Q. Jonathan, to speak on Brian VanGorder, new defensive coordinator, what you've taken away from him and what you've seen from this defense as you head into the fall.
JONATHAN GREENARD: Well, I knew instantly when Coach VanGorder came in he was about winning and making sure we impose our will on offenses. Definitely him having that mentality and guys like me who have been around different defensive coordinators, that's what we want, to make sure we're going to play with an aggressive guy who makes sure our presence is known in the game. With him being there and the players that we have, I think we're going to be really successful.
Q. You talk about imposing your will, 22.5 tackles for loss in your career, been fairly steady in that category. As you think about 2018, is there something about you that wants to be more aggressive?
JONATHAN GREENARD: Definitely. The most thing I can say I want to be more aggressive in is finishing, staying aggressive every single play and not giving up and steadily progressing my motor, as in consistently making plays, chasing the ball down the backside, running to the football if the ball is thrown. So I feel like I've been working on that a lot with my conditioning, as well, and from spring I definitely tried to master that craft, as well.
Q. I wanted to ask you about some of those young linebackers, specifically Dorian Etheridge, Avery and Robert Hicks. Seems like those guys have a chance to step up this year.
JONATHAN GREENARD: Right, Robert Hicks came in in January and he's been very good. He's a very physical linebacker, wants to step up and definitely a run stopper. Dorian Etheridge, I knew he was going to be how he was as soon as I saw him last year once he came in with the ones and got some reps with us. And once I knew how he took on that leadership role to lead the defense at a young age already, I knew that he had something in him. And the knowledge he has for the game and the feel he has for a game, it's kind of like you can't really teach that. So when somebody comes like they're all this, you just have to build up and just help him out in his ability to do stuff.
Q. Jonathan, under Coach Petrino the defense has been good, and I understand a new system now, but what was the takeaway from those performances? What has to change?
JONATHAN GREENARD: Yeah, it's definitely not -- we realized at the end of the year that we had to sit back and realize that that's not what U of L football is about. U of L football has always been defensive-minded. We always had a dominant defense no matter what year or what the case may be, so to realize that we gave up that many points, that was very uncharacteristic, like you said. We just definitely took that as a chip on our shoulder towards the end of the year, and that's why we finished a little bit stronger like we did, and we'll just carry that over, and hopefully that lasts for the summer and into the fall, as well.
Q. What drives you? What has been your inspiration as a football player going all the way back to the day?
JONATHAN GREENARD: Oh, man, we inspiration, it's two things, my mother, how hard she worked growing up. That's the reason why I have this passion I have for the game or for anything, period, because anything she does, she does it with 110 percent and anything I do, 110 percent.
Another reason why Ryan Tumblin, one of my friends back home from high school, he's autistic and epileptic, as well. He definitely made me feel -- he made me be more humble and actually respect the game more because somebody who's not able to do that and wishing they could be able to do that, just makes you realize how good you have it and make you not take that next snap for granted.
Q. You just spoke on some inspiration. How does Bobby Petrino inspire?
JONATHAN GREENARD: Because he has a winning tradition. Anybody who knows about Petrino knows where he comes from, what he's about. He's definitely a winning guy. He knows what -- he wants the best for you. The main thing with Coach Petrino, he just wants us just to hone in on technique because technique is going to win you the games, when the other guys who have more talent than you, they just don't have the technique. If you have the technique, you're going to have -- little things like hand placement as a defensive lineman, when you're honing in on your technique and stuff like that, he emphasizes that on stuff like that, so that way you can be able to have yourself ahead of a guy who might be more athletic than you, who might be stronger or faster or whatever the case may be, so you can't beat technique.
JONATHAN GREENARD: Well, I knew instantly when Coach VanGorder came in he was about winning and making sure we impose our will on offenses. Definitely him having that mentality and guys like me who have been around different defensive coordinators, that's what we want, to make sure we're going to play with an aggressive guy who makes sure our presence is known in the game. With him being there and the players that we have, I think we're going to be really successful.
Q. You talk about imposing your will, 22.5 tackles for loss in your career, been fairly steady in that category. As you think about 2018, is there something about you that wants to be more aggressive?
JONATHAN GREENARD: Definitely. The most thing I can say I want to be more aggressive in is finishing, staying aggressive every single play and not giving up and steadily progressing my motor, as in consistently making plays, chasing the ball down the backside, running to the football if the ball is thrown. So I feel like I've been working on that a lot with my conditioning, as well, and from spring I definitely tried to master that craft, as well.
Q. I wanted to ask you about some of those young linebackers, specifically Dorian Etheridge, Avery and Robert Hicks. Seems like those guys have a chance to step up this year.
JONATHAN GREENARD: Right, Robert Hicks came in in January and he's been very good. He's a very physical linebacker, wants to step up and definitely a run stopper. Dorian Etheridge, I knew he was going to be how he was as soon as I saw him last year once he came in with the ones and got some reps with us. And once I knew how he took on that leadership role to lead the defense at a young age already, I knew that he had something in him. And the knowledge he has for the game and the feel he has for a game, it's kind of like you can't really teach that. So when somebody comes like they're all this, you just have to build up and just help him out in his ability to do stuff.
Q. Jonathan, under Coach Petrino the defense has been good, and I understand a new system now, but what was the takeaway from those performances? What has to change?
JONATHAN GREENARD: Yeah, it's definitely not -- we realized at the end of the year that we had to sit back and realize that that's not what U of L football is about. U of L football has always been defensive-minded. We always had a dominant defense no matter what year or what the case may be, so to realize that we gave up that many points, that was very uncharacteristic, like you said. We just definitely took that as a chip on our shoulder towards the end of the year, and that's why we finished a little bit stronger like we did, and we'll just carry that over, and hopefully that lasts for the summer and into the fall, as well.
Q. What drives you? What has been your inspiration as a football player going all the way back to the day?
JONATHAN GREENARD: Oh, man, we inspiration, it's two things, my mother, how hard she worked growing up. That's the reason why I have this passion I have for the game or for anything, period, because anything she does, she does it with 110 percent and anything I do, 110 percent.
Another reason why Ryan Tumblin, one of my friends back home from high school, he's autistic and epileptic, as well. He definitely made me feel -- he made me be more humble and actually respect the game more because somebody who's not able to do that and wishing they could be able to do that, just makes you realize how good you have it and make you not take that next snap for granted.
Q. You just spoke on some inspiration. How does Bobby Petrino inspire?
JONATHAN GREENARD: Because he has a winning tradition. Anybody who knows about Petrino knows where he comes from, what he's about. He's definitely a winning guy. He knows what -- he wants the best for you. The main thing with Coach Petrino, he just wants us just to hone in on technique because technique is going to win you the games, when the other guys who have more talent than you, they just don't have the technique. If you have the technique, you're going to have -- little things like hand placement as a defensive lineman, when you're honing in on your technique and stuff like that, he emphasizes that on stuff like that, so that way you can be able to have yourself ahead of a guy who might be more athletic than you, who might be stronger or faster or whatever the case may be, so you can't beat technique.
