University of North Carolina Athletics
Press Conference Transcript
November 4, 2013 | Football
Coach Larry Fedora
Press Conference - Nov. 4, 2013
Opening Statement
"Alright, looking at the film we had a good, solid win over a conference opponent on the road and that's always a good thing. We went out, we're going to put it to bed and move on, and prepare for the next one here at home. We're looking forward it getting back into the Tar Pit to play in front of our fans and our students and we're excited about the next ACC opponent. I will start with if you want to talk about injuries with our people I'm not going to talk about them so you might as well not bring up the question. With a smile on my face."
On the drop off in missed assignments by the defense
"Yeah we didn't give up near the big plays. And I'll tell you what I think in the last about three weeks you've seen us get a little bit better at that. Early on that as one of the things that was really hurting our defense because you started taking away those huge plays that we were giving up and we were playing really sound. And it was just getting our guys to focus each and every play and understand that there's never a time where you can take a mental break in a game. There's not a time where you can say, 'You know what, this isn't a big play, I can take a mental break.' I think some of that was going on, some of that was happening. And as our guys have matured and we've gotten a little bit better, more confidence, I think everybody is locked in on every play."
On defense giving up big plays throughout college football
"No, I think you go to any staff in the country and they're going to tell you that we can't give up big plays and be successful on defense. I think early on we were having some problems with it. I think our guys have done a good job the last three weeks to really focus hard on it. I think the defensive staff has done a nice job emphasizing it daily. I think our kids have finally bought into it."
On Bryn Renner and Marquise Williams swapping QB duties against NC State
"They're both tough kids. Both of them played after they got some pretty tough hits in there. They both came back, both played, and I thought they both played well after they came back in too. It wasn't like they just went back out there. They both did a nice job. They both managed the game well. They both put the ball where it needed to go, distributed the ball. Other than the second or the first throw of the game, I thought we did a nice job of putting the ball where it needed to go."
"He's doing a nice job. As the No. 3 guy you don't get any reps; all your reps are mental and so that makes it a little bit tough. But what I'll tell you what he does, you guys aren't out there when we're there but he's out there behind the offense on every snap. He's going through his progress, his steps as if he were up there getting them. That's all you can do because we can't get three's reps right now during the season."
On the freshmen class's impact on both sides of the ba8ll
"That's the fun and exciting thing about it is you look at...I talked to them yesterday after practice on the impact they're having on this football team. You've got Khris Francis and [T.J.] Logan, and you've got [Ryan] Switzer and Bug [Howard], and now you've got Lucas Crowley playing more at the center spot, he got a few series there. And, I don't want to forget anybody, you've got [Brian] Walker and [Desmond] Lawrence and Mikey Bart, those guys got a lot of extensive time in that game. And not only are they just playing, they're making plays. They're making plays in a game and that's big for a true freshman. That's really big especially in a game like that."
On freshmen play-making
"I think it's just they're getting more reps, they're more comfortable. Now they're out there just playing. They're just turning loose and playing because they know what to do, they're not worried about there's a lot of people in the stands - there's a lot of things that go on in a freshman's mind during a game. And once they relax and just play, then you see the athleticism come out. You see who they are. You see why you recruited them in the first place. That's fun, that really is fun to see in those young kids."
On Eric Ebron being more involved
"It's been a point of emphasis for us to take advantage of his skills. Our offensive staff has done a nice job of taking advantage of a few things that we've seen. And then there's some other times where we've tried to give him the ball and they took it away. There were numerous times where they had two guys with their eyes on Eric and I understand. But then you get to see a guy like Bug [Howard] and Quinshad [Davis], you get to see those guys come through and make some more plays for us."
On TE focus in Fedora's offense
"Always has been. We have always taken advantage of the big guys that can run and are athletic. I've had numerous guys, I wouldn't say they're all at Eric's caliber. Some are better blockers, some were faster, a lot of different styles but what we've been able to do, and Blake [Anderson] has done a really nice job with shaping things around what he can do and what he does really well."
On getting a game-changing play on special teams
"We had four [punts placed] inside the 11 yard line. That's four possessions that they have to go over 90 yards or 89 or whatever it was. That's tough on offense it really is unless you're getting some big explosive plays. That is a huge weapon for us, it really is. To stop them on the fake punt on the first punt of the game...that was a game-changing play. That's what we're looking for. That's what we have to do on our special teams weekly."
On Dave Doeren's remarks about Carolina's coverage on the fake punt
"They ran [the fake punt play] against Florida State in the bowl game when they were at Northern Illinois and I had watched every snap of Northern Illinois' tape. They had run three fakes that season and that was one of them. It was one of them we worked on, we worked on all three of them for the game, and our guys were prepared. They recognized it when they saw the formation and they executed. They did a very nice job."
"In that game, a lot of those throws to him were check routes that we were doing and they didn't have anybody responsible for him. So we're chucking the ball down to him and making big plays out of it. But one thing I can tell you about Quinshad is he has been steady for us all season. I mean really, the guy is a playmaker for us. He will go up and get the ball, he will catch the ball in traffic, he is really doing a nice job for us"
On Ryan Switzer
"He threw a touchdown pass. Again he's back there handling the punts for us, which is very important, very critical to our success. He's gaining confidence every time he does it. I still believe that he's going to take one to the house this year on a punt return, I really do. He has the skills. He's got everything he needs to do it and I believe it's going to happen. Offensively we're able to do a lot of different things with him. We've put the ball in his hands in the running game. We've thrown the ball to him. We've used him in multiple, multiple ways, and now thrown a touchdown pass with him. He's a kid that we knew when we recruited him, we knew he would be a piece of the puzzle and we could do a lot of different things with him. We could take him from the backfield to receiver because he played running back in high school. Now we can take him from receiver to running back, which makes him a little bit more difficult when you're trying to match up personnel wise defensively.
