Posts Tagged ‘unc’

Tuesday October 13, 2009

Watch Big 10 Coaches Shows here: Videos...

Quoting Dan Mullen: "I thought our red zone defense was really good," Mullen said. "They had seven possessions in the red zone and we came away with an interception, blocked field goal, gave up a field goal and four touchdowns. The issue I have with the defense is we only had two three and outs and 17 missed tackles and the fact we had seven red zone possessions. We gave up way too much between the twenties to give up those red zone possessions."

"I saw seven different angles of it and it looked to me that he was clearly behind the line of scrimmage," Mullen said. "That's my inexperience as a head coach not to actually challenge it. I thought the officials in the box were reviewing it and taking care of business up there. We'll send some stuff in but what's done is done. Each week you look at calls that what you thought should have been called holding calls and it wasn't and some that were called that really weren't. I can't concern myself with Conference USA officiating and the quality of the officiating in their league because we play in the Southeastern Conference. That's why it's a poor job on my part not challenging that call."

Quoting Mark Richt: "I think a lot of people expect blood. They want somebody to be let go and fired and all that kind of thing and maybe that's what needs to be done," Richt said to one critical caller. "But at this point right now, we're going to do what we know is the best thing to do and that is to focus on this game this week [at Vanderbilt]."

Quoting Les Miles: "Tiger faithful, I apologize," LSU coach Les Miles said. "I wish we were better. We'll work hard at it and we'll do what we can."

"We've got to play better. Its just that simple."

"We probably just needed to continue to run the football, and had we done that, we would have gotten some more first downs and put ourselves in position to make some play-action throws," Miles said.

"If you look at some of the yards per carry, Charles Scott had 4 yards per carry and Trindon Holliday had 6," Miles said. "You think to yourself that maybe we should have handed those guys the ball a little more."

Quoting Idaho head coach Robb Akey: The Vandals are 5-1, 2-0 in the WAC, following their 29-25 victory at San Jose State on Saturday, the team's third straight victory by four points or less.

"We're hoping this will be the one that gets us to bowl eligible," third-year coach and WAC Coach of the Year front-runner Robb Akey said. "There were a number of goals our guys had in mind. Just being bowl eligible doesn't mean you'll get one. So, yes, (the Hawaii game) is a big one for us."

"I expected us to get to this point," he said. "I knew there would be some challenges, but I knew this is where we could be.

"From Fresno on last year, we competed better. It didn't transfer over to the win-loss column."

Quoting Dave Wannstedt (about Friday night games): "It is what it is, schedule-wise. If I had a choice, I rather play on Saturday for a lot of different reasons. We've had two Friday night games on the road in two weeks. I don't now how many teams in the country will be playing two Friday night games, yet on the road in a three-week span, but our guys have handled it well."

Quoting Tom O'Brien: "It's about time we stood up and became accountable for ourselves and start tackling people and getting off the field," O'Brien said.

"Certainly, when you're in position, you've got to be able to get a guy on the ground," O'Brien said. "Whether we don't have the right guys who can do that, we're going to find out. We've finally got the secondary aligned the way we want to.

"We'll see if we're better. If they're not, certainly we're going to have to go recruit guys. We've got some guys redshirted. I'd rather not (play) them this year. I think the future's bright, but the future is in Boston on Saturday."

Quoting Brett Bielema: "We really tried to explain to [the players] that what happened Saturday were some of the things they had to go through personally," Bielema said. "It was very painful film to watch. The guys had big ears and big eyes; they took it all in."

Quoting Paul Rhoads: "They were really ticked off they didn't get it done," Rhoads said. "It made me feel good. Two weeks in a row we've had a very down locker room, and we've had two bus rides home that reflected that.

"In my past few years, I've sat on too many planes and too many buses where kids got over losses too fast. This team hasn't done that at all. We believe we can win the football game, and I think it showed by how we went out the second half (at Kansas) especially and finished the game off. We played 60 minutes with the opportunity to win it." 

Rich Rod press conference: Video...

Grambling head coach Rod Broadway press conference: Video...

Indianapolis Colts head coach Jim Caldwell press conference: Video...

Monday October 12, 2009

University of Virginia: Internship Program - The University of Virginia Strength & Conditioning Department is accepting applications for the position of Football Performance Intern. The program is designed for the post bachelor professional looking for experience working in a scientifically based and innovative strength-training program. Position is Un-Paid. Ideal candidates will have a certification from one of the following. (NSCA, CSCS; CSCCA, SCCC; USAW) Daily responsibilities include: 1. Assisting with supervision and execution of strength training programs. 2. Teaching student-athletes proper techniques and equipment use. 3. Attending to the daily maintenance of the training facilities. 4. Participation in research and professional development. Inquiries must be received by:  November 20th for the Spring semester. To apply send a cover letter, resume, and three professional references to: University of Virginia, Attention: Brandon Hourigan, Director of Football Training and Player, Development P.O. Box 400836 Charlottesville, VA 22904. If you have any questions, please call Brandon Hourigan at 434-982-5192 or e-mail bhourigan@virginia.edu  

Preparing for a quality opponent during a short week always provides unique challenges to a coaching staff. So much work to do in such a short window of time...

With that in mind, immediately following their 68-50 loss to Georgia Tech, North Carolina head coach Larry Fedora reached out to a few coaches for some advice on how to prepare his guys in a five day span before they kicked off against Virginia last night (which they won 37-13).

"The best advice I got from a majority of guys is just don't wear them out. You're going to think you need to keep getting repitition, and really it's more important that they're fresh." Fedora explained to the Herald Sun yesterday.

Coming off from a loss that looked more like a basketball score, a lot of coaching staffs would have to bite the bullet to take that kind of advice. Conventional coaching wisdom says that the more repititions you take at something (like defense), the better off you'll be. But, as coaches told Fedora, sometimes allowing your guys to play with fresh legs under them is just as (if not more) important.

Last night, the UNC defense came up big on a goal line stand to maintain their seven point lead, and then the offense took things over from there.

That was the story of the night. Both sides of the ball looked fresh for the Tar Heels, and that likely hinged on the decision that Fedora and his staff made to take their foot off the gas during practice this last week and sacrifice some repititions for fresh legs. The decision defintiely paid off as the staff collected their win number seven in their first season in Chapel Hill.