Rutgers Football Media Day Quotes
Aug 09 | Football
Opening statement:
“I’m excited about 2010, this version of Rutgers football. It’s always interesting at this time of year when it all lies ahead of you. I think if you’re not excited now, then you really have problems.
I think this group of guys is a group that is very focused and committed to what we’re doing. We’re young but that’s not an excuse, it’s more of just a statement of how many years we’ve had guys playing college football. We have experienced young guys in some areas then we have some not so experienced guys. At the end of the day in college football, you line up and you play. We all know it doesn’t really matter with guys leaving for the NFL early and things like that. I’m looking forward there but we have a lot of work before we can consider doing that. We have a long way to go before we can even go out and compete in football games, we have to learn more. So right now, we’re just trying to do that and hopefully with two practices down and 27 more to go we, don’t run out of time before we have to go out and compete against another team. “
Satisfied with the how the team’s looked in the first two practices
“Satisfied is always a tough word for a coach. I’m happy with our attitude, I’m happy with the energy level we brought out. Our execution certainly leaves a lot to be desired but again, be realistic of where we are in camp. We’re heading in the right direction.”
On state of program heading into 10th season
“Without a doubt it’s a lot different. Just look around, everywhere you drive, everywhere you go, the awareness and the visibility of Rutgers football is at a totally different level. It certainly isn’t the level that we’re going to get to but it’s definitely a lot better than where we were. We said when we started that we weren’t going to take shortcuts and we’ve lived up to that. I’m sure some people might say “hey, I wish you would take a few, we’d like to get there faster” but that’s not what we’re going to do. We going to do it the right way and we are going to get there or I wouldn’t still be standing here.”
Do you have an Idea of how many true freshmen have the chance to play?
“Not really. I think with two days and no pads, it’s hard to tell. We’ll throw the pads on tomorrow [Monday]; at least the uppers and we’ll start banging a bit. Two freshmen that I really think are skilled guys, pulled up yesterday [Saturday] with hamstrings. I don’t know what their availability will be [Monday]. I think it’s going to be a little bit later to figure out. We have some good depth across the board, offensively and defensively, so for the young guys to play, they are really going to have to fit into the puzzle and have a skill set that we don’t have.”
On Steve Shimko’s status and how it affects the battle for the backup QB position
“Well Chas has just jumped right in and started taking reps with the twos and I think he’s done a good job. A really good job actually. For a young guy, he’s grasp this stuff pretty quickly in two days. He hasn’t seen a pass rush yet, he’s been throwing essentially seven-on-seven but I have a funny feeling he’s going to do fine.”
On how Tom Savage has handled the heightened expectations
“So far, so good. I think he’s handled it very well. Tom’s a levelheaded guy. I think that’s one of his strengths at the quarterback position. He never gets too high, never gets too low. Hopefully, he can take that attitude into his off the field situation now and as he gets better and better, that exposure will only grow more and more. As I tell our guys all the time, you are one interception away from being the goat again. That’s the way college athletics and pro athletics go. Take it in stride, don’t get too high and don’t get too low.
On penalties facing some college football programs and if there are temptations to take shortcuts
“I think it’s all the individuals. Not for us because that’s our core values, that’s what we believe in. Are we perfect? No. As I said earlier this week when someone was asking me, it’s a dangerous thing to stand up and say we do it this way. Right now we have 105 players in training camp, a bunch of coaches and staff, myself and you’re one bad decision from being in that newspaper or being on that blog. We can’t dictate behavior, I can’t and our coaches can’t but we can certainly educate and that’s what we try to do around here. We try to educate our players because they are smart guys. We try to educate them to the bad consequence that come when you make mistakes and we try to educate them also to the favorable outcomes that you’ll see if you do things right. It’s working pretty well but you never know. You’re always one bad decision away.”
On the two freshmen with injured hamstrings and Joe Martinek
“Gareef [Glashen] and Casey Turner. I don’t think they’re real bad but I haven’t yet met with (Head Athletic Trainer) Dave [McCune] so we’ll figure that out later. Joe went well through individual and then he got tired. We really want to be smart there and bring him back little by little. The individual work was like the first part of his rehab.”
On young wide receivers
“[The freshmen] are all in the mix right now because even the guys they’re competing with are young. Mark Harrison has been here a year, Quron Pratt has been here a year, [Keith] Stroud has been here two. We don’t have an elder statesman really so they’re all in the mix until they play their way out.”
On Steve Shimko’s injury
“[Steve] Shimko actually came into camp with this injury. His status, I don’t really know because he can’t throw right now, he’s getting closer but if you can’t throw, it’s hard to play quarterback.”
On Kordell Young’s progress
“Kordell [Young] is an integral part of what we want to do this year and if he can’t play, that’s going to hurt us. We’re going to do it step by step. He’s probably getting about 40 percent of the work right now in practice and we’re nursing him back little by little. We want to make we have him ready to go come opening game. If he can be our third-down back to start with, he’s the best there is, that we’ve had here in a long time at that. If he can work his way into more than that, that would be great. He is an exceptional back when he’s healthy. It’s just been unfortunate he hasn’t been healthy for a few years.”
On kicking game/special teams
“We need to be better. I thought we were decent last year, now you have guys that both come back. One of the nice things when you line up to do a PAT field goal or you line up to do your punt team and those guys are experienced, they’ve been there. So we need to make sure that we improve that experience because we’ve been there otherwise it’s for not.”
