Press Conference Comments from Michigan Head Coach Lloyd Carr
9/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Press Conference Comments from
U-M Head Football Coach Lloyd Carr
Previewing Wisconsin (Sept. 24); Reviewing Eastern Michigan (Sept. 17)
Is Mike Hart going to be able to go against Wisconsin ... "Am I going with Mike Hart Maybe Mike Hart will go with us. We'll have to see. You never know. You get on that plane, you really don't know who is going to be there and who isn't. No, we weren't resting him (against Eastern Michigan). I get the trainer's report this afternoon, but I would suspect that we'll have to see how he does tomorrow. So, I can't tell you. I really cannot tell you."
Do you expect any of the other injured players to suit up this week ... "Well, I can't tell you until we practice. Because every week, you've got a new game plan, you've got certainly different challenges, and so we've got to be prepared to go with people who practice. And whether or not any of those guys will practice tomorrow, I can't tell you, but what I can tell you is I haven't had any reason to believe they will or won't. (Laughter).
"So what I'm saying is, they will tell you. They all want to play and they were all getting treatment yesterday. They all were getting treatment this morning, this afternoon. I know this; that every one of them will do everything they can do to be prepared to play. But, you know, to speculate on it, now (Doug) Dutch came down with a 103 degree temperature last Friday and was ruled out of the game. I expect Doug back."
Did Mario Manningham play more than you wanted to because Breaston got dinged ... "No, he didn't get dinged. We went into the game with the idea that because of Adrian Arrington's absence, and certainly with Doug Dutch missing the game, it gave us an opportunity that we really were looking for, and that was to play Mario Manningham more and to get Antonio Bass into the game. We were able to do that, and I think, they made some mistakes in there. They are not where they need to be in terms of understanding all of the things, all of the nuances of their position. But certainly, they will learn from that experience. I think both of them got the football, did some good things."
Will you go into this like a normal game, or do you just move everything back because of the late start ... "We start everything about four hours before the game. We'll be on the same routine. The difference is that you've got some time between breakfast and that four-hour period. We'll get up a little bit later and then we'll have a light breakfast and then we'll take a walk, have a short meeting and then they will have a little bit of time in there to watch some of the games that are being played, and then we'll get ready to go to the stadium."
What's your history with Barry Alvarez ... "I first met Barry when he was an assistant at Iowa. He used to recruit the Detroit area. Certainly I've gotten to know him a lot better, coaching as being the head coach at Michigan, I really like him, I like the way he runs his program and I like the way he plays football and I like him as a person."
What is more important to this team a Big Ten championship or national championship ... "Everyone knows what the big prize is up there. And regardless of the way the BCS is set up, I think even before the BCS was set up, everybody knew that the polls were what determined the National Championship, the polls are still very, very much involved in that selection.
"The BCS with the media coverage and certainly television, all of these games that are televised starting on Wednesday nights, certainly college football gets a lot more exposure than it did 15 years ago. I think that has really had an impact on the National Championship. I think that each program, each team at Michigan, our team sets their goals in the fall and the National Championship has always been a part of that discussion.
"So I think obviously being in a conference that has an automatic berth into the BCS, you understand that that the Big Ten championship is still an extremely important goal."
With Adam Kraus moving around a little bit, can you talk about how he's handling that ... "I thought he did a wonderful job moving the guard to replace Matt Lentz. I think he played as well as we could have expected him to play. He made our Victor's Club, which goes to those guys who have excellent performances; and to do that in his first start at the guard, I think he's a have very bright guy. He, of course, came here as a tight end and played his freshman year, his redshirt year as a tight end, but we moved him inside and he's done a very good job. He's a hard worker, and the guy loves to play the game. I saw him this morning as I was coming into the office and I asked him, 'What do you like best' He said, 'I like them both.' See, he pays attention."
