Practice Intervew: David Parry

Defensive tackle David Parry entered Stanford as a walk-on but has developed into a valuable member of the Cardinal's defensive line rotation.

Cardinal Sports Report briefly chatted with Parry after Tuesday's practice about the USC game and his rise from walk-on to major contributor. Below is the lightly edited (for mechanical reasons only) transcript of our conversation.

Cardinal Sports Report: Just to start, looking back on your recruitment, maybe there weren't as many opportunities college-wise are there were for some guys. What was that whole experience like for you, ultimately deciding to come to Stanford in a walk-on role?

David Parry: The whole recruiting process was a little frustrating for me just because I did feel that I was getting overlooked by a bunch of people. But I mean that whole process kind of helped my whole attitude to come in and try to work hard here in a sense, I look back at it now, I'm not bitter about it. I'm kind of blessed that it worked out the way it did because I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but here.

CSR: How has the defensive line and front-seven as a unit developed and improved in now I guess this is your third year here?

DP: I mean when I first came in there were great examples to learn from. As a freshman Sione Fua was here. Just learning off of him and everybody else, it's definitely developed over time. We're definitely growing into a pretty good front-seven I think.

CSR: Talk about your game against USC, what that was like for you?

DP: It was pretty fun. I got some good reps in the first half and was able to just kind of maximize my opportunities.

CSR: How was the pass rush in particular, which obviously you were a big part of, able to improve as the game went on? That last drive it didn't seem like they had much of a chance.

DP: Yeah, I mean you could definitely tell they were a little rattled without their starting center, but the pressures that we came with, we have some real good pressures that we call, and when they're executed correctly you see what happens.

CSR: Can you describe the duties of a 3-4 nose tackle?

DP: The duty is you keep the center of the linebackers, you eat up double teams and you go make plays. So that's about it.

CSR: Was it nice to kind get in the pass rush there against USC too?

DP: Definitely. That was my first time actually hitting the quarterback pretty good, so that felt good.

CSR: Is there anything that you guys saw that you feel you can improve upon from that game?

DP: There's always stuff to improve on. Probably I mean even though we held them pretty good on the run we want that number to be as close to zero as possible.

CSR: You're now in your second year on scholarship. Is it kind of validating in a sense to receive one this early in your career?

DP: Definitely. It's nice to be a part of the defense, part of the team, and be contributing.