Old Dominion Monarchs College Football Pregame Quote, 09/20/2021

I thought there were times we played well against Liberty. Particularly the stretch in the second quarter we were able to score two touchdowns on them in a row and hold them. We just got to be more consistent across the board. That’s on all three phases. I talked about that with the team yesterday in our Sunday meeting we just got to be more consistent. That’s something that is going to be a great focus for us. Joe Joe (Headen) talked about maybe not having the best week at practice and that message was from me. I didn’t think we had the best week at practice and that led to the inconsistencies. You earn the right to win during the week, its clich√© because its true so we got to make sure we do a better job this week going to play a very good Buffalo team.

What do you know about Buffalo at this point?

They’re a very good team that’s had a lot of success recently. I know they have a new coach but there’s a lot of guys there that have won a lot of football games. Very physical team, good front seven with the defensive line and linebackers. Not to take anything away from their secondary which is also good, but they’ve got a very talented and physical front seven. On the other side of the ball, they’ve done a nice job being balanced being built around their offensive line and running backs. Their offensive line has led to a good running game. They’ve got three running backs that play, and they’ve given up zero sacks on the year which means not only is their offensive line playing well but their quarterback gets the ball out on time and the wide receivers are showing up where they need to be when they need to be there, so they’ve done a nice job. They played a tough schedule and competed in those games so it should be a good challenge for us.

Coach you talk about a poor week at practice leading to some inconsistencies on Saturday’s. Are you able to pinpoint why there is maybe a little bit of a lack of focus during the week? Are you able to be more specific with that?

I think if I could pinpoint why we were going to have a bad practice we’d never have a bad practice. I think all coaches would try to eliminate that on the front end. And I wouldn’t say we had a bad practice week; I would say we had an inconsistent week. There were sometimes during the week we did some very good things. We just weren’t able to sustain that intensity, so we got to make sure we do a better job on that. I think we had a good start yesterday, yesterday was our best Sunday practice probably of the year. I see a lot of guys around the facility today on Monday which is our off day. I told them knowledge is power and Monday is about knowledge. Knowledge about our opponent. Make sure we’re getting into our books getting a lot of study hall hours done and those sorts of things. We got to make sure we win every single day so I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure we can all go out there and have a good day on Tuesday. I think my job is I’ve got to make sure when I see it maybe slipping, I’ve got to stop the slide immediately and stop it from going further.

To the very casual football fan who doesn’t play close attention, Liberty and Buffalo don’t seem like tough opponents but they’re both really good teams are they not?

When it’s all said and done, obviously I don’t know the rest of their schedule I do know they play Syracuse this week only because Coach Freeze mentioned it. They’re probably going to be a top 15-20 team. They’re a very talented team they’ve done a nice job building it. Buffalo has shown in the past that they can contend for the MAC championship and usually somebody who contends for the MAC championship is a top 20-25 team so yeah, they are both very good football teams. I thought we proved last week that when we play the way we’re supposed to play we can compete against those teams. We can move the ball we can stop them and do those sorts of things, but it has got to be something we do and execute every single play and can’t pick and choose which quarter we’re going to do that. Not against teams like that.

How do you handle a running back like Kevin Marks and does DJ help you with them both going to Norview?

They do a nice job and he is a tremendous back. I think they’ve done a nice job of playing all three backs and keeping them fresh which helps them be successful. Very similar to us, they’ve done a nice job being able to rotate backs in there and create a nice job in the running game. He does a nice job of seeing the holes, when he sees it, he hits it pretty hard. I don’t know if DJ’s got any insider info or anything like that, but I do know this. We’ve got to stay in our gaps and we’ve got to tackle. That’s going to be incredibly important.

You’ve played a quarter, 25% of your games so far. What’s been the biggest positive surprise for you so far? Going through 25% of your games.

I think just the overall attitude of the team has been so good. The circumstances have not dictated their behavior. They’ve played hard whether we were winning big or whether we were down. They’ve been very supportive of each other throughout. Whether they were dressed for the game, whether they were playing, whether they were a starter and they weren’t in at that point. Everybody’s been pulling the rope in the same direction. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a surprise, but it’s been something I’ve been proud of and something that needs to continue on and build on throughout the rest of the three quarters of the season.

Off that question, do you have a grade you could give your team after the first quarter?

Maybe I’m biased on this but just like anyone else, incomplete. I think its an entire season that we break down into 12 individual one-week matchups. I know some people go by and try to say hey after the first quarter we need to be here after the second quarter we need to be here. I just think that’s not how I was raised in this business. I’ll look back and reflect on this season when all 12, 13, 14 games are done. Until that point, I’m probably not going to be willing to give a grade. I would hope that professors and teachers on our campus allow our guys to improve throughout the season as well.

Going back to Buffalo. The two teams are kind of similar. Buffalo installed a new offense after having the coach leave in April? It’s kind of the same amount of film on both of you. How have you gotten ready for them so far and what do you think its going to show you in the new offense?

I’m sure we both looked at tape in the offseason to try to prepare for each other and come up with a preliminary plan. But ultimately, it’s about these three games that we play and watching those three games. That’s what I know we’re both building the majority of our game plans on. We both know that there’s going to be something that the opponent hasn’t shown that we’ve got to be prepared for and how do we adjust to that when that happens. But I think that you’re exactly right, we’re very similar and probably preparing in the same way off those few game numbers.

