Quotes from Tuesday's Press Conference
Oct. 26, 2004
Coral Gables, Fla. ( www.hurricanesports.com) — – Following are quotes from Miami Hurricanes Head Coach Larry Coker prior to the Nroth Carolina State Game:
“It was good to get back from Raleigh with a win. It was also good to see Brock Berlin named the Offensive Back of the Week for the ACC and Devin Hester as the Special Teams Player of the Week, which were well-deserved honors for them.”
“We are headed back to North Carolina this weekend to play in Chapel Hill. North Carolina is currently 3-4, but they have beaten two good football teams in North Carolina State and Georgia Tech. All three of the games they have won have come at home, which is where we will play them, so it will be another tough road test for us. Offensively, they have a tremendous quarterback in Darian Durant. He is one of those players we don’t like to see, because he is a running back at quarterback. He can run the ball and pass, which creates a lot of problems for us. The have excellent running backs in Jacque Lewis and Ronnie McGill. They also have an explosive wide receiver from Florida in Jarwarski Pollock. He is not big, but very flashy and has been catching a lot of balls.”
“We had a couple of players who were injured in the North Carolina State game who will not be available this week, Tyler McMeans and Santonio Thomas. They should both be back before the end of the season. Derrick Morse will step in at right guard and Kareem Brown on the defensive line.”
On DL Kareem Brown:“He played extremely well against NC State. He has really improved and made a lot of plays. He was our selection as defensive player of the week. He forced a fumble and recovered a fumble and made a nice return on it. He is getting better everyday and it showed in the game on Saturday.”
On the Offensive Line:“We are a little deeper on the offensive line than we have been in the past, which helps with the injuries we have sustained. Derrick Morse did an outstanding job filling in for Tyler McMeans. The more work Rashad Butler gets the better he gets. I was very encouraged with what I saw on Saturday. They faced the number one defense in America on the road and we were able to get 400-plus yards. Those numbers start with the offensive line.”
On QB Brock Berlin:“He is improving and he is getting more comfortable with the offense. He is playing with a lot more confidence. The thing that amazes me is that he has never flinched. There has certainly been a lot of criticism, as you are going to have as a quarterback, but he has never doubted himself. He is such a tough competitor and the guys really rally around him. He is a good leader. The guys believe in him and believe he can make some plays.”
On North Carolina QB Darian Durant:“He is a very good passer. Sometimes you see guys in his position as good runners at quarterback who are good throwers. They may hit the target or they may not. But this guy is a good passer. If you are open, he will get you the ball, but otherwise he will take off running. He becomes that 12th man in a sense that you have to defend. We have to make sure to do a good job against him.”
On WR Roscoe Parrish-“I have seen him make some catches in practice that most people can’t make. He is so quick and I can’t imagine trying to cover him one on one in the secondary. You just know you have an advantage out there with him. He has a great work ethic and attitude which helps him improve each week.”
On the BCS System-“We are going to go out and play and be as prepared for every game that we can be. We are going to do everything we can do on our side and hopefully the system will work for us in the long run.”
Quarterback Brock Berlin
On the offense over the last couple of weeks”We feel good where we’re at right now. We just want to keep on building and get better and better each week. I think our guys are really taking it personally and want to play well.”
On Berlin’s play over the last 3 weeks- being effective in the red zone“We’re starting to come together and we’re all getting more and more comfortable each week with our offense. You got to give a lot of the credit to coach (Dan) Werner, he’s doing a very good job with the play calling. I think that it’s just been a lot of fun for the past few weeks. We’re having a lot of fun out there and we just want to keep it up.”
On the Heisman talk after the last three games“You want to put that aside. The big thing is that we want to keep on winning; we want to take this thing one game at a time and just keep on winning.”
On the irony of the Heisman talk now versus the talk from a month ago:“I think it just comes to show you that you don’t want to listen anything going on; you could be booed one week and they’re saying good things about you the next week. We just got to stick together and, like I said, take this thing one game at a time. That’s what we’re worried about; we want to just keep on winning. That’s what we want to do.”
