Louisville Cardinals College Football Pregame Quote, 08/26/2019

Thank you, guys, for being here. I know we are still about a week out from today and we haven’t exchanged depth charts as of today. I think that’s going to happen in the next couple of days, so we really can’t talk much about depth chart issues from either side or either team, us or them.  Once we get that we will put that out pry mid-week and then we will know more about that.  Couple things for us, one thing, Jordan Davis our tight end he will miss the first two games.  When we first got here, he was going to be put on academic probation and miss the first four games, but then got enough hours to where they cut it back to two games which hurts our tight ends a little bit there but he has been practicing and looking good, doing a lot of good things. He will be back for our third game of the season.  Then PJ Blue is a player that got hurt about a week ago.  He hurt his knee, we found out that it was an ACL, so he will be out for about the rest of the season.  He has had surgery and getting that thing back on the mend. Those are two things we needed to put there, and I think overall coming out of camp we are healthy.  PJ Blue is out for the season, and everyone else will be back. A couple other guys that have been dinged will be back here in a week or two.  Malik is back at practice.  He came back 3 or 4 practices ago and everyday he is doing more and more so he will be back in the mix.  Looking at the rest of the team we are healthy coming out of camp even though it was a physical camp.  Looking at the number of scrimmages plays we have where were tackling, I think that’s a big issue coming out of camp and the start of the season is the tackling part.  As you watch that Saturday night that Florida Miami game you notice it wasn’t great tackling out there.  Both defenses flew around, were fast, but you could see a lot of missed tackles out there and I think that’s just early in the season just what your going to see from a lot of teams that just the way we practice now. That’s the one thing that is the unknown just the tackling, also the sloppiness of the game.  The NFL gets so many preseason games and in college we don’t get that. We have to scrimmage each other then all of a sudden you’re coming out and playing a game and you don’t look as sharp as you would like to look and as a coach your shacking your head. I’m talking pre-snap penalties, and that’s the one thing we are trying to harp on is playing a clean game, taking care of the football, eliminating those penalties, I think that is huge and gives you a chance.  Were excited about heading into this week and getting ready to play for Notre Dame.

Has Malik done enough to be able to play, I mean obviously you said he has done enough to be in the mix but will Jawon be your starter for Monday night?

Well you know with the time that Malik has missed, Jawon will start for us.  A lot of it depends on what he does in the next couple of days.  You know, he is looking good.  I mean he is throwing the ball; he is doing a lot of good things.  With Malik his strength is running, and you want to be able to do that 100 percent so well know a lot more of it come the end of the week.  Evan has gotten a lot of reps throughout and the benefit for him is he kind of just gets thrown into the fire throughout practice and for a true freshman that’s always difficult.  He has done a great job with that, learning our offense and making all the reads and that type of game but he obviously has never played a game, but he will obviously be there and be available.

With Jordan this is obviously something you guys knew and could prepare for, but it still leaves you kind of bare at the Tight End does it not?

It does.  Ian coming in, the Vandy transfer, he has been a great player for us at the Y position and doing some great things throughout camp.  He was kind of unknown bringing him in.  Jordan Thomas has done a great job there at the H back position but it still does leave you thin in the Y position so its kind of something that we have known about and been ready for so we will see how that goes as we move throughout the game.  Obviously, it will be great once we get him back.  He has done some great things, very athletic, very great size, made a spectacular play Saturday at practice in the endzone.  He is a guy that when he got here, people were like he has too much attitude, this and that, and like I said he got those extra hours he needed to eliminate those extra games and bring it down to 2.  He is sure excited to get out there and have the opportunity to play his senior year.

Coach you were apart of what is generally regarded as the biggest upset in college football. I’m wondering if there is anything that you could take in preparation for Notre Dame and apply to the Cards opener against Notre Dame?

