Mike Elko Press Conference Quotes: Temple

DURHAM – Duke football head coach Mike Elko met with members of the media on Monday afternoon for his weekly press conference.

The Blue Devils welcome Temple on Friday night for their season opener. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network with Wes Durham, Roddy Jones and Taylor David on the call. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. The game can also be heard on the Blue Devil Sports Network from LEARFIELD through the Varsity app or goduke.com

Mike Elko Duke Football Head Coach
(Ref.: Opening Statement)
"Well, first of all, thanks everyone for coming. Obviously, it's an exciting time. It seems like just yesterday we were at the opening podium starting this journey and now it's eight and half months later and we're finally in game week, ready to take this thing on. I'm really excited with where we are. I think we've made a lot of strides in eight and a half months, and we've made a lot more during training camp. I think our guys are working extremely hard. They're obviously excited to go out Friday night and showcase everything that they've done and kind of put a new taste in the fans mouth and where we're going as a program. Excited to bring Temple in here. I've got a lot of respect for that program. Being a Northeast guy and being a guy who went to school in Philadelphia, I have certainly seen the rise of Temple. I've been around Coach (Stan) Drayton and have a lot of respect for the job that he does. Obviously, this is a little bit of a unique opener. You've got two first time head coaches with a new program. So, there's not a lot of information out there about either side. You know, I think everybody is trying to get as much information as they can behind the scenes to try to be as ready as we possibly can and we certainly have done that. I'm just excited to get out there and really play somebody. I think our guys are really fired up for this one and looking forward to it."

(Ref.: On the decision to start sophomore Riley Leonard at quarterback and the role Jordan Moore will play in the offense)
"We're really excited about Riley's development. We talked a lot about trying to get a little bit more consistency from that position, and he did it. I thought he stepped up and had a really good camp throwing the football. I told our team this the other day, you know, Riley won the job. Sometimes you get into these battles and you're trying to figure it out as a head coach. We really felt like Riley stepped up and won the job. That's to take nothing away from Jordan. Jordan competed all the way through spring, all the way through fall camp. He is such a special football player and a special athlete that we've tried to figure out how to utilize him. We're going to be able to use him in a lot of different ways. We're going to make sure we get the ball in his hands. You know, he can play wideout. He can play running back. He obviously can play quarterback and knows that part of the package as well. I think it gives us a little bit more freedom to move him around. I think maybe last year, you know, it was a little bit easier to target him and know where he was going to be. Now we've got a little bit more flexibility with the ways we can utilize him and really allow him to be the playmaker he's capable of being."

(Ref.: On the amount of communication and consistency with the team as a whole)
"Yeah, well, we'll find out Friday. I certainly feel like we've made lot of progress and one of the things that gets hard in time is its constantly Duke against Duke. We're excited to see what it looks Duke against somebody else. We've certainly have gotten better, and we've attacked camp. I think we practiced well. We've had 22 really good practices to this point, and we've got three more to go before we're ready to play. But just really happy with where this program is right now."

(Ref.: On his feelings about playing on a short week to open the season)
"I like the openers this way. I think it brings it a little bit earlier for our guys. You get to this point in camp and guys are chomping at the bit to play a football game. Whether it's been a Thursday night or Friday night opener, I've been a part of a lot of them to open the season. It's Labor Day weekend, you know, and so usually you get a lot of people able to come out to support and watch. It gives you a little bit of a leg up preparation wise for week two as well. Northwestern's going to be coming off a bye going into week two. It gives us one extra day to turn over as you start heading into week two. I just think there's a lot of built-in advantages to start early."

(Ref.: On the challenge of players having class before a game as opposed to Saturday games)
"I mean, not really. I think there's really no negatives to it, to be honest with you. I think it's just a nice way to start the season."

