Vanderlinden At ACC Media Day
7/24/2000 8:00:00 AM | Football
July 24, 2000
HOT SPRINGS, Va. - Maryland head football coach Ron Vanderlinden joined the rest of the Atlantic Coast Conference football coaches on Monday while addressing the media at the ACC's annual football kickoff. Here are quotes from the fourth-year Maryland coach who returns 15 starters to a 5-6 team which led the circuit in rushing a year ago, including Heisman Trophy candidate LaMont Jordan.
On LaMont Jordan rebounding from a slow start in 1999, and getting off to a quicker start in 2000: "He led the nation in rushing in the last six games of last season, but he did get off to a kind of a slow start, I thought. He really exploded about the midway point of last season. He certainly can be one of the top three Heisman candidates and most times those top candidates really establish themselves in the early weeks of the season. I think the timing is pretty good for him because our passing game will be much better than it's been. We've been playing against nine-man fronts pretty much the last two years. It's been amazing that we've finished first and second in the ACC in rushing the last two years and 12th in the country last season. The biggest emphasis for us last spring was to throw the ball more effectively and I really feel good about our ability to throw the ball this season. Hopefully that, and backing those safeties off our line a little bit, will even increase our abilities to run the ball. I'd like to be able to throw a little bit on first and second down, and even run on 3rd-and-five. I'd like for us to be a little more balanced on offense this year."
On being a surprise team in the ACC this season: "I was hoping that maybe last year was going to be our surprise year. Nobody really gave us a chance and we got off to a 5-2 start before we lost a couple of heartbreakers. I feel good. We have 15 starters back. I feel like our team has gained confidence. Even though we didn't finish our season the way we hoped to, we gained confidence that we could be a good football team. Our guys have worked awfully hard in the off-season and hopefully we'll be able to break through this year."
On how difficult it's been to learn to win: "I think [learning how to win] is always an issue when a program hasn't had success for a number of years. You have to gain confidence. You have to learn how to win. Part of learning how to win is learning how to work. And then you have to continue to amass the personnel that it takes to keep winning."
On looking back at the end of last year: "It's still painful. The memories of those last 28 seconds [against Virginia] are still very challenging because the ramifications were so big. But, I think years from now, hopefully if this all goes according to script, it will just be another lesson as we look back at past games. Right now it's still pretty tough."
On the value of a quarterback: "When I got to Maryland we couldn't run the football. We went from last [in rushing in the ACC] to first. One thing that I've learned about the ACC is that you have to be able to score points and throw the ball effectively. Hopefully, that's the next step in our evolution and I think it's fair to say at every level, professional on down, that it starts at quarterback. He's the guy that's making plays. You've got to have a good one. I think we'll be better at quarterback than we were a year ago, no matter who we put in that role. I think we'll have, barring in juries, better players in that position."
On team's biggest improvements: "I think our ability to control the line of scrimmage has been our single greatest improvement. We finished first in the ACC in rushing, and we were last when this staff arrived. And then on defense, we were third in the ACC in rushing defense. We would even be better in rushing defense if our pass defense were better. I think were last in the league in third-down conversions on defense, so if we could have just stopped a couple more drives, than that means the opponents don't even get as many chances to run the ball. I think physically, we're a football team that lines up on the line of scrimmage and competes very well. What we need to do now is make more plays in the passing game. And we need to be better in pass defense."
On the team handling the last four games last year: "I think it's been an off-season motivating factor for us. We've had the best off-season we've had since I've been here. It's the most committed that our players have been. I feel that they, now, believe that this is very close. They're really hungry and excited. I think the losses were the hardest on our seniors. That was really a tough thing for them."
Tomorrow: Terrapin senior free safety Shawn Forte
