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David Cutcliffe Press Conference Quotes: North Carolina A&T
9/6/2021 10:14:00 PM | Football
DURHAM – Duke football head coach David Cutcliffe met with members of the media on Monday afternoon for his weekly press conference.
The Blue Devils host North Carolina A&T on Friday for their home opener. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network with Matt Barrie, Eric Mac Lain and Bridget Condon on the call. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. The game can also be heard on the Blue Devil Sports Network from Learfield through the Varsity app or GoDuke.com
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David Cutcliffe Duke Football Head Coach
(Ref.: Opening Statement)
"To start with, when you have a team early in the season not play as well as it should, in general, but let's talk about situationally, seize opportunities to win games when you have critical plays in a game. I know you want to talk about that one first before we move on and then we will move on. But the six plays defensively gave up 218 yards. You have to seize those moments. Some of them were where we could have gotten off the field. Offensively, the opportunity to score points were there throughout the game and we didn't take advantage of those opportunities. I thought we played solid in the kicking game and we don't hunt solid. We're trying to play the highest level in the kicking game to create opportunities for our offense and our defense. With that said, what I'm looking at are opportunities that the head football coach has to have a team prepared better for. I mean that wholeheartedly. I think we can have a good football team. You can't think it, though. You have to be one. The only way I know to be one is to get the work done on the practice field. So, we have already practiced twice since that game. We practiced Saturday afternoon. We practiced Sunday afternoon. There was spirited work. I'm very proud that nobody here will not ever hang their head. There's no reason to hang your head. You move forward and you attack it. As Ross Cockrell said years ago here, you either run to it or you run from it. We're going to run to it. That's the mentality you have to take with you."
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As far as North Carolina A&T, there's a reason they're a championship program under Coach (Sam) Washington. They've got really good players and are really well coached. They have a veteran staff and a veteran head coach. They know how to win. They've won a lot of football games. They were without some of their key elements at Furman. I don't know what that circumstance is moving forward, but I do know that you can see his influence in the defensive style. They play a very attacking defense. Really attack you up front and do a great job in secondary mixing things up. His influence is there, and they've got good coaches in the area of special teams. Offensively they got weapons everywhere. They have a good, solid offensive line. I was really impressed with (Jalen) Fowler at quarterback. He's got a great release and a really accurate arm. Their two backs are terrific players. Their wide receiver corps looks special. So, another big challenge for us, not only an opponent we're playing, but a big challenge of getting better on that practice field and not talk about it, but absolutely get it done."
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(Ref.: On pressuring the quarterback but not being able to get sacks)
"Well, there's a lot. He (Chris Reynolds) has something to do with it because he really is quick and elusive and kind of that Doug Flutie size that it's hard to pin, but there's a lot that goes into that. I was a bit surprised because we played our quarterbacks more in camp than we ever have. I mean, we were able to sack our quarterbacks defensively because I wanted us to get better at finishing pass rush. We have really made an emphasis in all of our pass rush drills to try to finish and tackle the robot dummy, and it's moving as well. So, again, a bit surprised, but you have to look at every aspect of everything we're doing. Three or four more sacks in a game can win a game. That's what I'm talking about, how you win games. It's not okay when not only you get hurries, but you get escapes that turn into big plays. This quarterback's very capable this week, very athletic, bigger and stronger. So, that's a key element right now for our team, is to be able to get to a quarterback and get them on the ground."
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(Ref.: On Duke's tackling against Charlotte)
"I thought the biggest issue was we left our feet. We didn't run through people. We spent a lot of time on tackling drills. We only have the two scrimmages, that's another reason we let our quarterbacks get hit. But, some of that showed up in scrimmages. With this team, there is a lot of competition and if you don't tackle well, somebody else will. That's where we are right now. Somebody will finish sacks. Somebody will tackle well. We can't give easy access plays, but we also can't give extra yardage. You have to tackle well to play good defense."
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(Ref.: On if the team was nervous opening the game and in the third quarter)
"No, I mean, there's nothing there. When you play offense first, we all know how successful you are in games when you score. I thought we shot ourselves in the foot there. So, I don't think it has anything to do with that when we followed some of those possessions up more slowly. I don't think there's a nervousness with this team. I've had teams that were a little too nervous. Then certainly the second half we had chances to get off the field, big time, and didn't get it done. That should not have been a scoring drive to open the second half. You look at the reality of why it happened more so."