(Ref.: On how much Riley's success in situational drills played into the decision to start the sophomore)
"Yeah, I think it was all of camp not necessarily the situational parts. Obviously situational football is important. We've spent a lot of time with our quarterbacks trying to get them to understand managing the game and managing situations. Both of them did a really good job of it. That played a big part in it, but that's been a part of it from day one. I don't know that necessarily that it was some of the later parts. I mean, I just think he kind of continued to show the consistency we were looking for."

(Ref.: On freshmen Chandler Rivers and Vincent Anthony Jr. cracking the depth chart and what they showed throughout camp)
"They're both really talented players. Both of them were fortunate they got here mid-year, so we had them during spring ball. They were able to get a full offseason in the weight room, which helps get them ready to play. VJ is really a kid who's made tremendous strides every day since he's been here. We're excited to see where he goes. Chandler's a kid who's just extremely consistent and extremely competitive. He's had a good spring and had a really good fall camp. I think we can use him in multiple roles. He's going to play a big part for us this year."

(Ref.: On what part of the team he's looking to see versus a live opponent)
"Honestly, all of it. I mean that in a certain kind of way. You're constantly evaluating what you do well and where your strengths are and where your opportunities of improvement are. You get a sense of that over the course of fall camp. It's always cautioned by the fact that you're going against the same group all the time. How much of it is happening because of familiarity? How much of it is happening because we get comfortable with the schemes we're going against? There's so much uncertainty into where you really stack up, right? I've said this before, when you're a first-time coach, whether it's a first-time coordinator, first-time head coach, you know it's probably three, four weeks into the season before you really know for sure exactly what you have, you know? I don't think that's any one group specific. I just think if you're doing it right, you should be constantly evaluating that and making changes in your own mind about where you can be better and where you can make this thing more efficient."

(Ref.: On what the focus is heading into the first week of competition on Friday)
"I think there's a few things. I think one, obviously when you play an opener the biggest thing is playing a clean game. I think we want to be turnover free. We want to be penalty free. We don't want to have assignment issues. We don't want to have communication substitution issues. Those things are a huge emphasis when you go into an opener. We want to make sure that we give ourselves every advantage to win the game and certainly not put ourselves behind the eight ball with things that we can control. I think from a mentality standpoint, I just talked to our kids a lot about they're hungry to go out on this football field and show who they've become. We have to make sure that we can sustain that energy and that focus over a full four quarters and that, we understand the ebbs and flows of a football game and we're able to roll with it as we need to be successful."

(Ref.: On the running back room being by committee this season)
"It's going to be a rotation and I think it'll be that way by design. I think all three of them can help us -- Jaylen Coleman, Jordan Waters and Jaquez Moore. I think all three of those kids are just going to bring different things to the game. I think our ability to use them all, keep them fresh and let them all run at 100 percent and be effective at the things that they do well. That's just kind of been our plan for a while at that position. I think you see it when you come out to practice. That's not to say Terry Moore won't get involved at some point. He's probably the one kid that's getting better every single day and is really nipping at the heels of that group to try to find a role for himself."

(Ref.: On what determines a successful first game)
"If we have more points than them. Everybody asks that question. We're not going to ever sell our goal short. Our goal is to go to a bowl game. Our goal is to beat our in-state rival. Our goal is to play in the ACC Championship. That's our goals and we're not going to change them. That's not to mean that they're going to debilitate us if we don't reach them, but we're not going to shoot for any less. We're not going to play a football game and hope that at the end of it we're not the winning team. That's just who we are now. I think that's what we're trying to get across to the kids. You know what I'm looking for? Intangibly I'd just like to see us go out and really value the opportunity to be Duke football players. I think if we do that, there'll be a level of competitiveness and a level of fire that we'll play with. I think our fans and our alumni base will really appreciate that."

(Ref.: On the vision from defensive coordinator Robb Smith for what this defense will be)
"I think when you look at those numbers, they don't really tell stories. A lot of people just use these numbers and think they define defense. We put numbers down on a piece of paper because we have to. But the reality of it is, there's a lot of variety in how schemes get run. You know, our 4-2-5 isn't someone else's 4-2-5. A lot of people just think those things are all encompassing and they're not. It's Robb's defense. He's running it the way he's comfortable running it. Obviously, I have input in it, and we've worked collaboratively to come up with what we think is the best for this group to go out there and be successful."