I think that it was completely two different scenarios in the fact that we were a team back then that had just come off two national champions and we were rolling, and we were a good football team even though we were at a lesser level.  I think we had only 58 players on scholarship, but you know they were accustomed to winning and playing hard.  We are all new here all the staff, and everything is new so its kind off hard to correlate that you know.  The fact that were a big underdog and playing a well-known team that’s coming in here I think that’s the correlation and it might stop right there. We have not seen our guys play a game yet.  We don’t know how they are going to go out and react in a game situation. All the preparation we have put in we have a good idea, but we don’t fully know until we put the ball down and snap the ball and see what happens. This is a great opportunity for our guys to go out and showcase what they have been working hard to do and play.  As coaches we are anxious to get out there and see everybody, lets put this ball down and play the game.  I think anytime you go through a camp like this in the offseason particularly the changes we’ve had and the new coaching staff, then the kind of year Louisville had last year, everyone is ready to step up and play this new season. 

On the Michigan & Penn State game he coached at Appalachian State:

No not necessarily about those games it’s just the way that we practice and the way that we prepare now. We know what we had to talk about last week in the middle of the week about how you know are chase teams, which we call them chase teams, which are scout teams and the chase teams are chasing our depth chart.  We’re always trying to develop those guys and I want them to go through extremely hard on our chase teams, offense, defense, and our special teams. They’re trying to give a great look.  We talked about how hard they got to practice, and I don’t know how they practice in the past here and we have a ways to go with that so no last week was not good enough whoever practicing once we got into those chasing books.  Prior to that, you know, we’re just good on goods everybody’s going hard. But once you get into the chase team looks, now you know we’re bringing guys that are you know, freshman or you know guys who just got it here so, they’re trying to give us a look. Well, we’re having to coach those guys up.  Here’s what we need you guys, you got to go hard.  We got to get you got to go as hard if not harder what we’re going to play on next Monday night. So that’s we’re really coaching through that mess and all the preparation. I mean, that’s where you went to lose games throughout the week and preparation is not that day is not that Monday night. It’s all the other stuff leading up to that and we got to get there. You know, we’re still a work in progress, how we prepare each and every week now, Friday and Saturdays practice was better Friday that Saturday was better than Friday, you know? So it’s just we’re growing we still got a ways to go and that’s, you know, that’s what we’re working on. That’s how you win football games. It’s the preparation, the speed of the game. That’s the one thing that’s hard to simulate and so that’s why we got to go fast and hard. I know sometimes teams you know, they don’t want to don’t hurt our starters don’t hurt me and these guys, you guys give us a little don’t really hurt those guys, while when our teams go hoard, wide open and sometimes if you hit our guys that’s fine, that’s football right. We got pads on whoever’s playing football.  That’s the way we coach our guys and so we got to get better at that and we have a last two practices but we got you know we got to continue to do that and that’ll be something that we have to develop over time.

What what’s concerned you the most about Notre Dame?

I think their overall size and speed I mean when you look at that, you know, as what we look going back looking at last year, and some of these guys that are 6’4 260 lbs at linebacker. I mean, that’s pretty impressive. The size and speed that they have, because when you have that link to cover a lot of ground on talking defensively. They are coached well. I mean, these guys are where they’re supposed to be and then they play hard, are coach well, they played in huge games, big games. Obviously just came off of, you know, the Final Four last year and a team that was outstanding all year and particularly when you look at I think it was their Wake Forrest game when they made the change quarterback and they brought the book kid in and I mean their scoring went up the rest of the season after that point. I mean, so he’s a threat, what he brings to the table.  The have four starters back on offensive line that are there solid up front, big guys that can move.  You know, this is the talented team. I mean, you know Notre Dame, every year they go get the best players throughout the country. So it’s like whenever they do lose some guys, I mean, the next guys that are in line are just as good. Coach (Chip) Kelly and his staff have done an outstanding job they build great depth. You know, I think he may have been, well he’s one of the longest tenured guys there and that’s a that’s a tough job there. You scrutinize everything that you do. He’s has done what those naysayers throughout you know in the middle there and done an outstanding job. So I think just the overall program, the way they play, offense, defense, kicking, it is really not a tone of weaknesses I think when you look at it, you know, because I do so many different things on all facets. 

What worries you this week?

