Marshall University Athletics
Quotes from Doc Holliday's Sept. 16 Press Conference
9/16/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
On upcoming game:
Captains for this week are [Chris] Jasperse and [Rakeem] Cato on offense and [Corey] Tindal and [Neville} Hewitt on defense. All of those guys played extremely well and are looking forward to their leadership this week. As we all know, this Akron team has won five out of its last seven. I spent time with Terry Bowden, at one time, and he has been very successful wherever he has been. He is a tremendous coach. I also have spent five years with Chuck Amato so I know what kind of coach he is. I know that they will be well-coached and they will be extremely physical. Terry has done a good job at upgrading that roster there. They will be the most athletic team that we have played today. Their quarterback, [Kyle] Pohl, is where it starts. He does a great job. They should have beat Michigan at Michigan last year. They played Penn State down to the wire. So, they are an excellent football team. We are going to have to make sure we have a great week of practice and preparation before we head up there to Akron this week. So, that's where we are.
On Pohl [Akron quarterback]:
He's a guy who can beat you with his feet. He can make all of the throws. He's a returning starter who got hurt a little bit a year ago, but whenever he played they did extremely well. He can make all of the throws and get himself out of trouble. He's a typical quarterback that we have seen over the last three weeks, who can beat you with his feet.
On MU defense:
Akron's doing a lot of the same things. I heard Terry talk about it in one of his press conferences, wanting to have the ability to throw the ball, but they are doing a lot more run-pass options this year than what they have done, which with our defense, we have been able to stay pretty balanced. Again, our offense is doing a good job at taking what the defense is giving them.
On knowing Chuck Amato and Terry Bowden:
When Chuck was at NC State, he was strictly a man free and four down guy. He has changed a little bit. They are multiple defensively, now, which kind of surprised me. They are more three down and four down but they are not strictly man free coverage, like he was at State. He is more corner coverage. The one thing I know about Chuck's defense is that they will be physical and play extremely hard. They are really athletic. Like I mentioned before, they have done a really good job on upgrading that talent. They have a couple D lineman there, one from Ohio State and a couple who have transferred in there. So, they will be a great challenge for us.
On Jatavis Brown [Akron linebacker]:
He was a receiver at Belle Glade. He played wide and he can run it. If you turn film on, he will run sideline to sideline. He is extremely fast and a good player.
On MU preparing for Akron after a big win:
Win or lose, you have to put the game behind you. One thing I reminded them on Sunday was that Virginia Tech was feeling pretty good about themselves after the Ohio State game and they turned around and East Carolina came in there and beat them. Southern Cal, they were talking about winning the national championship and they go to BC and get beat the following week. If you don't put those wins behind you and move on to the next one then you will get beat. I've met with the leadership committee and our kids need to understand that if we don't go to work today and go to work tomorrow then we aren't going to win on Saturday. We need to get better as a football team because Akron is a surely a good team.
On how important the Akron win would be:
All wins are big. Anytime you go on the road and win, it's huge. It's huge because it's the next game. It's game number four. We have a bye week after this, but we have to put all of our focus and all of our effort into this week.
On Davonte Allen and Angelo Jean-Louis:
I don't think there is any question that we didn't get the production on the outside a year ago, and it hurts. It's kind of amazing offensively that we were able to do it a year ago without that threat on the outside. It has helped with Tommy [Shuler], our tight ends and our running game. Anytime that you can stretch the field out there. The one thing that Ohio tried to do was to still play one on one on the outside and we took advantage of that. We were able to get huge production. If those guys can continue to make plays on the outside then we will be fine and it will help us overall as an offense, whether it be Tommy or the running game.
On receiving corps:
Overall it has been the best since I have been here, there's no question. Also, Hyleck Foster did some good things and he is going to be a good player, too. I like where we are now, we just have to continue to get better."
On having a complete offense:
I don't think there is any question that it is. Devon Johnson brings a physicality to that [running back] position. Chris Barclay has done a tremendous job with it. Not only with Devon, but with Stew [Butler] and Remi [Watson] in there. They are doing a better job with picking up blitzes. They are all more complete running backs than they have been since I have been here."
