Opening Statement:
“I appreciate you guys coming here, it’s been a couple of days to reflect on what we need to do from an adjustment standpoint for our team. We had a great team dinner with our coaches’ families and kids last night to understand that we’re all behind them and we’re ready to go for this week and be competitive in our game coming up.”
On how guys responded after Saturday’s game and attending team dinner:
“The purpose of that dinner, I’ve always had Sunday night dinner in my family since I was a little kid and that’s an important part to celebrate the successes we’ve had during the week and that’s my dinner table and also to go over things we need to work on. Last night I thought our coaches had brought all of their families and kids and spent time with our kids in here to also know that when things don’t go right, we’re all here for you. Of course we want the celebration part and everybody celebrates with our closest family, and that’s the biggest thing I’m trying to promote with our kids. I love their fight, I love what they’re going to give me and that they know that they’re supported from outside and our coaches’ families and everybody else, so that was a great thing we did on the training table. We had about 170 people in that area and we shared a dinner for about 45 minutes, we did not talk football at all. It’s everything else besides football and our kids enjoyed it.”
On thoughts on quarterback Emory Jones’ performances moving forward:
“There wasn’t a thought, to me it was responsibility, maybe simplify what he needs to do. Maybe we’re too complicated, so we’ll take that as a coaching staff making sure he’s comfortable with what we’re asking him to do, especially against a former opponent like Utah. Maybe we were asking too much in regards to schematics in the game, but we’ll take it. I never had any thought of changing a quarterback, he’s my guy and I’m going to roll with him. Every time he came off the field, I could see his head was down, he wants it so bad and sometimes we gotta take a step back and see what matters to him, what is he seeing on the field? Those conversations are conversations that we’ll have on the sideline but I’m going to roll with Emory and he knows that I have his back as well. ”
On injured players returning and others currently out:
“I think a lot of them are expected back, it’s day by day. But I think they’re expected back. How I look at it, everybody says the next man up and from a preparation standpoint, anybody that is in that second or third sport needs to prepare like they’re starters because they’re only one play away from being that guy. I thought Isaiah Johnson did a great job, he had his moments that were mistakes, young mistakes they were young mistakes that he made. He had guys on a couple of plays, but overall he gave everything that he got. He made some great plays on some pass breakups and tackled them on fourth down. So I’m happy with that knowing those guys are in the second, third and fourth string are preparing like they are starters and that gives me a lot of satisfaction. However, I do think that we’ll be ready with our guys back, I’m going to get a prognosis today from a medical standpoint on where those guys are on a medical one.
On absence of Kejuan Markham and Keon Markham:
“It’s a personal situation that I’m going to keep them away from the team for right now, it’s just something personal for both of them. I think it’s hard for them in regards to the coaching change, so we’ve been talking however.”
On areas where player development is needed and finding balance based on opponent:
“I think there’s deficiencies on all levels in the game in all three areas that we can work on. A big deficiency I see right now is our third down conversion on offense, staying ahead of the chains on offense. I went over with them yesterday, I thought they worked their butts off on first and second down to get into long situations on third down, nine of them. They were successful only two of the nine times, so they got to a point where they’re putting themselves in the situation for third and seven and longer and we did not defend that. So, we’re taking the three down mentality– how do we get off the field in three downs? So, don’t work the first two and relax a moment and have a third down and then converting. We all know and everybody in the world knows that the passing game scheme after the chains on third down, that’s where it’s gonna be. So, how do we from a football intelligence help our kids understand where they gotta be from whatever schematic that we come up with? But those are things that we need to work on. I thought again we need attention to detail on a lot of things. We had a couple of moments that I thought from a schematic standpoint our guys didn’t understand from a protection standpoint where things are coming from that we need to make sure we change up. But there’s a lot of stuff from an in-game perspective that we are paying attention to detail, I’m giving our guys more meeting time for teaching. I think that’s a correction, sometimes we only have a certain amount of time to make those corrections but it’s important for us to go back and make those corrections and teach more than having more plays on the field without going and reflecting on that part of it. So I’m holding our coaches accountable to make sure they’re concise in meetings and making sure that corrections are made so kids understand what they’re doing wrong and not letting those things go on and on. It’s a day by day process which we talk about stacking the days and those days are stackable wins, did we win in the media room? Did it transition to the field at practice? Did we make the corrections from the day before and we’re not making the same mistakes that happened the day before? All of those things are stackable days, now it is a process because I really feel kids are kids and their attention span is small and how do we keep their attention span where they can translate whatever they’ve learned from the media room and walkthroughs and translate from there on to the field. Sometimes it takes longer for some and they’re learning styles are different and some guys are not just visual learners, they’re kinesthetic learners who have to walk through the process and so I need to make sure that our coaches are taking the best approach for our guys to learn from an intelligence standpoint what the game is about.”
