University of Houston Athletics
Dana Dimel's Quotes
8/27/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 27, 2002
"The general attitude of the Houston Cougar football team is to get a football game played. The team gets more anxious as each day goes by and they understand that there is more work to be done, to get prepared for the first game.
We have a good mix of strong senior leadership and young talent. The team is fun to coach because for the first time I feel like we have some real strong senior leadership, but we are also a more talented football team than we have been in years past.
We have done many things to increase our chances of success defensively. We will be much more athletic and quicker, but that is just part of the equation. I think our intensity and our attitude is so much better and I think our confidence, even though we haven't played a first game yet, is high because of their hard work and preparation.
We have a chance to be very solid with our defensive line. We have great depth, and as long as we stay healthy going into the first game, we have about 11 or 12 defensive linemen who will play in that game.
We had a good workout last night and we have been trying to get a lot of extra running in to prevent cramping and muscle injury.
The depth on the defensive front with the big bodies is a plus. Some of the guys, new faces, are Gerard Richard, a true freshman from Cy-Fair, who is somewhere around 305 and 310lbs. He moves around extremely well and is going to be a great player for us. He is going to play in the first ball game. He won't start, but he has been doing a great job for us there.
Sophomore Joe Clay, from west Texas, has really come on and is going to start for us at defensive end. He is going to be a surprise player in the conference this year. At 245-250 lbs, he is a real good football player who makes a lot of plays.
In the safety position, with our three safeties, Jesse Sowells, Hanik Milligan, and Jermain Woodard that we have as good of thre safeties as anyone in the conference. They all have experience, are real aggressive, are god tacklers, and they make plays for us all over the field.
The big thing in the defense is going out and stopping the run game, and then just flying around, making plays and having fun with what they are doing out there.
Offensively, in the running back position, Joffrey Reynolds had a good solid camp. I think he is stronger and faster than he was last year. We are going to try to isolate him more, and try to showcase him to see what kind of a year he can have.
Our offensive line is a group of guys that have worked extremely hard over the last couple of years. The five starters in the first ball game are all guys that have been in the program for at three years. They are guys that have worked extermly hard; Rufus Williams at right tackle, Chris Wheeler at right guard, Al James at center, Rex Hadnot at left guard, Chris Redding at left tackle.
Jonathan Pritchett, Steve Cucci, Matt Mattox, and Jon Clark are the team's strongest four tight ends. We are going into the game with four tight ends that we feel good about, and we have to make sure that we find ways to make them a part of the offense.
We are still trying to decide who is going to start for us at the quarterback position for the first game. Both Nick Eddy and Barrick Nealy are in a pretty heated battle right now. Barrick brings his athleticism and his youth. Nick brings the ability to throw the football and has some good size in there, plus he has a real good understanding of the offense. Between the two the have a nice mixture for us. We won't make a decision on the quarterback position until game time.
We feel like we are more athletic on special teams, we are playing a lot more starters to try to solidify those two spots for us."
Question and Answer
Q: Is the quarterback position a health issue with Nick, or is Barrick just coming on so strong that you can't keep him down anymore?
A: It is not a health issue. Nick is back to 100 percent. What happened is that as we started summer camp, Barrick's improvement has become very impressive. When Nick went down, Barrick got a chance to play and grabbed a hold of the opportunity. Barrick got in with the number one huddle, took charge and did some great things. Now the competition is that the job is not the same as it was before, so Nick has to come back in and raise his level of his game to be able to old suit with Barrick's game. Therefore, it has been Barrick's progress that has made the change there.
Q: Are you waiting until game time to make the decision so you have more time to decide?
A: Yes, it gives us up until Saturday night to see how Nick's progress is going to go, because Barrick gets better each and every day.
Q: Do you want one quarterback for the whole season?
A: I would like to have one guy for the whole season, but I would like everyone to understand that if we went with our two, there wouldn't be a big difference. I think going into this first game, there is not a big difference gong into our one and two, whoever our one and two is going to be.
Q: Do you think that this first game will set the tone for this season?
A: I think it will, but I think more than anything that we have a three game set will set the tone as well. The thing we have to be guarded against is that everybody's first game sets the tone for the season. When you have a young team that you are trying to turn the corner with, you have to be careful that you don't put too much emphasis on the first game. We want them to come out of those first three games with some momentum that will take them into the Texas game.
Q: What are the offensive keys for the Rice game?
A: First, we have to run the football and run it well. Our quarterback, whoever that will be, has to run the football, run it well, and have a solid football game.
Q: Is Rice more difficult to prepare for now than they were this time last year?
A: They are very diverse in what they do; they have the no huddle offense, the four wide receiver with the no huddle offense, and they also have the option game. So, they are a very diverse package to prepare for.
Q: Is Tyrone Green ready to go?
A: Tyrone is a big part because he is so versatile across the front five. Tyrone's ankle was a lot better last night, so he will be ready by game time but it will depend on how much practice we will get out of him in the next few days. He should be ready and we hope he will because we are counting on him to be the first guy to go in if anyone goes down across the board in any of those five positions.
