[Upchurch]

“Senior captains for the 2016 season: offense, Jake Butt and defensively Chris Wormley. Thrilled with the leadership on our team right now. from the senior class and our younger classes. I think a lot of deserving candidates, but what a great honor for Jake Butt and Chris Wormley. I think they will represent our team very well.”

Game notes didn’t have a depth chart. Can you shed any light on the quarterback competition, at least?

“It’s been very good really from day one, the competition at the quarterback position. And the play at the quarterback position has been very good. I feel like it’s been improving as well, daily, weekly. All the quarterbacks are playing at a very high level.”

Just to follow up to that, do you know who your starting quarterback is right now? Do you expect to say before the game on Saturday?

“Yeah, I do—we know who our starting quarterback is, yes. And yeah, I’ll say who our starting quarterback is before Saturday. I didn’t say I was going to say it to you, who our starting quarterback is.”

What is it about Jake and Chris that you think will make them good captains?

“Well, they’re two of the hardest working guys. Two of the best players on the team. They both have a real great way of being good teammates. They don’t build themselves up and put others down around them. They both have that quality of building up other guys around them and making themselves smaller, and when you do that you make yourself very big indeed in the eyes of everybody, in the eyes of the whole world and the eyes of the people that are on your team.

“In so many ways: how they talk to the young players, how they coach the young players. I’ve caught Jake Butt in the act of helping the young tight ends on several occasions. Caught Chris Wormley giving advice and tips to the young defensive linemen, Rashan and Ron [Johnson], so that’s…I think that speaks volumes when I catch guys doing that.”

[Long pause as mic gets passed around. Just as someone’s about to ask a question, Harbaugh thinks of something else to add.]

“The good thing about our captain vote is it’s strictly voted by the players. All players that have been on the team for a year who really know the candidates for being captain. Coaches’ votes do not count and freshmen votes don’t count, so it’s the guys who’ve really been in the practices and the meetings and the trenches and the workouts year round that vote on the captains. That’s why it makes it such a great honor. That’s why it’s such a thing that means so much to all of us, to the team and to everybody involved. It’s your fellow teammates. It’s the players on your team, your peers, that are voting and making that assessment.”

When you have several worthy candidates for the quarterback position, what are the things that matter to you when you’re making that decision, when you’re trying to choose?

“Really all the guys haven’t played in the games in terms of game experience a whole lot. Each has game experience and has had game experience, but here game experience and…so, want to see the things that would really translate to the game in terms of moving the team, moving the offense, putting drives together, making first downs, converting third downs, getting the team into the end zone, avoiding the turnovers and the mistakes that hurt drives and keep points off the board.

“That’s been the major criteria. We’ve looked at everything, but that above all on the list is what we’ve been trying to evaluate in the practices. As I said, they’re all getting better and doing everything that we ask. Great understanding of the offense and what they need to do to be successful so been pleased.”

[After THE JUMP: the Kaepernick quote (including some important pauses), throwing gas on the Bredeson/freshmen hype fire, special teams info, and a little Hawaii scouting]

With the addition of Biff Poggi, I’m curious about his influence. Asked Jake Butt about it the other day and he said Biff hasn’t been around a whole lot right now, more behind the scenes. What do you anticipate is his role with you? What has his interaction with the team been like this week and what will it be leading up [to the game]?

“The way we think of everybody in our organization [is] there’s no little people. Everybody has a role, everybody is a professional, and we all have things that we’re good at. And we all have things that we’re medium good at. Then we all have things that we’re not so good at. What makes up the team is when you can recognize, ‘Hey, I need a little help here in this area. I’m really good at this. I’m not so good at this over here.’ That’s how it all comes together that everybody does a little and it adds up to a lot. On teams, I’ve experienced and found that to be the case on good teams and even great teams and championship teams.”

What would you say is Biff’s area of strength? What do you think you would approach him most about? Defense, offense, anything in general?

“Football-wise, he’s a line coach at heart so…has a great love and affection for line play. Biff’s one of those guys where you talk about strengths and medium strengths and then things you’re not so good at: he’s good at everything. He’s good across the board, so been a trusted agent and known friend.”

Last time we talked to you you mentioned Ben Bredeson. Does he still have a shot to win that job at left tackle? Tim [Drevno] talked about it last week. Is he still in the mix there at left tackle with Grant?

“Yeah. I mean, everybody’s in the mix, and there’s some…the unique thing about college football is there’s no preseason, there’s no spring training, there’s no exhibition season, there’s no warm-up games. It goes right into the season. I don’t think there’s any other sport in college athletics that’s like that. Certainly not in the professional series. College football is a stand-alone in that way. So, yeah, the practices rage on. The competitions rage on.

“You want guys putting themselves in the position to be ready for that opportunity. It’s even better to be ready for that opportunity and have that opportunity not come than to have that opportunity come and not be ready for the opportunity. That’s—Ben’s in that position. He’s very close. I certainly wouldn’t anticipate any kind of not playing for Ben Bredeson. He’s acquitting himself very well right now.”

Is it a bigger advantage for Hawaii to have worked out some of the kinks with the game[plan] or a bigger advantage to have film on them, and what did you see out of them?

“A lot of good things. Kevin Lempa, the defensive coordinator, has been with Don Brown the last five years, I believe. Three at Boston College, two at Maryland as secondary coach for Don. Outstanding coach. I know him. He was on the Chargers’ staff when I played in San Diego. Very, very similar, aggressive defense.

