Pitt Postpractice Quotes
8/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 11, 2009
PITTSBURGH -
Media Day (Aug. 10)
Opening Statement:
"We appreciate everyone being here. We've got a nice crowd. I think this is an indication of the excitement that we're anticipating as we get started. This team is kind of interesting. Doing this for 37 years every time a season starts at the beginning people want to know `You've got this many guys coming back from last year, how do you expect your football team to be different?' And it's very interesting because even on teams that I've been involved with where you have almost the identical team returning, the chemistry of your team (is what is most important). Things happen in the offseason, things happen during the course of training camp that affect the psyche of your football team. Some of the players are affected individually by some things. The team chemistry changes every year and that from a coaching standpoint is very exciting particularly when you have a great group of seniors.
"If you looked at our football team from a distance right now there isn't the leading tackler in the conference in Scott McKillop, there isn't the rookie of the year coming back like LeSean McCoy did a year ago, but if you look at our football team this is the largest group of seniors that we have had...this was the first class that we really had an opportunity to evaluate from start to finish. When these kids made the decision to come to the University of Pittsburgh, yes, you get a degree and you're going to graduate but they also made a decision to come here to accomplish something big from a football standpoint and even though it's not being talked about a lot publicly I really like where the foundation of this senior group is, which will be a direct reflection on our football team. These kids have worked an awful long time very hard to get to this point and I believe that we've got a long way to go. We all know that we're just getting into training camp, but the foundation of this football team, led by this senior group of 19, I think makes for a very exciting year and were obviously ready to go.
"We had a very good offseason. Everyone wants to hear examples of guys. One guy that came in with the class was Joe Thomas. Joe Thomas weighed in yesterday at about 280 pounds, took his bench (up), he benched 460 pounds. You're talking about players who have either made a commitment to lose weight or get stronger. I didn't think Jonathan Baldwin could jump any higher or get any stronger but he increased his vertical jump, he increased his 40 speed, so you have players who have made strides in the offseason. Seniors and freshmen from a year ago, that to me as a coach at this point really makes a statement that we worked extremely hard in the offseason and now were ready for the next step.
"All the guys that were banged up from last spring, if you remember the guys like the Pinkstons and the Byhams, we don't anticipate anyone not being ready to go on day one who was limited or not allowed to practice last spring because of an injury, so our training staff and medical staff have done a great job of getting our players back healthy and getting our entire football team ready to go. So it's exciting. We're ready to go, we'll get started and let's take it one day at a time.
"Ok give me the quarterback questions, come on. (laughs)
"But let me say this because the quarterback position is one that everyone loves to talk about. I think we're very fortunate here at Pitt. I think you have to look at everything in terms of who you're competing against. I think when you look at our quarterback position we have two quarterbacks with experience; we have Billy (Bill Stull) who started 13 games and Pat (Pat Bostick) who started nine games, we have a young quarterback with a lot of talent who's going to be a heck of a player for us, Tino Sunseri. So we do have some experience, we have some youth, we have ability and these kids have worked very hard.
"Our leading (returning) running back Shariff Harris had 13 carries last year, he is the lone returning back from a year ago with the most carries. So we're all focused on the running back position -- who's going to be the next guy? Will it be a collective group or will it be one? We don't know. But the quarterback position, for us to take another step forward, needs to perform well this year. I think we have a good supporting cast, we've got four of our five offensive linemen returning, we've got our receivers coming back, and we've got our tight ends coming back. All those things contribute to a quarterback being successful. It's not just the quarterback. And I think that all three of those guys, Billy in particular, have worked extremely hard in the summer and I think that everyone will be pleasantly surprised when we get started."
On Bill Stull being the starter at quarterback:
"We were very fair. I opened it up in the spring. We rotated all three guys with the first and second groups and it was clear, not just by my opinion and Frank Cignetti's opinion, that from a production standpoint -- completions, mental mistakes, interceptions -- that Billy had the best spring and Bill is the starter going in. We'll continue to work all those guys. Pat and Tino are going to get a lot of work no question about that but Bill is the starter."
