Marshall University Athletics
Mark Snyder Press Conference Quotes
11/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 25, 2008
Opening statement: It will be an emotional week for our seniors, I've been very proud of those guys, the young men came in under a new coach, under different circumstances, I think they've done a tremendous job of buying in and showing our young players what it takes on and off the field, I think they've coached our young players, that will become a cycle that will pay dividends down the road. I'm very proud of these guys and will be an emotional week for them.
A comment on each senior:
Darius Passmore: Came in and played hurt last year, has had a pretty good year for us, will have a good career, probably in the NFL.
EJ Wynn: EJ Wynn has been a good, solid player for us, done whatever we asked him to do, has been a really good special teams guy.
CJ Spillman: CJ, the Officer, will also probably have the opportunity to move on. He has done a good job leading our defense and have seen tremendous growths from him since he's been here.
Ian Hoskins: Same thing, a great leader, he's going to be a great citizen for our country, Ian is going to be very successful.
Emmanuel Spann: Same thing, he's going to give a lot back to our society, just a great young man.
Aaron Johnson: Aaron came in as a junior college guy and this is his family, this is his home, he's all the way from San Francisco and I think he feels like this is home. He's done an excellent job.
Chubb Small: A guy that made a way out of no way. A very rough background that he came from and has given us everything a great kid.
Phillip Gamble: Same thing. Phillip came in as a non qualifier, there were 17 or 18 of them and he's the only one that made it.
Cody Tominack: Cody transferred down, has done whatever we asked him to do on the scout team.
Maurice Kitchens: Maurice Kitchens has had a career best senior year, the biggest surprise probably since I've been here, from an athletic standpoint and I think he's grown up and matured and done a great job of leading.
Joe Bragg: Joe Bragg has done everything we've asked him to do. The Fireman just gives us whatever he's got. Does whatever it is that the team needs him to do.
Matt Altobello: Matt Altobello, another guy that has overachieved, had a career best senior year, has done a great job leading and will make something out of himself.
Brian Leggett: Gives you everything he's got, undersized, been thrown into the fire, but has done a good job for us leading that offensive line.
Matt Parkhurst: Has been a special teams guy who has done everything that we've asked him to do.
On the emotions of Senior Day: Its tough. This one will be tough because of the circumstances and what I've kind of seen these guys do. I was at dinner with them Friday night and Maurice Kitchens said when you came in here coach, we all laughed at you when we saw your ideas and thoughts and did not think the things you were talking about getting done you could get done, and they said that they are sad they are leaving because its happening, the change in the team, the wheel was going like this, his words were last year, he felt like it stopped, and I see it going the other way now and they started that and for that I will forever be grateful.
On the improvement of the program off the field: The APR is up to 940 from 925, they've just shown the way and I credit them with all of that. A bunch of them had career best senior years and I told them that it hurts, they wanted to go to a bowl game, but like I told them, typically, the special years, you're going to have between 19 and 23 seniors contributing somehow and this senior class is not that big and they have nothing to hold their heads about. I told them success has many fathers, failure has a lot of orphans and these guys are not orphans. I want them to understand that and I hope our fans come out and support these guys because they have done a lot for us.
On being able to concentrate solely on football this week: It's a different week for us, obviously we've got a lot more time with them, which is a good thing. We have them lifting at 9, then we have some meetings, we eat lunch together, its good to see the kids interacting, you guys saw that yesterday. Then we come back, have meetings then have a very spirited practice in the rain and cold and they were having fun. Still having fun, which is a good thing, but that helps with the having fun part because they are around us a lot more.
On the senior leadership: The seniors earned that because they were out there coaching those young guys, talking to them about all of the things that they should not be doing, what happened here, don't go down this road, get your degree, go to class, go to tutors, give back to the community, they're the ones, we could sit here and talk all we want, but its about the guys in the locker room, the peer pressure that makes those things kind of happen, its not the coaches and for the number of them the that we have, they've done a good job.
On the Tulsa offense: The numbers are absolutely staggering, from the 96 kickoffs I watched Sunday night, 96 kickoffs, that's almost beyond comprehension and the numbers they have are staggering. I think the lowest number is the total they had against UCF.
On the effect of the weather: It gets a little windy and cold in Oklahoma, too, but I don't have the answer to that question.
On the effect of the wind on the Tulsa passing game: Let me say this, its kind of a like an oxymoron, when you think of Tulsa, you think of wide open, throwing it all over the place, that is really not the case, they're rushing the football right now. They've got some good tailbacks and its setting up their explosive plays because they are running the ball so effectively and the good thing for them, they've got a fifth year senior quarterback delivering the ball, so it's not quite the Tulsa team you think when you watch the film. We're going to have to stop their running game and not give up the big play.
On the defensive game plan: I think you have to stop the run first this week. We have to stop the run, no question.
On their balance being better than Rice and Houston: Yes it is, a lot more balanced because they can run the football, yet still spread the field and again, the quarterback is doing a good job delivering the football for them, that's the reason they are so explosive right now.
