Interview: Texas CB Quandre Diggs
Q: Quandre Diggs, the college graduate. I saw you tweet about wanting to be addressed like that, how’d that sound?
A: It sounds great. It’s a goal that I was able to accomplish and a promise I made to my mom before I left for college. It’s something that I’m definitely amazed about and it’s a good opportunity for me to show the guys and kids in Angleton that no matter where you come from, you’re always able to achieve whatever you want to achieve.
Q: You’re a four-year starter but you get a coaching change before your senior year, what challenges did that create for you?
A: It created a challenge for me basically because I knew how to work with the staff before because I had three years with those guys and was a three-year starter at the time the new staff came in. I just had to get those guys to believe in me. I think the biggest challenge for me was just to get on the same page with those guys, understand those guys and those guys understanding me. It was definitely a change that I adapted to and I loved every bit of it.
Q: From Big 12 Freshman of the Year to the premier all-star game and NFL scouting event at the Reese’s Senior Bowl, how much have you seen yourself progress throughout your career?
A: I think I came a long way. It’s been tremendous growth by me. The knowledge of the game – when I got to college it was my first time playing corner ever. Just learning the game each and every day. I’ve had three DB coaches with Duane Akina, Vance Bedford and Chris Vaughn – those guys taught me so much over my four years of college. It’s been an amazing accomplishment for me to be able to be a four-year starter at the University of Texas, which we go by “DB-U” and that’s a big accomplishment. It’s been a great four years and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Q: I know you like to talk and you have a new defensive coordinator that likes to talk and he played at Texas so he understands the culture, what’s it been like with Vance Bedford around?
A: he’s been great. He’s definitely a players’ coach. He understands and he can get on our level and that’s what makes it important for him – he can be one of the guys. Him talking trash to us and being able to talk trash to him; he relates to us. There would be times in a game where Coach Bedford would ask me “You think you can lock these guys up?” and you’d tell him “Yeah” and we’ll play man the rest of the game. It’s definitely great having a coach like that and he called me yesterday and we’re going to continue to keep in touch. It’s a relationship that I’ve built for the rest of my life with a great coach and a great man just pushing me to be the player I was.
Q: As one of the vocal leaders on this Texas team, you’ve said things like guys on the team need to grow up, you’ve said things about being embarrassed after a loss, you’re not afraid to speak your mind. Give me some insight into your mind and what you want to say to your teammates after a loss and then what you say after a win.
A: After a loss, you never can get too low but at the same time things have to be addressed. You just tell guys about the way we played and whether it’s acceptable or not. After a win, you can never get too high so you know you have to get back to work and work on the things we did well and the things we didn’t do well. You can never get too high and never get too low. But those guys know through it all that I have their backs and they know I’m a vocal guy and I just speak what’s on my mind.
Q: What about the critics that said towards the end of Coach Mack Brown’s tenure that Texas was a soft. As a tough player, you had to take offense to that, right?
A: Yeah, definitely. You never want to be called soft as a man. That’s a word that you want to stay away from as a man. It’s unacceptable to be called soft and I think we changed a lot of that this year. Guys definitely couldn’t call us soft because we manned up. As a defense, it was tremendous the way we hit guys in the mouth and teams didn’t like that. In a spread conference like the Big 12 we showed that each and every week so I definitely think that we made strides on that side of the ball and they’ll continue to make strides under Coach Strong.
Q: You played a good amount of nickel while at Texas too, what did you like or not like about doing that? You’ve returned some kicks and punts, too. At what spots do you feel comfortable?
A: I can play anywhere in the secondary honestly. Coach Akina was one of the guys that wanted to get film at every position so I would play some corner, play some dime, play nickel, play safety. I’ve done it all throughout my career – return punts, return kickoffs, been on kickoff teams, on the punt return teams, I’ve been on every team. I can definitely show my versatility. I’m the guy that just likes to line up in a guy’s face and just play football – one-on-one battles every day. I’m a physical guy so I like to tackle so I was able to be moved to safety. I would be a great tackler, a guy that can play and catch some interceptions.
Q: For those that don’t know who your brother is, Quandre’s brother is former San Diego Chargers cornerback Quentin Jammer. You got to use his locker when you played in the Holiday Bowl, how cool was that?
A: It was really cool. Then, an 18-year-old freshman playing for the University of Texas that’s following in his footsteps, that was a tremendous opportunity for me just to have that opportunity. Just to be able to play on the same field that my brother played on in college and also in the NFL is huge for me and huge for him because he was also there with me through it all. My brother, he’s like a father figure to me. It was definitely a huge opportunity and I loved every minute of it.
Q: Quentin played 12 years in the NFL, where do you see yourself 12 years from now?
A: 12 years from now, hopefully I can be an old man in the league playing just like he did and hopefully I can stay in it a little bit longer. But it’s all in God’s hands, I just put it all in his hands and he has a plan for it all.
Q: Let’s move off of football for a second and talk some basketball, I know you love basketball. There’s this famous guy in the NBA who went to Texas as well, Kevin Durant, have you been in touch with him?
A: No, I haven’t gotten in touch with him. There was never really beef between me and KD. It was just a guy in college that just wanted KD to follow him again. I’m sure he kind of unfollowed me because I’m a big LeBron fan. There’s no rift or no beef between us, we’re just two guys from the University of Texas that love to compete and love to have fun.
Q: When you finally got the invitation from Coach Charlie Strong, what was that moment like?
A: It was great. It’s something I’ve been thinking about since the beginning of the year. I’m excited to get a chance to go out there and compete against the best and perform for all the scouts and the GMs. I want to show my competitive nature. I think it’ll be a great opportunity for myself. It was a pleasure to get that invite and I appreciate it.
Q: You faced some good receivers in the Big 12 and you’ll see Tyler Lockett from Kansas State and Kevin White from West Virginia again down here in Mobile, what are you looking forward to?
A: I’m looking forward to competing with those guys. It’s always good to go against guys like that – Kevin White, one of the premier receivers in all of college football. We played against some great receivers this year and it’s going to be great to get a chance to go out there and showcase my skills.
Q: Congratulations again on the Senior Bowl invite and a great Texas career. See you when you get to Mobile.
A: All right, sounds good.