On Jonathan Baldwin:
"If you think about where Jonathan was a year ago at this time he was one of those players that came in to a university environment with a lot of hype and expectations and from a coaches standpoint we're trying to force feed him information. He's trying to make that transition from high school to college and I thought he handled it extremely well. He's a different player right now, a different person right now, everything in a positive light. He's a difference-maker, he's a playmaker. We've got to find ways to get him the ball which we've had a lot of discussions about."
On defense possibly being better than last year's even without Scott McKillop:
"We were talking yesterday. A year ago at this time Adam Gunn and Shane Murray were our starting outside linebackers. By the end of game one both of those players were finished for the year. We had two young kids step in. (Greg Williams) is back. As great as a player as Scott McKillop was for Pitt and he should have a great career with the 49ers, I'm not as concerned about that position because of Adam Gunn and Steve Dell. We've got some guys who have lined up and played."
On concerns for the upcoming season:
"The focus and biggest concern is two positions: the tailback spot because we're going to run the football. We have to run the football. We will run the football. But getting that player or committee of players ready to go and perform at the level they have to in a few weeks time, that's a challenge.
"The other position is with our kicking game. Nobody mentions Conor Lee, no one mentions Mark Estermyer, no one mentions Dave Brytus. We had an outstanding group. Our snapper obviously signed with the Steelers and I still think he's going to be with an NFL franchise before the year is out. He can play in the NFL and Conor Lee we know by his production here at Pitt how valuable he was to the university. Dave Brytus had two outstanding years for us at punter. Now the first time we go out to kick a field goal between Kevin Harper and Hutch (Dan Hutchins) it's going to be the first time they're lining up and performing when it counts. We're going to have a new long snapper. Some of these things in the kicking game that people take for granted are things that make a difference in winning and losing football games. John Fieger and Mike Cruz right now are the top candidates at long snapper.
"So right now the positions of concern would be tailback and our kicking situation."
On linebacker Greg Williams:
"Greg Williams has a chance, ability wise, to be a special player. He does things that you don't coach. We're trying to recruit as many players as we can that do things that we don't have to coach because they're the great ones. Greg has that type of ability. A year ago at this time he was a running back and we moved him in training camp and said `I think linebacker might be your spot' then halfway through the first game he was a starter and he handled it well and got better and better. I expect a big year out of him and Max Gruder. We're going to be pretty good at linebacker. We've got some guys who can run and I'm excited about that."
On the tailback position:
"You'd like to have one but that's a lot to ask. Most of the great ones that I've been around, some Hall of Fame backs, some All-Pro backs, they have to get their 25 carries to halfway be effective. Sometimes it's difficult for a guy to be standing there and then all of a sudden go in and get into the rhythm of the game as they say. But a lot of teams have success with it and we'll probably go that way, particularly early. It'd be great if someone separated themselves from the pack during two-a-days.
"If you remember LeSean McCoy his first year, it was a scrimmage and I remember because Coach Majors was standing next to me on the practice field and we hadn't made a first down on offense, the defense was getting after us pretty good but I remember walking in the huddle to Matt Cavanaugh and I said `Matt, I don't care if we throw to this kid, or hand it to this kid, or kick to this kid but the next time the first offense comes in get him the ball every play.' And we threw it to him, we handed it to him, we may have even kicked it to him and if you remember the scrimmage then he touched it eight plays in a row and went boom-boom and scored a touchdown. The great ones have a tendency to do things like that. Jonathan Baldwin, it took him about two plays to go up and do the one-handed Hines Ward catch to let you know that he's got talent and we've got to figure out what to do to get him the ball because he's probably the best we've had around here in a long time. Will that happen at running back? I don't know. If it doesn't, we know we've got some good young talented kids.
"We're going to do everything we can to give them an opportunity to have some success. They can all run and they all have ability and two or three of them are going to be freshmen, we're going to be young there but that doesn't bother me. I was on the team when Tony Dorsett was a freshman too and ran for 1580 yards the second best year he had in his career. You can play that position as a freshman. If we were talking about a defensive tackle or defensive end coming in and starting as a freshman you'd be kidding yourself to some degree in most cases."
