Marshall University Athletics
Quotes from Doc Holliday's Oct. 28 Press Conference
10/28/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
On practice this week:
We came in Sunday and knocked out the FAU tape. I had two or three coaches on the road for the last couple days. They are all back first thing in the morning. We will lift today and run today. Tomorrow will be like a Thursday practice, Thursday will be a Tuesday, Friday will be a Wednesday and they will have Saturday off. Then we will come back on Sunday and start our game preparation. The bye week came at a good time. We are banged up a little bit. There isn't anybody that probably would not have played if we played Saturday but they will feel a lot better a week from Saturday. Davonte Allen will be back. He will practice this week, which is good. So, we should have a lot of kids ready to go. It's important that we get better this week as a football team and continue to prepare like we have all year. That is where we are.
On how wide receivers have flourished since Davonte Allen's absence:
It's been great. We talk about all the time about depth and guys having to step up. It's kind of like the offensive line earlier on and we lost a couple guys and some guys came in and played well. It helped us down the road with the same thing with the wideout. With Davonte's absence, we had to move (Deon-Tay) McManus out there and he played well. Now, we have Davonte coming back this week so we will have more depth there then we ever have. It should help us. He is a good player. McManus has shown us he can play. Craig (Wilkins) has been playing well and (Justin) Hunt, Angelo (Jean-Louis) so we have some depth there now. It should help us down the road.
On the passing game:
Again, we try to do a great job of taking what the defense gives us. We have run the ball better than we ever have. That's part of it. Running the ball well and taking some shots. We just need to continue to take what they are giving us and if it is the intermediate stuff then that is great. At times, defense dictates those shots, by the way they play the press corners and bracket the inside guy and doing some things there. We need to just continue to take what they give us and if it is the underneath stuff then take it or if it is the verticals take it. Just continue to run the ball well and we should be fine.
On players stepping in for each other:
That's huge. Early in camp we had issues in the offensive line. We had to get (A.J.) Addison and (Trevor) Mendelson and all those guys going. Now, Cheese (Blake Brooks) is banged up a little bit and hopefully we will have him back for Southern Miss. Those other guys have stepped in and played well. Cody Collins went in there and played the seven plays that (Michael) Selby missed. Cody went in and played. Selby may have been one of the toughest kids I have ever coached. Going back in and play like he did is amazing on his part. It says a lot about him. Cody Collins went in and played well. So, down the road maybe he can go in and help us. Then with Gary (Thompson) getting banged up, Joe Massaquoi, Armoze Daniel, (Jerome) Dews and those kind of kids had to go in there and play some. They played well.
On Michael Selby:
He missed seven plays total. I never thought he would go back in. He is a tough kid to begin with. If you have to help him off the field then there is something wrong with him. For him to go back in there to play like he did. His ankle did not look good on Sunday morning but he will be fine by the time the game rolls around. He is an extremely, tough, physical kid. That is the kind of attitude that the offensive linemen have right now with (Chris) Jasperse, him, and (Clint) Van Horn and all of those guys. That is why they are playing well because they are extremely tough and they like to play. He played some as a freshman all year long. Very seldom does a freshman play at that position and he did. Now, we have Addison doing the same thing this year. Addison has probably played more to this point than Selby did in the regular season. It's fun to watch.
On recharging the team during bye week:
I told them Sunday, that I want them to feel like a million dollars this coming Sunday. We are going to get some work in this week we have too, but the guys who need to get healthy will get healthy and the guys that need work will get worked. The critical thing is that we get together Sunday and start game preparation that we feel as good as we felt all year. We are going to make sure that happens.
On having a free Saturday:
It gives us a chance to sit back and watch a couple games. We will work Saturday. Coaches will come in and get things done on Saturday that has to get done prior to Sunday's practice. It is good for the kids to get away from us for a Saturday and just sit back and watch games and enjoy themselves a little bit.
On today (10/28/14) being important to the Herd:
I think it is huge. The ESPN All-Access is huge. Anytime you get a 22-minute commercial out there on Marshall University to tell our story and to share our program is great. There are recruits all over the country that watch ESPN and it will be great for our fans. Again, an hour later with (Rakeem) Cato being on Jim Rome is huge. Another national deal. Anytime, we can sell Marshall being out there is great for our program and great for our fan base. It is huge for recruiting. It is great. The (College Football Playoff) ranking is coming out. They don't mean a whole lot right now but it will be fun to watch and see where everybody is. The bottom line is it is where you are five weeks down the road. There is a lot of football left to be played. It is where you are five to six weeks down the road that matters. That is what we have to focus on not what happens tonight.
On being a head coach with ESPN here:
To be honest with you, as the assistant coach, you don't notice quite as much, but as the head coach you try and see the big picture. You worry about distractions and all the little things that head coaches worry about. I thought our kids handled it well. I am glad we don't have to do it again this week or next week. I'm glad it's over. I'm glad that we got it done. It's going to be tremendous. It is going to be tremendous for our program. Like I said, I'm glad we don't have to do it again, but I'm glad we got it done.
On current film sessions:
You can always get better. You're never satisfied. You either get better or you get worse. You never stay the same. We work extremely hard and we can improve in all three areas and all three phases. We have to work hard to get that done. As coaches and players, we can't forget what got us here. We're not 8-0 because we showed up and played, we're 8-0 because we worked hard to get here. We remind these kids today and every day, "Don't forget what got us here. It's hard work, it's preparation, it's going to work every day, and if you forget that, you'll get beat." Our guys have done a good job and our leadership has done a good job of making sure that happens. That's the thing we have to continue to do, we have to get better. We have to get better this week and we have to get better next week, then hopefully keep doing the same thing.