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(Ref.: On Gunnar Holmberg's play in week one)
"I'll take credit for the fumble. I could hear Coach (Johnny) Majors yelling at me from his grave. He was one of the best. When you're in traffic, and Gunnar had the ball here, that as soon as you feel anything near that goal line in traffic, you get your other hand on the ball to secure it. I hadn't coached that well enough and I told the whole team that Saturday. I think Gunnar and our coaches took it to heart as well. But that's my responsibility. It's situation football. A ball inside the five-yard line, you've got to protect it, go over the top protecting it. He had the ball a little low, so when you get the other hand, a natural thing is just to draw the ball where it should be anyway. That's poor coaching on David Cutcliffe's part. So, I got yelled at rightfully, most of the way back on the bus. I'm serious. So, I just felt it. Gunnar played really good. I mean, he threw the ball well. What I would like him to do, there were four or five situations where you got to measure that down and know the down and know on third down, whether we're going to play for it on fourth down and understand circumstances of when you cannot afford to ever take a loss, when you don't want to create a new bad down in distance in certain circumstances. That's what I'm talking about me. I can coach that better. The players part of it is what you're coached, try not to make the same mistake twice. That's why we practice this, why we scrimmage and you try to put them in every situation you can on the practice field. So, when it comes to the game, they have faced that situation and they know exactly what to do. We try to do that with our practice schedule. But when you don't do it, trying does not matter. Get the job done, period. That's the biggest issue. These are correctable things that we as coaches and players can get accomplished."
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(Ref.: On positive takeaways from the Charlotte film)
"A bunch. I mean, I really went through all of it with the team and looked at every position. There was really good play in every position. There's enough play there that, you know you can. But unfortunately, when you're playing football, you don't ever know which play, five plays or eight plays is going to win or lose a game. And so the whole focus has to be from every one of us that I'm trying to win the game on this play. If it is to be, it's up to me. And that's how you play as a team. You do in your role, your part. Consistency is the first element of anything being really, really good or ever being great. Without it, there's no shot. A guy can pitch a no hitter one time and every other time he pitches his ERA is over five. You think he's great because he pitched a no hitter? No. You understand what I'm saying. So, again, I view our consistency on my accountability is how I view it, personally."
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(Ref.: On Jake Bobo and the receiving corps)
"Well, I think they're all playing as hard and good as they play. Sometimes the ball goes to you. Sometimes it doesn't. It's just depending upon the concept and the route. One of the things Jake did do well was separate from man coverage. Everybody has to separate from man coverage. If you play in man and a defensive back breaks up a pass, you can't just call that the quarterback's issue. We've done a lot of work on that all fall and we have competition. That's great. I mean, we have a lot of competition. I want players to earn playing time on that practice field."
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(Ref.: On Jordan Waters and Mataeo Durant in the running back's room)
"Jordan's really strong physically. You can see that in how he runs. He's become more comfortable within our system and he's playing at a faster pace, playing in the passing game faster. He's playing in the run game faster, making decisions. I do think we have an element in that running back room. We'll see more people and we can rest Mataeo some. We need Mataeo, obviously, to be great in the fourth quarter. But, he managed it. I mean, his conditioning level is pretty amazing. Part of that comes from how he works on the practice field, talking about Mataeo. But Jordan, what he said to me about Mataeo, he said I've got to soak it up like a sponge. I had a couple of young running backs that said the same thing. He's their leader as a player in that room. But I think our backs can make a difference. And, you know, with the circumstances you face as the season goes on with the injury, I mean, we could have two backs in the game at the same time. That's a likely possibility."
(Ref.: On hosting North Carolina A&T and other HBCUs)
"First of all, it's another in-state school and a really good program. I think it's good for our community here in Durham. I think it's good for our state to do that. I think it's good for Duke University to bring the HBCU programs on our campus when we can and when it works out in a scheduling circumstance. So, yeah, I think there's some significance to that. All the way back to when Mose Rison was the coach. I approached him about that opportunity to bring a community together. And of course, this is Durham Night. There are a lot of Duke fans in Durham and I know there are a lot of A&T fans in Durham. So hopefully we had a great turnout in the stadium on a Friday night. I'm excited about what the prospects of that are."
