University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Coach Harris Speaks to the Media Following Monday's Practices
8/18/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Coach Harris Speaks to the Media Following Monday's Practices
8/18/2003
Walt Harris Quotes
On what the team hopes to accomplish this week:
?We have to get better. We have to get our guys practicing and get better. We have to pay attention to details better and we must execute what we are trying to do.?
On freshman scrimmage at the end of the first practice:
?That was the first scrimmage (with the) freshmen. So it looks like the defense is ahead of the offense. It looks like the offensive freshmen have been sitting in the back having a nice time, not paying any attention, and it shows. That is from the quarterback on down, so it wasn?t very exciting to me. Fortunately, most of those guys aren?t going to play. For the varsity to have as many good players not practicing, it makes it difficult for us to be the kind of team we want to be. So that?s our situation.?
On the wide receivers:
?Well, Larry (Fitzgerald) hasn?t been out there for quite awhile. I?ve been impressed with Chris Curd. Chris has been out there every day and he?s made some catches he?s never made before. I?m impressed with him. Obviously, Yogi (Roth) is a guarantee to play up to his ability level. So those are probably the best two.?
On what will earn a player the open starting wideout position:
?Play good. Execute. Do what the quarterback expects them to do and make the play when it?s thrown his way. Get open and make the play.?
On Fitzgerald?s response to treatment:
?He?s starting to get on me for showing up late to a quarterback?s meeting. So when he?s starting to tease that means he is feeling better. I think he?s feeling better with the area of his hamstring. He?s not real excited that he can?t practice because he likes football, he likes to practice. I think he feels better now that his leg is feeling better.?
On the progress of tight ends Kris Wilson and Erik Gill:
?They worked on individual drills. That?s (their absence) a big hit. Kris Wilson is really a fine football player and Erik Gill, we think has a good future. He?s up to 270 pounds which is way better then he?s been.?
On the backup quarterbacks:
?Talk to me when we are ready to play our first game. Then I can answer that a lot better. It?s still early to say. The thing that is very comforting about those two (Luke Getsy and Tyler Palko) is they come ready to work everyday. I don?t have to jump-start them. I don?t have to get on them ever about hustle. With the quarterback position, hustling is staying on top of it mentally. So those two guys are a dream to coach from that perspective. It?s very, very comforting because they come every day ready to go and wanting to get better. You can sense it that they are working on getting better. They both have different styles, different approaches, but it?s all the same results.?
On a backup running back:
?We?re trying to give them more work in order for them to really bring it on. The more repetition we give Jawan Walker and Raymond Kirkley, we will hopefully get more play out of them.?
On wide receiver Kennard Cox?s injury:
?It?s his hamstring. They run all day long. He?s real tough, but especially as a younger guy, I?m sure he doesn?t have as much preparation so that makes it hard.?
On running back Jawan Walker:
?We?re trying to get him there. He?s making some progress and we?re pleased at that, but we?re looking for more. We think he has talent and we know he can play and run better to the level we?re trying to get him to.?
On defensive end Thomas Smith earning a starting nod:
?It?s still up in the air right now, but he is in the starting lineup. Andy Alleman is making some improvements and I think Keith Hill is one of the reasons they are getting better.?
On
?It?s nice. I think that?s an area that we?re really proud of -- the fact that we?re getting preseason respect, which is something we haven?t gotten before. But like I said before, when we weren?t getting it, our players still believed that we were a good team. And now that we?re supposedly a better football team we have to go prove it to ourselves and not think it?s just going to happen.?
