Charlotte 49ers College Football Pregame Quote, 09/03/2019

Incredible on Thursday night. I thought the student turnout was off the charts, with almost 5,300 students here. And our players felt it. It was an unbelievable environment, a great home-field advantage for us. A lot fun winning. Tom (Whitestone) asked me to come in with my shirt off but I thought I’d save that for the next win. And we had a lot of fun and I think winning should be an expectation here. But we should not never take one for granted. There’s a lot to learn from, from the film. I think our players have responded really well. They understand there’s a lot more work to be done and [we] got a great test, this week. I think our guys are fired up. We’ve got a long way to go in a short time to get there. We’re excited about the challenge ahead and looking forward to going up the mountain.

How much easier is it to teach off a win compared to a loss?

It’s a lot easier to coach off of a win. I think you always go back to, you ask the players, ‚Äòwhat do you want?’ What’s your expectation? We enjoy it like nobody else on Thursday night and on Friday, we had off. We enjoyed it. And now, when we got in here on Saturday, it was time to move on and make sure we put enough into it that we can go win another one. So, we challenged our guys on Saturday morning. Some of the mistakes we made we cannot make again but I think they understand what the overall goal is and where you want to be. And understand that what we put on film on Thursday is not good enough to do what we want to do.

Who will start at quarterback?

Quarterback, it’s a day to day deal. I thought Chris (Reynolds) came in and gave us a good spark on Thursday. We’ve let them [he and Brett Kean] battle it out in practice yesterday and today. We will play both again on Saturday. As far as the rotation goes, we will figure it out as we go through the week.

So, you don’t think either one of them separated themselves from the other?

Right now, I think both of them are playing well enough to play. I think if we went back and graded the film, you would say that Chris (Reynolds) did some good things to get us kick started early in the game and helped us. And that’s why we kept him in the game. I think Brett (Kean) is doing enough good things to give us a chance to win games so we will continue to play both.

Games like this one, against Appalachian State, are big games and the ones that you were brought in to win; in-state, big environment. What kind of opportunity, for you, are you looking at on Saturday?

They are a Top-27 team in the country. I wish we played them every year. It’s a great test for our football team and we are going to see what we are made of and how far we have come. It will be a great environment. I’ve been up there a lot, both as a player and a coach. I have a tremendous respect for their program. I know they are well coached and they will have a great scheme for us. I don’t know what else I could ask for; playing a meaningful game at Appalachian State is a great opportunity for us and it will be a great challenge. We strap it up every week to see what we are made of and how good we really are. We are going to put ourselves through, what we hope is, a 60-minute, great football game where we go through the highs and lows of what a great college football game is about. I know everyone in the area has taken a particular interest because of what Appalachian State has done and what they have become. They have tremendous athletes and returned 17 starters from an 11-win season and whooped up on Middle Tennessee in a bowl game. We are excited about being challenged. But I told the guys, we have to clean up a lot of things on our side before we think we can go up there and have a shot.

Can you touch on some of the things that need to be fixed and how what you produced against Gardner-Webb isn’t going to get the job done this weekend against Appalachian State?

The turnovers; we can’t turn the football over. We have to make great decisions. Obviously, the kickoff coverage unit, giving up the kickoff touchdown is a no-no. Our communication defensively and making sure we are filling our gaps correctly and getting lined up the way we need to. I thought that got a little sloppy as the game went on. Also making sure that our twos are ready and prepared to go out and execute and play at a high level. And we give them enough confidence to go out there and make some of those plays. I have a lot of confidence in our ability to correct our mistakes and I have a lot of confidence moving forward.

Coach, first road game of the year. Those can be kind of tricky for a team. Is there anything you will do differently to get your team prepared to play on the road?

Not really. Things are different in such as where you are meeting, what you do when you get to the hotel; but I think it’s a lot of fun for all of us to get away for a road game and get to be with one another. I love road games because I think it gives our team a ‚Äòus against the world’ mentality. Obviously, there will be 30,000 fans in that stadium on Saturday and we will go through some adversity and see what we are made of. As far as the week of preparation is concerned, not really, but as far as where you are meeting and how you make your adjustments have to be fine-tuned. But it will be fine. And it will be fun for all of us to get away and go play a good football team.

Going back to recruiting. When do you have the kind of players that you are looking for and Appalachian State is getting now? When are you going to be able to get that kind of guy that Appalachian has been getting?

Obviously, I’ve always said that in order to beat people on the field, you have to beat them in recruiting. I think we are both looking for the same talent level, but where we have to make a niche for ourselves, is we have to have players that are confident enough in themselves to step out and make an unpopular decision and become a popular decision. Fortunately, for me, I have been a part of rebuilding programs for a while now. I love rebuilding and bringing a program to a place it’s never been before. You are looking for the exact same things in a player. I take so much pride in taking something from where it is and making it a lot better than where it was when we found it and we have that opportunity here. That was one of the things that was so intriguing to me here, was that we can take this program to new heights and places it’s never been before. We have to find players that match that mentality.