Stanford head coach Tavita Pritchard feels grateful to be home

Credit: Ben Parker (CardinalSportsReport.com) At the midway point of fall training camp, Stanford head coach Tavita Pritchard shared his thoughts on how his team is looking. Below is a full transcription, video, and takeaways. VIDEO: Stanford head coach Tavita Pritchard feels grateful to be home Q: At the midway point of fall camp, talk about how you are assessing things at this point?Pritchard: “Yeah, you know, there’s been a lot of work. A lot of team reps. A lot of I guess different things to assess and as more reps are going around, just looking at each position group and how they are coming together and how they’re learning the system, how they’re competing in each room and so yeah, we’re doing a good job of staying in touch with the personnel side of things and making sure that guys are as they’re moving up and down rep count-wise that we’re staying in tune with that.”Q: In quarterback play in general, there are a lot of characteristics that a good quarterback has: arm strength, leadership, decision making, accuracy, escapability, and others. How would you rank those in terms of importance from 1 to 3?Pritchard: “I would say competitiveness, accuracy, leadership. Probably in that order.”Q: Because?Pritchard: “Well, the guy has got to be competitive. Like, the number one job is to go win and you gotta have a guy that competes every day that is just gonna find every edge to go lead the team to victory. Accuracy, you know? I mean, it’s arm strength is obviously baked in there, but different types of throws, layering throws, anticipation, you know, so much of those things come in, just like the, at the end of the day, arm strength is overrated because the goal is to throw a ball that the receiver is gonna catch, right? “There’s really strong arm quarterbacks that it’s really hard to catch the football when they throw it and so it’s way more about can I throw this ball for that receiver to catch where it’s in the right spot, it’s at the right pace, it’s with the right trajectory, so I would put accuracy up there and then leadership of course, you know? A guy has got to have leadership affect and qualities to where guys gravitate towards them and they want to follow them.”Q: Where does Davis Warren fit into that assessment? Pritchard: “Yeah, I think Davis, he’s shown his leadership from the day he’s got here. You know, he’s fit. Not just fit into our locker room, but a locker room that’s pretty tight knit. Very tight knit. He has immediately become a member of that locker room that is respected and one that has a voice and one that I know our guys look to. Accuracy, you know, even as you watch the film I think that’s something that Davis possesses in spades, you know, and that’s something that we really liked about him in the evaluation process in getting him here. And then you know, the last one being competitiveness, you know so much of that shows up as an intangible, right? And just like how he studies it, how he approaches it, and I love Davis’ approach in that way. Yeah, he eats, lives, and breathes it. That’s I think a good sign in that regard.”Q: Stanford was picked to finish last in the ACC Media Poll. Is that something you use as motivation? Do you ignore that?Pritchard: “Didn’t even know. Absolutely not.”Q: But now that you do know, how does that affect things?Pritchard: “Will not change a thing. Nope.”Q: What are your thoughts on a two-quarterback approach?Pritchard: “You know, that goes year by year. I mean, I’ve been a part of two QB systems as a player, I’ve been a part of two QB systems as a coach, I think every team, it’s one of the beauties about football is not every team is built the same. You know and so it’s different year to year. That’s one of the things I think can be a misconception sometimes like hey it’s a rinse and repeat next year of like it’s the same system, it’s the same coaches, like no man, every team takes on its own personality and its own dynamics and when it comes to two QB systems, it’s all about what’s best for the team. “Like, how is this team, this specific team gonna be best and what’s gonna give us the best chance to win and I don’t needn’t yet know that, but that would be my answer to two QB systems. I don’t think they’re wholly wrong. I think there are situations and teams that you can use them and they make sense for. And I think some it makes way more sense for it to be primarily the guy or exclusively the guy.”Q: Talk about the speed you guys have at the wide receiver position. Just talk about what you guys are doing as an offense to leverage the speed at the wide receiver position. Pritchard: “Yeah, you think about the wide receiver room like a basketball team. You want guys of different skillsets and shapes and sizes because you gotta find a lot of different ways to put pressure on and attack the defense. Speed is one element. You know, so having guys out there that can run that you can utilize to put pressure on the defense both vertically and horizontally, you know, we certainly have guys with those strengths and we gotta make sure that we’re using it correctly so that those guys bring the system to life.”Q: I asked you about taking the field for the first time as the Stanford head coach back in January. You are close to that than you were then. Have you let your mind go there a little bit?Pritchard: “No. No. But I believe the answer I gave you back then was gratitude. You know and I certainly feel that just being out here every day and we say you know, we’re going to approach practice