On the postgame celebration on the NC State midfield logo
"I was having trouble breathing from the ice, so I did not really see what happened. I did get caught up in the middle of a scrum out there, and I don't know exactly what went down. In rivalry games, it's always heated. That's part of it. There's a lot of passion involved. Guys want to win in the worse way on both sides of the ball, so there's going to be some heated exchanges. It's just the nature of the beast."
On his postgame celebration policy
"Well, we walk across the field and shake the opponent's hand, and then we're going to go in and talk about the game. That's our policy. I don't really have a "you can't talk to the other team." In every situation we want to act with class, be smart about what we do, and act like we've been there before."
"To my knowledge, yes. I have not seen or heard what happened. I was just in the middle of a lot of noise."
On watching Virginia film
"I tell you what, you're watching that film until late last night, and I kept waiting to see what was wrong because in every game, you go into the late third or fourth quarter and they're in it all the way. It's just like stuff happens. They give up some explosive plays. They're playing a lot of young kids, and they're playing hard. They're sound on all of their special teams when you look at everything. Vic [Koenning] was telling me he feels like their offense is really pretty good. Their running back is doing a really good job. They're getting the ball to [Taquan] Mizzell in space. Defensively, I think they're pretty good up front, and they're playing a lot of true freshmen and a lot of sophomores on both sides of the ball. For us, we're going to have to play really well. We're going to have to play well."
On winning two consecutive weeks
"We keep talking the same way we have for the past three weeks. Our focus is on being 1-0, finding a way to get it done, doing whatever it takes, getting one more inch, whatever. Whatever it is. That's the way we've approached each week, and in the second half of this season, we're going to continue to approach it that way. We're not going to change our approach no matter what happens."
On turning the corner
"I worry about a lot of things. I do. But I can tell you that's what I keep hammering home. That's what we talked about Sunday night. I think this team has become mature enough to understand the pitfalls of a lack of focus or worrying about what else is going on out there. Now you've got people who want to pat you on the back. If you do, you better watch out. Better just stay the course, keep doing what we're doing, focusing on one game, and let's try to be 1-0."
On team leaders
"They would not have the success that they're having right now as freshmen, if it hadn't been for the older guys. Because those are the guys who have accepted them onto this football team, helped them throughout the summer, throughout the fall camp and through where we are now. They're teaching them everyday. When break in meetings and go into places, I still see the young guy walking with an older guy, and he's telling him something. I love that. They're constantly coaching them and telling them how we're going to do this, how we do that. The good thing is the freshmen, those young guys, they're still listening. They've still got those wide eyes. They're listening to everything those older guys tell them because they know it's going to pay off for them down the road. So the next thing is they know they're going to be in that position some day, and they know they've got to be doing the same thing."
On the Oregon-ization of college football with special jerseys, helmets, etc.
"The game has always been about recruiting. There are so many things that happen. The game day atmosphere you want to create, all of the different things. It's always been that way, and this is just another step is now uniforms. That is a big part of recruiting. Those recruits, they want what they see. And now because teams are on TV all of the time, they get to see it everywhere. They don't just get to see their local team. They get to see it everywhere, so I think it's very important that we continue to do those things. Not only do the recruits love it, but your players love it. I know some of the die-hard, old school fans don't like it and don't understand it, but you have to change with the times. I didn't understand Twitter when it first came out, but I feel like it's a way I can stay in touch with recruits and with what's going on. You've got to be able to adjust, and I think it is a big part of what we do right now. I really do."
On managing stress as a coach
"I don't do a very good job of it. My wife tells me all the time. I think the thing you've got to do is, and here I am saying, 'you've got to try to find some balance,' and I'm terrible at it. I'm terrible at it, I really am. You need work out. You need to eat right. You need to take care of yourself just like anybody else. Unfortunately, during season a lot of times we don't, and that's probably the worse thing you can do for it. History for me is not very good health wise during the season. It's tough. I'm not one to be telling people what they ought to be doing because I don't do a very good job of it. It's very tough to balance your time. First of all, just on your family it's extremely difficult on them. You don't see your family very often, and when you do, they're usually dead asleep. It makes it very difficult. I know that's hard for people to believe, but it really is during season. I don't know if that's a smart thing, but it's what we do."
On Tim Scott
"Tim's really coming along. Not only there, but on special teams. Him and Jabari [Price] are the guys stopping those punts inside the ten-yard line. Again, Tim, Jabari, Tre Boston, all of those older guys, [Eric] Ebron starts on three special teams. That's important to them. It is a matter of pride here. You better fight, scratch and claw to get on special teams because it's important to us. Tim from the very beginning did that, and now I think you see him making big plays for us on special teams, and he's making more plays for us on defense. He's come a long way. He really has."
On using multiple players for several positions for experience purposes
"Yes, and that's for every position. Anytime you're able to get some experience with a second guy, if he ever has to be the first guy or he's get more reps, he just feels more comfortable. The other part about it is just like you take Lucas Crowley goes in. I know you guys don't think that's a big deal, but he goes in as a true freshman center. That's a critical spot. That's a critical spot, and he goes in there without a hitch. No big deal. No one notices. Right? That's a good thing. So every rep he's able to get and he's able to do that, that's just making our team better for the next time something happens to [Russell] Bodine, or if something happens to another guard and Bodine slides over and he goes in, whatever the combination is. And that's at every position. We're always trying to get those guys meaningful reps; not just mop up duty at the end of the game, that's not the same. I'm talking meaningful. They've got to be locked in. They've got to be able to do their job."
Players Mentioned
