Charlotte 49ers College Football Pregame Quote, 10/29/2019

[An] unbelievable win on Saturday. We needed it. For me, I was so excited about it and our players and our staff had opportunity to get back in the win column. Also. it gives me an opportunity to continue to press on from a culture perspective, a process perspective, some of the things that we really latched onto for the last two weeks we had some success with, we had some results with. Now that allows me to make sure that we are able to even hold them more accountable and make sure that we’re moving along the culture of this program. Like I said Saturday, it was a great football game. You go back and watch the film and sometimes you say how were we able to win that football game. I have been on other side of the equation. Definitely not complaining about it. Very proud of our guys for how many different times we could have lost the game or let it get away from us. We found some creative ways to stay in the game and made plays when we needed to.

We still have so much that we can correct. We did that on Monday. We came back in and corrected all the stuff, and soon as we finished with our correctional walk-thru and film review, and now it is on to Middle Tennessee, a program that I am very familiar with. I was about an hour and 15 minutes from there at Austin Peay and an hour and half at Chattanooga. I know Coach Stockstill extremely well. I have so much respect for him. I tried to get a job with him, he did not hire me so I am still upset with him about that. Other than that, he has been a mentor to me, he does it the right way.

They are great football team. They scored a lot of points on FIU, a team that we obviously struggled with and lost to; they beat them, 50-17. Middle Tennessee is playing really well. They lost Brent Stockstill who was a four-year starter and set every record in the book. Now they have Asher O’Hara, who has come in played really well for them. He brings a different dynamic. They have a great staff. Rick Stockstill that has been there 14 years. Tommy West has been the head coach at Memphis, Chattanooga and Clemson. Scott Shafer was the head coach at Syracuse. Tony Franklin has an entire offensive system named after him. Rick Mallory was the offensive line coach at Memphis. They have a really good staff. Our work is cut out for us and we are excited for the challenge.

Are you more worried about Asher’s throwing or running?

I think he can do either one. He is very tough. One of the most impressive clips that I have seen that they used him to punt the football like we tried to use Brett Kean. He didn’t shank it. He punted it and went and downed the ball himself. He will put his body in any situation. He runs it like Benny (LeMay) with no fear. He is a competitive guy that can make any throw. They got great weapons at wide out. They have a bunch of different backs. They have great team speed. He has played really well for them.

What coverages were you in that allowed North Texas to beat you on 3rd down?

I know they put us on a bunch of one-on-one situations and they completed a bunch of fade balls. Their guys were making plays and our guys did not. The one we dropped eight on and they converted on, a 3rd and 12 and he threw a hook route. We should have somebody sit right in the middle of that but the quarterback makes a heck of a throw. The one big one they scored, going towards the open end of the stadium, we blew a coverage. That’s the stuff that’s going to get us beat. It’s a lot more fun to coach after a win but we could have just as easily sitting here on Monday saying, if we make this play or this play then we would feel differently. So we made enough plays on defense to win the game and that’s important, but we are definitely not even close to where we need to be. The same thing especially in the first half especially. For us to have seven points at halftime, we were not playing well enough. So collectively offense, defense and special teams, we found a way to win which is a big deal against a good football team.‚Äù

How big is it to actually get a win?

It is just the morale of the whole place. I mean everybody: the players, coaches and wives. I ride home with my wife after the game and it’s like, are we really this superficial after the game that we won so I am like greatest husband in the world. If I lose and you are worried about, do you even talk to me. But, that’s the way it goes. Our kids, our wives, these players, our coaches, this staff and administration; ultimately it is about a result that happens on Saturday. Everybody knows how good North Texas is and I thought they made some big time plays on Saturday. But for us to finally find a way to win, and the way we did, I think it’s something you can definitely build on. Now, you know you’re down 14, exact same situation you were basically in at WKU, and now if that happens again moving forward, you can always come back to this one and say remember this, we were able to find a way. Here is what we did and this is what the process looked like. How did we kind of lock in and find ways to win that game.‚Äù

Were there fundamental changes or just simple confidence you set up to make it work?

You can probably go back to the last eight minutes of the game and find five or six plays that we made and have not in those other games. Jonnie (Pitman) getting the ball down on the last seam route they threw. That’s a one-on-one situation and the quarterback puts the ball on the money and Jonnie, with safety help over the top, and he found a way to put in on the ground. The sack fumble at the end, big deal. Blocked field goal, big deal. The fourth-down stop, big deal. I think we converted on at least two drives where we had 2nd and 20-plus. We overcame the holding penalty on the two-minute drive. A minute, 12 seconds left, and if you’re telling me we got a holding penalty in there somehow and we still find a way to score, that’s pretty difficult to do. We had Tyler Ringwood make a really tough-contested catch to get the thing going. Chris (Reynolds) throws a great ball to Benny LeMay on a go-route coming out of the backfield. In the only spot it could have happened on a 3rd and 12. We made big plays in critical situations, which we have not done up until that point.

Chris (Reynolds) was the top C-USA player of the week, offensively. How good of a game did he have?