On looking up in the stands and seeing everyone wearing #7“It’s fun. It’s a lot of fun to know that you’re being supported by fans and friends and family. I think it’s pretty cool to look up and see that.”
On the fan support over the past year“It’s human nature that you don’t want to get down. The big thing for me was to stay strong in my faith. And I thank God for helping me through this time. I think, too, just sticking with teammates and family and believing in each other and believing in our goal of what we want to do and not listening to everybody else. To just go out there and know what we can do.”
On silencing critics with his play from the last 3 games“It’s nice to go out there and be able to play big and be able to show people what I can do. That’s why we play this game, we want to have big games; we want to do good things — throw touchdowns and win big. It’s a lot of fun to be able to go out there and be able to show people what you can do.”
On if this is what Berlin envisioned his Miami career“Yeah, definitely. I have big goals before each season, before each game to do big things and to lead this offense; just to go out there and make big plays happen. I just want to keep on doing this. And I think our receivers are excited about getting the football and making plays. And they are doing a good job.”
On Roscoe Parrish“He’s a big-time player. He’s done such big things for us and we’ve talked about how big a heart he has. Roscoe’s my little buddy out there. He’s just out there making big plays. So I’m excited for him and excited to have him with me.”
On the offensive line injuries“That’s kind of part of it. With O-line you have to expect it’s going to happen throughout the year. Those guys are getting banged up all the time. It’s the same way that Rashad Butler stepped in for Eric Winston. Derrick’s stepped in for big boy 68 (Tyler McMeans) and that’s the way it’s going to happen. It’s tough losing Tyler because he’s such a good player. That’s just the way it is. I expect Derrick to play big. He’s a good player and we have total confidence in him.”
On having so many guys involved catching the ball“Whenever you’re able to get a lot of players involved and get those guys catching balls, they can’t key in on one guy, they can’t double and they can’t do a lot of things they want to do defensively. We have a lot of weapons and we just want to keep on using them.”
On being mentioned for the Heisman now when a few weeks ago Miami fans were booing“Like I said earlier, you can’t listen to anybody or listen to what anybody is saying. You just have to keep believing in yourself, believing in your teammates and know what you can do. I’m not worried about that at all. I’m worried about the next game against North Carolina and getting the victory.”
On whether or not he’s heard from the former UM quarterbacks during the rough times“I’ve heard from all of them. They’ve all kept in close touch with me. I have a lot of great relationships with those guys. They’ve been a big help for me through the good times and bad times. And I’m very thankful to have those guys.”
On which call has meant the most to Berlin“All of them mean a lot- just because they all care about this program and care about me as a person. We have good friendships between all us. They all mean a lot to me.”
On which ones called(laugh) “You can probably guess who they were.”
On what’s the best piece of advice Berlin’s gotten from them“It’s hard to say one piece of advice because we’ve all been in the same situations; we’ve all had the good times and bad times. And they’ve just been able to relate certain situations they went through and be able to help me out through it.”
On the challenges Berlin expects from North Carolina:“North Carolina is a good football team and they’ve played some good games this year. And they beat the team we beat, North Carolina State. So we are still trying to figure out how exactly we want to tackle them. But we know they’re a good defense and a good football team. We’ll go up there and play them at their house, so we know they’ll be excited and ready to play.”
On playing in front of the NC State fans in Raleigh“That was fun. That was a great college atmosphere; you got fans yelling at you in a loud stadium. It was a lot of fun to be out there and play in front of those people. It’s kind of why you play this game; you want to play in front of those big-time crowds and able to go up there and perform well.”
On his reaction to the firing of Florida Gator’s Coach Ron Zook“It’s a tough deal. I feel for him, his family and for the team because that’s the leader of the team. Whenever you lose a coach like that in the middle of the year, it’s always tough.”
