Watch Tuesday's Football Press Conference
Aug. 2, 2005
Get the inside scoop on the Hurricanes as they prepare for the upcoming season. The Canes open the 2005 campaign on Sept. 5 when they travel to Tallahassee to face Florida State.
Click here to watch the press conference
Larry Coker Press Conference
Tuesday, August 2, 2005
(opening statement) “From a coaching standpoint it’s always great to be back and it’s great to get started. I think you’ll like this team; you’ll like what you see. I think this team is a hungry football team. We sense that. We’ve seen it and I know a couple members of the media mentioned that to me at (ACC Football Media Days) from talking to Thomas Carroll and Eric Winston. There’s a pretty strong resolve there and guys kind of see the eye of the tiger in those players.
“This team is a very excited, a very enthusiastic and hungry football team. Our attitude has been terrific. They are a great conditioned football team, and we really have a lot to look forward to. We’re really excited about getting back. It was great to end last season with a win but we hated to end the season with three losses. This is our opportunity to get back on track and again be one of the elite programs in the country.”
(on ACC media predictions that Virginia Tech would win the Coastal Division) “You know (the prediction), it’s fact and it’s real. And I think it’s probably a realistic vote. That team beat us last year, they have a lot of players coming back–it was a realistic vote. Now, is that the way it’s going to come out? We don’t believe so, and we have a lot we can do about it. Virginia Tech was picked sixth in the league last year. They played for the ACC championship, they won and went to the Sugar Bowl. The prediction doesn’t lower expectations, but it gives us a little more resolve and keeps the expectations right around where they should be.
“We have to focus on winning the ACC before thinking about national championship contention. You can’t put the whole cart before the horse. We have two tremendously tough road games to start the season at Florida State, at Clemson, and we have a very good Colorado team coming into the Orange Bowl, so there’s a lot we have to get ready for.
“With the way the BCS is now, being undefeated and winning, that doesn’t guarantee an opportunity, as Auburn was showed last year. But if we win the ACC championship and go to a BCS bowl game, the rest will eventually fall in place.”
(on examples of players challenging themselves) “I think it’s taking more ownership of the team and responsibilities from the standpoint coaches don’t really have to get on players a great deal. And I’m getting a lot of great feedback, since we can’t coach players in the summer. Kids really encourage players to be upfront, to finish their times, run, get their lifts and be on time. Our players aren’t late, they’re on time.
(on the emerging leaders of the team) “Eric Winston is one. I think Sinorice Moss is one. He’s a quiet person, a lot like Santana (Moss). But it helps when you’re a good player, and he’s one of those. Both quarterbacks are leaders, and this was a little bit of a concern. When you’re named a starter, and now you got a second-team player that loses some clout. But that hasn’t happened, Kirby Freeman is a leader, Kyle Wright is a leader, they’re both leaders. Now they are leaders in a little different ways because they haven’t played. But they are leaders from the standpoint of the example they have and the ability they have on the field. Defensively, Thomas Carroll is one that has really been a standout. Roger McIntosh as well; he’s a quiet leader but he’s developed along those lines. Tavares Gooden is the opposite, he’s the clown, he has enthusiasm. The players would say he’s geeked up all the time. In the secondary, Kelly Jennings and Brandon Meriweather, have really stepped up. Most people wouldn’t know it, I didn’t know it, but Kelly Jennings was the most productive defensive back a year ago. He was the most consistent football player there. And obviously Antrel Rolle is a great player, and now Kelly is opening up. The same thing with Brandon Meriweather. Another guy is Brian Monroe. This guy is off the charts in numbers. We may need to start him somewhere because he can run, lift, jump. His vertical jump, short shuttle are out of sight. He’s one of the better athletes we have on the team. That’s kind of nice to see from the special teams area.”
(on the battle between Devin Hester and Marcus Maxey at cornerback) “Hopefully it’s an ongoing battle, but Maxey will start out as being our top guy. It obviously doesn’t mean a whole lot going in, but I obviously have to have some place to start. With the nickel defense and with the dime, they’re going to be on the field from Day One. So we can start a guy out there, but now there’s going to be a lot room for a lot of guys to play.
(on why Maxey is listed ahead of Hester on the depth chart going into preseason camp) “Maxey has been more productive, for no other reason. Not in the summer, but last season and in the spring. And it’s not that we’re disappointed in Devin, he’s going to be a great player for us. I want Devin to focus on defense. Devin has matured a lot and that’s really what college is all about. He’s a game-changer. In the FSU game, I’ve never seen a player block a field goal off the edge on an overload protection. He’s matured and is starting to get his confidence level back, because he really hasn’t played defense that much. I expect him to have a phenomenal year for us.
(on possible areas of concern heading into preseason camp) “You have a lot of concern. But if you look on the defensive side of the football we’re very solid there. We have more depth there than we’ve had in a number of years, more talent, and we have experience there, so I think I feel very, very good about that. Plus some players coming off redshirt years like Eric Moncur, Calais Campbell and Rhyan Anderson. Those are guys who I think are special football players, as well as some of the young players that we’ve signed. Offensively, it’s who’s that guy that’s your marquee guy? Is Michael Irvin there? Who is that guy you’re going to get the ball to? Well, Michael’s not there. I don’t know if that guy has developed yet.”