I thought he played great. Again, you have the two or three different times where I thought he had put the ball in jeopardy. One of them was a dropped pick. They pick it, the ball game is over. So, you’re fixing those things. He also had two drops. He stuck it right middle of Ishod’s (Finger) facemask on one of them and then Benny (LeMay) dropped one on a flat route. So, extremely efficient. I thought he ran the ball well. He made really good decisions and that competitive fire that he has, is to me, what that team fed off of on Saturday.

That’s the downside of having all the injuries. Is there a plus side to develop some depth?

Yea, for sure. That’s a great question. Lance McMillan had taken some major advantage and now Lance will be out for at least a week. He had been playing great. I think Brelin Faison-Walden has gotten a lot better and done some good things for us at linebacker. Jaylon Sharpe is obviously a guy we are excited about. I think he has a world of potential. I think Christian Roberson is really coming along and finally been who we think he can be at tight end. Some of the young wideouts. We should have Micaleous Elder back this week, ready to roll which will help. But we’ve had what seems like a different wideout every game except for Victor; these last two it’s been who is able to step up and make some plays. I mean it definitely has helped us develop some depth. You’re running out of it and so we’ve got to make sure that we try to get those guys back as healthy as possible.

Practice have been intense since you got here. Do you do things differently in practice as you head into November and become more cerebral?

Great question. We just had an entire staff meeting about this yesterday and Sunday. For me, I think, you can do that with an older team that you’ve been there three or four years and you’ve got a bunch of seniors that understand your offense, your defense and your special teams. You don’t quite need as many reps; you just need to be fresh. We’re still learning in all phases: offense, defense and special teams so if we go easy now, I don’t know how much better we’re going to get by the end of the season. It is as normal practices as we have been having. Even to me, push them probably a little bit more than what we have and hold them accountable even more and push the energy a little bit more so that we’ve got to improve from last week to this week to have a shot. And we better. We need to get better from week nine the week 12, if we’re interested in winning any more games.

Overall thoughts on team’s standing in Conference USA:

I think that we’ve showed over the over the first-four weeks that when we play well we can compete with some people. But if we don’t make enough plays, or we do things to hurt ourselves, then people will run away from us. I think it’s helped us as a staff understand how we need to recruit and what we need to be looking for in recruiting. Will this guy make plays versus Florida Atlantic? Or FIU or WKU or North Texas? Are we building a roster that could compete in this league? I’ve been excited about what I think we could do in this league. It’s not like I’ve lost heart at what I think this program will be. I just know we’re not there yet. I think it’s a really good league that has really well-coached teams. I mean, you think about it. We have played (FIU) Butch Davis and (Florida Atlantic) Lane Kiffin, and now (Middle Tennessee) Rick Stockstill. You got (North Texas) Seth Littrell, who is one of the hottest coaches in the country, not in that way, but is it like he’s a top-five coach in the country. He would love that comment. Then, you got (WKU) Tyson Helton, who has had tremendous success as a coordinator. They are probably all like, who is this 12-year old I got to play each and every week? But it’s a really good league with well-coached football teams with really good talent. Anybody can beat anybody, each and every week. And we were fortunate to get one last week.

How do you balance between building a roster for Conference USA and building a culture?

I don’t think you can ever make a roster decision that doesn’t match your culture. You can’t take a guy because he’s a great player if he doesn’t match your culture. I’ve done that in the past and I’ve failed miserably at it. The culture is something, the process is something that we talk about a lot here. I’ve probably gotten into it more during the losing streak than I ever have in my life but I’ve realized how important it is and the mistakes that I made along the way. I know that can’t take a backseat to anything regardless of how talented, how big, how strong, how much potential. If they don’t match the culture, and if I don’t enjoy being with them and want them sitting in these chairs being a representative of this university, being a mentor to my own kids and really enjoy being around them, then I won’t take them.

What did you learn during your first year at Austin Peay that helped you over this last month?

Great question. That I couldn’t coach (laughs). No, I mean I think just the positivity side of things. Really for me, for a staff. Because the staff beats themselves up a lot more. The players get over it pretty quick. The staff eats it hard and the staff takes it home, and now their wives eat it hard. And so making sure that you keep a balance of what is a sense of urgency but also being realistic about where we are and why we’re here and what we need to build. But I just like being the same guy every day. Don’t waiver from what you believe in. Zero for my first 13, as crazy as it sounds. I never wavered. I always say it’s either a good fit or it’s not a fit. If it works here, then this is the way I believe in doing things. And it’s either a fit here and it works, or it doesn’t. And it just was a great fit. But I don’t think you can ever try to be somebody that you’re not. So be consistent with who you are. Be positive and energetic. Whether times are good or whether times are bad and continue to preach culture. And then, if you aren’t where you want to be from winning games on the field, then you need to be doing something that’s going to help your program down the road. And sometimes it’s not all about just, we’ve got to get better practice. I want to build leaders. I want to build a culture where our players feel good about speaking. I want to make sure that we’re talking about things other than football or make sure our staff is happy. The wives are happy. Some of those things that are really important to me that I learned in year one.