Meet the Press: Al Golden Season Recap
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Head coach Al Golden met with the media at his final weekly press conference of the year Tuesday inside the Hecht Athletic Center. Watch the event in its entirety on Canes All Access.
Al Golden – Postseason Press Conference
Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012
On transitioning from regular season to the offseason…
“I’ve been just trying to call a lot of recruits this week. My first focus iswith the current team, and I’ve met with probably 60 guys over the last twodays. I have to get everybody else this afternoon and tomorrow. We’ll have arecruiting weekend this weekend, and then I’ll be out the following two weeks.Just trying to make sure we get everyone on the same page today, get themfocused on exams, get them to finish strong, and talk to our team that’s comingback, and also just trying to talk with recruits on the phone.”
On the difference between recruiting a smaller class…
“It’s a lot different. It feels different. It’s definitely more focused, morepersonalized, more selective. We just don’t need that many, and we’re trying tofind the right ones. We’re being patient. We’re just going through itmethodically and making sure we know exactly where we are with our team, andwhat our needs are, and try to fit them in.”
On developing and “selling” an identity after two seasons…
“I think the kids know who we are now; I think that’s a valid point. They knowwhat we want to be on offense and defense and special teams, and how we coach,and how we teach, and who we are off the field. I think that all goes into it.Clearly we’re going to supplement that with a tremendous new facility here inthe next month, and then later on in the spring [with] an incredible studentcenter. We’re excited about the confluence of those things coming together forus in recruiting.”
On exploring the potential of adding junior collegeplayers…
“I think it’s important. If I was a JC player on the other side, I would wantto go somewhere where they have a need. We certainly have needs at a couplepositions, so we’ll definitely entertain that, where we need maturity, where weneed instant help, or we don’t have time to redshirt or cultivate orstrengthen. I’m not going to give all those positions away, but I think we allknow at certain positions we need some maturity and we need some guys to comein and supplement and impact what we have coming back. It’s significant what wehave coming back, but we have to improve on a lot of positions.”
On what questions he hears the most from recruits duringvisits…
“To be honest with you, I think we’re on the right kids. We’ve been honest withthem. I think they know exactly where they stand. If they’re looking for anydisparity between what we’re saying and what we do, that’s being nullified byour current student-athletes. As I said last year, I think they’re our greatestambassadors. In a lot of ways, they’re the litmus test, for “hey, what they sayin recruiting, actually happened.” There aren’t really a lot of concerns. Ithink we’ve made a significant sacrifice here. It wasn’t just one postseasongame, it was three postseason games, it was a chance to play in thechampionship game, and obviously it was a chance to play our archrival and goto a BCS game. We’ve given up significantly, and now we’re moving forward.”
On whether he’ll be watching the ACC Championship Game…
“I probably won’t be. Hopefully I’m ata recruiting dinner trying to get someone that will help us get into thatgame.”
On trying to secure commitments earlier, given ananticipated small class size…
“Last year we wouldn’t have been able to line up in spring ball if we didn’thave 10 or 11 [student-athletes] coming mid-year. Literally at some positions,we wouldn’t have been able to post the depth. But this year, we’ll have somekids enter at mid-year, but it won’t be as significant a number. A lot of thoseguys are going to be guys that are at the all-star games, and that’s what weshould be dealing with. We should be patient with the kids we have identifiedare going to be in those games. We should be patient and give them anopportunity to say yes to us, for sure.”
On Dallas Crawford’s late-season success and role moving forward…
“I think obviously he grew as the season went on, and he was a freshman. As theseason went on, we started to trust him; we started to be real comfortable withhim. I imagine that’s going to start to be four or five plays in every gameplan moving forward, because he did a nice job with it down the stretch. Dallashas got skills, and he’s tough. I’ve said it a million times, he has got moxie.He figures things out and coaches trust him. I can see him at tailback; I cansee him at third-down back. He’s not afraid to protect, he’s tough. We candeploy him like we do Randy [Johnson] in the slot, or empty. He’s going to havea big role for us moving forward.”