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(Ref.: On Jordan Moore entering the game and getting the opportunity)
"Well, I think the quarterback thing has got an element of competition. It's not just Jordan, it's certainly Luca (Diamont), certainly Riley (Leonard). We felt like we needed a little boost, a little different tempo at that point. I think he can have a role and the reason he got that shot is that he's done that in our scrimmages. He's just flat done it. He has got tremendous speed and we'll have to talk to him about his left hand turns. When the road leads this way don't go off the road. We did chuckle about that a little bit the next day. But just a little overexcited, a little overthinking on his part. He's got a lot of talent, which they all do. I really like that room and we're looking at a lot of things that we can do to make ourselves better offensively."
(Ref.: On the feeling of needing to win after dropping the season opener)
"Yeah, I think every football team faces that after a loss. You try. We use the term, don't let one loss become two. You can't hang your head. But also not just that, you have to address what led to the loss. If we don't get better on the practice field, if we don't change what we're doing on the practice field, then don't expect different results. It's always important for a program where we're sitting right now. These guys haven't won much in the last two years. So, right now it's time to get that boost of confidence and an energy that comes with winning. Never a guarantee and I expect it to be hard, but I think hard will be good for this team."
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(Ref.: On any injuries that could be long-lasting from the game at Charlotte)
"Well, yeah, possibly with Matt Smith. So that's unfortunate. We'll see where we are, but we'll know more details soon. I'm just sitting here thinking, you know why, why. You stay healthy, healthy, and you have a noncontact circumstance. And it's like, please, Lord, but we'll see."
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(Ref.: On if the passing game was in sync during week one)
"Yeah, I mean we obviously dropped a big post opportunity and we really didn't miss many throws as far as big opportunities. But yeah, you can't leave that there though. That's what I'm talking about situational football. You have to know how to win a game and you can't leave yards on the field. I mean, we had 35 lost yards or otherwise we would have had 387 yards rushing. You catch the ball, you got a 700-plus yard offensive football game. That's to me the most obvious part of this. It's not as discouraging as it is encouraging if you do something about it."
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(Ref.: Â On Jalon Calhoun in Duke's last meeting with North Carolina A&T and getting him the ball)
"Well, I mean we can't just single out players based on what they're doing. Coverage wise dictates where the ball goes. Two years ago, from a coverage standpoint, our slot got opportunities. Based upon what we saw this past week, it wasn't near as much -- we got it to some. That's where the quarterback has to read coverage. But Jalon is a really good football player, really good football player. He'll always be in our plans every week and that position will be in our plans. What I want him to do is to work toward that complete player, playing great off the ball as well. If you do both of those, you got a shot. I don't care what sport it is, if you will look, whether it's a puck or a ball, the guys that play great without it are great ones, if that makes sense. I had a high school coach that often would have us practice without a football and he would tell us quickly, the guy that has the ball is not going to win the game. It's all you guys that don't have the ball. Ten of you are on offense, there's 11 of you on defense. How bad you want to learn how to play football. Now, if I did that this day in time, what do you think would happen to me. It'd be a boycott the next day and then somebody would be out there with handcuffs. But, that's what Coach White did and we didn't lose so he was right."
(Ref.: On Mataeo Durant's conditioning level)
"We had a talk. It's interesting you ask that. He was talking to me about what can I do? What can I do? We had a talk back in March. I said, Mataeo, you ever heard of the sophomore slump or senioritis? We've all heard that term senioritis, right? I said the greatest weapon that you have as an athlete to combat it is conditioning and effort. If you'll focus on that and really nothing else, don't try to refine your game. Your game is good. Focus on conditioning and effort. I think he took it to heart, to be honest with you. I really believe that's the best way to avoid those two scenarios that occur often in our sport, college football for sure."Â
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(Ref.: On his takeaways from week one of ACC play around the conference)
"I think it's one week, 25 practices, a limited number of contact days not being in someone's camp, not knowing how beat up they were or how prepared they were. You've got to roll the dice as a coach to scrimmage a lot and get enough snaps to be game ready. I don't think we would overreact to any of that. The dust will come out. I'm going to turn my vote in tomorrow for the Coaches Poll. I mean, okay, Alabama number one, that's a pretty good shot. The rest of it just roll them out there. So, I don't think this early we really know a lot."
