CHARLESTON, S.C. - The 15th-ranked and defending Southern Conference champion Citadel football team met with the media for its annual preseason Media Day on Sunday.

Head coach Brent Thompson and cadet-athletes Dee Delaney, Cam Jackson, Dondray Copeland, Ryan Bednar, Isaiah Pinson and Cody Clark addressed the media before taking team and group photos and then moving across the street to greet fans at Meet The Bulldogs. Below is a collection of quotes from the press conference:

Coach Thompson
Opening Statement
"We've had a good start to camp and are 12 practices in. We had a scrimmage yesterday, and I thought the guys played pretty hard and we got after it pretty good. I'm excited about where we are at, and we are building toward the Mercer game on September 1st. The scrimmage was a good opportunity for us to see what we are all about. We'll have another scrimmage on Thursday night, and that scrimmage will refine our parts two weeks out from the Mercer game.

"We have high expectations this year coming off of last year's 9-4 season. Last year was a great season, a great start for where we want to be. We have high expectations for ourselves and hope to live up to those. Our challenge is to keep that same mentality that we had last year, keep the same edge. I think our players have trained extremely hard and we have had a good camp so far, but we certainly still have some obstacles to get over in order to put together another season like we had last season.

"We start out with two Southern Conference opponents this year. We have Mercer on September 1st, and they have played us pretty tight the last two years. We are at their place and expect a packed house. I know we will have a great contingent of our fans there, and they will bring a good crowd themselves being opening night. They had a pretty exciting season last year too. They beat Chattanooga at the end of the year, so it should be a good one. We are going to have to prepare every single day from here on out to beat this team. They were the least-penalized team in the NCAA and led the country in turnovers, so we have to do our best to match that and execute at the top of our game. That's going to be important for us.

"Our approach every day is we are going to maintain everything we have been doing throughout the course of the year, and that is play a physical style of football and run to the ball. Our ability to be able to throw off of play-action at times will be important, and I think that was evident from the scrimmage yesterday that we need to work on that the most. We were able to pressure our quarterback a little and force him to find open receivers. In the secondary, we did a good job of shutting down some of the wide receivers. I like the way our defensive line was playing to penetrate gaps, and our linebackers were pretty good on their keys. We still have to polish up a few of those things, but that will come. On the offensive line we played a few younger guys, especially with the twos, and they got a lot of good work there. They are doing a good job. Jordan Black has done a good job of coming in at quarterback and taking control of this offense. Brandon Rainey was working with the twos and he did a good job. He still has a little ways to go there, but I thought he kept control of the ball and showed me some things. I let him run out there, didn't put him in a different color jersey because I wanted to see if he could take care of the football. For a true freshman coming in, I thought he executed very well.

"I was fortunate in the spring to have the opportunity to get out and meet some of our fans and supporters. I really found out a lot about The Citadel, and The Citadel fans are really excited about where this program is going. We have been able to keep most of the coaching staff, and now we are all about sustainability and building upon what we had last year. The 2015 season will not help us any this year, but it is something to build upon and we are looking to improve on that.

"I know our Mercer game will be a sold out game, and we will have a group of our supporters there. We have great representation at Johnson Hagood Stadium, and I know our ticket sales are through the roof for the highly-anticipated home opener. To be able to start out with two Southern Conference games, with one of them being your rival at home, that will be a good opener for us. We are all looking forward to the season but need to take advantage of every day in the next two weeks in order to be able to accomplish our goals."

On QB-Jordan Black
"I think he's extremely close. I've seen him do things that are very difficult for a redshirt freshman to do. He's taken control of the offense and marched the ball down the field against the very good defense we have. If you make a mistake fitting the quarterback, he can take it to the house and that is something that is pretty dynamic for us. As long as we can take control of the ball, I think he will be fine. We have plenty of good playmakers around him – a great offensive line, some really good A-Backs and B-Backs – that he doesn't have to do anything spectacular. All he has to do is manage and run the offense, and if they miss a fit he'll be able to make them pay."

On Preseason Attention
"I didn't address that situation until a couple of days ago and I said to the team 'We need to make sure that we practice every day like we are a top-25 team'. We talked all last year, during the 2015 season, about getting recognition and that we could be a top-25 team, but we can't go out there and practice like we aren't a top-25 team. We can't talk like we are going to be a top-25 team and not go out there and perform like a top-25 team every single day. You have to live up to that expectation, and I finally addressed that with them the other day. There hasn't been any mention of it because I'm not a huge preseason poll guy, I'm a final season poll guy, but our kids have worked hard for this and they deserve the recognition. Certainly, we have to be able to live up to those expectations as well."

