Steve Shimko On ACC PM This Week

The BC staff has been busy reeling in recruits this week, but new co-OC Steve Shimko took some time to talk to Taylor Tannenbaum and Mark Packer on ACC PM.

Here's a recap of the interview that lasted about 10 minutes, there were some very interesting nuggets in there that may provide a glimpse into what went wrong last season, especially on offense...

ON EXCITEMENT HEADING INTO THE SEASON

"Oh, absolutely. We're pumped to go and ready to get the guys back in August. We're working pretty hard this June just with recruiting and kind of re-installing the whole offense we installed in the spring. We're excited to hit the ground running in August."

ON WHAT'S CHANGED THIS SPRING BEING THE NEW CO-OC

"I would just say the offense has changed slightly. I would just say the biggest change for all of us, not just me, is being able to bring the entire staff a little bit more together and have more say throughout the whole thing. From Coach Wyatt, to Coach Chud, to Coach Huggins...Coach Applebaum, getting him back, he's a great part of this whole thing. Just being able to come together, having everyone have a little bit more of a say in it and getting the players to feel like they have a part in it as well. Not just being told what to do, but having some say of how we should do things and how we should operate as an offense has been the biggest change for us."

ON GETTING THE RUN GAME GOING IN 2023

"We're going to do what our guys do best. We'll find that out in August, but for sure, one of our strengths is going to be that O-line. We dealt with a lot of injuries last year, which kind of forced some of these younger guys into the game. Maybe they weren't ready, but the best thing was we got a lot of experience. Then, we got some guys back, we hit the portal pretty hard with a couple guys. Our O-line is going to be a big part of this whole thing, led by (Christian) Mahogany, Drew Kendall and Ozzy Trapilo, they'll handle their own, they'll have their fun. We'll make sure we're running the ball just enough for all you (media) guys."

ON EMMETT MOREHEAD

"I'll take it back to last year when Emmett was kind of forced into the starting role...again, just kind of talking about injuries last year. Last year was a tough year. He went into the Duke game and I would say...shout out to Duke, they had probably the best third down scheme we had faced in the three years we've been here...that put a lot of onus on the quarterback to make checks and stuff like that for protections. He went into that being a first time starter and handled it like a professional. He was able to get all the checks. He was able to handle all the things at the line. It was never too big or too small for him. We didn't win the game, but he played really well. That just builds momentum from then until now. He's got the team, he definitely has them locked in on him. He's the hardest worker on our team, at least one of them. He's been great. To see him stay humble and stay hungry...we're always talking about we need competition in the QB room, he's embraced that as well. He's been great. The guys love him. We love him at BC and we look forward to big things from him this year."

ON THE SKILL GUYS AND TRYING TO REPLACE ZAY

"First, let's hit on Zay. What an awesome, awesome competitor, person, leader. Everything you'd want in a player. He came back this weekend just to pop in and we didn't even know he was coming. Just came in with his smiley face and wanted to say 'what's up' to everyone, so he's going to be missed in more ways than just on the football field. As far as replacing him on the field, hard to do. It's going to be more of a group effort. Starting with Jaden Williams. Played as a true freshman, true sophomore, coming back for his junior year, he's looking amazing. The best he's looked since I've been here. Big Joe Griffin on the boundary. He had a great freshman year and we obviously got Ryan O'Keefe in the portal. He can take the top off the defense, is as fast as can be, very explosive over the last couple of years at UCF. Coach Wyatt and him have a great relationship. He's getting better each day. And them we have great guys behind them, we've got good depth. Dino Tomlin, Lewis Bond, Taj Johnson, the list goes on and on and we don't even know what these freshmen that come in this June are going to bring. We're going to make sure we put our guys in the best situation possible so we can make sure that what they do well, we do often. That's how we plan on replacing Zay, with that group effort. We're excited."

ONE WORD HE WOULD USE TO DESCRIBE HOW HE FELT ABOUT THE OFFENSE AFTER SPRING BALL

"Excited. Encouraged...I'm going encouraged. I felt so encouraged actually after spring ball because we threw - as an offensive staff - we threw a lot of football and a lot of different types of schemes and things like that at these guys and they've done nothing but handle it like pros. They've come in extra from spring to now. They kept coming in. I'm encouraged to know that they are working tirelessly, not only in the building, but in their dorm rooms. They'r with each other on the field extra. I'm just encouraged that I know they're going to get it done. We teach in the spring, we're kind of perfecting it through the summer and then in training camp we'll master it so that we have them ready for the season. I'm encouraged we'll be able to do those things."

ON WHAT A TYPICAL WEEK IN JUNE IS LIKE FOR THE STAFF

"We're invested with our guys Monday through Friday morning,. Whether it's being down there as they're working out, getting a little bit of work that we can get that we're allowed to do. Just kind of scheme, detailing things up getting ready for training camp. We'll do that kind of Monday through Friday morning with the evenings focused more on phone calls to coaches, recruits, stuff like that. From Friday afternoon to Sunday morning, we have official visits and then sprinkle in some summer camps in the evenings and during the days throughout those weeks. It'll be a good grind of no days off for the next 3.5 weeks."