On Nesta Jade Silvera’s performance and motor:
“I think, especially the interior guys, the guys that are successful, they have motors. Every single player. It's funny that you say that … yesterday in our team meeting, he is an individual that I called out, because not only not only was he playing terrific in the meeting at halftime, at the end of the game, five minutes at the end of the game, he was always passing on that positive message to all of our kids. So he was successful on the field. And then he was successful getting our kids together. That took a lot because he's a transfer guy. And so that took a lot of for him. And I'm a guy that watches … the kids call me the ninja because I'm always watching … I'm always around watching. But he did a great job. And so I made sure that everybody knew that. And now, the bad part about it for him is I'm going to ask him to expand on that every single day and how does he hold himself accountable to do that all the time? It's that motor and then his leverage. He has great leverage and plays with that leverage and because I think from a height standard, he's a little bit shorter, but you know, he's a rock in that middle that can play the two defenders at one time, nobody sees motor and effort that will get him to the to the quarterback and make tackles for losses on running backs as well.”
On involving Emory in the offense & designed runs:
“I think we saw a little bit of it when he started the second half. We're learning as well. Coach Glen Thomas is learning what I want as well. And for for me to be involved in in the passing game, I think it goes back to playing basketball, if you can’t make that outside shot, then you have to make sure we drive through to make a layup. And so if we can't get the passing game started, then I'm gonna get you involved somewhere else that you can be effected from a confidence level and for our productivity with our team. And so we're learning, he's learning for me as well. But I'm going to use him in any way that I can to win football games and be productive and stay ahead of the change, especially on first. I’d like to see more protected design runs for him. Because we need to protect him as well.”
On Daniyel Ngata’s kick returning:
“He came up to me at the beginning of the season, and he said, ‘Coach, I'm a kick returner, I need to do more’. And I said, ‘here's the deal, DJ Taylor is back there right now. You be consistent, you do everything right, you you'll have an opportunity to compete for that. He's competed for that and won the job. And so I always make sure that those guys understand every job is up for competition. Whoever gets the job done. I think potential … he needs to fire me. I mean, that's just the way I feel. If you if you plan on potential, I think that you're getting yourself in trouble. And so he's done the job. He's the guy. Now I'm asking him to be more of a part of the offense and be a complement to X (Valladay) as well. So he has a lot on his plate. For the first time coming off the field. He is so intrinsically competitive, that he's hard on himself most a lot of the time. When he came off the field, even though that we weren't in victory at the end of the field, he came off with a smile that I haven't seen for a long time. And so I got him he's all in.”
On finding the real character of the team:
“It all starts with me. You know, I told them yesterday, I'm going to be the rock for them. It is gonna be hard. This is the hardest week because now the honeymoon stage of that first week is over. How do I keep that intensity? How do I inspire how to win? They don't see the outcome the way they do. And kids always go back to what they're what they're used to. How do I keep them motivated and going and that's a job for myself. Our kids have been incredible in regards to that. We're speaking the same language. We're talking about stacking days. We're talking about 1% of their so last week, we were 4% better because we stack for these. I'm going to stack tomorrow practice and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday will make us 8% better. How do we get better every day where that outcomes going to finally fall in our way. I was talking to Jeremy walking down … this game is a game of inches. I showed a clip last last night to the kids of Timarcus Davis in the endzone on fourth down, the ball went off of his fingertips, and that could have been an interception. And they caught it and got a touchdown. So it's a game of inches that could go either way. The ball didn't fall in our place. So we are right there. Now when you stack these good things will come. And so that's the message that I'm giving to them. And I told them, just be Be careful because I will be relentless every single day. And so you got to understand where I'm coming from and they bought in now they're going to be some pushback. They will be pushed back. Absolutely. But how do I inspire them to to follow me and follow our coaching staff. That's something that I feel that I do pretty well.”