About the play of Alex Mitchell ... "I think Alex Mitchell has very, very good ability and I think he did some very good things. But, you know, it's very typical. One of the problems we've had these last two weeks is some of the protections have broken down. Alex made a mistake early in that game on the first touchdown pass that went to Jason Avant, his man came off and hit Chad Henne as hard as you can hit a man, and so he's got to learn from that. I think he made very good strides. I think the first play he played in, in the first game, he got a chance to go in and he jumped off-sides. So every time you get the play, you learn something. And you're less nervous and you're more secure in what you're doing, and that really is the good news about Saturday. We had a lot of guys get that get opportunity."
About the play of the freshmen and whether you determine before the season who can contribute ... "I don't always go into a season saying these are the guys we're going to play. I look at the depth, but I also look at their opportunity and after training camp, what they have proven as far as being able to pick things up, what's their work ethic like, do they have the kind of concentration that you need at this level to be able to learn in meetings, to be able to study film and if they have that type of maturity, then that's something that you take into consideration. A lot of times a guy doesn't have that because he hasn't had all of the meetings that we have here. If you can't learn in meetings, it's going to take you much longer to get ready to play at least well enough that you don't hurt the team.
"So you're looking at a lot of things, but certainly we've had some guys play that have been very impressive. Brandon Logan played some in there at linebacker, and of course John Thompson got some playing time. But those guys are both I think as we go forward, John Thompson has been outstanding in our special teams on the kickoff team, and Brandon Logan will play an important role as we go forward on our special teams. And of course (Kevin) Grady has played a lot. And who else did you mention (Brandon) Harrison I thought really played his best game on Saturday."
About the defensive line ... "Alan Branch has really stepped up. I think he's been very, very productive. But we're not as deep inside as we would like to be, and there's potential. The good news is Terrance Taylor got to play I think 14 or 15 snaps in there on Saturday. He's a guy that I think will get better and better and we need him to do that because it does give us more depth. I think we're not as deep as we would like to be, but I don't know that you're ever as deep as you want to be."
About Wisconsin's running game and whether they'll use Matt Bernstein at tailback ... "I think when you have the leading rusher, I haven't seen the NCAA stats yet, but going into that game, they were averaging 345 yards a game rushing. That's pretty significant.
"I think, he ran the football a year ago in some of those situation, short yardage, but they had some injury situations. I think with a back like Matt Bernstein if he goes to tailback, then who plays fullback I mean, can you replace him with a guy like that, and I don't know that that's something as a coach you want to take a guy like him out of what he does so well. I think there's always a possibility that you'll get him, but I think what I saw was that Brian Calhoun, in the heat down there in North Carolina, I think he only came out for a couple of plays. He played almost every down, which speaks to how tough he is and how strong he is, and certainly how well-conditioned he is."
About no one on the team having played at Wisconsin ... "I think they have all been on the road with the exception of our freshmen. We have a lot of guys who have been on the road. They just haven't been to Madison. I think if you have never been on a road trip, then certainly the guys who have are preparing them. We'll have crowd noise. We had some crowd noise in our practices last week, which is a shock to guys who heard it for the first time, because you can't hear. You can't hear, the coach is yelling and he shouldn't be because he can't hear you anyway.
"But the idea is to try to do as much in practice as you can to simulate the noise factor and the communication, how much closer you have to listen. We'll work on all those things. We'll do everything we can."
What do you think about Adam Stenavich on the offensive line this year ... "I think Adam has had a wonderful career at Michigan. He's a three-year starter. He's a guy that's very smart. He's an outstanding technician. He takes great pride in the way he does his job, both from a competitive standpoint and from a competitive standpoint are the things that he's been taught to do. He's a very good leader because of his consistency. He's the same day-in and day-out. I mean, I never have to get on Adam Stenavich because he hasn't been practicing hard, because he's been making mental mistakes, because he's not doing the things that he needs to do. He's been a lot of fun to have around. He's the kind of guy that you know is part of the backbone of our team from the standpoint of playing the game like you want a guy to play the game."