On possibly having a receiver (Jonathan Baldwin) being the go-to guy on offense:
"We're going to have to run the ball to obviously give him a chance to be singled up in coverage, give our offensive line a chance too, everything ties together but I think that more so than last year he'll be able to do more. We've had a lot of discussions as a staff about different ways that we can utilize his talent. So he's going to have to be involved in everything that we're doing.
"But I'm excited about Oderick Turner and Cedric McGee. I mean these kids have both been here for five years. They've paid the price, they've bounced around. I think we've got some guys like that who people aren't talking about. I know they can line up and win games for us."
On Pat Bostick:
"The first thing with Pat, you have to go back to when he first started here. Obviously he was thrown into the action way before he was ready and we were ready but we had no choice. He had to play. Billy got hurt in that first game. I think Pat has worked on his foot quickness. I think he's worked on his arm strength. They would be the two key things. There's not a player on our team who's more committed, understands the offense, what to do with the football more than Pat Bostick does. It's those physical skills that he's been working extremely hard at. He's had a great summer. Pat's one of those guys you don't count out. You don't count him out and we'll see how he does in training camp. I'm glad he's on our team, I'll tell you that."
On Nate Byham:
"Nate is the type of tight end that can do everything that is required of that position. I think the biggest thing for Nate, just like most of these seniors, is that Nate has to go out and not try to force things. He's so excited about this senior year coming up and he wants to be a great player, which he's going to be. But I think you just can't get ahead of yourself. Nate's a great blocker, he can make catches, he can run after the catch, he has all of the intangibles that you look for.
"I think that Dorin Dickerson is going to have a breakout year. I believe that, I really do. We just have to look for ways to get these guys the football and not get ahead of ourselves."
On Dickerson not redshirting as a freshman:
"For what he played his freshman year (2006), I think he played 35 plays. I wish he had another year left but we need him right now and he's ready to go and he's looking forward to the season."
On Pitt's Thomas Jefferson pipeline:
"Well Thomas Jefferson we all know is one of the best programs in the state and I think it has the reputation as being one of the best programs in this part of the country. I think Bill Cherpak has done a heck of a job.
"It is unique having brothers on the same team, we have three sets and it's good. I like where Nate (Nix) is at, he's a great influence on his younger brother. Nate's on track to graduate next year, a year early if he continues doing as well as he's doing in school and Dom (DeCicco) is a great influence on Brock.
"I think it's a very positive situation for those younger brothers following in their footsteps and I would like to think that it's an indication when it came time for their brothers to make their decisions and Brock (DeCicco) could've gone anywhere in the country and we know Lucas (Nix) obviously could've gone anywhere, being the number one lineman in the state, that what has happened with the older brothers at Pitt (influenced the younger brothers' decisions)."
On personnel and changing offensive coordinators:
"We're still going to be a two-back team, we're going to use our two tight ends like we did last year. I think Frank has some things that he's comfortable with that he has a good feel for doing as far as play calling. And everybody always asks that. I've been through coordinators on both sides of the ball and you really don't know until its third and five and you have to dial something up. One thing that I do like about Frank is that he has experience and we're not talking about a first-time coordinator who's never made a call. He's made those calls in pressure situations and had success with them so I'm very comfortable."
On Adam Gunn returning from injury:
"I think the biggest thing, no different from Adam compared to a Nate Byham or Jason Pinkston, is that they have to practice and make the plays in a full speed environment to give them the confidence that they can do it. Medically I think they're all fine, it's more dealing with the confidence factor that `ok I know I'm healthy, now I have to perform.' I think going into training camp, whether you're a Nate Byham or Ray Graham, every player during training camp has to give his performance at the highest level that he is capable of performing and once I see that, then I know that player is ready to go. You're trying to get Nate Byham and Jason Pinkston to get to that level they have to play at. Then once you see a player reach that level, you feel good and I think they feel good about it too. That's when you get confidence."
On Aaron Berry being a preseason All-Big East pick:
"I think it's good for the individual. It's a nice little pat on the back for him and it's a nice little pat on the back for the school for our university. But the statement that I just made, Aaron Berry needs to get out there and show me that he's ready to play at the level I think he's capable of. And then all of that stuff will take care of itself.