This week? I don’t really have any worries this week. I think for us, it’s just about preparing the right way. This is our first game. So we’re having to go through everything that we’re going to do leading up to that first game and including, like today we have we’re having a mock game where we’re just basically a run through of Monday, next Monday night. And then we got to go over pregame warm up where everybody stands when we how we’re going to warm up when you come to the locker room, where are you going to what you got to do when you go in the locker room, halftime. I mean, I was just so many things, we got to go over, you know, and we’re trying to prepare for everything. And, you know, it’s the first game I mean, so the new staff that we brought in, they don’t really understand what we’re doing yet. Of course, all the players haven’t done it yet. So those are the things that as a coach, you just want to be fully prepared for everything and that’s what we’re trying to do, is get fully prepared. You know, and to try to cover everything we can and that may come up next Monday night.

At what point to the magnitude of reality of what you have here and taking over sinking with you? Or is it just sinking in now, especially with all the things that you just mentioned?

I mean, you know, the magnitude really sunk in when the day I had my press conference and that is a pretty big deal, right? I mean, it was a lot of people out there and, you know, it’s not like Boone, North Carolina, where we had two reporters.  There was a lot of porters there and a lot of people and, you know, you’re you’re in the ACC I mean, it’s big time and so as soon as I got here, I mean, it was reality saying, ‚Äúhey it’s go time now.‚Äù So we’ve just tried to do the best job we can do with what the hand dealt the guys that we’ve had, and what we can we do to get these guys in position to make plays and that’s kind of what we’re going to focus on.  How much better can we get and all those things now.  There’s a short period of time between then I knew it there, and Notre Dame, and there’s not a very long time to get ready for Notre Dame and this season is a great schedule, we have one of the toughest schedules in the country. So we’ve done a good job of getting to this point right now.  Yeah, I know. It’s big. It’s a big deal and, you know, we’re, you know, we’re anxious to get out and see where we’re at and see kind of where we go from here. 

What things have you learned from this that you’re applying now that you see kind of working?

Well, we really kind of stuck with what we’ve done, just all along. I think you are who you are. I don’t think you want to change anything that has gotten you to the point you’ve gotten in your career.  If it’s working before it’s going to work now and the bottom line is, in this game of football is 11 guys on the field at all times and you can’t have 12.  There are 11 guys and how the different ways you can configure those level guys, there’s only so many ways. So, I think so many times people try to get they get confused and they try to be, you know, do too much. Let’s do let’s do what we do, and let’s get good at. And you know, so we’ve tried to stay, you know exactly the way our plan of how we get going to get prepared, how we’re going to get ready and not change that. I mean, we’ve got it, there’s a process of how you prepare yourself to play and we’ve got to do that now. You’ve got to put players on the field, don’t get me wrong, you got to have great players this is a game full of great players and you have to have that you want to be able to compete. But as coaches we have what we have now and the guys that are here. We got to put them in the best possible chances to make plays. A lot of teams can beat themselves. We don’t want to do that. 

What areas in your team that you’ve seen are you most confident in, and are there any guys who really impressed you with their performance?

I think the receiver room, which we’ve talked about, I feel really good about 5 or 6 guys in that room, particularly Atwell, I think he could have a great year. He could play for anyone in the country, he’s that kind of talent. He reminds me of the TY Hilton we had at FIU, he’s with the Colts now, very similar type of player. I think with Seth Dawkins and Fitz out there, I feel pretty good about our receiving core of guys, we have some good weapons out there. I feel good, I think they’re solid, they’ll give us an opportunity there. I think we have some depth in the running back position, I feel really good about that. I think linebackers or inside backers, I feel good about that, the depth that we have there, the 1s, 2s, really four guys in that room. You like to have a lot more depth at every other position. I think the one concerning thing is the depth, and we’ve talked about that, I really feel there’s a bit of a dropoff between our starters and then our second team, and that’s just because of several reasons. I think, obviously, when we got here, guys left, that hurts your depth, and then we didn’t have a chance to recruit like you’d like, at the time we got here in December, that hurts your depth. I think that’s probably the weakness there. We gotta stay healthy at every position, I think that’s a critical factor. And then when you get a guy like Jordan Davis that can’t play, that hurts your depth right off the bat in the first game. So we got to continue to build our depth. 