Will you practice at night this week ... "Well, I was thinking about blocking out the sun. No. I would assume it's well-lighted (at Camp Randall), but there are times as we get into the fall, I guess daylight savings has been changed this year, but normally in the last two or three weeks of the season, we practice at night. All of these guys that have been here, they have and most of them have played night games in high school. I think the big thing is to be ready for the crowd noise and the fact that you do what you can do to try to take the crowd out of the game. That's what we'll be striving to do. I love night games for high school."
Do you expect the night game will affect your team ... "I don't know honestly, with a 5:00 Central time, I don't know how much of that game will be (in the dark). Now, if they continue to take 10-minute breaks for time outs for commercials, it might be quite dark. But if they do a better job of limiting the timeouts to commercial use, then maybe we won't play too long in the dark."
Has Brian Thompson solidified his starting position at fullback ... "Brian Thompson, he's off to a wonderful start. You never know coming off a foot injury, but he's an extremely tough competitor. All during training camp, he fought the discomfort of coming off that injury. He rehabbed it I think as diligently as you could ask a guy to, because he has a great desire to play. He's tough, he knows what he's doing now, and he was a tight end in high school and played some fullback I think, but was a linebacker.
"Originally, we started him out at linebacker, but I always like the idea of having him on offense because he's got very good hands, and he is really playing well. He's had some great blocks on the perimeter and he blocks well on the off-tackle play and on the isolation plays, and he can catch the ball. I like Thompson a lot. I just hope he can continue to play and stay healthy."
Why isn't fullback as big a factor in today's game ... "I think in the old days, the fullback was a big factor because of the option. You would run the option and you would fake to the fullback and the line and then what really happened when they started stopping the belly play or the inside trap, because those were the two types of options, the trap option and the belly option.
"But once you got away from the option football, then that changed the type of running plays. So you know a lot of teams, that's why a lot of teams, fullbacks, good fullbacks are very, very difficult. They are almost a dying breed. I think if you look into the NFL, you see mostly one-back teams except maybe in short yardage. You see some lineman playing as a lead back and short-yardage situations. I think the reason for it is that the collisions, when a fullback lines up behind the quarterback and he goes to block an outside linebacker or an inside linebacker, those are high-collision plays; and the durability, it's hard to keep a guy healthy through the length of the season.
"That's one reason I think there's so many one-back teams and spread them out, but if you're a two-back team like we like to be at times, then you need a guy who is tough and willing. But the thing that we've been very successful with is off play-action, faking the ball to the tailback using the fullback as a receiver. I think that started probably more with Aaron Shea, and since then, we've had guys that could catch the football. That's one of the things we look for this that position."
Do you feel like you have more of a target on your back because you are trying to win your third consecutive Big Ten title ... "I think that being the type of program we are, that's always our goal, and I think the most important thing for our team and for our players is what our goals are. You can't worry about the other guy. You need to take care of the things that are under your control, you need to play together understanding that your success is going to be determined by how well you play as a unit and making sure that every guy is playing as hard as he can. And certainly, that's always a factor if you're defending the championship. But I don't think it's anything that we're dwelling on."
Can you talk about camaraderie of your team and how you decide roommates on the road ... "I think when we go to a Bowl game, we try to put guys with their friends because it's a long stay. But a lot of times when we go on the road, we will try to match up a young guy with an older guy, a guy that's been around. If you put two young guys together, you don't have much as far as feedback and telling them make sure you're on time, make sure you're dressed properly and make sure you're doing things that are going to help you prepare for the game. That's something as coaches during the season that we try to do that in a way that it will help the player."
How healthy is Tim Jamison and what can he do to contribute ... "I think if he's healthier, he would be playing; I think we can assume that. I think he's a guy that has a lot of ability. The problem that he's facing right now is that he missed almost all of the year ago. So from an experience factor, he's not where he needs to be, but Tim is a very aggressive guy. He's a guy that's going to give you everything he's got. I think he's going to develop into a very good football player and he's the kind of an athlete that I think against certain teams, there will be a role for him. And hopefully in the next few weeks, he's going to gain enough experience and confidence that he'll be able to help us, because he's got ability."