On increasing Duke Johnson’s workload…
“I think the offseason program is going to help him be able to handle more, yetkeep his productivity where we want it. That’s really what we were trying tobalance this year. In the middle there, he hit the wall a little bit. We wereworried about that. As I said to him yesterday, we want to keep your odometerdown and your productivity and touches up. We’re always going to be carefulwith him. We don’t want to wear him out in two years; we want him to have areal long career. Part of that is keeping some balance there, and keeping himfresh. I think he had exactly half the plays that [Brandon] Linder had thisyear.”
On his evaluation of Duke Johnson’s performance…
“He has been tremendous. He’s even better as a person and as a teammate. We’revery pleased with him. [He is] as humble as ever, obviously excited about ourfuture. I know he’s excited to have the entire offense line back, and theentire tight end group back. I know he’s excited about that.”
On his evaluation of Stephen Morris’ performance…
“That’s probably, in addition to the other 99 things that keep me up at night,the one that hurts the most. We have maybe the hottest quarterback in Americaright now over the last four games. He is white hot. We would have had a chanceto bring a hot quarterback into a championship game. He has been spectacular,he has been. I’m excited for him. He’s so mature, the way he has handled theselast two weeks – he’s growing into a man. He is a tremendous leader. He’s goingto work hard, get his weight up, and be a great leader off the field. I knowhe’s excited to come back and get all those wide-outs and young guys, get themmoving forward.”
On changes in the offseason weightlifting and conditioningschedule…
“I think we’ve changed it a little bit. For some reason I thought we had two weeksbefore exams last year. It just seems like it’s coming fast. They have thisweek, and then Monday and Tuesday next week, and then they’re in exams. I don’tknow if the calendar is a little different than last year. It’s reallyimportant they finish up strong here in school. We’re just trying to keep themon task.
“It’s less conditioning and more lifting. This is a teamthat proved itself in shape at the beginning of August. I don’t think we needto condition, especially [Jon] Feliciano, [Brandon] Linder, guys like that, whohave played an inordinate amount of plays.”
On the team returning key contributors…
“I sense excitement. I sense the kids understand. They have a vision of what weneed to do in the Coastal Division, and what that will ultimately lead to.Despite all the things we were not this year – and we were not a lot, there area lot of things we need to correct, which is good – we could have been in thechampionship game. You have to give yourselves that opportunity – and I thinkthose kids see that now. The way you do that is to eliminate the things thatcause you to lose, and eliminate distractions. There’s a sense of excitement.The last two days downstairs outside my office, energy in the weight room, it’salmost perplexing, to be honest with you. I think they’re moving forward,they’re just taking care of business. I haven’t had a lot of guys on lists.Last year it was a different deal…I haven’t had anyone on a list Sunday, Mondayor so far today. It’s a group that understands what just happened to them, andwhat they can and want to be moving forward.”
On his evaluation of the team’s defense and defensivecoaching staff…
“I hope before we’re telling everybody how to make changes, we’re looking atMark [D’Onofrio]’s record in terms of playing defense, in terms of his trackrecord, in terms of player development. To be honest with you, Mark should beas mad as anybody. Imagine coming to the University of Miami and having to playa bunch of kids, imagine being saddled with that. He’s the one that should bemad. Coming here, and he has one cornerback in the program – Brandon McGee. Heshould be mad, and he is mad, and he’s going to fight.
“Everyone wants this change or that change; he ain’t aquitter. He’s not a quitter. None of us are. This staff will be together. We’reexcited about moving the program forward. The guys that we have that playedgave up the 99-yard touchdown the other day. You want me to sell out whathappened on the play? That a young kid went the wrong way and gave up a 99-yardtouchdown? I think everybody knows. But I wouldn’t trade that kid for anybody.I wouldn’t trade him. I think he’s going to be a champion.
“I feel that way about Mark and the whole defensive staff. We’re not goinganywhere. We have a great group of kids coming back. One of our captains ondefense, Shayon Green – it’s his first year starting. I don’t even think peopleunderstand that. You look at that game the other day, watch that drive, whenTracy [Howard] is making a tackle, Denzel [Perryman] is sticking somebody, Deon[Bush] is sticking somebody – they’re all freshmen and sophomores. The juniorshave to grow up. We didn’t have Curtis Porter until the last four games, and heprobably still only played 30 plays per game. I think he can make a bigdifference.
