Marshall University Athletics
Quotes from Doc Holliday's Sept. 23 Press Conference
9/23/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
On this week's practice:
The coaches, we came in Sunday, and cleaned up that Akron game; Chuck, Billy, myself, and J.C. Everyone else is out on the road recruiting. They went out on Sunday, recruited yesterday and today, they will be back tonight. We will start practicing tomorrow and start preparing. We just need to get ourselves better tomorrow. Tomorrow will be like a Thursday practice, Thursday will be like a Tuesday and Friday will be a Wednesday. We will get Saturday off and we will come back Sunday with a full Sunday preparation and get ready for Old Dominion. We will continue to get better as a football team. We cannot get complacent or selfish. We need to make sure we are holding ourselves accountable. If we do that, then we have a chance. I think the open date fell at a good time. I don't think after two weeks an open date does you much good. After four weeks, we have a couple guys who are banged up that can help us and get ready for the next four weeks. So, that will be good.
On what the team needs to do to get better:
I think just continue the way we practice. Our emphasis this week is going to be our younger kids. Antavis Rowe almost played 100 snaps on Saturday. He played almost more than anyone else on the team. He is a true freshman. All of those young players that we are trying to get in the game at times, we need to work on getting them better. At the same time, keep the [Chris] Jasperses and [James] Rouses and all those guys sharp by getting some good work. You hear all the time, you don't stay the same you either get better or worse. It is important that we don't stay the same or get worse but to get better. So, we are going to work on that.
On recruiting:
We have seven guys out. They are going to Florida, California, Georgia, our normal areas. We will probably hit some schools in the local area. We did that at the Rhode Island game. We went out on Friday night. So, we will get out on Friday nights when we have home games.
On recruits' perspectives:
I think that they have a higher opinion of us because, number one, we have great facilities. They are going to walk on campus and see one of the nicer indoor football complexes, new training center, and the hall of fame. We are going to have as nice facilities as anyone in the country when they come here. But they also like to go somewhere that they will be winning. They like the style that we play here on offense, whether it be wide-out, quarterback, or skill guy, I think you will want to play in our offense. Because what we do offensively and defensively is the same deal. Those corners out there like to play man-press and like to get involved in the very aggressive-type defense, which we are. They like our style of play and like winning. When you add the facilities to that it is going to help our recruiting. Marshall has always had tradition. We are not like those new schools who are just now starting football who don't have a lot of tradition. Marshall has had great tradition. I think the difference right now is that all 12 of our games this season are on television. All these kids throughout the country, whether California, Florida, Georgia, they can turn on the T.V. and can watch Marshall, Cato and all those guys play. You add playing pretty well, which we are right now, to that and people talking about us then it definitely going to help us recruit.
On Antavis Rowe:
I didn't see anything from him during the summer. He was trying to figure out how to get to class and where he was going and wasn't doing a very good job doing that. He is a very athletic kid who came back in the fall and surprised me. I didn't think he was as tough as he is. He still has a long ways to go but he is a very talented kid that is going to be a really good player for us. A lot of people compare him to being like [Corey] Tindal. But Tindal was here for a whole year. I think Chuck was surprised at how well he played, but he is going to be a good player for us. He just has to continue to get better as all of those young kids do.
On Rowe improving:
He probably figured he better because he was in such bad shape when he got here. He was having a hard time getting through our workouts here the first couple weeks. He figured he better come back in better shape. He did come back in better shape. He is a good football player who is starting to figure things out. He is going to be a good player for us.
On Brandon Byrd:
He is a really good kid, number one. He is another one of those kids, ever since he's been here, I've never had a memo on my desk, never been an issue with class, and always done everything we've asked him to do. He's a good player. I was very happy to get him in the game. He is a really talented guy who is big, physical, and he is maybe as fast as any of the running backs we have. I was glad to see him get his first touchdown and he was excited. He is only going to get better. The reason we are trying to do what we do is football is a tough game and it is a long season. If you never get those kids in the game, in the fourth quarter, then all of a sudden they have to go play they are not ready to go play. Number one, all of those kids go out there and work extremely hard. So if they get the opportunity to play then they deserve to play. The second thing is all of that is going to help us. Look at the offensive line right now, with Trevor Mendelson and AJ Addison now playing a lot and we get Swede back this week. That offensive line is a whole lot better right now than it was four weeks ago because of the depth and those guys have all played now. You look at Byrd and how he has got his feet wet a little bit and played. As a football coach, especially those freshmen, you are concerned about putting those guys in who haven't had the ball in their hands and haven't been in a game situation. Hyleck Foster now has gone in and caught a punt during an actual game and gone in and made some plays. I now have no reservations about playing him in critical situations. You see all those guys grow up. Deon-Tay McManus is doing a good job on special teams and Ryan Yuracheck has gone in there. I don't think I have ever had this many freshmen. I feel like I had a good football team coming back but now I have seven or eight freshmen that have actually contributed and done a good job for us.
