Bowling Green Falcons College Football Pregame Quote, 10/18/2021

When it comes to a Sunday or Monday after a loss, do you look at where a team like NIU falls in the rankings and then compare it, or is close not good enough for you guys?

No, obviously close isn’t good enough. You play the game to win the game. When you evaluate and you look at where we are, it’s been a theme. You watch the football game afterwards, and you see some unbelievable, competitive – One thing I can tell you, our kids are playing really hard right now. It means something to them. It’s important to them. In the past, that wasn’t the case whatsoever. We can go walk into any football game right now and be competitive with anyone, which is awesome. That’s the step that we’ve made. We went from completely uncompetitive to super competitive. Now, I’ve said this like a broken record that I believe in this, the places that I’ve coached believe in this. Games come down to five, six, and whenever you’re playing one versus two, normally two plays. You never know when those are going to show up and what happens with our young football team is we’re up and down. We’re up and down in regard to preparation, we’re up and down in terms of the offseason. We’ve done good things, but not to the standards that are going to get by those five to seven plays. Once we figure that portion of it out, which takes a lot of work and a lot of concentration, we’ll be fine. It’s hard to walk into the building every day and practice, or lift, or go to school like you’re playing in the Mid-American Conference Championship. But when we look at those teams that we’ve been a part of where we’ve won, those teams that we’ve won championships those guys walk in the building and the intensity of a Tuesday practice looks identical to what game day is and right now we’ve got shut off switch and an on switch. I said it after the game, our Saturday walkthrough was exactly like a veteran organization, first one we’ve had. The communication was through the roof. The intensity was through the roof. The guys were locked in. I remember looking over at Bob or Kit or whoever was in the room, and I went ‚Äòthat’s the way it’s supposed to look.’ My message to them after the game was that’s the way it needs to look all the time. What will happen is, it doesn’t guarantee you anything, but when you have that type of urgency, that type of demeanor, that type of un-casual characteristics, you’re generally going to make those five to seven plays, more often than you are not making them. And that’s where we’re at right now. Sometimes we can make them, we can’t, it’s up, down, around. That’s the consistency part, that’s what you’re fighting against right now. This next stage in our development, in my opinion, is the toughest. We went from completely uncompetitive, no chance at all of winning. To now, hey, we’re competitive. Now we’re into the part where winning is hard. It’s that five to seven plays. When the guys look at you, especially the young ones, the old ones know, they figured out, but those young ones look at they’re like ‚Äòyou have to be that way Monday through Friday.’ Yeah, you do. That’s the difference. That’s where teaching a young team how to win is challenging, but I love it. I’m having a blast. Our kids have great attitudes, we just need to get over the top.

Are you a small victories kind of guy and do you see it that way?

Right now, you have to be, but we won’t be here soon, but you have to be. It’s been a methodical step-by-step. You know my first two years here I was through the roof and out of my mind because we just wouldn’t do anything hard. We wouldn’t do zero the way a winning program is supposed to. Now, that we’re at least in the right direction, the foot’s not off the gas, but now it’s just completely teaching. It’s ‚Äòokay you to have urgency here, you got to do this, you got to do that.’ Our staff is enjoying our time. Our players are enjoying it. We know as a program, there’s some urgency and intensity to push this thing over the top. We’re going to get there, I know we are, the team knows we are, the coaches know we are. It’s part of the process.

What is it about this program that keeps you excited even after back-to-back losses?

Vision, it’s not being able to see that, but it will look way past in the future. We’re going to win some more games this year. The misconception is that every single game we’re going out and we’re trying to win, but we also know that in the big picture what the formula is to winning. We’re on schedule, and that’s why I feel good in terms of going from not being able to even remotely compete to having a chance to win. We can win the rest of our games, but we can lose every single one of them, but at least we got a chance. In the big picture, in the back of my mind and the reason I keep bringing it up now is I don’t want to start this process in January. When I’m talking to you guys about this I’m talking to our players. I don’t want to start this process in January of how to win. We’re trying to figure it out now in the next five weeks and then when we get into the offseason, we’re going to really learn what elite programs do so we don’t lose those five-to-seven plays. The misconception out there is that we’re packing it in, heck no. We could win the rest of our games, but we can lose them, too. But we want to have the big vision, and understand that there’s a way about doing business all the time that gives you a chance to win those five-to-seven plays.

