Training Camp Q&A: Garrett Shrader

Syracuse starting quarterback Garrett Shrader spoke with the media Wednesday after the first day of training camp. 

Q: How hard is it for you to tailor back until you can really ramp things up?

Shrader: "Today was the first day. We've been slowly progressing into things. I thought we had a solid day. Great day to build off of. Set a solid foundation. A lot of stuff to clean up but at the same time the first day was encouraging." 

Q: How does it feel to be able to throw again?

Shrader: "It's exciting. Taking live reps. All the guys love when it's good on good when you get all the ones out there. Get everybody back, it's a lot of fun to see both sides of the ball. We've been excited. We've just got to keep building. Stacking days." 

Q: Saw you stretching your arm out a little bit after throws. Is that just discomfort?

Shrader: "Oh yeah. I feel fine it's just I haven't done it in a while. Getting back used to it." 

Q: How much will coaching during the spring help your game?

Shrader: "I've seen every look. The only difference is you're standing five more feet behind them. It was big for me to be able to go out there, sit in the offensive staff meetings and really find out what we're trying to do. Versus just getting coached on it. You hear it a lot more. It was good. I thought it translated well. Now it's just going out and physically doing it. We know where the ball needs to go. Now it's just physically doing it. I thought we did a decent job of that today." 

Q: How do you curtail yourself knowing you still have 30 more days or so until this gets real?

Shrader: "Taking it day by day. Summer conditioning is a totally different animal. As soon as we put the pads on, building up progressively throughout camp, it's a new challenge but it's fun. To be able to go out there and play football again. By the end of camp you're ready to play someone else. Right now everything's so new, we're excited. There's a lot of energy out there. It's fun to see guys get excited." 

Q: Babers said this is the best offensive staff he's had here. From your time here, do you agree with that?

Shrader: "Oh 100%. All of them are great coaches, charismatic guys. They bring a lot of excitement every day. You can genuinely tell they love being here. It makes it a lot easier on here when things are getting creative. Makes the games fun to play. It's been exciting. We've got a lot to look forward to and we've got a lot of work to do. There's a big mountain ahead of us but today was a great first day. The best one since I've been here. It's exciting because we know we're going to get better. And the first time we're running the same system two years in a row, helps too. We're excited." 

Q: How much does the consistency of having Beck around again help you going into the season?

Shrader: "It means everything. This is the first time in my college career you go out for the first day of camp and actually have a little bit of confidence versus bullets flying trying to figure out guys. You're not really seeing things pre-snap. You're just reacting. That was fun to be able to be on time. Everything seems a lot quick, really fluid. It was really encouraging to see that today offensively and same thing for the defense." 

Q: What do we not see with Jason Beck and that relationship you have with him?

Shrader: "I think the biggest thing for us is I see the game how he sees it because he coached me. He was still the quarterbacks coach. When he puts something in, installing it, we get the first of why we're doing it instead of him being the middle man with it. So we get first hand on what we're trying to do. That's been really helpful. At the same time, things have been so much more fluid because we've had a year under our belt. We're not trying to figure things out right now. We're just going out, first time doing it but the biggest thing is everything's really fluid. We're way ahead of where we were last year at this time." 

Q: What kind of perspective do you gain when you're going through the process but can't throw?

Shrader: "I threw a bunch today and I feel good. I feel really good. The big thing is just trying to not do too much where you set yourself back and have to cut your reps down. But today was a great day. I did a lot more than I thought I'd be able to. That was encouraging as well. I'm excited for the rest of this week and getting into scrimmages, putting the pads on."

Q: What can you say about the weapons you have this year?

Shrader: "We've got a bunch of guys. Every single position group is just full. It's exciting to see because we've got depth. There's a lot of competition. It's hard to say because it's the first day of install, so it's very basic for the most part. As we start getting more creative and start tailoring things to certain guys' skill set, that's when we'll see it really take off. Next two weeks, three weeks. Right now, especially seeing the young guys, seeing what they can do. The scheme is very basic for them. As they grow we can grow. But it's been exciting." 

Q: Anything different with coach Babers this year compared to years past?

Shrader: "The main thing is he's the same dude. He's excited. He's been a lot more hands off. Just kind of letting the coordinators do their thing. He's still there. The receivers are his baby so he loves to come coach them up all the time. That might be the biggest thing I've noticed. But he's still there, he's around. He's more just trying to learn than, I guess, coaching. That would be the closest thing I would say. Besides that, same coach." 

Q: Do you feel any pressure to get back to a bowl game, or is that more of a media thing?

Shrader: "This team is more than capable. A bowl game is, how do I put this, this team will be bowl eligible. It's just what else can we do to win those close games. I think two years ago we lost four games by three points. Last year we go 6-0 and get beat up and have a tough stretch of games. This team is deeper than both those teams. And we have more talent than both of those teams the last two years. I don't think that will be an issue, it's just making sure we're taking it day by day in order to get there. We're not focused on that. We're worried about cleaning up things from today and getting ready for install tomorrow. But we have a deep squad and we've got talent across the board at every position. Offense, defense and special teams. We've got the coaches and the scheme we need to win games. It's going to be tough to stop us. That's the way I look at it." 

Q: What are the lessons learned from last year?

Shrader: "It's tough to say because so much of that is what it stems from. You've got guys playing out of position (due to injury). You don't have guys playing truly playing, they're switching sides of the ball and moving around. Everybody's at a disadvantage and then you start playing really good teams. You're scrapping and clawing just to do what you can. As a quarterback it's hard to say because I couldn't do any better. I couldn't block or run those routes any better. That's the big thing, just being efficient and doing everything we should be doing. Not repeating mistakes is the biggest thing for us right now. For this year for this team. Last year we had to fight through it. Last year was last year. So we've got a new team this year. We've got a good squad. We've got a lot to look forward to."