On having a bye after the first four games and then the second as well:
I thought it was a really good. It was perfect. You know, we have a four-week stretch, then catch our breath and get some people healthy, then another four-week stretch and do the same thing. We just have to take them one at a time and play them one at a time. The one thing is those defensive linemen played 30-35 snaps a game. As the season goes on, they are going to be fresh. That is another positive.
On the team's progress:
The thing I'm most proud of is how well they are playing. You turn that film on and watch it, they are physical. They love playing and play extremely hard. I like that part of it. I like the leadership part of it. When you go on the road or when you are home, they don't play any different. They show up and go play. For the most part, we won the turnover margin, which is huge. That was a big factor in the Akron game, because they hadn't turned the ball over all year. Then they turned it over four times against us. That set the tone for that game and it was good. We need to get this penalty thing squared away. We have way too many penalties. Some of those we can control. A lot of that is on us. Every one of those offsides penalties was when we were in an important situation. We probably hadn't worked enough hard counts with those linebackers and all that in a blitz situation where they actually work on it. So, that is on us and we will fix that. Some of those are judgment calls. The rest of them we have to improve in that area. Nothing seems to bother this team, because they are going to play. Angelo Jean-Louis went long against Ohio and these guys find a way to make plays, which is a good thing, but we need to fix that (penalties). There are going to be games in the future that we are going to have to fight our tail off to find a way to win. If we have that many penalties, you are going to struggle with that.
On next two opponents:
We take them one at a time. ODU scores a bunch of points. Their quarterback is really good. I'm anxious to see how Middle will play up there. I'm sure they will play them well.
On keeping the team from becoming complacent:
We spend a lot of time making sure we aren't complacent. When you start feeling too good about yourselves then that is when you get beat. We will continue to remind them of that. I like them being confident. I want a confident bunch out there who feels good about themselves. I think that is a good thing. On the other hand, they have to understand that, with the expectations, comes responsibility. They better go to work every day to get better because if you get complacent then you will get beat.
On the decision of whether to leave in starters late in a game that isn't close:
I think it is more important to get your (backup) players in the game. Number one, if you don't do that then sometime in the year, you may lose a game because of it. If you lose a game because of it, all those style points or whatever they're calling it, aren't going to make a difference anyway. Number one, those kids (backups) deserve to play. Number two, if you have to stick one of those kids in the game down the road, then he has game experience and that he can help you win a game in the future. The important thing is to win games and at the end of the day look up and see where you are. There is no reason that the guys that we put in there can't go in and play well too. Now, they've got to play a little better, but I'm going to continue to play players because they deserve to play. What we've done in the fourth quarter the last couple of weeks is we've slowed down a little bit because I didn't want to put that defense and Rouse and those guys back out there. I guarantee you that you guys (in the media) would've been raising (heck) with me if I put him back out there in the fourth quarter and he had gotten hurt and then I'd be explaining that to you. I think the critical thing is to get those young kids in there and let them play, focus on winning the game. Everything else will work itself out.
On Rakeem Cato:
Every week, I tell Bill (Legg) that he is getting soft because he gives me (Rakeem's) grades. His decision making is unbelievable. He made 78 out of 79 correct decisions. A lot of times you don't see what that kid does out on the field, but he makes a decision on almost every play, whether he runs is, throws it, runs it off, he has just been tremendous at decision-making. There hasn't been one time where he's made a decision to throw the ball and not hand it off when he is supposed to. He is an unselfish guy. I guarantee that he would rather win every game than throw for 400 yards. He could care less about how many yards he throws. He is just concerned about winning. He is just as happy when Remi runs for that touchdown than he is when he throws a touchdown pass. That is what makes him special. He could care less about all of the other stuff. He is only concerned about one thing and that is winning. That is why he makes the decisions he makes and I'm glad he is on our side. We weren't very good up front with him as a sophomore. There were times we had to throw it because we couldn't block anybody. It is just so much different now. I think the biggest thing we do right now is we take what the defense gives us. If we've got to run it we run it, or throw it if we need to. If we have to slow it down and use that 40 second clock, we can do that and still move the football. So, I think we kind of have the best of both worlds right now and we need to continue to do that.
On the need for his players to practice hard during the week:
One thing I have right now is a good football team that no one can hold you hostage. I don't have to play anybody. I have multiple guys at every position. Just "being a gamer" doesn't work around here. You practice the way you play and you practice so hard that the games are easy. That is the way we operate around here. We've got to work every day and practice extremely hard. If you do it on the practice field, then it is going to happen for you on gameday. That is what's happening. There is a reason we are catching those deep balls in the games now with the outside receivers and that is because we have practiced really well since last spring. They continue to do that on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I have always been a firm believer that games are won on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday by the way you prepare and our team does that. If you don't do that then I can't do that to the other guys on the team, just put a guy in there who hasn't prepared the right way because it will get you beat. I won't do that.