On recruiting in the state of Arizona:
“I don't think anything new, I think the excitement because I was there. And like I said, I will personally go and recruit Arizona. We had as many kids on the sideline for unofficial visits that we've ever had. And I personally wanted to make sure that I get up to every single one of the guys that I think can help us immediately next year. Guys that I paid close attention to and let them know that I want them … as the head coach I want them. And I think from a personal standpoint, it comes differently from a position coach than from the head coach. And I will personally make sure that I recruit that I will be out on every Friday night recruiting. And on Thursday night, we’ll go to the schools that we did not hit. But I'll do all my part in getting out there. When we land in at USC, I'll take the kids to the Coliseum to have a little walkthrough. But then I'll go jump in a car and I'm going to go recruit. And so those are the things that they need to make sure to know: I'm out there recruiting them personally.”
On matching up against USC:
“They’re a very athletic team, there is one player who’s doing really well and we wish him the best as he’s a linebacker who left us. I understand the athleticism and I’ve always had a great relationship with Eric Gentry and I wish him the best and they have to do what’s best for him. I believe that we can take the athleticism and because sometimes athleticism leads to un-foundational play. We need to make sure that our details are done and taken care of and we play good, solid, foundational football. We’ll see how that goes. They’re athletic, every team you face is going to be athletic in the Pac-12 so what gives us the edge is making sure we’re fundamentally sound in the things that we do.”
On being settled in the job and if changes have been made:
I’m in a learning process too and I’m going to make changes every single day, suttle changes that I think will help our team. Is there changes “yes” but I want to make sure our coaches and kids are on their toes all the time. I don’t believe in doing the same thing over and over all the time. There has to be a sudden chaos a little bit. The harder the practice, and that’s what I want to make sure of, will help make the game easier. I want ot make sure Tuesday practice, Wednesday practice and Thursday practice has to be harder than what we see come Saturday. So those are the changes that I’ve made. Will it change? ‘yes”. But I’m never satisfied with things and if I see something that needs to be changed, I have no hesitation in changing. It might not be popular with some coaches, players or the fans but if it needs to be done I’ll do it.”
On Performance & Potential gap within the team:
“I think from a talented standpoint I think we have the potential, but from a detailed oriented standpoint, I don’t think we’re not performing at the level where we should be. Now, hopefully we close that gap. I don't think we’ll ever get to a point where I think we’ll be perfect, I just don’t believe in that and i’ll always find something. But are we underperforming at the level we should? I think so based on our talent level. So how do i go about every day implementing something to get us toward closing that gap. That ‘yeah coach we’re working on that’. I want to make sure that every kid plays up to their potential every single play and how do I get that? I got them to play every play based upon the effort they gave me and I was happy with the effort because there’s no quit in them. Now it’s the potential of doing things right all the time on plays and doing your job. That’s the hard part. I’ll make sure we close that gap until we play up to our potential.
On keeping the game close vs. USC:
“From a defensive standpoint we want to make sure the offense is off the field. But from an offensive standpoint we need to make sure we control the time. We need to make sure we’re moving the ball effectively and to control the time as well. Whenever you have a high powered offense you want to make sure that their not on the field. They don’t get rhythm, they don’t make those big plays to put you back so you don’t play catch-up the whole time. From an offensive standpoint how do we find ourselves getting those 10-to-11 play drives to keep the offense off the field so they don’t get into rhythm. That’s going to be our focus this week, how do we move the chains. I don’t care how we move the chains, but how effective are we on first down to stay ahead of the chains and how are we keeping them off balanced on second and third down so we keep on moving the chains. I’m a guy that will be aggressive on fourth down if we have to. Those decisions all affect me making sure that USC is not on the field from an offensive standpoint.