Tony Reno quotes from Ivy League teleconference

Here are some quotes from Tony Reno during the Ivy League conference call.

On entering camp: “We’re excited to get everything started. It’s my second year in the program. Guys are in the system now for two years. Things aren’t as new as they were last year. Your expectations of them on campus, how they work, the process they need to go through to get where they need to be, that’s been a great piece of the growth cycle here at Yale the last 12 months. It’s been a great summer. The majority of the team was here over summer. We’re excited and encouraged with their growth. They’re getting faster and stronger. They really improved drastically in areas we needed them to improve in.”

On offense: “We’re going to be very young in all three phases. Offensively, we’re returning five guys who played a lot of downs on the offensive line. Four who started most of the games for us. Our running game, we have a tremendous RB coming back in Tyler Varga. He’s a great player and might be a better person. We’re excited about his leadership and ability. The offense continues to grow.

On defense: “Defensively, as much of a leader Varga is and a great player, we have one on defense on our defensive line in captain Beau Palin. He did an extraordinary job over the summer. He’s everything you would want in a captain and more. How he acts on campus to how he practices to how he plays. 110 percent effort guy all time. He’s been great influence on team. He will lead the defense. He and Dylan Drake return on both ends. Secondary and LBs, we have a lot returning, who didn’t play a lot. We have a lot of work to do. It’s a young group coming back.

On QB situation: QB battle going on. The best guy is going to play. We’re excited to see that go on. As everyone knows we had a unique situation where we lost all three QBs in the Penn game last year. We had to run the wildcat for two weeks with Tyler Varga. Through that Furman stepped up and moved over from WR and did a good job the last two games. He returns, along with Eric Williams and Derek Russell. We also have transfer Morgan Roberts. Those are the leaders in the competition. They will get equal reps and see who rises to the top.”

On Roberts, QB transfer from Clemson: He can run and throw. He’s a big kid. He’s strong, athletic, can throw and threaten with his legs. Those are the two things he can do on film. We’re looking forward to see him run around and throw football when we start.”

On passing game: “We want to throw the ball more and take some pressure off the O-line and RB position.”

On loss to Harvard last season: “One of those things, we weren’t happy with the outcome. Harvard played extraordinary and made plays at the end. We played a full 60 minutes at a high level and in a big atmosphere. That was good for our team and the growth of the program.”