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38 IllustrateD volume 24, issue 5 f so I'm sure he was excited to have that opportunity. Shoop: "You're right. And he and Coach Sherman, I think it's a sign, too, guys like Dolapo (Macarthy), kind of cross-training him in a two-point stance and a three-point stance, I think it's a sign of morale and collaboration that's on our staff that these guys were able to get that done." Gold and Black: You used the word "accentuate" a couple times this spring and other coaches also talk- ed about finding the right roles for guys. Did it take the staff a bit longer than you thought it would to really get to know the personnel or was it just a typi- cal product of being a first-year staff finding its way? Shoop: "Certainly some things you wish happen quick- er. But I've had experience trying to build a team before, and we don't try to do the quick fix. We're trying to do the strong fix that's going to stand the test of time. I think one of the things that's really helping us evaluate what some of these wideouts can do is the level our quarterbacks are playing right now. The fact that these guys can distribute the ball so much is giving us an opportunity to assess how other guys can run routes. That was maybe a little bit hard- er to assess when we didn't quite throw it around as well. We've got three quarterbacks who can really spin it and I think it really helps when you're trying to evaluate wide- outs and running routes." Gold and Black: Danny Etling didn't have a turn- over all spring. That'd seem to be a good reason for him to be No. 1 quarterback, right? Shoop: "I hope you're knocking on wood wherever you are. Players are going to decide who plays, not coaches. The No. 1 job of a quarterback is to protect the football. If they're able to do that, we're going to be a tough team to beat. That's a good start, but Dan will be the first one to tell you, he's a long way from where he wants to be as a quar- terback and has a lot of work to do. But that's a good start, protecting the ball." Gold and Black: Taking notes of each practice, and we were able to attend 13 of the 15, we had one guy at 69 percent completion and the other at 61 percent. Is that close? How were they in terms of accuracy this spring? Shoop: "All of the quarterbacks were really, really pro- ductive. You're in the ballpark for sure. We want to get those quarterbacks up over 70 percent. I think that it's in them. The production of the quarterback isn't just the quarterback. It's a reflection of everything. There's not a more collaborative team sport in the world than football. For our quarterback to complete 70 percent of his passes, we have to run the right routes, we have to catch the ball, we have to protect him and be where we're supposed to be. I do believe this: If we can protect our quarterbacks and our wideouts can get where they're supposed to be, it's in these men to find them." Gold and Black: How close is this quarterback com- petition? Darrell Hazell will wait to name a starter. Etling and Appleby are the top two, but David Blough had a good spring for a kid who was supposed to still be in high school as well. Shoop: "Dave is a good player. He's a good player. I'll let Coach Hazell talk about that stuff and those things. But I'll say this: I thought all the quarterbacks had a strong spring. I'll leave it at that." Gold and Black: How comfortable do you feel with the receiving corps right now? Shoop: "My job is one of those jobs where you're never comfortable with anything. (laughs) I feel like we're really working hard at developing depth at that position. I really feel like this summer is going to be huge for those guys. Here's what I feel good about the summer, though, like I said, we have quarterbacks that can really train with these guys, and they're going to do it. It's going to be tough to outwork our team in the summer. So it's going to be real important for DeAngelo (Yancey), for (Dan) Monteroso, for (Danny) Anthrop, (Cameron) Posey, B.J. (Knauf) and Bilal (Marshall) to have great summers and come back significantly better in August than they were at the end of the spring. The work our quarterbacks and receivers do in this offseason will have a major correlation to our success in the fall. We still have a lot of work to do in the passing game. A lot." Gold and Black: What was the message to your guys heading into the offseason? Shoop: "Just the same thing that we've been talking about: You've got to know what to do, know how to do and you've got to do it. You've got to do it. We don't every day have a new deal. We just keep harping on the same thing. Know your job and do your job. … There's some account- ability on our team that we sure didn't have last year. There's still a lot of work to do, and we've got some guys who have some good leadership qualities about them on this team that we're going to put in the work this summer for sure." j