“And Hawaii, they’ve got a very good back. Very capable quarterback. Two really good receivers and a good football team. I think it’ll come down to what it’s come down to every game we’ve played here so far, which is when we play good we’re darn tough to beat. When we don’t, we’re susceptible to get beat. I think that’ll be the case in this game as well.”

You mentioned Bredeson. Which other players from the true freshmen class are knocking on the door?

“Well, it’s continuing right now. It’s raging on, really. I’ve kind of explained that with everything that our freshmen—every single freshman that we have was in summer school. It’s a great way to get their feet under them, get some credits, and take advantage of knowing the landscape and the rigor at the University of Michigan. So, we wanted them fully immersed in that over the summer. That’ll build a great foundation for themselves academically.

“Then football-wise, we didn’t spend a lot of time with them in classroom settings and meeting settings. Their classroom was in the actual classroom, and when they came to football practice that was about the only part of the day that they were involved in football was coming to a two-hour practice, three-hour practices.

“Obviously they didn’t know ten different blitzes or 75 pass concepts, but we wanted to see what they could do athletically. Could they track a ball, could a receiver catch, can they run, can they change direction, can they play with balance, could they play with vision, etc etc.

“So, we felt after going through the first two and a half weeks there were quite a few players who were tracking to be in the two-deep, in the three-deep, and since then, the last 10 days, we’ve tried to catch ‘em up. Catch ‘em up on the system and the schemes offensively, defensively, and the kicking game and they’re coming fast. There’s no question about it. To put an exact number on it, I can’t. But soon. Soon I think you’ll see them playing in games and it’ll be a good number of them.

“I saw David Long—I’ll tell you this, David Long covered a go route in yesterday’s practice as good as it can possibly be covered from press coverage to competing at the point of the catch. It’s as good as it can be covered. He’s going to be an outstanding, outstanding football player. There’s others, but…

“The waters have been hot all camp. There’s no question about that. The competitive waters have been almost boiling. It’s been…it’s been great.”

Wanted to clarify on the quarterbacks: you said you were going to tell them at some point. Do those guys know yet who the starter is?

“Yeah, they know.”

I wanted to ask you about Ben Gedeon as well. Don Brown said he’s gone from being a role player early in his career to now it’s his show on the defense at this point. How have you seen him grow into being the authority figure on a defense that’s loaded with talent?

“He’s a great player. Conscientious worker. He’s a football player. Authority figure, I don’t know. That was your word. Not one that comes to my mind. Heck of a good football player.”

On the topic of the competitive waters: the fact that there’s no actual depth chart out yet, does that mean there are still battles at position competitions, and is that a bad thing this close to the season beginning?

“Always thought of it as a good thing.”

Why?

“I love competition. Maybe just point to the Bible and looked at iron sharpening iron, that would…

“A very good thing. It’s written in the Bible, so from the Word of God it is a good thing.”

As someone who knows Colin Kaepernick, what do you think about his stance to sit during the Anthem, and do you think it will cost him his job with the 49ers?

“I acknowledge his right to do that, but…I don’t respect the…the motivation or the…or the action.”

A year ago at this time there were a lot of unknowns. You were probably still getting to know your roster and your team. A year later, do you feel like you have a good grasp of this team and how good they can be? The expectations are way up there. Do you think those expectations are meetable?

“I think the time for that discussion has been raging on and now it’s getting very close to playing games, so we’re looking forward to having that. Can’t wait to watch the guys compete.”

With the schedule starting how it is with Hawaii, Central Florida, and Colorado, is it hard not to look ahead to games like Ohio State, Michigan State, and Iowa? To bigger games like that?

“No. Football’s hard. Tough, rough sport. We believe in respecting it. Respecting each and every opponent. If we don’t, we will very likely lose the game with the way that our schedule is and the teams that we play. I think once the guys watch the tape and see it, they understand that. Deep down they realize that. And so we have a respectful approach to each and every game we play.”

Is Kenny [Allen] going to do all three? Going to be a starter at kickoff specialist and get all the kicking duties and the punting?

“He can. There’s nothing decided if he will.”

Who would be competing with him at the different spots, punter especially?

“Kenny’s pretty solid in that position but yeah, he’s a very good punter. And he’s a really good kickoff person. Right now, he’s been the best at all three: punting, kickoff, and field goals. And if that remains the case and he’s clearly the best then he’ll do all three. We’d like for him not to have to do all three. It’s just closer in the other areas, kickoffs and field goals.

“And Quinn Nordin is pushing in terms of the kickoffs and the field goals. Matt Tice—not Matt Tice, Ryan Tice. I went to school with Matt Tice, Ryan Tice’s uncle. Matt has been phenomenal. So he’s really, he…Matt is—I said Matt again? [laughs] I’ll tell you what, I’m remembering his name, Ryan, because he’s making a lot of field goals. He’s doing a good job, but we’ll see.”

How much have Jourdan and Jabrill, specifically Jabrill, in camp? He’s had to have practiced on offense, right?

“Mmhmm. Mmhmm.”

That’s a yes.

“Yeah.”

How often has he practiced on offense?

“That’s something that we don’t go into, as you might understand why we don’t really tell people what somebody’s doing or what part of a scheme they’re in. Just understand that everything is available. Use your imagination, and we’d like our opponent to do the same thing. There’s options that are all on the table.”

Jourdan too, then? Yes for both?

[blankest of blank stares]

Anything you can share on injuries? No long-term injuries headed out of camp?

“No, nothing to really share for public consumption.”