(Ref.: On who will be deemed redshirts and who will continue to see action late in the year)
"I think we've had conversations about each guy and I think obviously certain guys are in roles where they're going to play, right? VJ (Anthony Jr.), Chandler (Rivers), I think Terry Moore is kind of right on the verge of that and we'll see how the first couple of weeks go to see kind of what direction we go with them. You know, then you've got a group that you feel like you can really use some more time in the weight room and are going to be more developmental this year and we can get some more lifts in with those guys. So that group's already kind of been determined, and then there's a small group of guys that had really good camps, could probably help us, but are maybe a little bit lower on the depth chart right now or maybe aren't set to play a huge role while healthy. Mehki Wall jumps to mind in that regard. Henry Belin IV jumps to mind in that regard. Then it's kind of a question of, if we stay healthy, we can keep them where they're at. If the opportunity for them to play a lot more football presents itself, then that might be in their best interest."

(Ref.: On the importance of winning the turnover battle this season)
"There's no greater statistic that indicates winning and losing than the turnover battle. I think teams that were plus one in the ACC last year were 34-10. You win the turnover battle, you win football games, you lose the turnover battle, you lose football games. So, it's as important as that. We talk to them all the time. I kind of joke with them, but like protecting the football is like breathing. If you don't breathe, you have problems. If you don't protect the football, you have problems. It's literally that important to us. It's been a day one emphasis. I think when you watch us on the field now, it's starting to get where it needs to be. It's still probably not completely there yet. That's something that we'll continue to preach as we go through the year."

(Ref.: On the quarterback depth chart)
"I think it could be either, to be honest with you. I think Jordan has a role on our offense and to what degree that role is depends on where Riley (Leonard) is. Healthy Riley, Jordan (Moore) has one role and unhealthy Riley and Jordan has another role. Henry (Belin IV) would be involved in the conversation very heavily if for some reason we had to go to another quarterback."

(Ref.: On thinking about this day and what the emotions will be walking out of the tunnel the first time)
"You don't really think about it. I thought about what defense I was going to call and what blitz I was going to call on third down. In the off season you dream of this moment, and somebody asked me, what is it going to feel like being in the tunnel? It's going to be surreal for sure. You get into this profession, and you dream of leading a team out of the tunnel one day. If you're honored to do it at a place like Duke, it's even more special. They'll certainly be a lot of emotions when I walk down the tunnel Friday night and then you'll run out on the field, and you'll put a headset on and you'll have to go back to coaching football."

(Ref.: On his efforts to rally the students and get fans to come out Friday night)
"I met with all the freshmen a couple of times. We met with a group of student leaders in the spring. I've got a dinner coming up with another group of student leaders on Wednesday night. Basically, our message is just this, we can't do it without you. For us to build the program that we want to build and to be as successful as we're capable of being, we need the student support. We need the students behind us. We've tried to incentivize them to come out to games. I think they're excited about some of the things and some of the changes that we've made. Now it falls on us. We've got to put a product on the field and an experience for them to want to be part of."

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Mike Elko Press Conference Quotes: Temple

Players Mentioned

Vincent Anthony Jr.

Henry Belin IV

Jaylen Coleman

Riley Leonard

Jaquez Moore

Jordan Moore

Terry Moore

Chandler Rivers

Mehki Wall

Jordan Waters

Duke information

Mike Elko Press Conference Quotes: Temple

Related News

Players Mentioned

Vincent Anthony Jr.

Henry Belin IV

Jaylen Coleman

Riley Leonard

Jaquez Moore

Jordan Moore

Terry Moore

Chandler Rivers

Mehki Wall

Jordan Waters

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Duke information