Press Conference Comments from Head Coach Lloyd Carr
8/30/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Press Conference Comments from
U-M Head Football Coach Lloyd Carr
Opening Statement ... "Hello, everybody. Good to see you. We're excited to begin the 125th season of Michigan football. Our team has been through a long, arduous training camp, probably, I think without question, the longest in Michigan football history. So they are ready to play and yet we have got a week of preparation. We could have an opportunity to study this film that of the Miami/Indiana State game this week, but we are really excited about opening the season and doing it here at home against an outstanding football team.
"Miami (Ohio) is looking back, we have studied a lot of their film from the previous year and they, of course, scored more points than anybody in the country. Tremendous special teams and I see no drop-off there whatsoever. And defensively they are a team that's really well disciplined, hustling, flying around, a hard-hitting football team. So we understand they are the defending Mid American Conference Champions; outstanding season and, of course, got off to a start that they would like to do. We're looking forward to this game."
Who is going to be your starting quarterback ... "I will say this: It's as tough a decision as I have had to make and, you know, I think these other two guys that are also competing for this job Clayton Richard and Chad Henne have everything it takes and so we'll just see where we go.
"But I think Matt Gutierrez, the advantage he has was the fact that he has been here; knows the offense a little bit better, but the competition is ongoing, the competition is severe and I like them all."
Who is the No. 2 quarterback ... "I am not going to get into that. We have got another week here. I am really not going to say anything more about the quarterback position."
When did you make the decision and inform the quarterbacks ... "I don't want to get into that. That's irrelevant."
Did Matt's success in high school have anything to do with it ... "That has nothing to do with it. What count is your performance here (at Michigan). The reputation you come in with, all the things you come in with, really in terms of making a decision here and the career you have here, it's dependent upon your work ethic, your attitude and your performance."
Are there a couple of offensive line positions up for grabs ... "We have a number of positions where there's tremendous competition and you know, I like that (competition). And yet I am hoping that somebody seizes those jobs. The center position is one of those. And again, we will have to see how it goes this week. But both Mark Bihl and Leo Henige have competed hard and they have both done a very good job. They both improved. So we'll just have to see how that works out. I would think at a lot of those positions we'll play more than one guy."
Would that lead you to play two quarterbacks, any thought of that ... "Well, as I said, I have said all I am going to say about that situation."
What are your expectations of Underwood and the running game ... "I think David Underwood has distanced himself. He clearly is the No. 1 tailback and he's done that through, I think, being in the best condition of his life. I think he has had an outstanding fall practice. I think his performance has been outstanding. He has taken care of the football. He's run aggressively. I think he's much more comfortable. I think he's confident. And I expect him to run with the football, find the holes, and come out the other end."
Who else is going to help in the running game ... "Jerome Jackson suffered an injury in the first week of training camp and has missed time, but he will be back practicing today. How much that missed practice will hamper him, I am not sure. But I think he's going to be ready to play. Pierre Rembert had a very good fall. Mike Hart has had a very good fall. So I think those are the guys that will be the major players at the tailback position this week."
How much has Steve Breaston been hampered by injury this fall ... "We have held him out some of the days where we have gone twice, but he has got a lot of work and I am expecting him to be at full speed on Saturday."
Which freshman do you think will play ... "I think Michael Hart will play, Tim Jamison will play. Chris Graham will play. Alan Branch, my guess is, will play. Possibly Max Martin."
Why have you mentioned Hart a couple of times, and not Martin ... "I think, you know, the thing -- you don't know how any particular game is going to go. If I had my ideal game, everybody would play, every single guy. That's what I'd like to have. But it doesn't always work out that way."
Do you have big expectations for your senior starters ... "Well, I don't think we have any higher expectations than we do for any Michigan team. Our goals are big and that's what we have worked hard for. That's why, you know, guys come to Michigan. That's why, you know, you come here, you want to win championships. You want to play on great teams. I don't think the expectations are any different and I don't really think the expectations mean anything to any Michigan team other than their own expectations. That's what is important because there have been years when, you know, all of the preseason prognostications aren't very high and those teams have done okay.