How do you keep this team moving forward and not backtrack.

I think they see where we can go. It’s frustrating, especially for a young guy, it’s just so frustrating. They have it right there and they just can’t grab it. I honestly believe that they recognize the things and the messages that we’re trying to preach. We went from week one, two and three, and I know this a small thing, we had study table trouble. And last week and the week prior, not one guy missed study table. That’s a step in the right direction. All those little things, I don’t care what anyone says, all those little things translate to the football field. I’ve had quarterbacks before that were unbelievable on the field, unbelievable in the weight room and they weren’t good students and they never translated into good players. That’s why this game is so cool. I mean, we’re teaching guys to do things the right way to go win us games, no doubt about it, but then they can translate all this stuff into real life and have the chance to be super successful. We’re close and it’s encouraging right now looking at a guy like [Karl] Brooks, my goodness gracious. If you would have said to me that he would have elite actions and do things the right way and not have trouble in school, not have trouble in this and work really hard and be a leader, two years ago. No shot. Now he’s awesome. I had [Nate] Needham stand up in the team meeting room, which was unbelievable. That guy couldn’t make a field goal to save his life last year. He was the worst practice player I’ve ever seen, I mean he was killing cheerleaders out here, it was awful. He completely 100 percent changed, and completely every single thing he does is urgent. He’s an example of what we want to get to with everyone. There’s a reason he’s what, nine-for-nine, leading the country in 40-yards plus, because he does it out here. His mindset is ridiculous, his intensity is ridiculous, his focus, his concentration. He’s playing like he’s trying to kick the winning kick every single day in practice. That’s where we need to get and that’s why he’s having success and that’s why he’s having consistency. But, we need to get everyone doing that. I’m so happy for him I can’t even see straight, but like I said it was crazy to watch but Ligs [Special Teams Coordinator Bob Ligashesky] has done a great job with him, but he’s changed completely. That’s why he’s having great success.

What do you see from Eastern Michigan that you know that you can go after?

I know Coach Creighton and that organization. I complimented him when I walked into the league. I remember being at Boston College and there was some crossover game that I watched Eastern. They’re doing a good job. That’s not an easy place to win. He does a really good job. You can tell they’re wired the right way. They play extremely hard, which that’s a compliment to any coach when other coaches see that they have great effort. They do. They play really, really hard together. We got to get rid of those five-to-seven plays. We’re going to go out and we’re going to play hard. We’re going to give ourselves a chance. But we got to get over this hump of those five-to-seven plays.

What has Devon Ferguson done to step up his play?

He’s just a good player. High energy, older. What you see in the game is what you see in practice. Again, these successful guys, the guys that are playing well, generally are doing things pretty good out there on the practice field. He practices really hard. He’s high energy, he’s smart, he’s tough and he’s a playmaker. He’s a guy that can cover, he’s a guy that can tackle. Let’s not talk about Sundays. We need him in our program one more year. We have him in our program, we get older, we’re going to have a chance to have a heck of a ball club next year. But, we’re trying to beat Eastern right now.

What kind of player has Levi Gazarek been this year and what kind of addition he’s been to the team?

I love Levi. Love recruiting him, great family. He’s a guy that everything is important to him. He wants to be super successful. He cares. He’s one of our leaders in terms of he’s got a great vision of where we’re going and how we need to get there. And he’s doing something that’s difficult in my opinion, playing two sports is not easy. He’s managing it quite well, but I love Levi. I love him. I never have to worry about him in the classroom. I never have to worry about him off the field. He’s doing a really nice job. He’s going to blossom into a really good player and a really good leader in our program.

How do you think he’s been able to balance being a full-time student along with being a two-sport athlete?

He takes care of his business, and you have to take care of your business if you want to try to do what he’s doing. It’s not easy to be able to pitch and play tight end, especially in our offense. Our tight end does so much, it’s not easy but he’s managed all phases of his life really well. He’s doing great off the field, he’s doing great in the classroom. He’s managing baseball, he’s managing football and he’s good with his family, so he’s doing well.