Day Two of UNLV football preseason camp had a defensive flavor to it, including first-year defensive coordinator Mike Scherer (pictured above) meeting with the media following the two-hour-plus field session on a sunny Saturday.

It's early, obviously, but the energy level this year is noticeably higher to observers at Rebel Park.

"It's gone well so far," said Scherer. "We have a lot to develop in terms of habits, practicing hard, practicing the right way, but there's definitely no lack of effort out there. So, it's a good recipe for the first couple of days."

Scherer was asked about the big group of defensive backs the Rebels are now fielding.

"They play hard. They've got an attitude. There are some guys in that room that play every snap with attitude -- and they also happen to be some of the better players in the room. When that happens, it kind of spreads throughout the entire room. In order to be a defensive back you have to be a competitor. You're going to get burned sometimes but you have to line up and do it again without getting down on yourself, without any hesitation. I think they developed from their coaches and the leaders in the room a really good attitude. They're off to a really good start."

And how advanced are the players compared to the start of spring practice?

"The route we took in the spring was to teach them football … Everybody understands it can be interchangeable and people can move and play different positions because they understand the overall scheme of the defense. And now, when you're trying to expand on it, you can say okay, here's something new but it's really not new because it's just like what we did the other day with little tweak to it.

"Getting the general understanding of how we speak as coaches and then after hearing terminology and things like that all spring and summer -- we're really far ahead now."