"So the most important thing is what the team thinks; what the team chooses to do and what kind of attitude and effort they bring everyday. I think those are the things, the chemistry, the unselfishness, all the intangibles that go into it, and are so critical to success, you know, the talent -- the most talented teams don't always win."
How about Marlin Jackson as a kick returner ... "Well, he brings the same thing he brings to his cornerback position. He brings a real passion for the game. I think the fact that he was selected as a captain, he and David Baas, I think our team has elected two men who are unselfish. I think Marlin proved that a year ago. Guys, they want to be led by people who care more about the team than they do about individual success. Marlin has wonderful athletic ability. He has got great quickness. He's tough. He's smart. And so he brings all of those things. You know, he has a love for the game. He's not a cover corner. He's a cornerback. He's going to tackle you. He's going to fight you. He's going to be aggressive. He's going to compete every down. That's what I like and that's what he brings to our team."
Any concerns at all about using Jackson on special teams ... "Any time you use a guy in special teams, some people are going to question that and if you have an injury, obviously, it becomes fodder, you know, for those people who don't understand maybe the significance of special teams. But special teams, I think, as we all know, are a critical part of every football game and when you have guys that really love special teams, which is the case with Marlin, he's wanted to do that from the beginning. We probably would have done it some a year ago had he not been hurt. So I don't worry anymore than I would about any guy, you know, injuries is always something you know is out there. But until it happens, I mean, you know, you deal with it when it happens."
Can you talk a little more about David Underwood ... "Well, I think David committed, decided to come here without ever having come here, you know, before his visit. That's very unusual and you know, but I think it speaks for a guy who knew what he wanted to do in life. I asked him, I can remember asking him when I talked to him on the phone, are you sure here, because I want to meet you before this is finalized. I am not going to bring a guy in here that I have never met even though he may be a talented guy. So until I meet you, you know, this is we'll accept that, but understand that I've got to get a feel for what you are all about. I asked him, I said why do you -- how do you know you want to come here when you have never been on campus What I remember in that response was 'Coach, I have always wanted to come to Michigan.' I said, 'Well what does your mom want you to do' He said, well she wants me to stay close to home. And so in the process of his first couple of years here, you know, he had some very difficult moments and at one point I think he thought about leaving. I can remember his dad calling me and telling me, 'Coach, don't give up on him. He's not going anywhere.'
"So I think, you know, what I admire about David is that he has really endured the disappointment of not being able to play as much as he dreamed about. But he's continued to work. He's a wonderful, wonderful human being. I mean, this kid is, there's nobody out there that doesn't like or wouldn't like David Underwood if you got to know him. And so I am just happy that he has had a great fall and is going into this season with a lot of confidence."
How is the 3-4 going to help you this season ... "It's not the 3-4. It's not the 4-3. It's the people playing it. I mean, but obviously because, you know, the fundamentals are the same. You have got to attack the blockers, get off the blockers, pursue the ball carrier, and hit the ball carrier, gang-tackle, make turnovers; if you do all those things all those defenses are good. But certainly with our depth at linebacker, you know, it enables us to get probably some more speed, although, you know, we have really, I think, improved in the front, in our front four and considering the loss of Jeremy Van Alstyne I am very pleased with where we are -- the development of our front. Our down linemen are I think we're much better there than I had anticipated because we have had some guys make great trades in the offseason. I think Gabe Watson has a chance to be a great football player, a dominating football player if he continues to play with the same type of intensity he has played with this fall. Larry Harrison has made tremendous strides. He's using his hands, which enables him to get off blockers. I think Pat Massey is the most improved football player, maybe, on our team. So he's finally got strong enough that he's able to do some things that, because of his body frame, I mean, he's 6-8, 230, probably when he came here. Now he's 280. He's where I think he needs to be and we have got some young kids that have come on. So I like where we are as far as our health and our development up front with this defense."