On recruiting
“Recruiting is going well, I’m not allowed to comment on specific prospects but I really like the guys that are committed to us right now. Certainly we need to make sure we hold on to those guys and there’s a few more we would like to get in the boat. We believe in recruiting what we call the ‘State of Rutgers’ and that’s that three-four hour circle around our campus and there are a lot of reasons for it. The biggest one is you develop relationships and hopefully make fewer mistakes.
It could be Kirk Ciarrocca in eastern Pennsylvania who has been recruiting that area for 20 years. When he goes into a high school, he gets the straight skinny whether it’s from the guidance counselor, the coach, the cafeteria worker, whoever it is, he knows those people and that’s a huge advantage. We’re blessed that in that three-four hour circle, there’s so many really fine football players that are good students as well that can succeed at Rutgers academically, and we’ll always recruit the state of Florida. Now, we done some things elsewhere, Chas [Dodd] is from South Carolina, San San [Te] is from North Carolina, Teddy [Dellaganna] is from California but those are kind of specialty situations that we go with a need or if there’s a Rutgers connection. Other than that, we’re going to recruit those same areas and continue to build and strengthen those relationships.
The other thing about recruiting that area is you get a certain type of guy. This area, our region right around here is a tough area. If you can make it in this area, you can pretty much make it anywhere. I like coaching those types of kids. I think our team, the way we play and the product you see on the field parallels the kind of people that live in this area.”
On increasing the speed of the players in the program
“We put a huge premium on speed, there’s no doubt about that. Speed is it. But what I’d like is to get bigger and bigger and continue to have that speed. I think that’s where we’re headed, 10 years into this thing. You look at our front guys, we’re not huge yet but we’re not miniature either like we were at one point. Our linebackers, we’re not huge, but we’re a good size linebacker corp. When you look at Manny [Abreu], Steven [Beauharnais] and Antonio [Lowery], those are pretty good sized college linebackers and we can run still. In our secondary, you look at Joe [Lefeged] and Khaseem [Greene], those are big safeties, muscular and they can run.
Our goal is to continually recruit that speed but hopefully get a little bit bigger each year and eventually have a big fast football team.”
On the use of the fullback position
“We mix it up. We’ll do it some with the tight end and some with the fullback. I think that’s a good mix and we like where we are with that. Schematically it gives you some flexibility as well.”
On impressions of training camp and any players that standout
“It’s so early still, two practices. Overall, I think what’s impressed me is the energy level and the ownership that the older guys have taken. I have not really had to raise my voice, very much at all. I think before I can get on it, a Charlie Noonan, Jonathan Freeny, or Tom Savage or Art Forst, Howard Barbieri, they have already taken care of it. If that can continue, that will be huge.”
On the impact of the success of Ray Rice and other Rutgers players in the NFL
“Certainly overall, the emergence of Rutgers players in the National Football League is another sign that the program is going where you want it to go. I think we may have had three or four active guys in the National Football League 10 years ago and now we have over 30. Not all of them are first and second round picks like Ray [Rice], Anthony [Davis] and Kenny [Britt] but that is almost something that we are even more proud of. When your sixth round, seventh round and free agent guys make the team ‘Why are they making that team?’ We like to think that they’ve been prepared physically, mentally and emotionally. Whether it’s the coaching, whether it’s maturity or whether it’s downstairs with (Head strength and conditioning coach) Jay Butler. I think it’s a testament to coach Butler and his staff when you look out in the parking lot in the middle of February and all those NFL guys are back here training. They’re certainly not here for the balmy weather in February but they’re here because they believe in what Jay and his staff can do for them so we are proud of that.
I go to the beach down there in Delaware and a lot of Ravens are down there. I can’t tell you how many approach me and just raved about the person [Ray] is. They saw him at a mall or a fan appreciation day. Ray seems to really understand how to treat people and I think that’s going to serve him along the way. He sure did do it here too. He’s got a loyal fan base back here at Rutgers and in New York, New Jersey that’s still very strong.”
On walk-on program
“Some of the walk-ons that are here with us now we officially visited. We’ve proven at Rutgers that whoever gives us the best chance to win is going play, doesn’t matter if you’re a walk-on, on scholarship, where you’re from. All that stuff doesn’t matter. You don’t have to look much further than up the road at Shaun O’Hara or out in Indy with Gary Brackett. We’ve had so many of our captains that have been walk-ons. Guys know they have a shot here if they come here and perform. Again, we live in an area where there are so many good football players and a lot of these walk-ons are really fine students that understand the importance of a Rutgers education and I think that serves us well also.
On teams conditioning during training camp
“I think we’re right where we need to be. I do think that there are maybe three or four guys that didn’t do everything that they were supposed to do. They’re close to being made up, should we say. Our expectation levels don’t go away so if you don’t make your test or make your weight, then you’re going to suffer during camp because you still have to do it. It’s not a lot o fun having to practice and do that test so they get it. The reality is, that serves you over time. Ten years into this thing, I think coach Butler and his staff has set the expectation line really high and requires you get there.”
On impact of his longevity and stability at Rutgers in his 10th year
“I like to think it has a strong impact. People tell you not to pick a school based on the coach because he might leave. The reality is, that coach sets the culture and what you’re going to be at that program, it’s so critical. If your core values don’t align with that coach, I don’t care what school it is, you’re going to struggle. I think families, parents and prospects know that ‘hey, this guy is going to be here God willing”. If they agree with what we’re doing, they feel a connection, well then at least they know what to anticipate for their college career. Where as in some places, how do you know? I guess you never really know 100 percent but I think as far as this game goes in college football, Rutgers is as good a bet as there is.”
