Is he a tackle or is he a guard? Chris Marinelli is willing to play any position on the football field as long as he is playing and Stanford is winning. Marinelli is entering his senior season at Stanford and while it is still unclear where he will be playing, I think it is a safe bet to say that he will be playing.
I had a few minutes to chat with Marinelli at the autograph day on Saturday:
Q: How are things going since spring football? What are you guys concentrating on?
It is going really well. We had a big offseason, with our focus on getting a lot bigger and faster. We had a great junior day where a lot of guys, potential NFL guys, ran well and measured well. We got a lot stronger and that is the goal. Now we are worried about finals, then we’ll hit another six week conditioning and strength cycle right into camp. It was a sprint the whole way and it never stops
Q: Do you get a break after finals?
We get a week long discretionary period, but we won’t stop. We’ll be in here lifting. That is just our own thing, the teams thing not the coaches, it never really stops. It can’t. You always try to get an advantage over everyone else.
Q: Tell me about the team chemistry. Other people I am talking too all mention it. Everyone is staying for the summer, talk about how this team is building chemistry?
Everyone will be here for the summer except for the walk on guys coming in. So it is huge to build that, huge to get everyone out here and learn coach’s (I missed which coach, I believe OL coach Drevno) ways and coach Harbaugh’s system and all that. So team chemistry has really developed well over the years, it is at an all time high. No negative influences, everything is positive and pushing each other.
Q: Where will we see you line up this year?
That is on the coaches, I will play wherever they need me. I can play all four spots, everywhere but center. Maybe I can learn how to snap if they want me too. We have a lot of guys with a lot of good depth in the offensive line. We have some young guys that are light years in front of a lot of guys there age. We’ll see how it works out. Wherever they need me I am happy to go. You never know. A lot of injuries during the season and maybe I will be bouncing around a couple of places. It is going to help me for the next level too being able to do a couple of things.
Q: Do you have a sense if the season started tomorrow would you play at guard or tackle?
It is way too early to tell. There are so many more practices to compete in at training camp. That is what spring ball is all about, competing, giving guys different looks at different positions. I have no idea. I have been focusing a lot on taking guard reps because I have a lot of inexperience at that position. I have played a lot of tackle so that comes more naturally. It does not really matter. We’ll see. I am always going back and forth. I am one of those swing guys who has to be prepared to go any given day.
Q: Talk about the competition, you have a nice balance of veterans coming back but also guys like David DeCastro and Jonathan Martin coming up?
There is a lot of competition, it is awesome. Any team that does not have competition is not going to go very far. One injury and it is all over. We have a bunch of interior guys. We probably aren’t as deep at tackle I have to say. Matt Kopa has done a real nice job. He is a lot bigger than he has ever been, but I am faster than him I must say (laugh). Jonathan looks really good. He is a young guy and a great athlete and a good player. DeCastro in terms of physical development he is way ahead of a lot of people. He has that something that can’t be worked on, it is talent you just have. It is going to be good. We have a lot of guys going and pushing each other.
Q: Talk about the coaching change, Chris Dalman is gone and Greg Roman is in. Are there adjustments or is it status quo?
Coach Roman and Coach Dahlman are pretty similar in terms of NFL experience. They are both the utmost respectable guys. I have been working a lot with both Coach Roman and Coach Drevno. Coach Drevno is insane, he is awesome. He demands perfection everyday. That is what we need out of an offensive line coach. He sees our potential and is making us hit it every day. Coach Roman just gets things like a lot of people don’t. It is great to have him on our side. We have put in a lot more schemes. We are going to do a lot more things. It has been a little bit of a change and a little adjustment period but I think we are all really excited about where we are going.
Q: I think you have to be really optimistic about where the program is given where it was in your freshman year compared to where you could be next season?
That 1-11 season was pretty ugly. Where we are at right now, I wish I had another four or five years. What coach is doing with this program, the recruits they are getting, just the flavor you feel around campus is like nothing I have ever seen here before. It is going to be really interesting. I think we are going to have a really good season. We have some tremendously skilled players. Toby (Gerhart) is coming back. I tell people I was at the baseball stadium shining lights in his eyes to make sure he was not hitting. We are excited. We have some big time depth, some young wide outs, the offensive line looks good, and the defense, we play against them everyday, I feel bad for anyone who is going to see them. They do so much, they have so much talent. We are excited!
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