Greg Schiano Press Conference Quotes 11/5/07
Nov 05 | Football
Opening Statements:
"Health-wise, Jeremy Zuttah came out of it. Each week he's getting a little bit better, which is good, but he's still hurting, and he's playing through it on game day and practicing through it later in the week. Mike Teel's thumb is sore, I don't know how much he'll do today, but I think as the week progresses he'll be better. And then other than that it's mostly bumps and bruises, I think by the end of the week we'll be ready to go. We have to be smart, certainly, we're going to go out and practice today, a little quicker than we normally do."
On the status of freshman LB Manny Abreu:
"We have some great news, Manny is not going to need surgery. The same problem with his hip that was keeping him from playing is still present. Only rest is going to heal it. He was trying to do more, and that may be one of the reasons he got bumped, because he's not able to do more, so I think we're just going to lay low with him for a while."
On the psyche of the team:
"The team is going to be fine. We have a lot of good young players, we have enough senior leadership to get us through, we're going to work hard this week and we're going to go out and play our best game of the year."
On playing Jabu Lovelace at quarterback:
"We are going to see how Mike Teel progresses during the week. If he practices and we feel he gives us the best chance to win, then Mike is going to be the guy who plays. Jabu's role keeps continuing to grow, and that's not going to change, he's doing a great job. Will it grow to where he will do more of the throwing and quarterback things, quite possibly. We have to let that unfold, a lot of that will have to do with Mike's health, because I think Mike has been throwing the ball pretty well, but we have to temper that with Mike's health situation."
On Jabu Lovelace's ability to throw the ball:
"That's been better for a long time. The play [against Connecticut] that you are referring to is a specialty play, it's not a real drop back pass, so I don't think you can judge him on that. He's throwing the ball well, he'll be fine. If he gets more passing, he'll be good."
On the Rutgers defense the last two games:
"We are just a little bit off. I have a feeling that's all going to get straightened out. We've just been a little bit off. It's not a single guy, otherwise you remedy that by making an adjustment on depth. I don't think it's a big schematic issue, although every game you come out saying I wish we had done this or I wish we had done that, really it's more just being a little bit off, different guys being a little bit off at different times. And when you're playing the best teams, being a little bit off can be exposed sometimes. When you don't intercept the ball twice right about on the 12 yard line, that's what burns in my mind. Those are plays we usually make. When you intercept those balls, just like in the Navy game, then the scoring opportunity is over, and away we go. When you don't, it's the flip side of that."
On the team missing running back Kordell Young:
"I think quite a bit, I said that when he went down. Because you have Ray Rice, and you have the receivers, and remember when he went down we were cooking pretty good. People kind of just passed over it, but I didn't. He was one of our best punt-block guys. When you talk about a guy like Young, we block punts without him, but we would block more if he were here. But everyone has [injuries]. I've heard from people that some teams are having atrocious injury problems. We have been blessed, I mean everyone has bumps and bruises, and Mike's thumb is banged up, but at least the majority of our guys are playing. There are a lot of different reasons why teams get out of whack, but I am confident we'll get it back on track."
How the coaches determine the depth chart:
"Every position is evaluated every day. That's what we do, we come off the practice field, get something to eat, and watch tape for two or three hours. That's practice tape, and we just evaluate every single play. For a guy to lose the starting job, it can't be even. There's a reason he established himself as a starter. But if a guy plays over him, then it doesn't matter if he's starting around here for a long time. It doesn't matter how long you've been starting, once you've been evaluated you're not the guy."
On starting Alex Silvestro ahead of Jamaal Westerman:
"I think Jamal ended up playing just as many plays as Alex. That's the way it is on the defensive line. Some positions are not like that. I think Jamaal played better, I thought Alex played well. Jamal had that right, we'll see how practice goes this week, and maybe Alex will have that right [to start]."
Evaluating his job as coach this year:
"I think I've done a better job with the x's and o's this year than I ever have. I think our entire coaching staff has as well. So I don't think it's the x's and o's. I think it's, for whatever reason, not being able to reach down inside a young man and pull out what needs to be pulled out. I've tried to do more that, and I'm trying to do more of that, it doesn't just change over night. As a coach, you look at your plans, you say hey that's good stuff, and when it doesn't work, you say I guess it wasn't that good. I haven't done that. I've looked at it and said it's good stuff, we just haven't gotten it done. Some of it is youth. Young players who don't know the urgency it takes to win at the highest level of college football. You are as much a psychologist as you are a football coach. Trying to figure out what is most important for this year's team. Every year the team is different. Sometimes you read it right, sometimes you don't read it right, but you have to keep trying, and that's what I'm doing."
On any frustration he feels:
"Any frustration I'm part of. I'm not frustrated at them, I'm frustrated with them. Any coach who stands up and says 'they're not,' well that 'they' is also you. So I am frustrated with myself. I'm frustrated as a head coach I have not been able to pull it out of our program. All I know it's not going the way I want, and I have to keep examining to find out, and that's what I do. I enjoy doing that, you ask why I am confident today, and sometimes it's just a feel that this group is going to go out. I've put more pressure on us, because I've said that we're going to do it."
On Army:
"Army definitely presents a challenge. They are an improved football team. They have won some tight games, you know they have won two overtime games. I think, as you watch their tape, you see them getting better. It's a new head coach, new coaching staff, some of the same, some new, you can see them getting more comfortable every week. Defensively they present some issues, they do some different things. They are a four down front, but they play a bunch of different combo coverages underneath, and if you're not used to seeing it, it can really make it tough on a quarterback and receivers. Offensively, you're playing an NFL offense, the things they do, which makes sense because these are NFL guys. It's a challenge schematically, so we're gearing up, trying to do our best. It'll be a challenge from an x's and o's standpoint. Personnel wise, they are playing awfully hard. Their quarterback [Carson Williams] is a very consistent performer, he's accurate. Their wide receiver Jeremy Trimble is as good as we've played, he's a special player, we have to know where he is at all times. Their fullback Mike Viti is a wrecking machine. He is as physical a fullback as we've seen in a long time. Then defensively they swarm the football. Defensive lineman Ted Bentler is a transfer from Iowa, he's a very active football player. It's going to be a tough challenge, going up there on a short week, on Friday night, at their home. It's going to be a challenge, but one that we are excited about. Really it's about us. No disrespect to anyone, but we have to get ourselves right. If we do that, we have a chance against anyone in the country. And we're going to."
On how Rutgers needs to play:
"We don't need a fast start or a slow start, we need to just go out, practice well this week, and get doing what we do. I want to feel god at the end of this week of practice about what we've done, and we don't have a lot of it, so we have to make sure that what we do is smart."