What has Roy Manning done to earn a starting role ... "Roy Manning, if you remember, if you have been around here for a long time which I can see a number of you have, I won't mention any names, but (laughs) you remember Brian Townsend He was a guy that didn't play much except maybe on special teams and as a fifth-year senior his approach, his attitude, I have never seen such a dramatic change on a guy as I did with Brian Townsend. As a senior, he was an all Big Ten performer. I think Roy Manning, the change in his performance has just been dramatic. He's always been a guy that's very athletic, runs very well, but he's just played exceptionally well this fall. So he's put himself in a position to play."
How do you distribute the ball with all the talent at wide receiver and tight end ... "I think to a great extent the defense and in our offensive scheme, the defense will dictate who gets the ball. On any given play, the thing I really like about our offense is the critical issue is that the quarterback must recognize what is going on and if the defense has got double coverage, then we want to run the football because we have got enough people to block enough people if they want it to single cover. Now we want to get the ball to the guy that's open. So on any given play every receiver is expecting the ball or they should. If they don't, you know, then you have got a problem. So if you have an offense that's geared to get the ball to the open guy, if you have got play-makers, if you deliver the ball accurately where they can catch it and run with it, then those are the good things. And that's how you can be very efficient, very productive, and score points. So you distribute the ball, if they want to double cover Braylon Edwards, then Jason Avant, Steve Breaston, the tight ends, the backs, I mean, there's other options, so if they want to double-cover both of them, now you have got single coverage on a tight end. So all of those things are dictated by the defense."
How is Rivas kicking the ball this fall ... "Well, I think Garrett has improved. I think he did a wonderful job a year ago considering he was a true freshman. He was very consistent from the time that he won the place kicking job. I think his distances are better. I think he's in better shape. I think he's been through the experience of kicking in big games. I think that's a wonderful feeling as a kicker to know that there's not a situation this fall that he's going to be in that he hasn't been in before. He's kicked a field goal with a couple of seconds on the clock to win a game on the road. So you know, I think any time you have been there, and you have continued to work hard, you know, then that's an ideal situation."
Is this the biggest defensive line you've ever had ... "I think it is the biggest defensive line we have had. For a long, long time around here and those were the days where the running game, you had to stop the run and so the premium here was always on quickness up front, a nose guard that could angle and slant and penetrate, but in the last few years with the change to all the passing formations and the one back and the no back, you know, and linemen now, offensive linemen used to being close to 300. Now you have got offensive linemen being 320-330 is not abnormal. And to take the pounding, the seasons are longer, so but the real difficulty, I think in recruiting is to find defensive linemen that are big and quick. Certainly some of these kids, Harrison and Watson, both of them, are big enough and they are quick enough to play very effectively.
Anybody else banged up going into season ... "I would say this is the healthiest we have gone into an opener. Normally when you go through, you know, this training camp you are going twice a day every other day and you are trying to get as much contact work so that you are ready for the season. But now of course we have got a week to go here. But where we are at this moment, we will feel good."
How have Scott McClintock and Lawrence Reid adjusted to the new defense ... "Well, I think obviously, you know, we have changed some defensively, but I think McClintock and Reid are two guys that, you know, they have played. They have experience. They know what is coming. And they have prepared hard. They prepared well. McClintock is a great athlete. He's one of the faster non-skilled guys, you know, if you take the running backs, the wide receivers, the defensive backs, McClintock may be the fastest guy on our team and Reid has really proven a year ago that he has what it takes to be an outstanding linebacker. So you know, and yet I think as I have said this before, we probably have more depth than at any time since I have been here at the linebacker position. These young guys, that enables you in certain circumstances to substitute and if you can do that without losing effectiveness, then it helps you in the fourth quarter and it helps you as the season goes on because you develop depth and you develop confidence in your younger players if they get a chance to play."
