TRANSCRIPT: Brad White discusses defensive growth leading up to 2021 season

Football season is right around the corner, and the Kentucky Wildcats are all-in on fall camp getting ready for kickoff. As the team prepares for the season, UK defensive coordinator Brad White sat down with reporters on Media Day to discuss his defense, early standouts, his unit's depth, incoming transfers and points of emphasis, among other topics. Check out the complete transcript of the conversation below, followed by the video replay.

On the team's depth on the defensive line... We all saw in 2018, when you've got a difference-maker up front, it changes the complexion of a game. As many difference makers you have up there as opposed to just rolling bodies, it makes a huge difference. We've got some candidates. We all know what Josh Paschal can do. Before the injury halfway through the Mississippi State game, if you look at Auburn, Ole Miss and halfway through Mississippi State, he was playing as well as any defensive lineman in the SEC. He's playing at a level, his body, his conditioning, his focus, it's at an elite level and we need him to perform at an elite level. We will not shy away from those expectations for him, and he won't shy away from those. On Marquan McCall... You've got a guy in Marquan McCall that has played significant snaps, played as a true freshman. Now he's in year four here and he understands this is his time. His body is in as good of shape as he's been since I've been here and he's been here; we sort of came in together. He's ready to take that step. We've talked about it before, when you're strong down the middle in a 3-4 defense with a nose guard, inside linebacker and safety, you've got a chance to be a really good football team. You've got a chance to dominate. He's going to give us that opportunity to continue to be strong in the middle. What he's done is, if you turn on games he's started in Georgia, Missouri, different games when (Quinton Bohanna) was out, he gives you a little bit of a chance to play more hash to hash. He can run down plays against outside zone schemes. On the addition of Ole Miss transfer Jacquez Jones... The key word is solidify. I felt good about guys and their growth coming out of spring. Losing D'Eryk (Jackson) threw a wrench in that deal and threw a wrench in the depth of that position. You bring in a guy who has played in the SEC as well as he has and put him into the mix. The thing I can say about Quez is that he's been able to come in and he fits. He fits the culture, he's melded right with our guys, he loves them, they love him. It's like he's been here for a long time, and that's a positive. You hold your breath a little bit when you go into the portal because you never know how it's going to fit. He fits right in, allows us to have some competition. Excited to see what Jared Casey can do. Obviously DeAndre (Square) is still the stalwart in that room, he makes that room go and he's the glue. I'm looking forward to seeing him take another step forward this year, as well. I think he's primed and ready to do that. We've got to keep him healthy. I know Coach Ed and Coach Hill do such a tremendous job on that side and our guys look ready to go and ready to compete. We're itching to get out there. On Justin Rogers and the other young defensive linemen... Marquan McCall, he's obviously solidified his spot there at nose, but we know a nose can't play 70 or 80 snaps in a game. You've got to be able to rotate that position and you can't fall off. The big thing about Justin and the big thing about Josaih, and then those other freshmen like Rybka, Sam Anaele, the Ox's, they missed out with the COVID year. Freshmen defensive linemen need a year of growth and development to trim that high school baby fat and get strong in the weight room. You've got to be able to move, you've got to be able to compete, you can't just overpower people the way you did in high school. You have to be strong and physical, but you also have to be able to flip your hips and move. We're going to ask them to make different movements at the position, and I think Justin has started to loosen up his hips. He came in physically strong enough to compete from day one, but he had to loosen up his hips and get flexible, and he's done that. He's put in the time. I'm looking forward to that freshmen class of defensive lineman to come into camp and showing something. Now is their time. We've got bodies, but we need guys to elevate. It's not about what you were in high school, it's about what you are right now. The big question mark to me is solidifying that boundary tackle position. That is going to be one place we'll have to rotate bodies, and that's why I'm holding a pencil. The depth chart in fall camp is never in pen, it may be a day to day thing, it could be a period to period thing. One guy could start one rack, then another is going to start another rack, where they're all going to get to start against a really talented offensive line day in and day out. We're going to see who's going to be ready to play. It's probably going to be by committee, but we'll go from there. On JJ Weaver's rehab and return to the field in 2021... The first thing that pops in my mind for JJ is maturity. From where he came to where he is now, he was just a quiet, to himself young man when he walked in. He learned what it looks like from Josh Paschal, Jamin Davis, Josh (Allen) from afar, what it looks like to be a professional and hone your craft. What he does, the time he puts in, the commitment in his rehab, is elite level. He's ready, when the time comes from him to come back from that (injury), he's going to come back as good and better long-term than he was last year. We all knew when he got hurt, he was a dominant force on that football field. Nobody looks at the score, but if you just look at the film, when JJ played in that Alabama game and that Florida game, he was as dominant of a football player as anyone on that field. On the addition of Georgia Tech transfer Justice Dingle... Justice (Dingle) is a guy, going into my fourth year now - for guys that have been covering us this whole time - we talk about that outside linebacker position. It's a very unique position. It's not one you just walk in and pick up. There's so much that is put on that position in terms of setting the edge, being able to drop, being able to pass rush, process, think, go through calls, block schemes, eye progression, there's a lot to that position. That's why you don't see a lot of guys walk in from day one and it just clicks and they're impact guys. He's going through that process. We had a spring, so this fall it won't be quite as new, so he'll be ready to continue to progress in that manner. On Marquan McCall getting in shape and maturing as a player... Probably the biggest change from a freshman to where he is now as a senior as anyone on the defensive roster from a maturity standpoint. He'd be the first to admit, everybody can continue to grow in that. That's not an end game process. He is ready and I think you saw - and we talked about it in the spring - that when he was the starter, there was a more dialed-in focus in those games last year. Those games that he wasn't, it would drift and we'd have to pull him back in and reign him in. He knows this is his opportunity, his shot. Him and Josh (Paschal), he knows this is their front. He's taken on that leadership role and he's as focused as he's ever been. He just texted me this morning and said 'I'm all in, ready to go.' That's where his mind is, his mindset is, and we need to keep it there because he does have a chance to be a difference-maker for us and we need him to be that. On Vito Tisdale... Vito's got a lot of skill, but uncontained or unbridled skillset is 50/50. The big challenge we've given to him is to stay focused, stay dialed in. He understands that. For him to be a solid contributor for us, it has to be a down in, down out focus, understanding 'what is my responsibility.' It can't just be 'float, find ball, get ball.' Everyone loves it and it's great when he gets it, but it can also lead to a really big play. The thing we've done here really well over the last several years is be at the top of the country in not allowing big plays, not allowing explosive plays. Call it what you will, bend don't break, this or that, whatever you want to call it, when we keep the ball in front of us, we get an opportunity to make a play on the next play. Led the nation in turnovers, or at least first in the SEC, we need to do that again this year. If we can continue to do that and add some of those difference-making plays -- we understand we need to get to the quarterback more often this year. You don't need to tell me, you don't need to tell our guys, we understand the issues. Some of that is on me, a lot of that is on me, I'll take that. Going forward, just understand, the more aggressive you get, the more big plays you can give up. If we get more aggressive, everybody better be on the same page and understand where the softnesses and weaknesses are.

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