“I’m not discouraged. Disappointed. I wish we would haveplayed better. It’s not just the function of the defense to say, ‘We’re so damnyoung on defense that we’re going to have to outscore people. So let’s go Jedd[Fisch]. Don’t worry about the tempo, don’t worry about the time of possession,try to outscore the opposition.’ That hurts the defense. That’s the decision Imade. We weren’t in a good position on defense coming out of the spring, withdepth and all the guys that we were relying on that were at their senior promthat spring.”
On the team’s defensive philosophy…
“The philosophy has carried through for seven or eight years now. I would askyou to go back and look at where we started at Temple and where we went, andhow we managed what he managed last year with all the suspensions and all thatwas going on, and obviously what we’re trying to overcome right now. We’regoing into the spring with all the same guys that we just had. We’ll havesymmetry finally after two years, which we haven’t had at all. We had BrandonMcGee backed up by someone coming out of high school – that’s not goodbusiness. It’s a hard position to play, especially with the schedule that weplayed. I have complete confidence in Mark [D’Onofrio], the defense, and theyoung men that are on this team. We’re going to get it fixed and they’re goingto go back to work. Tyriq McCord is going to look a little different at 245than he looks at 214 today. I promise you.”
On addressing individual desires to explore NFL Draftoptions…
“We’ve made sure we’ve petitioned anyone who wants to – whether they want to ornot – make sure we’re doing the process right. It’s important that they knowthat the process fair, that it’s consistent. Some of them decline. Some of themdidn’t want to go through the process – some of them absolutely just want toget to work and come back. I don’t know how it’s going to turn out, but we’rehere for them. We have the Draft Advisory Committee, we’ll help them anyway wecan – talking to general managers, talking to NFLPA – a myriad of ways to makesure they make an informed decision and a decision, and one that’s in theirbest interests.”
On the tradition of sending players to the NFL…
“We take a lot of pride in player development, and teaching them a process thatwill not just allow them to have a good year, or make a team, but allow them tohave a career. Those guys that take care of business, learn a process, havegood habits, are disciplined, ultimately, become career guys. They manage theirmoney better, they make good decisions off the field, they’re educated. I thinkthat’s what we’re trying to teach them. That’s absolutely in line witheverything we’re trying to do.”
On open scholarships at the punter and kicker position…
“[Matt] Goudis is remaining as a scholarship player. We took a number ofwalk-ons last year, punters and kickers that know they have a greatopportunity. We’re going to scholarship one next year, not in this class. We’llbe looking for additional walk-ons this year. Once they know we’re going to bescholarship-ing somebody, it’s a lot better to be here in Coral Gables kickingin front of a coach everyday than it is to be sending a video that might not belooked at. We’re going to have a great opportunity for a kicker or punter nextyear, but we’re not allocated for one this year.”
On the response of his team under duress…
“We have good kids. We have great leadership – Stephen Morris, Jeremy Lewis,Brandon McGee, Mike James, Brandon Linder, Shayon Green. We’ve got greatleadership through that. Last year was a senior-laden team and had someunderclassmen that were thinking about leaving early – whether we all knew itor not. The reality of that is you have 35 guys – that was the end, that wasthe culmination. When things didn’t go well there at the end, and the bowl gamewas taken, you could see how it could go south. These guys, for 60 or 65percent of the scholarship kids, it’s just the beginning. I think they got thenews and said, ‘Alright let’s go. It’s the first game of 2013. Let’s moveforward.'”
On the status of Eddie Johnson moving forward…
“He’s finishing his exams and classes and papers right now. We’re asking him toconcentrate on that. I expect fully that he’ll be back with us. He has beengreat – we’ve had conversations the last couple days, he has spoken with otherteam members, and Coach D’Onofrio. Hopefully he’s ready to move forward.”
On the season-defining moments of 2012…
“I think to beat Virginia Tech was big – we hadn’t really done that much in thelast decade. For a lot of young guys to step up and contribute really helped ushold it together. I think, although it’s painful to go through at the time, Ithink the schedule is going to help us as we move forward. It was baptism byfire for a lot of those guys, and it was painful. But I think now they lookback and see what a No. 1 team looks like or what a top ten team looks like,and what we need to do to get there. I thought Stephen’s [Morris] growth was pivotal.”
