Offensive Coordinator Larry Coker Press Conference
Dec. 29, 2000
New Orleans, La. (www.hurricanesports.com) — –
NOKIA SUGAR BOWL
NEWS CONFERENCE QUOTES
Friday, December 29, 2000
MIAMI OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR LARRY COKER
(on practices) “They (were more physical) before they came to New Orleans. Today we’ll go in shells. It’s a little lighter practice in terms of hitting. After today, it will start to lighten up somewhat.
(on Alex Brown) “He’s a major concern. The statistics may bear out that he hasn’t had as great a year as he’d like. The thing you have to do with him is help. The backs have to chip. He’s very athletic and can ru. We thought what we saw (of Brown on film) looked pretty good.
(on playing in noisy dome) “The teams from Miami that have played here in the past agains SEC teams, there’s been a crowd advantage for those teams. We played in the Carrier Dome late in the year against Syracuse. We really kind of took (the crowd) out of the game early. It wasn’t the factor it could have been. “We probably didn’t handle the crowd very well at Washington. We became more focused (after the Washington game) on the crowd taking us out of our game.
(on working against own secondary) “Florida’s very athletic, a lot like us. It helps that we go against our defensevery day. We call it ‘fastball’ – they see our best receivers, we see their best defensive backs and linebackers. We run our scheme, and they run their scheme.
(comparing QB situations) “I guess I would like to be in a situation (like Florida) where you can get 2-3 quarterbacks ready. We had a little bit of that situation last year. Kenny Kelly was the starter and became injured, and then we had to get Ken Dorsey ready. I think it’s a different situation. I don’t think anybody’s done a better job than Florida of getting a number of players ready.
(on Davis’ bowl philosophy) “I don’t think it’s a tough philosophy. We try to get things done in a two-hour (practice) format. I don’t think we have a lot of dead time on the field. It’s a fairly physical time, but it’s so much more mental. Hopefully, that’s what will give us a chance to be successful.
(on development of Ken Dorsey) “He was an unproven commodity. The time he played against Syracuse (last year), I think they were the ninth-ranked defense in the country. “He had a good summer. He wanted to raise his level. “I’m not sure (the Washington game) wasn’t a defining moment. All of a sudden, the media was brutal (after the loss). How do you handle those things? He was relentless. Our next game was at West Virginia, that’s a tough place to play, and he had a great game. “He raised the level of his game this year, and I don’t think he’ll be satisfied.
(on Butch Davis) “I coached with Coach Davis at Oklahoma State. What I noticed since I’ve come back is he’s more knowledgeable in special teams, offense and defense. We won several games early (this year) in the kicking game. “His background in professional football … he worked in professional football for six years. We run our program like a professional football team. “There’s a lot of things he brings to the table. I can certainly see why he would be in high demand.”