and we gotta throw the best freaking today just like it’s the game. And so in that way I feel very much the same way I believe I’ll feel in that first game, which is I’m so grateful to be in this role. I’m grateful to be home at Stanford. With this group of people, I think we have an amazing staff, amazing coaching staff, amazing support staff, and our players. You know, I can’t say enough about the way that they work, the way that they approach it, their willingness to buy into what we’re doing and work that the way that they do and I am filled with gratitude currently and I think I will be on that first game, too.”Q: At this point, how much of the offensive and defensive schemes have you guys put into place?Pritchard: “How much? So much of it is, it’s a scaffolding process of how you kinda lay the foundation and how they learn. I know I mentioned a lot of it was built off the spring and what had been put in and then it’s just continuing to go on the situational football, the different parts of the game that we have to do and so I don’t know if I’d put a percentage on it, but halfway through camp, you know, now we’re really starting to get to some of the peripheral situations if you will. Maybe the ones that come up in lesser frequency and so we’re making sure that we hit those in the right amount, but still doubling down on the foundations of our offense and defense and special teams because those are the things that we gotta make sure that we have a strong foundation in and that we feel really comfortable running.” Q: Who is somebody that has made a real jump on the depth chart either offensively or defensively?Pritchard: “I don’t know about jumps. I’d like, and I may have mentioned this group before, but I really like the competition that’s happening in the defensive back room. I really think there’s a lot of competition in there. I think there’s a good mixture of leadership ability and youth and I just think there’s a really cool, we talk about the competitive cauldron and you know, you got leaders in the room like Darrius Davis and Jay Green, Leroy Butler [Brown], who transferred in, Brandon Nicholson, and then you have young guys. You have Xavier Harmon, you have Dre Pollard, you know, you have some younger guys, too who are, Jason Hill, who are pushing at the same time and you get this competitive cauldron in that position group that, that’s what we want. That’s what we want in our team and so I love where that group is because they’re pushing each other, they’re sharpening, each other, and they’re competing every day and they’re not doing it, they’re doing it just one practice at a time and so I’m really happy with that group.”Q: Talk about the depth of the running back room. I saw Champ Hampton running well. Talk about how nice it is to have depth and a veteran group. Pritchard: “Yeah, you know, so many times running back, I think it can be mislabeled as like hey you just get the ball and you go, you know, but you have to be really dialed in with your eyes, with your footwork, your track, your reads, and then not to mention the pass protection side of things. You have to have a really great understanding of our system, our protection system, what the call is being made, what the defensive structure is and so when it comes to a veteran group like ours, you know, that group, they, like the DB group, they just push each other, you know, and those guys compete and I love to be able to lean on some of those experienced guys, those older guys, who have been there because it’s one of the benefits of having a program that you grow guys in your program and they develop in your program and that’s certainly a group that has that and we’ll lean on that for sure.” Takeaways: The first thing that stands out to me is the fact that Pritchard loves the way the defensive back room is competing. It’s always interesting when coaches offer specific praise of a certain group and Pritchard in this case seems to be especially excited about what the defensive back room is doing. Just from a competitive and depth standpoint, that seems to be a group that has excelled. Secondly, I think Pritchard at the very end made it clear that they’re going to really lean on the running game this year. That isn’t to say they don’t trust the passing game. He seems to feel like Davis Warren has the tools to be an accurate quarterback and good leader, but the depth at running back absolutely is something that the Stanford offense is going to need to really lean on this year. Finally, just to touch on the title of the article here, Pritchard is clearly grateful for the chance to lead Stanford. While that in and of itself doesn’t translate into wins, it is good for Stanford to have leadership at the top that is firmly committed to the place and is excited about the future. That’s something they haven’t had for at least a little while now. Will that bring immediate results this year? That remains to be seen, but it’s at least a start.Note: Cardinal Sports Report has you covered for all the latest news on Stanford as they begin the Tavita Pritchard era. During fall camp, there is a special sale for new users of Cardinal Sports Report! 75% off first year Don’t miss out on this great offer! Sign up here: https://www.on3.com/sites/cardinal-sports-report/join/ CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X (Twitter), & Bluesky: @StanfordRivals Ben Parker on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X (Twitter), YouTube, & Bluesky: @slamdunk406 Email: [email protected] Join the conversation on CardinalSportsReport.com