University of Houston Athletics
Weekly Football Press Luncheon
8/26/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 26, 2003
On preparations for the Rice game
"Speaking about Rice and Coach Hatfield, we do know what to expect from them. They are going to be a well-discplined, well-coached football team that is not going to beat themselves. They are going to play the game to their best, they are going to play predictable in certain situations, and they are not going to do things that are going to give their team a chance to lose. We've got to go out and take advantage of what we have and get them into predictable situations from our standpoint on both sides of the ball and then take advantage of it from there."
On the young defense and which one player could bring the young defense together
"Really, I expect all of our guys to be leaders. We will have a few that will step up to the forefront, but as far as saying to this person or that person that I want you to lead our team and make them go publicly, we're not in a situation to do that. We haven't even really discussed what we're going to do with the captain's situation with our team yet. I expect all of our guys to perform and lead properly on and off the field."
On the schedule and starting his coaching career
"I got to thinking about it, but there are not a lot of cities in the nation that can throw two Division I-A schools out there to play each other. To me, that's a pretty big thing and I'm glad we get to be associated with that. Rice is a team that even back when I was here (playing at UH) back in the day, they were always a tough opponent. They are going to play tough and any time you line up against people you live 15 minutes from it's going to add a little flavor to the game. I think it's great for the city of Houston and for the University of Houston."
On the emotion of now being the head coach of where he used to play
"It's going to be a similar situation, as I was kind of used to the sidelines back when I was playing, so that part of it is not going to be that different. It's fun. I enjoyed the time when I was here at theUniverstiy of Houston, I loved the Universtiy of Houston and for all that it stands for. I like the challenge and opportunity that it presents because I've never been a person who has wanted to stand up and look down on people. I've always wanted to be on equal or lower ground and fight to get up. And I think we're in that situation and that's what I love about it. I love people that have had to work hard to get where they are at and through sacrifices, and I think our University falls into that category. That part of it to me is the most special. As far as me being here and playing here back in the day, that's all fine and good, but that's over. It's the time for these guys (looking around to players sitting around him) to have their turn and that's what I'm here for - to help them have success."
On the team's chemistry
"I think that's something that we've (coaching staff) been able to do. I feel real good about it from a coach's standpoint and I hope the players feel good about it on their end. I think we've all bonded well and understand each other well, and I think we all know which direction we are headed. It's been very pleasant from our end, and we couldn't be more proud of a group of student-athletes to work with. We're really anxious and hopeful for them to have a lot of success."
On the team learning the "trick" plays run by Rice
"We'll see how it transpires. A trick play to me is no different than a guy blitxzing on defense. You do something differently on offense to try to set something up. They (Rice) may run a zone blitz on defense to try to make something happen. Trick plays are just part of the game. We call them "special" plays, we don't call them "trick" plays, because every play you run offensively should be trying to trick the defense. You should be trying to do something they (opponent) don't expect you to do. We do have a few of those (special plays), and hopefully we'll be in a sitation where we can throw one of two of them out there. But I don't think a "trick" play is going to be determine the football game. It's going to be determined by who controls the line of scrimmage up front, who blocks and tackles the best and who dominates on field position and momentum."
On his former coach, Bill Yeoman, giving "pep" talks to this year's squad
"He (Yeoman) really hasn't been around that much. He's always 'there', he's always pleasant, he's always energetic and he's always intelligent. All you have to do is hang around him for a couple of minutes and you can figure out how he was very successful, and people who are associated with him understand where he's at and how he got there. It's not like he's going around and trying to build us up. We've been waiting and working for this moment since December 6, and we're excited and ready. We're ready to come out of that tunnel."
On what would be characteristic of an Art Briles football team
"Discipline, extremely strong, extremely physical and extremely intelligent. Those are the four that I would want us to be. Also, an exciting and lively football team. When we score a touchdown, we're going to be happy. When we stop the other team on fourth down, we're going to be happy. We are going to have fun playing the game because it is a fun game."
On the quarterback situation and scripting plays to suit who it is
"We don't script plays, so we'll just go with where we are as far as field position and how the game is going at that time. You never know what's going to happen. That's going to determine more or less how the play-calling goes. As far as who we are with at quarterback will have a little bit of affect on what we decide to go with, depending upon their strengths and weaknesses, because I think you have to adapt to your personnel and play-calling falls into that caterogry as well. We'll try to play into their (quarterback's) strengths and let them have success early in the game."
On who will be returning kicks for the Cougars
"We have 2-3 people we're looking at - Chad McCullar, Ricky Wilson and Brandon Middleton are the three guys who come to mind, and I think maybe even Vincent Marshall a little bit. Those 3-4 kids will be handling most of the kick-return duties, which, especially on punt returns, is one of the most critical positions on the team in my mind. Especially for the fact that I know one thing that is going to happen when they (opponent) punt the ball to us: we are about to get the football. So the main thing I am concerned about in that area is that you catch the football, secure the football and give us the first down."
On which freshmen will play this season
"Of course Kevin (Kolb) will play. Other than that, Ricky Wilson will play. Those are the definite two who will see playing time, and there are two or three others who might get in a game. We'd rather not have them (the freshmen) play and redshirt all of these guys if we could, but we came into some situations where we may need them to play. We're not going to redshirt a guy if he can help us win a football game. Our main objective is to win; it's not to play close, it's not to build for the future. We're not on a five-year plan, we're on a five-minute plan. We're not worried about 2006 if we ever get there; right now we're worried about 2003. If they (freshmen) can help us win, then they will play."
On developing depth on offensive line during two-a-days
"Not really. That's very much a concern for us. We feel like we have five to seven guys who are really ready to play. I'm not saying that guys past that can't play, we just haven't really had the opportunity to get them ready to play. We've had to switch our lineup around a few times due to players completing summer school and some other things. It's a real concern for us as it is for any other football team. As we tell our offense, we're only as good as we are up front. So, we really have to be good up front. Our front line people are really solid and I feel really good about them, but the depth is an issue. We'd really have to bring some guys along in a hurry if something happens."
On Rice's no-huddle offense as watched on film by Briles' staff and the temperatures
"Of course we are prepared for that. Ron Harris and his staff have done a great job and we have a lot of confidence in what they are doing. We want it to be hot, we want it to be a fast-paced game and we want the tempo to be up because we feel that it will be to our advantage. We feel like we are a football team that is in shape, we feel that we are a football team that is hungry and we feel like we're a football team that's aggressive. We're going to be pushing the tempo on offense, and if Rice will push it from their end, that's not anything where we will be hollering 'please slow down!' We want to play a fast football game, so we'll be ready, we'll be alerted and we'll play our assignments."
