Cal defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon talks Cade Uluave, new look Takers

Defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon talked with the media on Friday about where the Bears defense is.

On what’s being worked on now

We're starting practices with with different types of team tackling which we're calling a layer tackling where you're going to see multiple layers of players fit off of one another when the ball is outside the the numbers.

And then you saw us do the little circuit today with some more of the finish elements of the tackle where you're seeing people throw up on each other, wrap up, run through contact.

And then you know we always a big point of emphasis for the entire defense is improving our pass defense and pass rush, some different concepts in the back end to help our players

New players that are impressing

You know I think the some of the new guys in the back end, it's been good to see kind of what their skill is going to be.

You know Ja’ir [Smith] I think is really showing that he's a talented young man. Marcus Harris is a extremely talented player on the outside. Nohl [Williams] is having a good camp.

Craig [Woodson]'s having a good camp. Miles Williams, he was going through a tackle drill today like a technician. He’s extremely coachable, doing all the things we're asking him to do on the field in that regard. Matt Littlejohn is continuing to make some strides.

On examining the secondary over the front seven

Without playing live football, a bunch of my energy goes to the back end because I think you get an unfair assessment of the guys up front. If you can't go live and you can't leave your feet to tackle offensive line … I don't think it's quite a fair fight to assess those guys until we go live.

But the guys in the back end, they're playing full speed. So I think we're getting a real good feel for what their skill is. Encouraged by this group. I got a ton of belief in Tre and Terrence and we're continuing to put our heads together and trying to put the best technique schematics that we can put together, along with what's best for the players and what's best for the team.

Are the DBs pretty much locked into specific spots, or are you moving some around?

I think there's several guys that have the capacity to play multiple positions. I know Colin Gamble can play inside and play outside. I think Ja’ir could play outside or inside.

Then kind of based on some of the health or availability of some of the other guys, we might ask them to play a position for a few snaps just to help the rest of the group get through practice.

How do you feel about the depth there?

Like you know my experience, the depth is never good enough. College football is is a huge war of attrition. With guys that have been here, guys that are either coming back from injury, new guys that are joining us, that the battle of attrition is not only the the injuries, but just the in and out with the portal.

What's the key to being a successful cornerback in your system.

The first thing is knowledge. Knowledge leads to confidence. Confidence leads to belief. And when you believe in yourself, then you got to let it rip.

And then I think I have a lot of confidence in what you're doing. And then I think you have to believe in yourself. And then it goes back to belief . It isn't always making the play. Sometimes the other guy will make a good play, but believing in yourself to come back and battle back and do it again.

So a lot of that is just the mental toughness and the resiliency to play.

On how Cade Uluave has earned his spot as starting inside linebacker

This spring and summer, Cade showed that he was a dynamic athlete and you saw the ability for him to to burst and finish. He was extremely inexperienced as a player, but I thought what he did was a really good job of managing his emotions and collectively on how we instructed him.

He didn't have a full backpack, we weren't asking him to carry even his load. It was, Hey, man, you just you just focus on these things. Let the other ten guys kind of support, they need to carry a little more of the water. Just go out there and play like you play like a younger player. Don't put a lot on him and let his ability shine.

I think less is more when a young player with habits that has talent goes out there.

On how Cade makes the next step this year, and how Jackson Sirmon helped with Cade’s development

He needs to be a person that impacts the team, and that can mean a lot of different things. That's on the field, that's in the meeting room, that's in the locker room, that's with some of the very, very young, inexperienced players we have in our room. It's his opportunity to pay it forward.

Jackson paid you know, Jackson took Cade under his wing. You know, if you watch the last six games of the year, the linebacker coach wasn't coaching Cade. Jackson was coaching Cade.

So now Cade needs to need to pay it forward. And he doesn't practice yet. But what are you seeing in his development, his maturity that let you know he's going in the right direction, how he talks, how he handles himself in the meeting room.

You know, he's out here doing the walkthroughs. He's the first guy in line doing the walkthroughs. He's the first guy answering the question in the meeting room.

And so I think it's on the on the right path. And again, I think he is a very talented athlete that that can be as good a linebacker as we've had here in a long time.

On Cade’s mentality

If I remember right, I think he might have been the sixth young man that I've had opportunity to coach to earn some type of freshman all-American awards.

The trait that all the kids, with the exception of one, is they were mature beyond their experience. I think that was that's the comment denominator that I've had with five of those six guys is how life wasn't the game, wasn't bigger than what they were ready for.

They were extremely mature. They had a consistency in their life. And when the opportunity arose, they had the talent to go along with that mental frame of mind.

And he’s one of those five.