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(Ref.: On the gameplan against North Carolina A&T)
"North Carolina A&T will dictate what you're doing offensively. As far as run pass balance, we'd always like to be balanced. Always. You want to be able to run the football when you want to run it. You want to be able to throw the football when maybe they don't expect you to throw the football. That's the best kind of offense you can play. Every week that's pretty much the same defensively, I think our focus is we're going to be true to our schematic approach. We've already said it in here, we've got to tackle better. We've got to stop easy access passes where a guy's catching. I mean, most guys this level can throw and catch it pretty good if it's easy access. We didn't have much easy access on the other side offensively. So that's where our focus lies."
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(Ref.: On the difference in quarterback play from week one to week two)
"Well, particularly when they haven't played a lot, it's significant. They go in just a completely different feeling. You try to avoid it by the speed of the game in practice. I had a conversation with the offensive coaches this morning. You're trying your best to simulate a game at practice. We work against each other and then we swap our threes and fours some to work against other schemes. In the days of having 150 players, you could really energize a defense and an offense going against your starters and you could get the speed of the game. With the smaller squads that you now have, in particularly we've had here, for the most part, you're trying to reinvent things a little bit, how you practice. So, I think game play is extremely important for the quarterback position, the way we have to operate in practice today. I'm not whining. It is what it is. We've been doing it for a while. But, it's when you have a new one, you go in kind of wondering what you don't see and they will get better as they play."
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(Ref.: On Pro Football Focus grading the offensive line as one of the top offensive lines after week one)
"Yeah, I don't pay attention to them because they're making a lot of money doing what they're doing, and that's the focus of their business. But our business is to have them play well. And they did. They really did. We played eight people pretty heavily. Normally we don't get to do that. We're going to continue to try to grow that. I think this team has a chance to be unique in a number of people that can contribute. That was my biggest challenge. I don't want to see anybody whine about not playing. I want to see people earn. And the more people that earn it, if they earn it on the practice field and it's our job or my job to see that they get opportunities, whether it's five snaps or 20 snaps, it makes us a better team. So that's where we are right now."
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(Ref.: On Jack Wohlabaugh's status)
"Perfect. Good to go. He practiced in full pads yesterday and was fine. He's a tough guy and it was good for him to get that confidence. He scrimmaged this August too, he already experienced it. He's doing real well."
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#GoDuke
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The Blue Devils host North Carolina A&T on Friday for their home opener. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network with Matt Barrie, Eric Mac Lain and Bridget Condon on the call. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. The game can also be heard on the Blue Devil Sports Network from Learfield through the Varsity app or GoDuke.com
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David Cutcliffe Duke Football Head Coach
(Ref.: Opening Statement)
"To start with, when you have a team early in the season not play as well as it should, in general, but let's talk about situationally, seize opportunities to win games when you have critical plays in a game. I know you want to talk about that one first before we move on and then we will move on. But the six plays defensively gave up 218 yards. You have to seize those moments. Some of them were where we could have gotten off the field. Offensively, the opportunity to score points were there throughout the game and we didn't take advantage of those opportunities. I thought we played solid in the kicking game and we don't hunt solid. We're trying to play the highest level in the kicking game to create opportunities for our offense and our defense. With that said, what I'm looking at are opportunities that the head football coach has to have a team prepared better for. I mean that wholeheartedly. I think we can have a good football team. You can't think it, though. You have to be one. The only way I know to be one is to get the work done on the practice field. So, we have already practiced twice since that game. We practiced Saturday afternoon. We practiced Sunday afternoon. There was spirited work. I'm very proud that nobody here will not ever hang their head. There's no reason to hang your head. You move forward and you attack it. As Ross Cockrell said years ago here, you either run to it or you run from it. We're going to run to it. That's the mentality you have to take with you."
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As far as North Carolina A&T, there's a reason they're a championship program under Coach (Sam) Washington. They've got really good players and are really well coached. They have a veteran staff and a veteran head coach. They know how to win. They've won a lot of football games. They were without some of their key elements at Furman. I don't know what that circumstance is moving forward, but I do know that you can see his influence in the defensive style. They play a very attacking defense. Really attack you up front and do a great job in secondary mixing things up. His influence is there, and they've got good coaches in the area of special teams. Offensively they got weapons everywhere. They have a good, solid offensive line. I was really impressed with (Jalen) Fowler at quarterback. He's got a great release and a really accurate arm. Their two backs are terrific players. Their wide receiver corps looks special. So, another big challenge for us, not only an opponent we're playing, but a big challenge of getting better on that practice field and not talk about it, but absolutely get it done."