What do you think of Miami QB Josh Betts ... "What I know about Betts is based on a lot of things I have read that Coach Hoeppner has had to say about him. And, of course, in one game, I think he had an opportunity to prepare a year ago. He's been the backup. He's been in the system. I think they will probably do some things to take advantage, some of the abilities he has as I what I read is that he's that they may have some plays designed, running plays for him because he's 6-3, 225 pounds, and a very good athlete as well as a guy that can throw the football. This is always something that maybe sometimes goes unnoticed. But he's surrounded by a lot of experience. He's not taking over as the starting quarterback without veteran people around him. Three of those offensive linemen are returning starters, the tight end is back, every wideout they have got I think six wide receivers that all have a lot of experience that have all caught a lot of balls. When you add up the number of passes that those receivers have made at the two deep positions, I mean, that's impressive. So he has got a veteran team around him. He doesn't have to do everything himself. He's going to have a lot of help."
Does it feel good to have a lot of depth on offense ... "And great special teams and you know, a very, very good defense. If you look at our quarterback position three years ago when John Navarre became the starter, he was stepping in at a time when our offensive line, we had lost almost an entire offensive line. He had lost a great receiver the year before. We had new backs taking over because Anthony Thomas had graduated. So obviously that helps the better more experienced people you have around you."
What do you think of the evolution of the MAC in last few years ... "I don't think that was something anybody envisioned. I think again, if you want to go back to what's happened in college football you have to go back to the late 1980s when they began to reduce scholarships, when I can't remember, I can't remember exactly how many scholarship we had. I was at Eastern Michigan as an assistant coach the first year Eastern competed in the Mid-American conference. I think that was 1975. Long time ago. I don't think anybody would ever envision but even then, you know, there were some Mid-American teams I think before Eastern and who else went into the Mid-American, maybe Northern Illinois, I think it was a 16 league and Miami (Ohio) and Bowling Green those teams used to beat some well known people, but what's happened as a conference is really impressive. I don't have any doubts that there are several teams in that league that can come into the Big Ten Conference and compete very, very well. I mean, when you look at the film, we watch film throughout the year, there are a number of chances that we have to watch Mid-American teams play and that league is really, really competitive and there's great coaching. They have done a great job in that league."
Do you have to prepare differently to break in a new quarterback ... "No. Look, this is the deal. Everything that you do with him from the day he gets here is to prepare him for what he's going to face on Saturday afternoon. The longer he's been here the more comfortable he's going to feel. But you know, I think the key is that it's a process. It's day in, day out, day after day, week after week, month after month, all the preparation is what prepares him. That's why he works, that's why he has got to be a competitive guy. That's why he has got to be a tough guy because there's going to be some things go wrong out there when you are the quarterback. I know this: He's going to throw some interceptions, which is not going to make me happy and yet I know, as I stand here, it's going to happen. Why did it happen All right, let's make sure that we don't make the same mistake again. Every single guy out there, he knows this, he's not alone. He has got a lot of people that understand that are going to be playing it's a team game and he has got to play his part. He has got to do the things that we ask him to do, but he doesn't have to be perfect. And yet he has to understand that you know, there is a level of performance that's required and it's a very competitive situation and it always, in my experience it always has been with maybe a couple of exceptions, so that continues to be the case."
How likely is Kevin Dudley going to carry the ball ... "Dudley made me promise him that he would carry the ball at least once this year and score a touchdown. I refuse to make that promise. Dudley, he's what you want. He's a great leader. And I think now everybody appreciates what Dudley brings to this football team."
Can you compare Clayton Richard and Chad Henne ... "One's a sophomore. One's a freshman. I am going to let you, at some point here, you can be the judge of that. I am not going to get to where I come in here and evaluate a guy's strengths around weaknesses. "
Media Contacts: David Ablauf, Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423
