How do you feel about the offseason
progression of this team?
Because
of the returning starters that we have, there is an expectation with this team in
terms of knowing what it takes to be a college football player, which is a
great thing. The other thing that I think was significant for us in the
offseason was the fact this is still a young team. That doesn't mean that we
are inexperienced, because we are not, but we are still young.
A
lot of the offseason has been built around trying to build up our experience and
add maturity. When I talk about maturity, I mean maturity in the way we handle
the things off the field and on the field in terms of encouraging them to come
in on their own and watch video and do those kinds of things. Also knowing that
our team was going to significantly make strides in the weight room was a key
part to our offseason. I thought we were in great condition last year, but I
didn't think we were a very strong team. Some of that had to do with youth and
to be honest some had to do with not being in a program that was encouraging
that kind of growth. Now with Coach Grieco and his staff being with us for a
year and a half, I think we have seen - as you would expect - some dramatic
growth in the way we look as a team and I think our players have seen that and
grown confidence from that.
I think the only thing we have to do is look
at those freshmen that played for us last year and look at the weight changes
from when they got here. It is good weight that they are adding and we look
like a Division IA football team. My hope is that between the experience, the added
maturity - whether it be mentally, emotionally or physically - along with the chemistry
that is part of this football team right now that it will lead us into a great
preseason camp.
One
of the things we did this past spring was crosstrain an awful lot of our
athletes. We still don't have the depth that we would like to have. What we do have
is depth that has played and we are two-deep at almost every position with guys
that have played. We still want to make sure that we have the best players out
there and sometimes that means creating false competition by crosstraining
athletes to play multiple positions. We did a lot of that in the spring and
that was really one of our focuses. Last year there were significant questions
about our football team in a lot of ways - how they were going to handle games
from an emotional aspect, their preparation during game week and who was
actually going to play. We didn't have a punter who had punted or a long
snapper who had long snapped - some really strange things that kind of came up
this past year. As we go into preseason camp this year, we don't have a lot of
those questions and we need to pick up where we left off in terms of the way we
approach things, and I think we will.
We
also have to be sure that we have the best players on the field. There is competition
even though we have a lot of returning starters. There is still competition just
because of the simple fact that we have crosstrained these athletes. Even that false
competition makes them understand that they have to produce every day, and that
is part of being a college athlete.
This team will come into the season with
some high expectations from the media and fans that it didn't have to play with
last year. How do you think the team will react?
We
talked very openly with our football team at the close of last season about
this. We told them that because of where we finished in the conference last
year and with the number of returning starters we had coming back that there was
going to be more expectations this year. We also talked about how are they
going to handle it. How are they going to handle having that target on their
back and being one of the favorites. One of the things we have continued to
preach to our players is that from day one it is not about other people's
expectations, it is about our expectations and what we expect to do. It is
about going out - and to use the old coaching adage - just play the game for
the love of the game to your standard. Don't worry about who you are playing,
whether you are a favorite or an underdog or any of those other things. It is
the joy of playing the game. It is the joy of practicing and seeing your
teammates get better that has to be the focus rather than all the other things.
Generally, if you play to your standard everything else takes care of itself.
Generally,
when you have a young team it is very difficult to finish games. Last year we
had some games that we didn't finish, but we had some games where we had some
major comebacks. I think that it was really important for our football team to go
out and understand that if you keep playing for four quarters then you give
yourself an opportunity to win the game. I think they believe that now. I think
that they believe their conditioning, their ownership in the team and winning
can carry them through a lot of adversity and tough times. Hopefully going into
this season with some of the expectations that have been placed on them, they
will continue along that mode in terms of understanding that it is the preparation
and it is the attitude that carries you forward and not their abilities as
players so much - while that is significant obviously - it is those other
things that are critical in terms of having success.
The
other thing that I think is really important is a sign we have up. It says "We
Didn't Come Here to Play, We Came to Win." It makes sense, but there really is
a mentality that kind of comes along with that. I think that a lot of young
players in particular tend to say in terms of their goals and aspirations that
I just want to play this year. Well that's not good enough. Being satisfied
with just playing is not good enough. Satisfaction comes with winning and I
think that our team has grown to really appreciate that saying and that thought
process. I think it carries you forward during the season. It is not just
showing up - whether you are the favorite or the underdog - it's actually trying
to win.
The incoming freshmen passed the eye
test when they came on campus for summer school last week. What are your plans
for the incoming freshmen this season?
That
is a great question. Certainly last season we had to have freshmen fill in some
spots on the two-deep, but this incoming group has a bigger challenge because
of the experience coming back. I think our whole football team recognizes, more
so than our freshmen do, that we don't care who plays and that we are going to
put the best player on the field regardless. I think we demonstrated that last year. You
don't inherit positions at this level and we are going to let the competition dictate
who plays. We have some freshmen that can challenge. Physically they look good.
This is a physically good looking freshmen class - tall, rangy, run well. However,
they are going to have to adjust to the mental and emotional aspects of the
college game.
We
are not going to go in thinking a specific guy is the starter and he will be
the only one we are going to coach. We are going to coach everybody to win.
There is certainly a depth chart that is going to allow for certain guys to get
more repetitions, so consequently if you are at the bottom of the depth chart
you are going to need to take great advantage of the snaps that you get.
However, early in preseason camp it is about evaluating and it is about getting
the players on the field that can help you win. After that point in time, then
you are working to develop the chemistry within units which is so significant
to winning.
What are some of the differences between
year one and year two when taking over a program?
I
think the difference between year one and two are dramatic. I've been around the
game long enough and been in situations long enough to know that the first year
is such a transition year for the players and even the coaches. Because of working
together for the first time they have some expectations, but they don't know
what to expect from me, from each other and from the rest of the staff. For us,
the retention of the staff is significant and always is in terms of a comfort
level. It is nice to have new coaches come in like just like we did with Coach
Gilbert. In terms of giving us a fresh set of eyes and a fresh look on some
things we do. However, for us as a staff, we're going to be out there and everyone
is going to know where to stand on the practice field and know what this drill
is and everybody knows the tempo I like to keep - we have shorter practices,
but we have a very fast-paced practice. The coaches now all know what the
expectations are and then they can impart that into their players.
Now,
our players have a comfort level, not just with our schemes and the way that we
try and practice, but also with the expectations. The ideal thing, which sounds
strange and I don't know of another profession that is like this, is to get the
team where they don't need you anymore. Most professions you want to feel like
you are needed so you have a job, but as a coach the ideal thing is to get to
the point that when practices are not going well, we are not the ones trying to
pick up the pace. If practice is not going well, you want the team to respond
along those lines because that is how you develop leadership - we are not going
to be playing on Saturdays, they are.
We
are starting to see some signs of our leaders stepping up and self-correcting
some things that are not being done the right. If there is a breakdown, while
we are still going to coach, they are taking those self-corrective measures themselves
and they already know what went wrong. Those are good signs for us.