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(Ref.: On pressuring the quarterback but not being able to get sacks)
"Well, there's a lot. He (Chris Reynolds) has something to do with it because he really is quick and elusive and kind of that Doug Flutie size that it's hard to pin, but there's a lot that goes into that. I was a bit surprised because we played our quarterbacks more in camp than we ever have. I mean, we were able to sack our quarterbacks defensively because I wanted us to get better at finishing pass rush. We have really made an emphasis in all of our pass rush drills to try to finish and tackle the robot dummy, and it's moving as well. So, again, a bit surprised, but you have to look at every aspect of everything we're doing. Three or four more sacks in a game can win a game. That's what I'm talking about, how you win games. It's not okay when not only you get hurries, but you get escapes that turn into big plays. This quarterback's very capable this week, very athletic, bigger and stronger. So, that's a key element right now for our team, is to be able to get to a quarterback and get them on the ground."
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(Ref.: On Duke's tackling against Charlotte)
"I thought the biggest issue was we left our feet. We didn't run through people. We spent a lot of time on tackling drills. We only have the two scrimmages, that's another reason we let our quarterbacks get hit. But, some of that showed up in scrimmages. With this team, there is a lot of competition and if you don't tackle well, somebody else will. That's where we are right now. Somebody will finish sacks. Somebody will tackle well. We can't give easy access plays, but we also can't give extra yardage. You have to tackle well to play good defense."
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(Ref.: On if the team was nervous opening the game and in the third quarter)
"No, I mean, there's nothing there. When you play offense first, we all know how successful you are in games when you score. I thought we shot ourselves in the foot there. So, I don't think it has anything to do with that when we followed some of those possessions up more slowly. I don't think there's a nervousness with this team. I've had teams that were a little too nervous. Then certainly the second half we had chances to get off the field, big time, and didn't get it done. That should not have been a scoring drive to open the second half. You look at the reality of why it happened more so."
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(Ref.: On Gunnar Holmberg's play in week one)
"I'll take credit for the fumble. I could hear Coach (Johnny) Majors yelling at me from his grave. He was one of the best. When you're in traffic, and Gunnar had the ball here, that as soon as you feel anything near that goal line in traffic, you get your other hand on the ball to secure it. I hadn't coached that well enough and I told the whole team that Saturday. I think Gunnar and our coaches took it to heart as well. But that's my responsibility. It's situation football. A ball inside the five-yard line, you've got to protect it, go over the top protecting it. He had the ball a little low, so when you get the other hand, a natural thing is just to draw the ball where it should be anyway. That's poor coaching on David Cutcliffe's part. So, I got yelled at rightfully, most of the way back on the bus. I'm serious. So, I just felt it. Gunnar played really good. I mean, he threw the ball well. What I would like him to do, there were four or five situations where you got to measure that down and know the down and know on third down, whether we're going to play for it on fourth down and understand circumstances of when you cannot afford to ever take a loss, when you don't want to create a new bad down in distance in certain circumstances. That's what I'm talking about me. I can coach that better. The players part of it is what you're coached, try not to make the same mistake twice. That's why we practice this, why we scrimmage and you try to put them in every situation you can on the practice field. So, when it comes to the game, they have faced that situation and they know exactly what to do. We try to do that with our practice schedule. But when you don't do it, trying does not matter. Get the job done, period. That's the biggest issue. These are correctable things that we as coaches and players can get accomplished."
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(Ref.: On positive takeaways from the Charlotte film)
"A bunch. I mean, I really went through all of it with the team and looked at every position. There was really good play in every position. There's enough play there that, you know you can. But unfortunately, when you're playing football, you don't ever know which play, five plays or eight plays is going to win or lose a game. And so the whole focus has to be from every one of us that I'm trying to win the game on this play. If it is to be, it's up to me. And that's how you play as a team. You do in your role, your part. Consistency is the first element of anything being really, really good or ever being great. Without it, there's no shot. A guy can pitch a no hitter one time and every other time he pitches his ERA is over five. You think he's great because he pitched a no hitter? No. You understand what I'm saying. So, again, I view our consistency on my accountability is how I view it, personally."
