This is another in an occasional series of interviews with the new assistant coaches that will work with Trent Miles at Georgia State.

Next up is linebackers coach P.J. Volker:

Q: How has the transition gone from Indiana State to Georgia State in the six weeks since you were hired?

A: A lot of things are very similar. The faces, the people are very different, but similar as well. There are a lot of people that care for young men. I’d say, in general, from where we were to where we are at now, the passion for the game of football is much stronger. Just widespread throughout the state. High school coaches-wise, I don’t think you can get any better than the the guys that I’ve met down here being out on the road and seeing the coaches.

The kids are coached up fundamentally. But there are certain expectations that the coaches expect off the field in the classroom as well. I spoke with a highly regarded high school coach just last week. They were getting ready to do mat drills. They model their programs off of Division I programs and have those segmented parts of the year. A lot of schools that I have been around haven’t done those types of things. So it’s not brand new for kids once they walk into a Division I program. It’s really encouraging for us. There’s that acclimation period for a 17-year-old or 18-year-old kid academically and there’s that acclimation period athletically. It’s not as big (of an adjustment) down here.

Q: Away from football, what’s been your “this ain’t Indiana” moment?

A: 45 degrees and rain outside  they cancelled school and I’m thinking, ‘Man, we’d be walking around in T-shirts and shorts up there if it was about 45 degrees.’

Just coming from Terre Haute, which was a wonderful place and a great place to cut my teeth as a coach on the Division I level and a lot of great people there, but to come from a town of 60,000 to a city of 6 million there’s obviously going to be a few of those moments.

One of those moments, you go out to grab a bite on Tuesday night at 11  p.m. and when you are getting out of the office there’s still people out. A lot of things in Terre Haute are closed at that time. I called my wife and said, ‘Hey, things are open past 9 p.m.’ Those two things would probably set it aside.

Q: What is your coaching style? Are you a fiery guy? Are you a quiet guy?

A: Intensity. I want our guys to know that when they step out onto the field or step into the meeting room there’s going to be a toughness that we bring and there’s going to be an intensity level we bring and there’s going to be an energy level that we are going to have every time we go out there. You can only control two things: your attitude and your effort. With everything else, there’s something else that could jump in there. But if you bring  a great attitude and excellent effort everyday you go out there we are going to be successful. They are things that I require from them. I’m going to bring as much energy as I can every single day, whether it’s in the meeting room, on the practice field, in the weight room … whatever we are allowed to do by NCAA rules we are going to be fired up about doing it and we are going to get after some people.

Q: Coach Miles said you are the funniest guy on the staff. Make me laugh.

A: Oh, man. First off, I’m shocked that he said I’m the funniest guy on the staff. I feel like every time I’m cracking a joke he’s not laughing at them. I’m a corny guy. It’s more spur of the moment stuff. It’s just whatever pops into my head. There’s not much filter. You’ve got to be sort of in there and in the moment when something comes out. We have a good time and there’s a lot of work that has to do be done. We are going to work our butts off to get done what we think needs to get done in a timely fashion and work as hard as we possibly can every day to get this program where we think it can go.

We’re going to have a good time doing it. Coach Minter played together in college. His wife, I’ve known her longer than he’s known her. My wife and his wife are all from the west side of Cincinnati. There’s a connection there. We have a great time. We really do.

Coach Jagodzinski keeps it pretty loose as well. Everybody is sort of thrown in there. We’ll have a good time, but we are going to get down to business.

Q: Which book, which person, what has influenced you most as a coach?

A: I think I’ve taken a little bit from every school that I’ve been at. Obviously you’re going to read books and go to clinics and go to conventions and listen to all of those great coaches speak. The guys you work with on an everyday basis, you’re going to take a little bit from what they do. My first job at Teal College, Jack Leipheimer was the head football coach there. He won a national championship at Allegheny College as a defensive coordinator and really turned that program around. I learned about organization and professionalism from him.

Then I got a chance to go to Thomas More College with Jim Hilvert, who was my defensive coordinator and Jesse’s defensive coordinator when we played at the College of Mount St. Joseph and just learned about energy and excitement and getting your players to play hard for you, not just on Saturday afternoon but in practice every day.

Coach Miles, the thing I like about him that I really love, is there’s a purpose for every decision that’s made. If something doesn’t work, we’ll sit down as a staff later and re-evaluate it and decide, ‘Let’s do this next time it comes around.’

That’s what I’ve learned from the three guys I’ve worked for. When you get to see these guys everyday it makes it easier to pull something from them and help shape yourself.

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