University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Walt Harris Press Conference
10/25/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Walt Harris Press Conference
10/25/2000
Walt Harris Weekly Press Conference Virginia Tech Oct. 23, 2000
Looks like our press conference is building, more people are coming to hear about the Panthers. We had a very gratifying win. I think you may have heard some of my comments after the game. I was very excited about the victory. I thought our players played really good. It was also exciting to see the offense finally step up and play like we've expected them to play, and they hadn't played yet. It's great to see that. I felt our defense played competitively. We felt like Boston College was an outstanding offensive team exemplified by how well they played against Virginia Tech and the fact they beat Syracuse, a team who beat us. So we were thrilled about that one but as a football coach, without a bye week, we've got to move on to the next game, and now we're playing the number two ranked team in the nation who defeated Syracuse last weekend at Syracuse, which they hadn't done, I guess, since Coach Beamer has been there so that was obviously a big victory for them. They have the best player in America, I believe, the most fabulous athlete I've ever seen, Michael Vick; Andre Davis, they have four senior offensive linemen. Defensively, I know they graduated eight starters, but they have a great defensive scheme, great coaches, the same scheme we use and we feel like it's made our players possibly better, or better than they really are at the tender age that they're playing. We know we have a tremendous challenge on the road in an atmosphere that will be high-octane, that will be loud, that will cheering for the Hokies I know. They have developed their program to a level that we hope to develop our program, so we're going to get the opportunity to play them. And we're looking forward to the contest.
On the personal satisfaction gained by the offense's performance in the victory against Boston College: I've always thought, and if you read between the lines, I think as long as I've coached football I think that gives me a perspective; and I've always thought we should be very good on offense, but we have not. And it's always rankled me and it's always made it difficult for me to be satisfied with them because I knew we should be better. We had some growing pains we went through, and one game doesn't make a season either, so I don't have my head in the sand that way. I may have had higher expectations or higher estimations of our players' ability on offense than maybe they did, and they may have underestimated themselves. That's one thing about our offensive staff, we have a good feeling about where we can go, and so hopefully our football players on offense have decided that they can be good, and they can be good against good people and we can become a good football team and a good football program. You can't become one if you don't run the football at a high level, which we did last week, and we utilized our receivers to help our run game, and that's something that I think is a real advantage. You have a good passing game and that stretches the defense, and we also have to give credit where credit is due. I think Rod Rutherford's part in the game plan puts a lot of pressure on the defense and I think that adds to challenge of playing against us. Because all of the sudden we're running option and all the sudden we're running a drop-back pass, so it could be very challenging. Unless you have better players than us and then it doesn't matter what you do.
On the successful execution displayed by the offense: We ran the ball. Our linemen, as exemplified by the lineman of the game (award went to) the entire offensive line and our tight ends, with special mention to the receivers blocking and the quarterback- on certain plays- picking the correct play to run. We got our backs started, Kevan and Nick are good football players, obviously we got Kevan started, he carried the ball more. And then Kevan did what we always thought he could do, that's why we spent as much time with Kevan over the years, to be patient with him and yet to be tough on him to bring out the best in him. On a personal level, I'm always gratified to see young men grow up, like Kevan has, and it's exciting because he had some more growing up to do this year and we think we've got that accomplished.
On the possible turning of the corner following the victory over Boston College: Well, time will tell on that. Time will tell whether we can grow up and continue to get better. Obviously our competition is going to rise to its highest level at this stage in our season. We play the number two ranked team in the nation at their place, they're undefeated. I would say the challenge is getting steeper, but we feel good about our chances. We enjoy playing against Virginia Tech because they're the elite program in our conference and if you ever want to become an elite program you've got to play well, someday defeat them on a consistent basis, so that's our goal.