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(Ref.: On Jake Bobo and the receiving corps)
"Well, I think they're all playing as hard and good as they play. Sometimes the ball goes to you. Sometimes it doesn't. It's just depending upon the concept and the route. One of the things Jake did do well was separate from man coverage. Everybody has to separate from man coverage. If you play in man and a defensive back breaks up a pass, you can't just call that the quarterback's issue. We've done a lot of work on that all fall and we have competition. That's great. I mean, we have a lot of competition. I want players to earn playing time on that practice field."
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(Ref.: On Jordan Waters and Mataeo Durant in the running back's room)
"Jordan's really strong physically. You can see that in how he runs. He's become more comfortable within our system and he's playing at a faster pace, playing in the passing game faster. He's playing in the run game faster, making decisions. I do think we have an element in that running back room. We'll see more people and we can rest Mataeo some. We need Mataeo, obviously, to be great in the fourth quarter. But, he managed it. I mean, his conditioning level is pretty amazing. Part of that comes from how he works on the practice field, talking about Mataeo. But Jordan, what he said to me about Mataeo, he said I've got to soak it up like a sponge. I had a couple of young running backs that said the same thing. He's their leader as a player in that room. But I think our backs can make a difference. And, you know, with the circumstances you face as the season goes on with the injury, I mean, we could have two backs in the game at the same time. That's a likely possibility."
(Ref.: On hosting North Carolina A&T and other HBCUs)
"First of all, it's another in-state school and a really good program. I think it's good for our community here in Durham. I think it's good for our state to do that. I think it's good for Duke University to bring the HBCU programs on our campus when we can and when it works out in a scheduling circumstance. So, yeah, I think there's some significance to that. All the way back to when Mose Rison was the coach. I approached him about that opportunity to bring a community together. And of course, this is Durham Night. There are a lot of Duke fans in Durham and I know there are a lot of A&T fans in Durham. So hopefully we had a great turnout in the stadium on a Friday night. I'm excited about what the prospects of that are."
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(Ref.: On Jordan Moore entering the game and getting the opportunity)
"Well, I think the quarterback thing has got an element of competition. It's not just Jordan, it's certainly Luca (Diamont), certainly Riley (Leonard). We felt like we needed a little boost, a little different tempo at that point. I think he can have a role and the reason he got that shot is that he's done that in our scrimmages. He's just flat done it. He has got tremendous speed and we'll have to talk to him about his left hand turns. When the road leads this way don't go off the road. We did chuckle about that a little bit the next day. But just a little overexcited, a little overthinking on his part. He's got a lot of talent, which they all do. I really like that room and we're looking at a lot of things that we can do to make ourselves better offensively."
(Ref.: On the feeling of needing to win after dropping the season opener)
"Yeah, I think every football team faces that after a loss. You try. We use the term, don't let one loss become two. You can't hang your head. But also not just that, you have to address what led to the loss. If we don't get better on the practice field, if we don't change what we're doing on the practice field, then don't expect different results. It's always important for a program where we're sitting right now. These guys haven't won much in the last two years. So, right now it's time to get that boost of confidence and an energy that comes with winning. Never a guarantee and I expect it to be hard, but I think hard will be good for this team."
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(Ref.: On any injuries that could be long-lasting from the game at Charlotte)
"Well, yeah, possibly with Matt Smith. So that's unfortunate. We'll see where we are, but we'll know more details soon. I'm just sitting here thinking, you know why, why. You stay healthy, healthy, and you have a noncontact circumstance. And it's like, please, Lord, but we'll see."
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(Ref.: On if the passing game was in sync during week one)
"Yeah, I mean we obviously dropped a big post opportunity and we really didn't miss many throws as far as big opportunities. But yeah, you can't leave that there though. That's what I'm talking about situational football. You have to know how to win a game and you can't leave yards on the field. I mean, we had 35 lost yards or otherwise we would have had 387 yards rushing. You catch the ball, you got a 700-plus yard offensive football game. That's to me the most obvious part of this. It's not as discouraging as it is encouraging if you do something about it."