On witnessing the progress he envisioned…
“I’m sitting in Greensboro in early August and we’re picked to finish fifth andhave no one on the all-conference team. We finished tied for first and wonseven games. I’m excited about moving forward. I’m excited. It was a littletenuous at the beginning there – you’re lining up a lot of young people, and itcan get scary. I’m proud of the way they held together. A lot of ourupperclassmen really grew up and were leaders and embraced the young guys and developeda team unity and chemistry that could withstand the schedule we went through.”
On players who can set the bar higher…
“Thurston Armbrister has a chance to be 230 pounds and run a 4.6 (second 40-yarddash). He’s a smart young man. He has a chance to be that. I mentioned CoreyKing. Curtis Porter, I think. The last couple weeks was really amazing, becausehe went from basically inactive or held out to, in two weeks, going into agame, and by the third week, starting. I’d like to see him get one year wherehe’s doing everything right and being fortunate with his health and having abig year. There are so many other guys. Clive [Walford] – we saw a glimpse, nowwe want to see a year. We want to see a body of work, not just four or fivegames.”
On the importance of developing more of a pass rush…
“We need to recruit still, but let’s give Jelani Hamilton and Dwayne Hoilettand those guys a chance. They’re just starting out. Even Tyriq [McCord], hewasn’t where he needed to be physically. I think we’re going to continue tosupplement those positions, for sure.”
On the importance of maintaining consistency in staff…
“I think it’s important. I try to be a coach that communicates constantly. Idon’t try to be a coach that harbors feelings or lets things sit. I try tocommunicate constantly. I try to make sure there is open communication. I thinkcoaches know exactly where they stand with me, and what direction we’re goingwith the program, and the vision we have for it, and the plan. It would begreat to have continuity again. I think we were one of nine staffs in thecountry that had it last year – it would be great. It would be a statement forthe administration too, with the commitment they’ve made and the resources thatthey have allocated for us to do that. We’re just getting started. I can’t waitto get those guys in the building next door, get a new training room, get a newlocker room, and do all those things.”
On a potential shift in preseason predictions…
“It doesn’t matter to me. At the end of the day, I think the reason there’ssome validity to why you get picked fifth – it’s because people look at theroster and ask, ‘who are all these guys?’ There aren’t a lot of guys who haveplayed, or there’s not a lot of experience coming back. It’s not something thatwe spend a lot of time with or attention to. The only point I’m trying to make,I could see how people or prognosticators would pick us where they picked us,or said we’d only win four games or go 2-6 in the division – because there werea lot of unknowns. To be honest with you, that’s a credit to the staff and tothe leadership (from upperclassmen) we got, to bring a lot of guys alongquickly, and to finish strong. I would have loved to see, with the way StephenMorris is playing, if we could have won No. 8 and No. 9. It would have beennice.”
On his name mentioned in potential coaching jobs…
“To be perfectly honest with you, the only time I hear it is when you guys sayit. I know my wife would cry if I said we’re moving out of town. I hope that ifthat’s the case, what you’re saying, I hope it’s because of how we’re operatingthrough a very tumultuous time, and how we’re being steadfast with our plan,and not flinching. I hope people respect that – I hope people respect how we’redoing and how we’re going about it. I guess in that sense, it is flattering.”
On imagining his team’s potential success moving forward…
“I’m excited. We lost one senior starter on offense and one on defense. If mymath is correct, that we are adding 14 redshirts to that team and 15 recruits.We’re adding virtually 29 kids without any walk-ons – we’re probably adding 30kids to that team. That symmetry is important. You need that competition, whenguys go down, the next guy is ready to go in and you don’t miss a beat.Hopefully this class will get us to the point where we’ll move the whole thingforward. I am very excited.”
Ondeveloping more of a pass-rush as the No. 1 priority…
“I think that’s exactly right. A lot of it starts with the pass-rush. Pass-rushopens up a lot of different things. The ability to play blitz coverages, theability to play man-to-man whenever you want, to play tight coverage on theperimeter. I think pass-rush is developing the kids we have, letting them growup, teaching them the skills they have, and also supplementing our team withrecruits as well.”