On the program's morale at this point: Our goal before the season is to get six (wins), because that makes us bowl eligible, and that makes everyone look at our program because we've validated ourselves to a degree. It doesn't make us great, it doesn't mean we've turned the program around, it just means we've gained another level that I know all of our coaches and players worked extremely hard to get there. I do not go through the schedule and say, `Well we'll beat these guys and we won't beat these guys.' I think if I did that I would be doing a disservice to our coaches and the rest of our players. We prepare to win, obviously we work very, very hard - coaches, players, and support staff - to try to make it all happen. I'm excited about being five and one - "we" being five and one, excuse me -obviously we wouldn't be five and one if it was me out there playing; but I don't think we're done becoming better football players on an individual level, and a better offensive team, defensive team, special teams team on a group level, as well as being a better football team at a team level. I'm looking forward to seeing our players take the next step. I know we have a young man in the room here (Khiawatha Downey) who has - one of my favorite guys, sometimes he doesn't realize that - who has a come a long way. He started as a redshirt freshman as a guard where he took his lumps, and then really became a good football player by the end of the year. Then we moved him to tackle, and then he got hurt, missed a lot of time, played behind a young freshman which I'm sure is not easy to do. Now it's his turn. That kind of mirrors our football players and our football team. We work very hard to try to bring out the best in our play, or in ourselves, or in our players, and when it's time for a guy to step up it's time for him to step up and make it happen; and Khi Downey has done a real nice job that way, and we have a lot of those guys. A lot of those guys that, especially this season, have really stepped up. Obviously our defense has really stepped up, as I mentioned over the weekend I felt our defense has carried us. We love all the accolades that have come their way because our players are really playing hard on defense and responding to their coaches in a very positive manner. That's a great credit to our seniors on that defense, a great credit to those coaches that are coaching our defense, and to Paul Rhoads who heads up our defense. You win championships on defense, and that's the secret; but in order for us on the offense to help our defense you've got to be able to run the football. Because if you talk to any coach it's stop the run, control the pass. So we might be able to throw the ball and get five yards, but unless we run the ball we're going to have a hard time being a good football team, unless your defense dominates which has happened, our defense has dominated. Just like against Penn State, we shut them out, it's hard to lose when you shut somebody out.
On combining the defensive performance against Penn State with the offensive effort against Boston College into one game: I don't know. I really don't know. I'm excited to hopefully get the chance to witness that one of these days. I hope you get to witness it, too. We think we have a good blend of talent, desire, and scheme. I hope our players aspire for that. The talk in the locker room, the talk in the student union, the talk in the dorm, the talk in the apartment is how good can we be. Let's let it all hang out. Let's prepare to be great. Who knows we've got a heck of a start on that whether we end up being that time will only tell. If we don't dream and work at it or think about it then for sure we won't be. As I always believed the mind is everything. We have to spend some time thinking about how good we want to be and how good we want to work to be. That will focus our work ethic. Our guys will work hard, but it is more than just working hard. It is working with a purpose and I think our guys are starting to grow in that level. I know our defense has. That is great credit to the players and the coaches who are coaching them. On the type and level of talent available on this team as opposed to previous years and the realistic opportunity to beat a team like Virginia Tech: I don't know. Time will tell. Virginia Tech has won eight bowl games in a row or something to that effect. We been to one in how many years. You will with players. It is not about plays, it is about players. They've got good players, but so do we. We've got some good players in some key spots. The great football teams don't have great players at every position. As I found out all the years that I've coached it is not always the team with the best players. It's the team that plays the best that day. That is our challenge to play the best that day. To be the best team that day. I will not underestimate our players. We'll see what happens.
On the possibility of the Pittsburgh team showing too much respect and over concern for the characteristics possessed by Michael Vick: I don't think we've played against a player of that magnitude anywhere I've coached. If you are not in awe of him then you are not looking at the film very close. His athletic ability, strength, quickness, competitiveness, and he touches the ball every down. At lot of times those kind of guys play running back. They don't touch it every down, they touch it almost every down. He touches it every down and we just have to play position football. We've got to surround him. We've got chase the ball like we never chased it because he can be gone against everybody whether it be Florida State or the University of Pittsburgh. He can be gone in a flash and put it in the end zone. We just have to play good sound football and hope that is enough.