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(Ref.: Â On Jalon Calhoun in Duke's last meeting with North Carolina A&T and getting him the ball)
"Well, I mean we can't just single out players based on what they're doing. Coverage wise dictates where the ball goes. Two years ago, from a coverage standpoint, our slot got opportunities. Based upon what we saw this past week, it wasn't near as much -- we got it to some. That's where the quarterback has to read coverage. But Jalon is a really good football player, really good football player. He'll always be in our plans every week and that position will be in our plans. What I want him to do is to work toward that complete player, playing great off the ball as well. If you do both of those, you got a shot. I don't care what sport it is, if you will look, whether it's a puck or a ball, the guys that play great without it are great ones, if that makes sense. I had a high school coach that often would have us practice without a football and he would tell us quickly, the guy that has the ball is not going to win the game. It's all you guys that don't have the ball. Ten of you are on offense, there's 11 of you on defense. How bad you want to learn how to play football. Now, if I did that this day in time, what do you think would happen to me. It'd be a boycott the next day and then somebody would be out there with handcuffs. But, that's what Coach White did and we didn't lose so he was right."
(Ref.: On Mataeo Durant's conditioning level)
"We had a talk. It's interesting you ask that. He was talking to me about what can I do? What can I do? We had a talk back in March. I said, Mataeo, you ever heard of the sophomore slump or senioritis? We've all heard that term senioritis, right? I said the greatest weapon that you have as an athlete to combat it is conditioning and effort. If you'll focus on that and really nothing else, don't try to refine your game. Your game is good. Focus on conditioning and effort. I think he took it to heart, to be honest with you. I really believe that's the best way to avoid those two scenarios that occur often in our sport, college football for sure."Â
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(Ref.: On his takeaways from week one of ACC play around the conference)
"I think it's one week, 25 practices, a limited number of contact days not being in someone's camp, not knowing how beat up they were or how prepared they were. You've got to roll the dice as a coach to scrimmage a lot and get enough snaps to be game ready. I don't think we would overreact to any of that. The dust will come out. I'm going to turn my vote in tomorrow for the Coaches Poll. I mean, okay, Alabama number one, that's a pretty good shot. The rest of it just roll them out there. So, I don't think this early we really know a lot."
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(Ref.: On the gameplan against North Carolina A&T)
"North Carolina A&T will dictate what you're doing offensively. As far as run pass balance, we'd always like to be balanced. Always. You want to be able to run the football when you want to run it. You want to be able to throw the football when maybe they don't expect you to throw the football. That's the best kind of offense you can play. Every week that's pretty much the same defensively, I think our focus is we're going to be true to our schematic approach. We've already said it in here, we've got to tackle better. We've got to stop easy access passes where a guy's catching. I mean, most guys this level can throw and catch it pretty good if it's easy access. We didn't have much easy access on the other side offensively. So that's where our focus lies."
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(Ref.: On the difference in quarterback play from week one to week two)
"Well, particularly when they haven't played a lot, it's significant. They go in just a completely different feeling. You try to avoid it by the speed of the game in practice. I had a conversation with the offensive coaches this morning. You're trying your best to simulate a game at practice. We work against each other and then we swap our threes and fours some to work against other schemes. In the days of having 150 players, you could really energize a defense and an offense going against your starters and you could get the speed of the game. With the smaller squads that you now have, in particularly we've had here, for the most part, you're trying to reinvent things a little bit, how you practice. So, I think game play is extremely important for the quarterback position, the way we have to operate in practice today. I'm not whining. It is what it is. We've been doing it for a while. But, it's when you have a new one, you go in kind of wondering what you don't see and they will get better as they play."
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(Ref.: On Pro Football Focus grading the offensive line as one of the top offensive lines after week one)
"Yeah, I don't pay attention to them because they're making a lot of money doing what they're doing, and that's the focus of their business. But our business is to have them play well. And they did. They really did. We played eight people pretty heavily. Normally we don't get to do that. We're going to continue to try to grow that. I think this team has a chance to be unique in a number of people that can contribute. That was my biggest challenge. I don't want to see anybody whine about not playing. I want to see people earn. And the more people that earn it, if they earn it on the practice field and it's our job or my job to see that they get opportunities, whether it's five snaps or 20 snaps, it makes us a better team. So that's where we are right now."
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(Ref.: On Jack Wohlabaugh's status)
"Perfect. Good to go. He practiced in full pads yesterday and was fine. He's a tough guy and it was good for him to get that confidence. He scrimmaged this August too, he already experienced it. He's doing real well."
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Wednesday, October 15
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Tuesday, October 14
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Tuesday, October 14
