Once former North Texas center Ethan Miner entered the transfer portal, it didn’t take him long to find the right opportunity at Mississippi State. The rising senior had a connection on the Bulldogs’ staff with tight ends coach Jon Cooper, who coached at North Texas last season, as well.
These days, Miner has made his home in Starkville and has grown comfortable with his surroundings. On Friday, Miner met with the media to discuss training camp and his thoughts on the upcoming season:
Q: Blake Shapen said you were one of his favorite centers he’s played with. Is the feeling mutual?
Miner : Probably not. I actually don’t like Blake so I’m not sure why he said that (laughing). But I’m joking. I love Blake. We’re definitely very close and I’m just glad he’s my quarterback.
Q: How do you know how hard to push Shapen or the other quarterbacks at times?
Miner : I mean, I think that’s the important part about having that relationship. You know what you can push and what you can’t. With Blake, I can get on him and he can get on me, and I will respect him for doing it.
Q: And with quarterbacks Chris Parson and Michael Van Buren ?
Miner : They’re the same thing. They’re younger guys, too, so you can’t be as hard on them. Like I said, you have to know that relationship with people so it’s definitely important.
Q: How confident are you getting with the guys to the left and right of you so far?
Miner : I am very confident. Coming from G5 schools where I was one of the biggest guys, definitely feels nice to have someone 6-foot-5 next to me and 320 (pounds). So I am very confident.
Q: There’s good potential with this offense. What’s your confidence level with how good it can be?
Miner : I think it can be very good. I’ve played my entire high school and college career in a spread offense. It works, especially when you have the receivers and quarterbacks that we do. And Coach (Jeff) Lebby running it, that’s definitely important. So I have a lot of confidence in it.
Q: How eager are you to put full pads on?
Miner : The first two days is always a little frustrating because you got nothing to grab, especially as an OLineman. I don’t count the first two days. It doesn’t count until the pads come on.
Q: How helpful is it for all of the new transfers on the line to experience this together for the first time?
Miner : The nice part about it with us all being transfers, not all of us, but everyone was coming in with a fresh start, at least the majority of the guys. The guys that were in the room have been very accepting of us. I’ve been at places where when you transfer in, guys don’t like you. It’s a threat coming to compete for the spot. But that wasn’t the case at all. It definitely brought us closer together.
We always go out and do stuff. We just did all-you-can-eat wings at Buffalo Wild Wings and I don’t think they were too happy with us.
Q: Who ate the most wings?
Miner : Probably Grant (Jackson). I think Grant had over 30 and his fiancé had to stop him.
Q: What’s your favorite flavor of wings?
Miner : It’s hard. It depends on how I’m feeling that day. I would say maybe like parmesan garlic would probably be my favorite.
Q: Coach Cody Kennedy said it was a gentlemen’s competition on the line where you compete but then be like brothers off the field.
Miner : That’s a big thing in this. At the end of the day we all want to start. But when all is said and done you can’t be hating each other. It is going to separate the room and you’re not going to have a team that way. It’s definitely very important for us to not hold it against each other and just knowing that you are responsible for where you stand at. It’s not somebody else doing it to you. You’re doing it to yourself.
Q: A lot of guys have talked about getting in extra work after practice. How much does that excite you to see a lot of guys doing that?
Miner : It definitely excites me. Everyone is doing the same thing. We’re all practicing two hours or however long we practice. It’s the actual things that you are willing to do. And just not having a sense of entitlement. It’s very easy to say oh, I’m playing in the SEC now and I made it and just become content. But that’s not what we are doing.
The post WATCH: Transfer center Ethan Miner confident in Mississippi State’s offensive system appeared first on On3 .
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