Charlotte 49ers College Football Pregame Quote, 10/05/2021

Appreciate everybody coming. Disappointed in the outcome on Saturday, proud of guys fight and their effort. I think we’ve got plenty of things that we need to get better at in our own building for us to be able to do what we want to do. [We] had opportunities galore on Saturday and we weren’t able to capitalize. I thought they were on us a little bit. Our defense was on the field too long in the first half and I think their [running] backs did a really good job of running through arm tackles. They wore us out. Proud of our effort, I don’t think it’s ok, there are no moral victories here, you either win or you lose. I was excited about the opportunity to win the game, we expected to win the game and we didn’t make it happen. So, it’s back to the drawing board, fortunately for us it’s a short week. We got to move on quickly. I’ve been proud of these guys and their response. I think we still got along way to go and I’m excited about the journey to get there, I really am. I think this team has the ability to be really, really good by the end of the year. If we keep working and getting better at it on daily basis then we will be. We have great leadership. They’ve been through two really difficult, hard days of practice and preparation, and now it’s recovery time to make sure we’re feeling really good for Friday night. Really difficult test on the road at FIU, extremely talented. Obviously Butch Davis has done an amazing job everywhere he’s been. They’ve got athletes galore, everywhere, skill position players, guys that can run, and a transfer at quarterback that makes them dynamic on the perimeter with their wideouts. A couple of different backs are good, really complement each other well. I think in the secondary they’ve got good speed. It’s a very talented football team. So, our works cut out for us. On the road, short week, awesome challenge. Challenge accepted.

On how team is responding to a short week of tough practice:

Awesome. I think the biggest thing for us right now is consistency and holding each other accountable. I think it’s an attention to detail, how you do one thing is how you do everything and we’re showing glimpses of being special in all three phases. So, when we put that on tape and then we have another rep where we’re doing the exact same thing, but not doing it as well or not as much energy or with as much effort, you got to hold them accountable for it. That’s my job as a coach and these guys know that. They expect it and demand it out of themselves as well. We’re holding them accountable for things that they’ve shown us that they can do. I’ve been very, very proud of their response. This group has always responded. It’s keep the pedal down, thumb down, and let’s keep our head down and find ways to get better. That’s what today was about as well.

On FIU defense:

I’ve watched a lot of the ‚Äì FAU game, Central Michigan game and obviously they played Texas Tech and I think those games are very close. FAU and Central Michigan ‚Äì Central Michigan, they had dead to rights and Central Michigan scored on them late a couple different times. I think, they’ve got a bunch of different guys that can run, [I think] they’re physical, their defensive tackles are really good players, their defensive ends can rush the passer. I think they’ve played some really good offenses. People have made some plays on them on one-on-one situations when they put their corners on islands, play-actions pass and take shots over the top of their safeties or got the run game going ‚Äì or whatever it may be. It’s a talented defense. It’s probably [more] about the talent of the offenses they’ve been playing, as it is anything to say about a lack of talent on defense, because they’ve got really good players.