Is there anyone that you sort of rely on for if you have a question about something in your mind is there a coach that you’re calling on? James or anyone, are you calling people for advice?

I have a lot of respect for a number of coaches in this profession. James Franklin being one obviously, guys like Dave Brock (Falcons WR coach) and things like that. Those guys got their own problems, you know. I haven’t called on them. I rely on the guys on my staff. I hired smart, capable people who are intelligent and who know when to tell me that I’ve made a mistake. That know when to tell me when they think I’m doing something well. If I have a question on which way to go, I generally ask guys on our staff. They know our team better than somebody as an outsider. As much as I respect Coach Franklin, and no one on this earth respects him more than I do, he hasn’t been around our team, and I think he would say that. Probably the first thing he would say to me, I can already hear him, ‚ÄúWell Ricky I don’t know your team very well.‚Äù I know Dave Brock would say the same thing. Its really about asking the guys on my staff and I have some very capable and intelligent guys and that’s why I hired them so they can tell me when I’ve made a mistake. That’s generally who I go to.

Following up on that a little bit, have you had a moment where maybe you used to think I never understood why Coach Franklin handled this this way or why Coach Brock approached this the way he did. Have you had a moment where you were like I get it now that I’m sitting in this seat I understand why they may have done a certain thing a certain way. Have you had any moments like that?

I haven’t. I feel one of my strengths is I’m pretty self-aware. While I may be upset with why in the past a head coach has handled something a certain way or I may not have agreed with them, I always understood why they did it. Mainly that’s probably because I’ve been under people who are very good head coaches and are good at their jobs. Again, maybe I didn’t agree with them, I might’ve disagreed with a decision they were making but I always understood why. There hasn’t really been a moment where I’m like oh that’s why they did this. That hasn’t happened. It’s been more about thinking back to situations we’ve had and how was that handled and whether one, I liked the outcome of what that decision did or two, whether I agreed with it in the moment and then now looking back on it saying okay he was right I was wrong. I’m more than willing to admit that. You can ask my wife. I’ll say when I’m wrong. She doesn’t like to admit that I admit when I’m wrong, but I do. That’s a little pro tip for everybody: you need to in a marriage say when you’re wrong, don’t ever say when you’re right.

I asked this Saturday night, but I am going to ask it again. The Hudson Blue, how excited are you guys to be wearing that? Do you think it will make a difference with the fans?

I’m excited about the Hudson Blue because its one of our traditional colors and every single team on this campus has worn it except for us. I think it’s a great opportunity for us to go out there and play in an Old Dominion color and rock it. I’m upset I don’t get to wear it; I think it would bring out my eyes. But we’ll be in the navy, so the players get to wear it and we don’t want to blend in with them. I think it’s a great look, I think our guys look great in it, I think they’re very excited about it. But after two and a half seconds you don’t remember what jersey you’re in anymore, you’re in a dogfight and you know you’re playing against a good football team in Buffalo.

Ricky you mentioned that Coach Franklin has his own problems, you’ve got your own problems. Do you still keep up with Penn State? You’re not that far removed from them.

I keep up with Penn State in the scores and things like that, because I have a lot of people there I care about. Obviously, Coach Franklin is somebody I care deeply about, there’s guys in that administration that are off the field that I’ve known and worked with for a long time. That I know gave their blood, sweat, and tears for that place. Their chief of staff Kevin Threlkel, he was my student assistant when I was a GA at Kansas State, so I’ve known some people there for a very long time. Ja’Juan Seider, Brent Pry I’ve been through battles with, Terry Smith and those guys. There are some people there that I’ve got some deep feelings about. So, I keep up with them on that end of it. And then the players. There’s no one on this planet besides his mom and dad, who are great people, who want to see Sean Clifford be more successful than me. So, the fact that he went out there and played the way he did is awesome. Especially in that environment in that sort of thing, that’s a pretty special thing. But I keep up with all of them. I keep up with a lot of people like that. There’s a lot of players that have helped me get to where I’m at also, you know. Pat Freiermuth with the Steelers I follow him to see how he’s doing. Will Levis whose now at Kentucky, I want to make sure he’s doing alright. I text all those guys and tell them great job when they win and all those sorts of things. I think everybody in the country is going to keep up with them. You build some bonds that are not going to go away just because you move. You’re with those people forever. Those peoples’ parents still write me and things like that, wish me good luck in the games. Those are bonds that are going to be there for a very long time. I’ve already got invites to a few weddings this summer from some other guys with that sort of thing. Which is horrifying at the same time because it just means that you’re getting really old. I probably get a few more wedding invitations than I used to because they think I’m the head coach I make more money, you know what I mean? So, they think they’re going to get a better sterling silver tea set that they’re never going to use out of it. But in general, I’m going to keep up with those people.

Did you hear from a lot of those people after your first win?

More importantly I heard from a lot of those people after my first loss. I think that’s probably more important. The people I’m talking about aren’t just going to be there for you when you win. Its easy to be there for somebody when they win. It’s a lot different to be there for somebody on the Tuesday after your first loss, right? Those people I’m talking about, those are the people that are there for me through thick and thin. I’m going to be there for them and obviously I’m going to be very excited for them when they win. We weren’t playing last year but I texted Sean Clifford and Jahan Dotson after every game they played last year. I know they started off rough and they finished how I know they can play football and it’s carried on to this year. I don’t expect them to do anything for me and the same goes the other way. I’m just there for them and very frankly they’re the same way.