On the encouragement arising from the difficulty Syracuse posed to Virginia Tech: Yeah, I was very encouraged. Also I think if you keep a close eye on this season unless Syracuse struggles on offense I think that is the best defensive group in this league. Right now from what I've seen because I have not seen Miami on tape. We have not watched them yet. They will be hard pressed not to be in the top one or two in our league on defense, Syracuse. Unless they have to play so much defense that they get tired or worn out or get some injuries. Those two wins are as good as I think Virginia Tech had the last couple of years. I felt like Penn State had some good players. This is not a Syracuse press conference, but they are awfully good up front. Their corners are awfully good, I think that had something to do with it.
On his feelings about the Pittsburgh Panthers going on the road: That is one of our challenges to win on the road to win in a tough environment. If you are going to be a good football program you are going to have to win on the road. That is the fun of it. That is what we are trying to do. That is why we work so long. That is why our players have lost so much weight and improve how they eat and how the coaches have got circles under their eyes because of all the time we have spent preparing. This is one of the fun things to play a great football program. Obviously everybody thinks they are a great football team; we do too. That's exciting, college football to me is very, very exciting. I love those kind of atmospheres. I can't wait for it to happen at our place every week, honestly. That is what's different between that and pro football. I just think it is a different deal.
On Antonio Bryant being a sleeper recruit: Well, I don't know why he slipped through the cracks. He almost slipped through us as well. We were recruiting another player who had given us a commitment. We were planning on taking, I can't remember how many receivers, but we had so many needs at so many other places as well. We knew he was a good football player, but the other young man had slipped off in the night and visited another school without us knowing about it. Then all of the sudden we got wind of it and he was shaky. I know what really helped us with Antonio was the picture I had in my office of our students on the field and the goal posts when we beat Miami. He was not recruited by Miami and he wanted to play against Miami. That is why we got him. It was not because of our coaches or whatever. I think he just wanted to play against Miami. It is ironic that he probably had his worst game last year against Miami. He was so wired up and I can relate with being really wired up that it doesn't bring out the best in you, but that is just part of it. We had Tom Donahoe come in and speak to our football staff this spring before we went out spring recruiting to talk about evaluating players. His first words were this is not an exact science. There is a great example that it is not an exact science. What makes him a great football player is that the Lord has blessed him athletically. He is a tremendous competitor and he is very intelligent. You may not think he is, but he is really smart. He has done a good job in taking his game to another level because he understands what we are doing more. He understands how we want it done, what the quarterback is looking for, and J.D. Brookhart and Antonio have done a great job together. The young man is blessed and think we have a good scheme as well.
On who will start at the punting position this week: We realize the kicking game, especially the punting game is under an extreme challenge with Frank Beamer's football program over there. What hurt our punter last week during the game, I'm speaking of Jay Junko in particular, was the protection. One of his short punts, if he had extended his leg it would have been blocked because somebody came free. On his first punt the ball (on the snap) hit the personal protector in the leg because he was too close and it ricocheted off which was a tremendous example of (Junko's) hands to be able to catch that ball; a ball that ricochets off of somebody's thigh guard. We are not that distressed about all that other than the fact we know no matter if we had the number one punter in the conference, a four year started at snapper, all returning veterans on your punt team from the year before we know we would be in a heck of a battle down there with them. We are always going to be nervous about that no matter who it is, what it is, what the circumstances are.
We thought about not punting, just converting every third down, that would help. That would help a lot. I don't know if coach Beamer's guys would quite possibly go along with that. I don't think they would be that kind to the road team.
On Virginia Tech having a punt blocked during the Syracuse game: I learned a long time ago the more I think about Virginia Tech, the less I think about the University of Pittsburgh. I don't spend much time thinking about them. They take care of them, we take care of ourselves. We've got to play our game. We can't worry about them. We've got to take care of ourselves. Now part of it is preparation, but we've got to take care of what we do. If it is good enough awesome, if not then we will keep recruiting; keep showing young men this beautiful environment, our new stadium. I got a chance to see the new stadium. In fact after the press conference on Saturday Antonio and Shawn Robinson were leaving the press conference I brought them over. I hadn't seen the stadium in a few weeks. We've been gone and had the bye weeks. Wow, that is going to be exciting. Intimidating for our opponents and it will also help us recruit like you can't believe. They were impressed, I was impressed. I can't wait for us to be in there.