On QB-Jordan Black's Passing
"He needs to have a little bit more comfort in the pocket. He's a great scrambler and he'll make you pay with his feet for sure, but he has to get his eyes in the right spot and be able to hit open receivers. We had some open receivers yesterday that I was a little bit disappointed we didn't get, but that's to be expected at this point. He's still getting his feet wet and understanding where that pocket is and what is actually pressure in that pocket because there's perceived pressure and there's real pressure. I think he was perceiving more pressure than he had, so we are going to work extremely hard over the next two weeks. I spoke to the defense about trying to put a little bit of pressure in the pocket. In a skelly situation, you just can't replicate that so we are going to give him looks in live situations to make it easier for coaches to say 'This is where you have to look first, get your eyes here and move through the progression from there'. I think we can improve on that, and we have enough practices to be able to handle that."

On QB-Dominique Allen's Recovery
"He's out there working hard with our strength and conditioning coach every single day, and he's progressing nicely. He takes some mental reps out there and runs around a little bit, so if he was to be back for that Furman game he will be in good physical shape. Hopefully we can get him some snaps a week or two out from that."

On The Difference In Being A Head Coach
"You have to have a pulse of the whole team, not just the offense or the defense or the secondary or the quarterbacks. You have to have an idea of where every single position is at and where you may be a little bit lean in some spots because you are in camp and you are going to have some nagging injuries and those kinds of things that are going to set some people back. So, you have to know when to turn up the heat a little bit and know when to back down a little bit. That's been the most challenging is trying to have a pulse of the whole team every single practice, every single day when you are out there and you want to make sure you are well-prepared."

On The Citadel's Defense
"They are a little bit ahead of the offense right now. They are executing at a pretty high speed. There are a couple of things they are missing, but that's to be expected at this time. I watched the film with Coach (Blake) Harrell of the scrimmage yesterday, and it's the same thing as the offense of making sure we get our eyes in the right spot and make sure we are taking the right steps first because we pride ourselves in being a fundamental football team. If we are going to do that, we need to coach fundamentals every day, and this time of year is all about refining fundamentals."

On Expectations For Forcing Turnovers
"You'd love to be able to count on what we did last year, but the opposite side of that is we need to do a better job on offense. One thing we can't control is how many turnovers we force, but we can control limiting that on the offensive side of the ball. I thought we turned the ball over a little bit too much last year and got a little bit too risky, so I don't think we can ever count on the defense getting 20 interceptions – which is great and we'd love to have that again – but I would like to take care of the football better as opposed to creating more turnovers. We emphasize it every day, and on the defensive side of the ball we have been emphasizing stripping to ball to force more fumbles. We didn't have as many fumbles as we did interceptions last year, and some of the interceptions were because we did such a good job stopping the run we were putting the quarterback in a bad situation. If we can continue to do that, I think we will be successful. In 2014, we didn't force as many turnovers but we didn't turn it over as much on offense."

On The Citadel's Kicking Game
"We are still evaluating both kickers. We have been charting them every day and they're doing a good job. Cody Clark is a fifth-year transfer who is solid and steady and has been doing a good job in pressure situations. I've been really impressed with Jacob Godek's leg. He's been able to put the ball in the end zone a few times on kickoffs. We're still evaluating that situation, and we'd love to have a guy who can put the ball in the end zone but if it is a PAT or field goal situation, a little bit more high-pressure situation, we may need the fifth-year kicker. Each of them does something different, but both of them have done a good job with their mentality.

On The Approach The Rest Of Preseason Camp
"Thursday's scrimmage ends the phase of going against one another and starts our preparation phase for Mercer. Each day we do a little bit toward Mercer or Furman or Gardner-Webb and work that in as well as go against one another to work our techniques against one another. Thursday marks the final day that we are done going against each other and start getting everybody's feet underneath them and start to get the whole gameplan put together for Mercer."

On What Preseason Expectations Say About The Program
"It says a lot about our players more than anything. They believed in the plan two years ago going forward. They have embraced the process here. Last year we believed what we could do, and now it's a matter of getting everybody else to believe it. We got our fans on board, and now we are starting to get some of the media on board. I'm excited about this year's senior class because these guys especially bought in. They've taken control of this football team, and I know these guys will lead this team to some pretty good things."

On If Last Year's Success Changes Opponents' Perception Of The Citadel
"When we opened camp this year we said every day was going to be important for us and every week was going to be a game week. We have to make sure we are on point because if we want to challenge for that Southern Conference championship at the end then we are going to have to put together some pretty good execution in order to beat these first two teams because they are both very good football teams. For us, it's all about the way we execute and that's been the formula for success. It's not so much how we do but more the way we do it; the way we approach our practices, the way we approach our preparation and the way we teach fundamentals is the most important thing for us. Going forward with this group of seniors that we have, they have done a great job for us."

DB-Dee Delaney
On How The Defense Compares To Last Year
"I think the defense will be alright. Each day is a battle. We lost some people from last year, but we filled those spots and I think we will be alright."