On Devon Johnson's production/wide receiver position:
I knew he would bring stability to that position. He's a guy there that I can totally trust. I knew he would bring some physicality to it. He rubs off on the other guys at that position. That meeting room is a fun room to go into right now. He's been good for Stew and Remi. It's been the same way with the wideouts. You send in a player like Angelo Jean-Louis, a guy that all of a sudden starts making plays, and it's contagious. There's no doubt we're better overall at both of those positions.
On playing on the road:
I think a lot of that is we are better personnel-wise. A couple of years ago, we weren't very good at home or on the road. I've always believed that when you go on the road, leadership is critical. I think this year and last year, we have better leadership than we've had before. I think when you go on the road, toughness is extremely critical, mentally and physically. The one thing I really like about our football team right now, is that we have been, physically, a tough football team the last three weeks. That will be critical this week, because I know Akron will be extremely physical. Our guys like going into the arenas and playing away, and I think that helps. I think we're better in all of those areas, but I also think we have better players and are a better overall team than we have been in previous years.
On preparing for the next game:
There are people who say you learn from losing, but I never believed that. I never learned anything from losing, other than not to do it again. I think when you win, you feel good about yourself. It's easier to go to work. Everything is a whole lot better, even attitudes are better. There's no question that winning helps.
On varying game tempo:
On Saturday [Ohio], it was a conscious effort. I didn't want to put the defense back out there. We were playing some younger kids and I didn't want to put the [James] Rouse's and those guys back out there. In the fourth quarter, we made a conscious effort to use the clock with Gunnar [Holcombe] and those guys in there. I think we ran 86 gradable plays, but we could've run 100. If we hadn't slowed it down in the fourth quarter like we did, we would've run over 100 plays. It was good to see that we could make a conscious effort and do that (slow it down) on Saturday, and still be able to move the football. We're trying to have the ability to do both. From a head coach's perspective, my job is to try to manage the game and not have to put the Rouse's and those guys back out there. At that point, I knew the game was over, and that Akron is an important game to get ready for. I wanted to go into that game with a healthy Rouse, Jermaine [Holmes], [Evan] McKelvey, [Darryl Roberts], and those guys. So I made a conservative effort to slow the game down at that point. Having the ability to do both helps us and our production.
On limiting turnovers:
It's critical. Our number one deal offensively is to take care of the football. I thought we did that. To be honest with you, the interception was on us coaches, not the players. We didn't do a good job. But with that being said, I thought our guys worked extremely hard on it last week. They did a good job taking care of the ball.
On coaching with Chuck Amato:
I've known him forever. We recruited against each other for 20+ years down in South Florida. He always recruited South Florida and I did too. So we have known each other and had a lot of battles. He ended up hiring me when he took the NC State job and I enjoyed working for Chuck. He's a tremendous coach and a great recruiter. We had some great players at NC State. We had Philip Rivers and first round draft pick Mario Williams, Manny Lawson. We had some really good players over that five-year stint, and won a bunch of games. Any time you are winning, going to bowls, and having success, it's good to be in this business. That was a good five years.
On playing collegiately at WVU with Terry Bowden:
He always talks about the fishing, but I don't think I ever lost to Terry in anything (laughing). I'm just kidding. Terry was always a guy, similar to what I was. Terry was a guy that was an overachiever. Neither of us were very athletic, we had to work for whatever we got. That's just the way it was. He was no different. He worked extremely hard to play there, as I did. He went on and had great success everywhere he's been. He's a really good football coach that has done a tremendous job at all of his stops.
On Mendelson:
He was tremendous. He and Addison both have played really well. The offensive line is such a developmental position. Five years ago, I never would've thought Mendelson would've ever played. What he's done is a tremendous tribute to him. It shows you that hard work pays off, especially at that position. You can develop and become a player there. We didn't miss a beat with him in there. The great thing about him is that he can help us at tackle or at guard. He can pop in a lot of places. Once we get Swede [Sebastian Johansson] back 100% and with Addison playing well, that is going to help us down the road with depth.
On Akron:
I hear that their new stadium is tremendous and that they have great facilities. Thank goodness we have great facilities here now too. You go around to some of these conferences and the facilities they have are unbelievable. I've heard Akron's facilities are second to none. It's going to be a great place to play and I'm sure a great environment.