About Steve Breaston and his play at wide receiver ... "I think he's not played like he wants to play. He came into training camp and was limited somewhat with a hamstring that slowed him down. I think Steve Breaston is one of those guys that expects so much out of himself and puts so much pressure on himself that if he doesn't do every single thing right, it bothers him. You like that kind of an attitude in a guy. But I'm trying to tell him just to relax and play and don't worry about all of the critics and all of the people who say you're not this and you're not that, because that's almost a surefire way to not play like you're capable. I think Breaston will be fine. I think he's just got to play like he's capable, and I think he will."
About the play of his wide receivers ... "I think we're young. I mean, with the loss of Adrian Arrington, you know, we have guys who we're trying to get ready to play who are freshmen or who didn't play a year ago. I think (Doug) Dutch did some good things in there in the first couple of games. I think Dutch has got good hands and he can run and I think he will factor in here as we go forward. But you know, like I've always said about experience, you know the rest of it; that we don't have to repeat that again."
About Gabe Watson not starting the past two games ... "Well, I'm not going to say much about it. I can say it's not an easy thing. I mean, it's a difficult thing for everybody. You have to start with the fact that it's a competitive situation, and that's really what the game is all about. Well, because any time the guy is in a position that there are great expectations, and for whatever reason, sometimes it's an injury, sometimes it's something else. So those are always tough for everybody. But it is what is it."
About choosing your words carefully regarding Gabe ... "Well, I try to pick my words closely on everything. I'm not going to talk about some issues on a team that are not that I don't feel ... I don't feel any responsibility to talk about certain things. And the player/coach relationship is one of them."
About Matt Lentz dressing and not playing against Eastern Michigan ... "He went out there and the idea of him dressing was so that he could stand there by me, keep me company. But no, seriously, the reason he dressed was to see in warm-ups if he could go out and run, loosen up, and then sometimes a guy can do that and feel much better. Because 24 hours, 48 hours, it's amazing the progress some of these injuries you can make with them. We wanted him to loosen up and see how he felt. But there was never any intention to play him."
About Ryan Mundy's status ... "Mundy, I think will not play in game competition this fall."
About the play of his running backs if Mike Hart can't play ... ""Well, Max got a lot of good work. I think Jerome Jackson has had a very good fall. So the key for us at that position is to have a guy that will protect the quarterback and secure the football. We have been relatively careless with the ball.
"Now, we didn't have any issues on Saturday, but I think at that position, we've got to take care of the football and we have to protect the quarterback. If we can't do that, then we're going to really struggle offensively because what we're trying to do is have some balance. We're trying to get the ball to people that can do something with it, and to do that you can't just line up and run the tailback off-tackle. It's a little bit different world than that, and Wisconsin is going to put more than the law allows close to the line of scrimmage. I'm trying to get that rule changed where you can't put nine guys up there, but that's what they do. So until the rules changes, we have to throw the ball. We'd like to just run every down."
About Ryan Mundy's injury ... "Well, there's nothing to take care of as far as, except that we've tried to, we were hoping that he will be able to return, that he has kind of an injury, it's very similar to Lawrence Reid. What we've decided here is that actually, what he's decided I think is that we would like to give it some rest so that we can see what happens in spring practice. I'm not particularly encouraged. I'm disappointed that it just hasn't come around."
Is Ryan Mundy eligible for a redshirt and can you tell about Mike Kolodziej's injury ... "Yes, he is. He played as a true freshman. I can't be specific. Mike, it was nothing that happened (in practice). He just woke up last Wednesday morning and didn't feel well. So we're doing some things to try to find out. I think he's fine, but other than that, I just don't know."
About choosing your words regarding injuries ... "I don't know what's fair because again I don't want to stand up here and talk about confidential issues. Now, you know, I mean, if it's something like we're talking about Ryan Mundy where a guy is going to miss and I can help to explain without going into great detail or it's nothing serious, then that's one thing. So I'll just leave it at that."
Media Contacts: David Ablauf, Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423
