We'll have a few stories coming up over the next week from Media Day with quotes from Maryland coaches and players, but here are some extras left over that are worth noting. All are from Randy Edsall, as the player and coach quotes we're using up.
On the running backs:
"I think the big thing with Brandon [Ross] is that he's just more experienced now. He's got playing time under his belt, he understands the offense better, knows blocking schemes better, so again I think it's the experienced that he gained from a year ago and then again the added strength that he has through training, you know, is going to help him tremendously as we go in to this year.
"Well again, both of those guys [Ross and Albert Reid] we have a tremendous amount of confidence in, and they did, they got a lot of work this spring. Joe Riddle got a lot of work this spring, and then we'll bring Jacquille [Veii] into the mix here in the fall. Those two guys, Brandon and Albert, will be competing and Albert – you love Albert. Albert just works his tail off and does everything that you ask him to do, a tremendous competitor, tremendous pride, great leadership, so again it'll be interesting to watch those guys out there competing against each other and pushing each other along with Joe. Joe wants to get on the field, and Jacquille, you know, he wants to show what he can do as well."
On quarterbacks:
"Well, C.J. [Brown] is our quarterback. C.J.'s our starting quarterback. And everyone else is always competing, but C.J. is gonna be the starter and Ricardo [Young], Perry [Hills] and Caleb [Rowe] are going to be splitting reps with the twos and we'll get Shane [Cockerille] in there and get him some reps and we'll build from there. And again – I want to see how some of those guys move, especially Perry and Caleb, because their injuries were a little bit later in the season. I don't expect anything – they're all cleared and ready to go, but again, now that we're out there going full speed, we're going to have to see how all of those things unfold. I like the fact that we have plenty of depth at quarterback, just in case, but hopefully we don't get 'just in case' this year. But it'll be good, I think any time you have competition it makes everyone better."
On Brad Craddock and Nate Renfro:
"We can't work with them in the summer time, but I think they've got the right mind set going into camp here. They know they're the incumbents, and it's their jobs to lose, so to speak, but again, they know what the expectations are, we need more consistency out of both of them. They're two young men who are smart, are conscientious, they know they didn't perform up to the level that we need them to perform at a year ago but again, I think Brad had a tough situation coming over from Australia and getting acclimated to the States, and knowing that he was more of a punter than a place kicker, and now he's got that experience and he's stronger, as well. And Nate knows that he's been through it, that he's worked extremely hard, and again I think his technique and I think his consistency will be better. But there's guys behind him that know that the opportunity would present itself if those two can't be consistent enough."
On Shawn Petty:
"Well, I tell you what. Shawn Petty, what he did last year was just short of remarkable. The effort that he gave and the situation that he went into and how he handled it and how he went out there and competed, I mean, was remarkable. When you see a young man do what he did, you can't have anything but the utmost respect and admiration for him, and he did a good job. You saw a young man who went in there and got better as those four games progressed, did everything that he could to the best of his ability to give his team an opportunity to win in that situation. But I think he's feeling comfortable at linebacker. He had a taste of being on the field playing, now he wants to play more and he's done a good job of working and doing the things that he has to do, but like I said that tells you about somebody's make up, when he went in and did what he did and how he handled it, and like you said it was a tough situation but like I said I thought he handled it the way you'd want somebody to handle it as a coach."