Coaches' Corner: Chad Bumphis and Sharrieff Shah
SALT LAKE CITY -- Coaches' Corner is back again this week as Utah wide receivers coach Chad Bumphis along with cornerbacks coach and special teams coordinator Sharrieff Shah visited with the media following Tuesday's practice. The pair offered some thoughts on their position groups coming out of last Saturday's win at USC while turning the page toward a key matchup this weekend vs. No. 18 Arizona State. In addition, Shah reflected on his speech given at Aaron Lowe's memorial service this past Monday in Texas.
The Utes will kickoff vs. ASU at 8 p.m. on MT Saturday from Rice-Eccles Stadium, with the matchup televised on ESPN.
Wide Receivers Coach Chad Bumphis
On the wide receivers' performance at USC…
"I thought they played well. They played hard, physical…got some opportunities to make some plays downfield and they did. I was proud of them. Some guys stepped up—we had a couple guys out, the young guys stepped up and made some plays. It was good to see."
On Devaughn Vele's progression…
"Really, really appreciate the way he works. He comes to work every day, busts his tail, does whatever we ask him to do. And it was a big week for him. [We put him] at X, Z and R and he was able to play all three positions, got some opportunities and made the most of it. You see what he can do. Just a freak athletically. I love the way he attacks the day and love the way he comes to work. It was good for it to pay off and for him to be able to do it under the lights."
On what makes this offense different…
"I think they're showing it in practice. As a quarterback, as a coordinator, you want to call what looks good in practice. When you show it on the practice field, you're able to carry it over to game day. That gives the coach and the quarterback the confidence not only to call it, but to give you those shots downfield. Once it shows up on the practice field, it's able to carry over to Saturday night under the lights. As a receiver, that's what you want. That's all you can ask for."
On Money Parks' first career reception and first touchdown…
"That was really big for him. He hasn't stopped smiling yet. And it was his birthday Sunday, so happy birthday to him! But he's earned it, he's a guy who busts his butt. Full speed in everything he does, knows exactly what to do. He's bought into what I've asked him to do, what we've asked him to do, and it's showing up."
On how he's settling into being at Utah…
"I smile as well. Super excited, love this group, love this team and what this team is about. It's very similar to what I went through in college as far as how we attack and how we work. I'm super excited."
On Arizona State's pass defense…
"They have some really good players on the back end. They have an older group, a bunch of seniors in their secondary, some guys who have played a lot of Pac-12 football. We just have to work our technique and work our fundamentals. They're going to get in our face and they're going to play man-to-man defense. We just have to work what we work in practice. I talk a lot about carryover, but if we work throughout the week, you should see it on Saturday. We'll have a game plan, and we'll go out and try to execute it the best we can."
Cornerbacks Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Sharrieff Shah
On his speech at Aaron Lowe's memorial service…
"It didn't require any courage. It just required what was necessary at that time—just say it. Just say what most people want to hear, what a lot of folks never knew. Just say it. I don't think it had anything to do with courage, more than just wanting to articulate and express the things that were most meaningful to me that I was able to connect with Aaron. That's all—that was really the core essence of what I wanted to do, and I'm happy that so many people received it in a good way. That's a blessing."
On how Clark Phillips III performed at USC on Saturday…
"I think he did well. There's a lot of things he did not do well. I told Clark that in terms of having one-on-one matchups with a 6-foot-5 receiver that will be drafted high, and being able to play him on deep balls, drive on underneath routes, show a little physicality, those aspects were very good. That made me happy. But not being able to hold your inside leverage, giving up third downs that you should've never given up, because you don't have the correct and proper eye discipline that you're coached to do-that was disappointing. As many good plays as Clark made on Saturday, he could've made even more. I thought he did well, there's just a lot of room for improvement."
On how he evaluates his position group each week and in particular vs. USC…
"For me, I know they have as many good athletes at USC as anybody in the country, especially at an elite program like USC. So you knew they were going to be able to make some phenomenally good plays. But I just thought we gave too many away. Just poor technique and inability to go up and get the ball and high-point it. I know they had guys who were 6-foot-7 and 6-foot-9, so what? We have played guys that long before and were technically better. We just weren't good enough on Saturday. I thought we could have at least reduced that number by some amount that it wouldn't have been 400 [yards of offense]. But the most important thing is a W notched in the win column. That's the biggest blessing. But I'm still upset, because I just felt we left too much on the field. I thought our technique suffered in the waning portions of the game and it should have been better."
On special teams improvements…
"I credit Coach Colton Swan—he's the lead coach on kickoff. We talk about every single aspect. When you have so many young kids that you're asking to take on very meaningful role to find their level of contribution in the program, it's a matter of coaching them all every week. You're trying to coach the same thing. The scheme, you keep really simplistic. You hope they understand how to apply them when it's necessary. I felt in the last few weeks we've been so much better. I thought we did a really good job, especially on the kickoff unit. Coach Swan did a magnificent job of making a few modifications to get kids into a better position to make some really big tackles, and relied on a bunch of other freshmen that were out there. We will continue to do the same thing all year long."
Previous Editions of Coaches' Corner
Oct. 5 - Jim Harding (OL) and Lewis Powell (DEs)
Sept. 22 - Sione Po'uha (DTs) and Freddie Whittingham (TEs)
Sept. 14 - Kiel McDonald (RBs) and Colton Swan (LBs)
Sept. 7 - Andy Ludwig (OC/QBs) and Morgan Scalley (DC/Safeties)