On Who Has Impressed Him In Camp
"Shy Phillips is one. He's taken the spot that Mariel Cooper had last year at cornerback, and I think he's doing well at that position."

On His Role On Defense
"The team is one big family, and everybody is dependent on each other to get their job done."

A-Back Cam Jackson
On QB-Jordan Black
"I think he's doing a great job. He's filling in perfectly. We try to boost him up and he's constantly performing to the expectations we have for him."

On The Difference Between QBs Jordan Black And Dominique Allen
"Dom has a year under his belt and is more cerebral. He can pick apart defenses and tell what their tendencies are. Jordan is more of an athlete out there. He's going to make guys miss."

On Offensive Changes This Year
"It's pretty much the same system. We brought Coach (Lou) Conte back, our former A-Backs coach, as offensive coordinator but Coach Thompson is involved with the offense so nothing has changed really."

On How He Can Help QB-Jordan Black On Game Day
"The main thing is keeping him composed. He has to trust his offensive line and the playmakers around him and go out there and manage the offense."

LB-Dondray Copeland
On Forcing Turnovers This Year
"We are taking each practice one at a time. We aren't playing the numbers game, we are just trying to make plays and guys are going to step up and make them."

On Who Has Impressed Him In Camp
"I have to say Shy Phillips. He's really filled in that void that Mariel Cooper left."

On The Citadel's Offense
"Jordan (Black) is really good at making people miss. He's going to go out there and if somebody makes a mistake he will be able to capitalize on it."

On Changes To The Citadel's Defense
"I think it's mostly the same. We lost a few seniors from last year, but we are pretty much in the same defense as last year."

OL-Ryan Bednar
On The Offense's Progress
"We are continually improving every day. Jordan Black has really stepped up to the plate and taken control. We feel that we are on our way to being very successful on the offensive side of the ball."

On QB-Jordan Black
"He's still a redshirt freshman, but he's taken a big leap during camp. He's been a successful leader and keeps control of the huddle. Our offense is like a big family so we always make sure he's going through the proper stuff and making sure he's successful in everything he does."

On OL-Tyler Davis
"He's doing outstanding. Kyle Weaver and I have been helping him out when he needs it, going over the playbook if he needs it and making sure he's gaining the knowledge that some of us older guys have. He's doing an outstanding job."

On The Differences Preparing For A Season With High Expectations
"Nothing changes for us. The preseason accolades are just more fuel for the fire. We are going to strive to be the best we can be, and throughout camp we've been trying to be successful in everything we do."

On Continuity On The Offensive Line
"Throughout the offseason we strive through workouts and conditioning to get ourselves prepared physically and mentally for those long drives and long plays. Overall, that's what is going to make us successful."

OL-Isaiah Pinson
On The Offensive Line
"I think our unit is coming along fine. The second-string guys are really young with a lot of freshmen in there, but all-in-all we are coming along fine. We have Ryan (Bednar), me and Kyle Weaver who played all of last year, so we are able to help out Nick Jeffreys and Tyler Davis. As a whole, I think we are moving along the way Coach (Ron) Boyd wants us to, and we are trying to put out the same performance that we have in past years."

On QB-Jordan Black
"Jordan has definitely improved a lot since day one. When you go from not running the ones' huddle all season to becoming a one, that's a change but I don't see much of a difference. He's stepped in and that leadership presence is there. He knows how to get in there, run his huddle and run the offense. He'll be gameday ready for sure, and it's our job to be there to assist him in any way we can. Up front, our job is to give him good protection. He knows the playbook, so I think we are fine."

K-Cody Clark
On Choosing The Citadel
"The coaches reached out to me and said they needed to fill a void. I came here on a visit and loved it. I loved the players, loved the coaches, loved the atmosphere and felt like it was something I wanted to be part of."

On Differences At The Citadel
"My grandfathers were in the military, so I kind of know what that's all about. I live with Will Vanvick, and he's caught me up to speed with a lot of what goes on around here. The team and coaches have done a great job, and I'm excited to take it in and experience it. I have a tremendous amount of respect for all of these guys with what they go through and what this school means."

On The Responsibility He Feels To Live Up To Cadet Standards
"My goal is to blend in as best as possible and not stick out for any negative reason. I'm trying to fit in. I'm not used to having a clean-shaven face, but I'm doing my best to fit in for all the right reasons."

The Bulldogs are halfway through their preseason camp and completed their first full scrimmage Saturday morning. The Citadel returns to practice Monday in preparation for its season opener at Mercer on Sept. 1. The game is set for a 7 p.m. kickoff and will be broadcast on FOX Sports Southeast. The Bulldogs' home opener, which also is the annual Military Appreciation Game, is Sept. 10 against Furman at 6 p.m. For tickets, visit CitadelSports.com/tickets or call The Citadel Athletic Ticket Office at (843) 953-DOGS (3647).

For more information on The Citadel football, follow @CitadelFootball or visit CitadelSports.com.