(on possible playmakers heading into the season) “I think Greg Olson is going to be as good as any tight end we’ve had before. You look at these wide receivers–we have four maybe five we feel very good about. If I’m at Oklahoma State, I feel really good about having one of those guys. Now which one emerges I don’t know. I’m not concerned about our quarterback. But the running back position is one that we need somebody come through. Is there talent there? Yes. The good teams we’ve had here it seems like a running back has stepped up. And throughout my coaching career a running back has stepped up. When we’ve had Thurman Thomas or Barry Sanders (at Oklahoma State), or Eddie George (at Ohio State) or Edgerrin James and guys like that–our teams have been pretty good.
(on All-ACC pick Greg Threat behind behind Brandon Meriweather on the depth chart) “I think it tells us that we do have some talent at safety. But we’re not locked in on anybody, and Greg didn’t think that. It was a matter of production, and coaches measure the production in spring practice. Here’s your production, here’s your opportunity. There’s a lot of things that weigh into that. Not that Greg is a bad player, but Brandon Meriweather has really upped the ante.”
(on having a healthy offensive line) “We were really piecing together in the Peach Bowl and I was really amazed to beat a team like Florida as injured as we were. Tony Tella looks like a different person this year. The guard position is going to have much more competition with Andrew Bain, Tyler McMeans, Derrick Morse and Tony Tella. Rashad Butler will be back at right tackle, which is his natural position, and I’m much more comfortable about what we have. Those guys are hungry; their attitudes are phenomenal. They’re not happy with where we are and those guys have a lot of pride. There aren’t many Devin Hesters among that group, but they have a lot of pride and have really worked extremely hard and had a great attitude.”
(on redshirt freshman Tyrone Byrd taking over at center) “He’s very talented, but he’s a redshirt freshman. He can be very good, but he has to be very good in a hurry. When I was at Ohio State, we started Korey Stringer and Orlando Pace as freshman, but obviously they’re special players. It’s a very difficult position, probably the second most difficult after quarterback.”
(on the roles of Roger McIntosh and Willie Williams) “Roger is going to be our Sam linebacker. I think sometimes you’re not in the game, you miss a few games and you’re forgotten. Roger McIntosh was a starter here a few years ago and is an outstanding football player. His role is going to be, `You’re a guy that’s going to need to have a great season for us.’ As for Willie Williams, I think his role is going to be up to Willie. We’re going to definitely have a role for him as well as letting him play special teams along with Roger. We’ve got to find an area where Willie’s willing to go and we have to get him coached. Butch Davis was pretty good about that, and I didn’t understand it so much. But you understand it more when you’re a head coach. In the NFL and sometimes even in college you have this veteran who knows where to line up, knows who to cover, but he’s not Willie Williams. Willie doesn’t know everything now, but get him ready, get him ready. We have a lot of people coming back at linebacker. We’re probably as deep as we’ve been.”
(on being cautious with Hester playing both ways) “You have to be cautious about that, because first of all you have be concerned about the chemistry of your team. I think the one thing that I’ve picked up from this team is there’s a lot of unselfishness. Guys just want to win. If this guy’s going to help us win, fine. But you have to be cautious about that because you have to make sure it’s the right time. Especially now since we don’t have Roscoe Parrish to return some punts. We don’t want to overextend anybody.”
(on Spencer Adkins’ chances of playing) “One of our coaches asked Spencer, `If you’re not a starter how do you feel about playing on special teams?’ `I like that, I like that,’ he said. Spencer is a person you want on your team, you want on the field. I talk to our team about energy. Some guys just bring energy to the field, some guys just run their plays. And not everybody is an up-tempo, energy guy. Tavares Gooden is an up-tempo, energy guy. Spencer is a guy you want to have on the field because he does that. Now where he fits in? We’ll know more as we go through.”
(on the stopping the run better this year) “You’re playing a Florida State team that has two of the best backs in the country and people are going to make yards running the football, but if people are consistently making yards running the football, we’re not going to win those games. We got to be very, very fortunate in other areas. If you’re going to be good on defense, you have to stop the run. From junior high, to the Miami Dolphins, that’s what people are going to tell you.”
(on the fullback situation) “Quadtrine Hill is the starter right now and it’s one of those situations where Quadtrine has talent and knows everything, and James Bryant is learning. I told the coaches, get him (Bryant) ready. Get him ready to play. How much can he play, how much can he be on the field is going to be up to him. From a coaching standpoint, he’s a no-brainer.”
(on Orien Harris, who played with an injured shoulder in 2004) “He had a good year last year, not a great year with the injury and I think it really hurt him–he tried to play through it but it really affected his play. He’s had a tremendous offseason. From what I’ve seen, he’s ready to have an outstanding season. And it’s very important because we’re not very deep in that area.”
(on Kirby Freeman’s attitude after being second) “It’s always a concern, how the other guy’s going to handle it. But I think the thing that Kirby knows is how we feel about it and he knows that. His main concern was how is the team going to perceive me? And I think this team has a lot of respect for Kirby Freeman, because he’s talented, he’s tough and because of the way he’s handled it. He’s been a class act.”
(on being better equipped to handle ACC spread offenses) “It is a challenge. We knew that as coaches and maybe as a head coach I did a poor job of really somehow maybe getting that engrained down to all of our players. But we knew that from top to bottom this is a better league.”
(on the mental edge in ACC v. Big East) “We have to write our own history starting this year.”
(on getting Kyle Wright ready to play) “We’ve had a summer program and he’s gone out and done that. His condition doesn’t concern me. The big thing now, is getting him more comfortable with the offense and timing, and that’s the football part of it. Our numbers in the weightroom are out of sight. It just has to transfer onto the field and the game of football.”
