Q&A With Ozzy Trapilo
As BC continues to grind through the dog days of camp, the offensive line continues to use last year as motivation.
Are they talking about it? Of course not, 2022 is in the past, but there's no denying everyone in the room knows what's been said about them. Somewhere in a tiny space in the back of their minds, that "prove it" factor is real. Following Wednesday's practice, Ozzy Trapilo met with the media to talk about the state of the O-line with the regular season two weeks away.
ON WHAT LOOKS AND FEELS DIFFERENT WITH THE ROOM
"Yeah, sort of the mentality that we've had coming into camp. It's really....we know it's a focal point of the team. Last year obviously wasn't good enough and we all know that as a team. During camp, we've really tried to strive and focus on that, run the ball. I think we've done a good job so far. We've got some new guys coming in. Some guys have healed up that maybe weren't there fully last year. The overall feeling is a lot better than it was last year going into the season and I think we're all excited."
ON NEEDING THE RUNNING GAME
"We obviously need to get the running game going, and to do so, we need to get all five guys doing their thing, making plays and just winning your battles."
ON KYLE HERGEL
"He's great. He fits in well. He's a great guy. We all love him and he's a beast on the field and in the weight room. He's a maniac. You saw his numbers, it's crazy stuff. We all love to have him and he helps out a lot. It's always good having him around."
ON THERE BEING MORE ATTITUDE UP FRONT THIS SEASON
"Yeah. Absolutely. We've all got a bit of a chip on our shoulder. Last year we all know last year wasn't good enough. We all realize we've got to do our part, so like I said, we've got a bit of a chip on our shoulder. We're coming out every day firing off the ball, just doing what we can to really make a statement."
ON BIGGEST DIFFERENCE BETWEEN APPLEBAUM AND DeGUGLIELMO
"We loved Guge, Guge was great. We also love Applebaum, he's awesome. Him coming back, a lot of the guys that had him - such as myself when I was a younger player - it was pretty seamless flowing back into his scheme, the way he talks about plays, the looks we have. It was really kind of easing into it, it wasn't a hard change at all. I know a lot of the guys are in the same boat as me. That only furthered...we had the knowledge already, we were able to help the young guys that much more. We were all able to get on the same page, use the same terms and really just communicate well overall very quickly. That was a big help."
ON IF THERE'S A DIFFERENT COACHING STYLE BETWEEN THE TWO
"I mean, every coach has a different style. They're all their own people. We love both of them, they're both awesome people. We're happy to have Applebaum. He's a great guy, great coach, so yeah."
ON HOW THIS CAMP IS DIFFERENT THAN PREVIOUS ONES FOR HIM PERSONALLY
"I feel like the feeling that this camp...obviously this is coming off one of the worst seasons we've had since I've been here. So, there's that lingering feeling in the air that everyone knows we've got to do better. Everyone knows we can do better. We all see it. The pieces are all there. We just have to put in the work every day. Stack days we say. We've just got to stack every day of camp and utilize every day we can and sort of work towards that final goal of being a great football team."
ON DEALING WITH THE SPEEDY EDGE RUSHERS IN THE ACC
"It can be tough. You've got to sort of know your matchup, that comes with studying film. Knowing if he's a power guy you're going to get a lot of bull rush. Or, if he's going to try to work a lot more moves to capture an edge on you. So, it's really just about knowing your opponent, watching film, knowing their strengths and weaknesses and also knowing what you can do and work on that week to counter it."
ON BALANCING THE RAMP UP TO THE REGULAR SEASON WITH STAYING IN THE MOMENT DURING CAMP
"It's a fine line. We like to say 'focus on the moment, live in the moment,' so practice today. That's what we're focused on now. Like, now I'm going on to watch film, so we're going to watch film from today. See what we can work on, see what schemes were working, what wasn't. If there was any individual stuff, and then sort of come back tomorrow with that mentality of I'm going to work on those specific things and just take it day-by-day and eventually stack days to get to that goal."