On Rod Rutherford and the passing game: If we could quit jumping offsides when he is in there we would throw a pass. At Syracuse a lineman jumped offsides, against Boston College a wide receiver jumped offsides which is inexcusable because they are not supposed to know the snap count, they are supposed to watch the ball. Rod has thrown one pass this year I do know that. We have called some others and I like what he has done. I don't think he is where he needs to be, but for his future and for our future here a young redshirt freshman is getting playing time. He is getting in there on the fourth play of the game even though he is our third-string quarterback. I think that speaks loudly about our confidence in him. He also audibled in the game to a very outstanding audible. If we blocked it a little crisper he would have walked in. As it was he tried to dive in. I can't wait until the people in this community can't wait to go to the game to see where he is going to play. Whether he is going to play quarterback, wide receiver, tailback, tight end. He probably won't play guard, tackle, or center, but he could end up anywhere. I can't wait for the people in this community to get even more excited about what he brings to the table because he is a wonderful young man and we are blessed to have him.
On Virginia Tech's defense: They play an eight-man front, which means they try to get nine guys around the ball. I think their two inside guys are very good football players, they graduated both outside guys last year and those guys were outstanding players. They've got a couple different edge players than they did a year ago. They're just fast, they're quick and fast and just like I said earlier, that scheme makes you better in my opinion; and that's why we're playing that scheme. And as we continue to recruit, we're going to get more and more athletes, I think what's really helped our defense this year is we have more depth, so guys can play harder longer. That's what they do, they have more depth; but they've been doing that for a long time, they've been in the business for a long time at that place. It's a unique style of defense that we only play, it looks like, one time a year now. That's a hard part, I think it's a real advantage for teams like ourselves. You don't play it very often, it makes it hard on an opponent when you don't face it week after week because you have to make a lot of changes, believe me, you have to make a lot of changes to line up and not get sacked every down.
On Antonio Bryant: I think he plays football at an extremely high level of emotion. He really understands the game and the areas that he doesn't he thinks he does. He's a very, very confident person in himself and what he knows. Like I said earlier he's extremely smart, and extremely competitive, and I think as we look down the road I think you're all going to realize that we're trying to handle him the most intelligent way to bring out the best in him and also help him mature. You've got to handle every player differently, expect the same, but handle every player individually because they're all individuals. Like I said earlier, he's one of my favorite players, and I think he might be one of the favorite players in America if more and more people could see him on television. He is a dynamite football player and the thing he does at such a high level is he will block for his teammates, he's not one of those wide receivers that turns away from blocking and I think that means a lot to the rest of our football team. He is growing up, I thought this last game he was as mature and calm on the sidelines as he's been in any game since he's been here. I really give him a lot of credit and I congratulated him yesterday because I thought he also ran with the football the best he's run since he's been here. We all know he can do the things on the football field, but I think it's some of the other things. I think the demonstration rule is really hard because you really take out a lot of what college football is all about and I think when you put it in a guy's face when you score a touchdown I can see that, but I think we're taking out some of the natural enthusiasm of the game that's wholesome. We obviously have to work with him on that because he can't afford to get any more of those, but he's a competitive guy now and he wants the ball, and I think John Turman wants to get him the ball, and so do we, but within the concept of what we do. So he's not the primary on every pass, believe me, but that's the exciting thing is we have two really good receivers when we're in our `regular set,' as we call it - two wide, a tight end and two backs, and when we go to three to four wides we really have three or four real good receivers and probably both those young men - Lamar Slade and R.J. English would be starting at quite a few schools in the United States, I believe. Also, we threw the ball to the tight end, I've been getting a lot of coaching about that so I responded and Coach Brookhart and the rest of us put some patterns in and Kris Wilson did a nice job for us. I think the more we spread it around the better we'll all be, but the most important thing is we run the ball.
On the relatively small attendance: Was I disappointed? You know, I didn't know how many people were in the stands until I just read it in the press release here. Also, that's not my real concern, I have great trust with our athletic director (Steve Pederson) that he's doing everything possible. I think we've got to do a better job. We've got to be more consistent as a football program, we've got to play better with more excitement, and I believe the people will come.