On the Tulsa defense: If you look at their sack numbers and their negative yardage plays, its because everybody is playing from behind and you have to get away from your game plan. They are West Virginia, accelerated. They are 3-3, you never know where the fourth rusher is coming from, Todd (Graham) is a little more aggressive than WVU, I guess the word would be West Virginia accelerated.
On the comparison to whether it is more accelerated than WVU under former coach Rich Rodriguez or current coach Bill Stewart: I've only seen WVU that one game we played, but yeah, based on what I saw this year and under Rich, its more accelerated, they're bringing more heat from different places.
On the explosiveness of the Tulsa offense: I think they're one of the most explosive teams in the nation right now, their numbers are staggering.
On the fast pace that the Tulsa offense operates: That's been our focus in our talk, that's hard to emulate at practice, its just so hard to emulate, kind of like playing an option team, its hard to get that look because you're reading off cards, its hard to pick up that pace, now typically what happens when you get into a game, you get in the flow of it and start figuring it out, Rice did a good job in the second half on us, we were not prepared for it, they hit us with two explosive plays because we were not lined up properly technique wise, taking away proper leverage, and it's a quick 14 points. We're going to have to play with who we have on the field, we have to be able to stop the run and the pass and all of those kind of things, its not going to be as big of a challenge as everyone thinks its going to be, the key will be to make sure they are not sustaining 70-yard drives, that's where it becomes a problem because you have guys getting tired and you cannot substitute, we feel comfortable that we are going to be able to defend them with whatever we put on the field to begin each series.
On comparing David Johnson (Tulsa QB) to the QB's at Rice and Houston: He's probably not as athletic, but a very savvy quarterback that understands that system, he runs it very efficiently and he's delivering the ball to those receivers, he's doing a good job. They match protect, when they throw the ball, they're not going to let you hit their quarterback, its all off the run fake, again, its more run oriented, play action, slide the protection, protect our QB, throw the ball deep kind of offense than you would expect. You're still going to see the reverses and the fumblerooskies and the swinging gate, you're still going to see all of that, but that's just the fluff that gets you out of your game to stop what they really do. Any coach would like that, its fun stuff.
On the Tulsa rushing offense: The hard thing is going to be identifying who that fourth rusher is, the defense is balanced across the board, they don't tip their hand. That's the one good thing about it. West Virginia proved last year that they could stop the power running game when they played Oklahoma. You would like to think you are going to have to run the football against these kinds of teams.
On Tulsa backup QB Jacob Bower and his ability to run the ball: He's in there to run the football, a little bit like the guy last week. Coach Graham has done a good job getting a lot of players involved in his offense. I don't know how he sends anybody down to the scout team.
On Tulsa's improvement from last year to this year: Their offensive coordinator has done a really good job. He was very successful at Arkansas and in the high school ranks, he knows that system inside and out. The kid they got playing this year had a year to tutor under the guy playing last year, so he's gotten to know it a little better. Its going to be a fun football game.
On QB Mark Cann: He has a lot on his shoulders, I'm not so sure he has not his that freshman brick wall, he probably has not played as well as he would like or we would like and he's a little dinged right now. He didn't practice yesterday and won't practice today.
On the play to Lee Smith against Rice: We set that up, it was set up beautifully and everybody on the sideline knew it was going to be a touchdown, Mark knew it was going to be a touchdown, we just didn't get it done and that's just deflating.
On Darius Marshall hitting his stride: Yes he has, and I was pleased with Terrell Edwards. He's a big body that is a different type of running back than Darius. He puts his shoulder down and pushes the pile for another 2-3 yards on those drives, 2-3 yards are huge, like I said after the game Saturday, we had to punt 3-4 times when we had just a little bit to go for the first down, there's what a bigger back would bring to the table for you, but yes, Darius is having a good year and I think that offensive line is starting to come together for him.
On what he would say to the fans about supporting the team on Saturday: I just laid the ground work for what they've done that nobody sees, except for us in the building. They've given a lot, I would say it if they have not, but they have given a lot. I appreciate their efforts. They've shown the way in a lot of different areas and we are to be indebted to them.
On Tulsa WR Brennan Marion: He's still having a pretty good year. They have some other weapons they can go to, I really don't know the cause for that, all we can do is speculate as to why he is not in there as much as he was last year, but he's still getting his touches and he's still making big plays for them, but he's not on the field as much as he was last year and we could only speculate why.
On Tulsa having more WR weapons this year: Those are very good players.
On the running backs catching passes out of the backfield: Right, that's where we have to be on top of our game, the key is the tempo of it does not allow you to take a snapshot of a formation that tells you what's coming, is it a run or a pass, that's why they go with the high tempo offense for that very reason because they are very predictable when a kid lines up here or there, you know pretty much a resemblance of what you're going to get, its just going so fast and there's so much of it that its hard to process.
On Tulsa WR Slick Shelley: I'm more worried about #9 (Charles Clay), he's a problem, its more finesse stuff when they're doing that. #9 is a guy that can run the ball, he can block, he can come out of the backfield and catch the ball on the wheel route, he can go down the middle on the middle linebacker and catch the ball, I think he's their X factor, he's the one that concerns me the most, not that the other one doesn't, but its more finesse with him.