At this point, how happy are you with Jawon Pass’ accuracy?

He’s been really good. He’s had some days, a lot of days, where he’s, and we chart every pass in practice, where he’s above 73, 74 percent, hovering in the 70s, which is outstanding. He’s had some days where he’s down around 50%. We’d like him to be at least 60 in order to give us a chance to win. We’re gonna take some shots down the field, a lot of times we’re taking shots you’re not going to complete a big majority of those, but you are stretching the defense out, making better backup. We’ve gotta be able to hit the intermediate short passes, we’ve gotta be at a very high percentage with those. And he’s done a good job with that, and I think there’s times he looks unbelievable, like really, really good. He’s big, tall, strong QB, but he stands there and really follows through, he looks like you’re supposed to look. There’s times when his footwork’s off and the ball sails on him, but he’s gotten a lot better with that. I think he’s got an opportunity to really have a good season and play well for us. 

As an overall QB, what do you think was his biggest strength he improved on and maybe his biggest weakness?

I think the strength, I don’t know how much they’ve tried to run him in the past, but every time we scrimmage the defense he’s had some big runs, like really big runs, and has scored on the runs most scrimmages. And so I think that’s an added dimension he’s got to his game now that he’s embraced. He’s been able to expand our running game with the runs and I think that helps. He’s got a good arm, and the thing that he’s worked on in the offseason is the deep ball, to where he’s given those guys the opportunity to make plays down the field. That’ll be huge because every game we play there’s gonna be guys running free in the back end, and we gotta be able to hit them. Every game, we’ll have it, 100%. He’s just gotta be able to hit them because we talk about a guy running free and I overthrow them, we might as well hand the ball off, right? That’s a missed opportunity so you gotta drop the ball in there and give the guys a chance to make a play, and we’ve got guys who can make plays. 

Notre Dame had a top-30 defense last year, and lost a lot of guys. When you look at film for them, what kind of problems do you think they can cause the offense?

Well, one of the guys, one of their better plays, #42, I think had close to 10 sacks last year, you’ve got to know where he’s at at all times, and he can cause havoc. He’s more of a standup defensive end. But then #53, their other end, he’s sold, he’s 6’4, 260, strong, but can also put pressure on the QB. I think they got those 2 ends that cause a lot of problems for offenses, when you have those two defensive ends that’ll put pressure on the QB, now he’s gotta step up and make the throw you don’t want to make. I like #11 for them, the safety, he’s 5’11, 200, not really big but, man, he’s active. He gets down in the game, he does a lot of things with what they do defensively. Their corner, #5, I think he’s a very good corner. They’re not scared to play, we call it breathalyzer defense, where they’re right up in your face. So they can play that man-to-man, and it makes it tough on those wideouts, because they’re getting their hands on them and we’ve gotta be able to get off that press coverage and make some plays down the field. I’m assuming they’re gonna load the box up, stop the run, and we’re gonna have some one-on-one matchups, and our guys are gonna have to win those one-on-one matchups. That, to me, will come down to a lot of that, what kind of plays can we make on the outside here with our wide receivers and Jawon making those throws.

You’ve been pretty good about managing expectations, presenting a calm exterior, changing the culture here. Are we going to see a different guy on the sidelines on Monday? Is there a maniac inside you that hasn’t gotten loose yet?

I mean, maybe. Sometimes we may. Depends on if we play sloppy, you will. I can’t stand sloppy play, I can’t stand it. I want to have a calm demeanor on the sideline no matter what’s happening, winning, losing, whatever it may be, have an even demeanor. I think the guys will feed off of that. We’ve talked about it in the past, I’ve been in games, 2-3 years ago in a Bowl Game we’re down 24-7 at the end of the third quarter, come back and win, just because you’ve got to have that confidence to know that you can do that. We’re not going to panic, we’re going to stay within the moment. There’s times where you get to a point you’re gonna get on somebody, and you’re gonna go off. But I hope not to do that, I hope we can stay poised. I want our kids to play that way, I want our kids to play fast, play extremely physical, but also have that poise inside of them, that the moment’s not gonna be too big for them. That when things happen, we’re going to face adversity, how are we going to react to it. We want these guys to react in a way that we can overcome whatever adversity that may happen. 

