this week for us.

Chris White
On Chris White: He is not the biggest guy, he's not the fastest guy. He makes plays. That's the thing. He's around the ball. If you watch the guy, he's around the ball all the time. I thought that he had a huge play out there on the field today. He came around the corner and made the big play, which was not unexpected, but it's great to see it any time it happens anyway. He's probably one of those guys that again, will get overlooked and will probably make a team because he's a smart player and he's around the football. He understands the game. He seems to have a really good head on his shoulders.

Kelvin Sheppard
On Kelvin Sheppard: Shep's a pretty good force inside in there. He has really taken charge of the defense, making all the calls for us on the defensive side. He's done a great job of finding the football. He can come take on the run and he's fast enough and aware enough to cover go up some pass situations. I've seen his instincts maybe as good as anybody's on the football field. He's got great instincts. He's a big, strong guy out of LSU. I've been very impressed.

Sam Acho
On Sam Acho and transitioning to linebacker: I've not had him enough there to say he can or he can't. He's an interesting projection. Whether he can keep his hand on the ground and be physical enough to play every snap with his hand on the ground at this level, I don't know. He may need to stand up and play at that outside backer position in a 3-4. But he can rush the passer. He can come off the edge. He seems to be a smart player. I haven't been in the meeting with him as much as I have some of the other guys, but he does seem like a smart player. It'll be interesting to see� I keep using that term, but it is. It's interesting to see how these guys will continue to perform and then see what they do in the game on Saturday. Because we got a little bit of an advantage. Some guys will watch the game and just watch the game and see how they play. We get to watch the game and see what they've taken that we've given them and applied it on the practice field. We know what they're supposed to do. Other guys that watch the film don't necessarily know what they're supposed to do. So we kind of get an advantage there, and I think we'll have a better idea [if] he can transition to that by the time we get to the game.

Brooks Reed
On Brooks Reed and transitioning to linebacker: I have not watched the film yet, so it's hard for me to say how he did in that. But he kind of falls into that Acho mold too. He's had his hand on the ground being a rusher, but he's probably going to end up either being a pass-rush guy or being a stand-up linebacker in a 3-4, an outside guy. He certainly is an intriguing guy. His motor is amazing. I mean, he has an amazing motor. Every snap, he's going as hard as he can go. You have got to give a guy like that a lot of credit. He's going to play somewhere. I really believe he will play somewhere, because he's got the right mindset about the way to go after the game.

DeMarcus Love
On DeMarcus Love and Derrek Sherrod: Both are raw talents in my opinion. They both have ability to do the job. They are raw talents. They both were in very good systems. They both were coached very well. But seeing all the things that they'll have to see at our level, which is by some really good players down in, down out. It's going to take some development from those two. They'll need to play to kind of work their way into a system. I don't think they'll go in and be automatic guys. I think they'll be guys that will take their talent, build and work and grow into being a pretty good player. Probably DeMarcus has made a few more mistakes this week, but we've thrown some different things at him than he's used to seeing and hearing. So that's been a challenge for him, but I think he'll be fine we get to game time.

How coaching aids in draft preparation: Tremendously. It only helps us with 52 guys, tremendously, because we get to be around them for an entire week. What you're trying to learn is the intangibles. That's what you're trying to find out. We all watch them run, jump, change direction, ball skills. We all get to see that. But there's been a bunch of guys that have the right kind of work ethic and have the right kind of preparation and the right kind of football instincts to go be a player when the run, jump, speed statistics say they shouldn't. And there's also some guys out there that have the ability, and because they won't do those things that come in the intangible category, they don't make it. So we'll have a great idea about the intangibles once we leave here.

Noel Devine
On smaller running backs: It used to be, you never paid attention to those guys to be honest with you. Ten or 15 years ago, you didn't even pay attention to those guys, and they've become more visible because of the type of offenses the colleges are playing now. And when you see them make plays in college, you around and say, "Well how can we take that guy and use him in an offense?" You're not going to take Devine and put him back there and run him 35 times up in between the tackles. That's just not going to happen. But can you take a talented guy that has ball skills and use him? That's the challenge for us as coaches today, is to take those guys and put them into the pro-type offense and use them the best way possible. They all have a place. They have to get in the right place at the right time.





(January 29) -- It's game day! Follow us on Twitter for in-game updates. We'll have a full Stock Up & Stock Down report following the game. The Sideline Scouting crew has also posted game predictions and all three staff members in Mobile predict the North to handle to South by at least ten points. Refer to the tabs above for our full coverage this week.
Senior Bowl Predictions »


*A.J. Green
WR, Georgia
*Patrick Peterson
CB, LSU
*Nick Fairley
DT, Auburn
*Da'Quan Bowers
DE, Clemson
*Blaine Gabbert
QB, Missouri
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