He's got the talent to be a good player. Aaron has been a little bit inconsistent at times but he had a good summer, he worked hard and I know he's one of those guys who's really looking forward to his senior year. We just need to make sure that we don't get ahead of ourselves."
On the defense:
"Last year we talked about Greg Williams, a running back who had never played linebacker, and Austin Ransom, a walk-on wide receiver who we moved to starting linebacker. You have a great one in the middle in Scott but you can't do those things with the linebacker position and the secondary position if you don't have the guys up front. Our defensive line right now has a chance to be pretty good as long as they keep everything in perspective. Jabaal Sheard and Myles Caragein is another one, in the year and a half he's been here, he's taken his bench press up 100 pounds and his 40 time has come down. If you're going to pick a surprise guy, you look at the end of the year to a guy who performed at a high level and really made a lot of noise, it might be Myles Caragein. I think he's going to have a great year."
On practices:
"Last year we did four days of the broken up practice and this year were just going to do Tuesday and Wednesday to try to give all the freshman and younger players an opportunity to get a lot of work in. Then, after the two days of non-pads we'll go into our normal team practices."
On Pitt being picked to win the Big East:
"Going into every season, every team does this. Every team in the NFL is saying we're going to the Super Bowl, every team in college is saying we're going to win our conference and go to the BCS. Jimmy Johnson and I talked about this and it's true. When we went 1-15 in Dallas we were talking about winning the Super Bowl that year ourselves. Realistically, there's probably about 10 teams that if everything stays even, from an injury standpoint, they have enough talent and they have enough balance; offense, defense and special teams, to have what it takes to win a Super Bowl and I think it's the same way in our conference. We're one of five teams that could win the conference if everything works out right. But I think right now, there are four other coaches who could be standing here saying the same thing. So it's nice that we're recognized as a team that has a chance to win it but I think the voting is an indication that it could go a couple different ways."
Do you feel as confident going into this season as you have in your past seasons?:
"I do. I think we've got a good feel for things. With the quarterback position a year ago, Billy was coming in as a first time starter. Now Billy has been a starter and we know what we're dealing with. We obviously have a better feel for Pat and Tino has had a spring. And I start with that position because I think that's the most critical and that was the most uncertain a year ago. Every year there's going to be holes to fill and positions to adjust. But overall I like our team, I know our kids are in great shape, I know the things we can control we're going to get a handle on. We're going to be a disciplined team, we're going to be a tough team and we're going to be a well-conditioned team. Our kids believe that, our kids want that. They know that they have to do those things to have a chance to be successful. That's encouraging from a coach's standpoint and that gives you a chance. If you don't have those things going and there's uncertainty about the discipline of your team or your toughness, then there's concern."
On position competition:
"(At middle linebacker) I want to get a good look at Dan Mason. He's going to get some work these next two days, which will be important for him. He had a great summer. I'm really excited about him.
"The big decision is going to be our punter and field goal kicker. Is Hutch (Dan Hutchins) the punter? Is Kevin (Kevin Harper) the field goal kicker? Or how is that going to work out? I know that we're going to have some really good competition at kicker even though you don't want to hear that.
"Right now if you look at our offensive line (Robb) Houser's back, (John) Malecki's back and Lucas Nix is the right tackle. He's going to be the right tackle. He had a good spring. (Jason) Pinkston's back at left tackle. We ended the spring with Chris Jacobson at left guard. Joe Thomas has probably had as good an offseason and played well last year at right tackle. I'd like to have eight guys. When we really get to where we want to be from a talent and experience standpoint you'll have eight guys in that offensive line you can go to. We have three guys we're not quite sure how it's going to work out. Right now with Joe Thomas and Chris Jacobson we feel like we've got six guys that are ready to play for us and win for us. Joe Thomas is going to start off at left guard, and so is Jacobson, so we've got some competition there and we'll see how that unfolds. When it's all said and done it comes down to who are our five best and how does it work out.
"Another guy we don't talk about much, but for us to take a step forward he's got to have a great year, is Elijah Fields. He had a great spring he's going to start off as the starter - him and Dom (DeCicco). Elijah is ready to step up. If you talk about having a really good defense, we need guys like Elijah Fields to step up and perform at that level."