Will the coordinators be on the sideline and will you call the plays?

They will be on the sideline, and we will have some of our assistants up top. The way we do it offensively is, we’re all meeting together and coming up with our game plan. Everybody has input on our game plan. I’ll call the plays, but we’re all working together. We are in constant communication. We have a great working relationship with the guys in there, with Dwayne (Ledford) with Frank (Ponce). I’ve worked with those two for many years so a lot of times when a defense is on the field, we’re talking about what we’re coming back with. That’s just how we’ve done it for years, and someone has to call it and then coach Brown will be on the sideline calling the defense. Same thing though, Cort Dennison is going to be up top and relaying down what he is seeing offensively and what they are trying to do. I believe in a team effort in the coaching staff to be able to get us in the best possible plays. But that’s how we operate with our coordinators on the sidelines.

What things have you encouraged about the defense?

Yeah, our defense is all predicated on everyone being there in their gaps and we’ve gotten a ton better with that. If you get out of a gap in this defense, then you’re going to get gashed. The thing we talk about whenever that does happen, and it will, that we have to get the guy on the ground. Then play the next play. We don’t want to give up those big chunk plays. I think that is the critical thing. They’ve done a lot better job at not giving up those big plays defensively. Staying on top in the secondary and then chasing the football. The way we practice on defense, and what we’ve done in the past, is we have a chase tape. Meaning the defense, all eleven guys have to chase where the ball is at with our scout team. So our scout team offense runs a play, all eleven have to run and get to that football. They are not accustomed to that, and we’re still coaching through that. I mean, they have to haul tail and get to that football. Chasing that football is huge. There is a clip from the Hawaii and Arizona game on Saturday, the last play where the quarterback breaks off. You guys may have seen this. Where the d-line watches the quarterback. Quarterback takes off and he’s out of the play probably. When the quarterback continues to run and this d-line never quit and ended up tackling him on the two yard line before he scores to win the game. That’s the kind of hustle we have to play with. That’s the way we do it in practice because it becomes second nature when you get into the football game.  We’re still learning how to practice that way, but we’ve gotten a lot better at it. Chasing the ball, staying on top and staying in our gaps. We’re not where we need to be, 100%, but we’re getting a lot better at it.

Talking about depth at running back:

We’ll probably use multiple guys there. Hassan (Hall) has been very, very solid. Hawkins has really come on over the last week and a half. He’s done some great things there. Dae (Williams) will play. I think all of those guys will probably play and we will see, kinda, who’s got the hot hand, who’s seeing it really well and kinda go from there. We’re pleased with the progress those guys have made, you know we’ve got to take care of the football there. We don’t want to put the football on the ground. That’s gonna be huge. Plus all of the guys have done a great job of that throughout camp.

Thoughts on this game when looking at the schedule early in the process

My first thought was, they aren’t giving me enough time before playing this game. I told Vince, man you could have at least given me a bit more time or start out with somebody else. But, that was the first thought. But after that, I put it out of my head really. From that point forward it was like, what can we do to get better as a team and not really worry about who we’re playing. And we really, the last two practices, we looked at going against these guys. But prior to that, we’ve been by ourselves and thinking about how we can get better. It’s a big game, but they are all big. I mean for me, every single one of them are big and the way we try to see it and treat it the same way as we did at App. (App. State). You know, we beat Michigan, you play Tennessee overtime, Penn State, you try to go out and do what you do. Play your game plan. Whatever that is, you don’t try to go out and do something you can’t do. I think sometimes in games like this, sometimes players think they have to do a little bit more. You don’t have to do a little bit more, you have to do what you do. You know, whatever your coach is saying, whatever your job is, just do that. Don’t do anything more than that and I think as a coach that can sometimes worry you about your players. They may try to step out and do a little too much. Just do what you are supposed to do and that will be good enough. That’s how I am approaching this game, and every game quite frankly.