Charlotte 49ers College Football Pregame Quote, 11/16/2021

Appreciate ya’ll coming today and excited about this week. I know it’s our last opportunity to play a home game this year and excited about having another opportunity to show improvement and show growth ‚Äì and that’s what we spoke a lot about this week as a football team. A lot of opportunities still out there, a lot of firsts still out there for our football program and obviously winning is an expectation. When that doesn’t happen, you point the thumb and say what could I have done better as the head coach and obviously there were plenty of things last Saturday. We’ve got a lot of room for improvement and we have a short time to get there. So, this will be a big week of preparation and playing a great football team. I think Charles Huff has done an amazing job, he’s a great coach. He’s a guy that I’ve known and respected for a long time and become friends with ‚Äì he’s done it at a really high level and under some of the best in the game. He’s really developed and turned around programs wherever he’s been-you know, Vanderbilt, Penn State, Alabama. He’s done a tremendous jobs at those spots and he deserved a spot as a head coach. Marshall has tons of talent and has always been one of the frontrunners in this league. Preseason favorites, year in and year out, competing for conference championships year in and year out. You know, for us to finish out the home slate with a great team like Marshall coming in is a big deal. We’ve had amazing crowds all year long and I expect this to be no different. We need our students, we need our fans to show up and I know our seniors would love to go out with a memorable experience on Saturday. So excited and it’s back to work, back to finding ways to get better so we can have the opportunity to compete and win on Saturday.

On Senior Day expectations:

Well, let me start with the fact that there’s plenty of these seniors who have another year of eligibility, so there’s a lot of negotiating still to be done. I think these guys will enjoy walking with one another and need to enjoy that experience. Anytime it’s questionable, I always want them to walk and I want them to enjoy that experience then we can have those conversations about what their futures look like afterwards. I’m a basket case on ‘Senior Day’. You just know how much these guys have put into it. Especially, this group that’s been committed to building and doing something that’s never been done and putting Charlotte football on the map. They’ve believed in something bigger than themselves and they’ve had a lot of incredible moments by being here. They’ve started building a foundation of what’s going to be special for a long time. I’m excited that we get to honor them. I emotionally have a hard time seeing them run out and seeing their families just because they mean a lot to me. Special group of young men and what they’ve done for this university and this football program will never be forgotten.

On DB Jon Alexander possibly being back and what that means defensively:

I’m proud of some steps that John’s made and some growth we’ve seen with John. I know our staff and his teammates love and care about him. We’ll see how this week goes, glad to have him back with us and proud of how much he’s matured. We’re here for him and pulling for him. We’ll see what happens and what that means for playing time this week.