Maryland's Forte From ACC Football Media Day
7/26/2000 8:00:00 AM | Football
July 26, 2000
Audio Clip
HOT SPRINGS, Va. - On Tuesday, July 25, Maryland's senior free safety Shawn Forte joined eight other Atlantic Coast Conference football stars in answering questions from ACC media at the league's annual media kickoff.
Forte, who had four interceptions for the Terps in 1999, can move among Maryland career leaders with at least three more picks in 2000. He talked about the team's desire and commitment to go to a bowl game in his senior campaign and, among other topics, playing alongside Heisman Trophy candidate LaMont Jordan.
On Maryland's goals in 2000: "We've set some pretty good goals for ourselves. Number one, we're trying to reach a bowl game. We want to continue to build from the last three years. Every year, we keep getting better and better, and we believe now that we can compete with anyone. We believe in ourselves and we're ready to get a winning season."
On the team's strengths: "Offensively, we've spent a lot of time passing the ball and that should help our flexibility on that side of the ball. We've got some good, young linebackers coming back in Aaron Thompson, Marlon Moore and Kevin Bishop. We feel that our linebackers are a very strong area for the defense."
On awareness of Maryland's dominance in the '70s and '80s: "The more you're around our football complex, you really do get a sense of how good Maryland was during that time. I think now, an attraction for a lot of us guys in coming to Maryland is the chance to get the Terps back to that degree success. It's really kind of exciting to imagine us helping this school back to that degree of winning. We definitely want to start with a winning season, with our definite goal of making a bowl game. We were so close last year. It came down to the last drive of the Virginia game. We just fell short, but we want to continue to get better."
On what needs to be done to return Maryland to the top: "We know what we need to do to win. We believe in what we need to do. An example is our summer workouts. We're all so much more committed, and hopefully that will continue into our season. Hopefully it will push us over the edge. We're so close."
On the atmosphere following the last-second loss to Virginia last year, and rebounding from it: "That was a heartbreaker. That really hurt. I think a lot of guys, including myself, we just left everything on the field. We put our hearts into that game. We just came up a little short. It was really tough. Speaking for myself at least, it's still a little bit in the back of my mind, but at the same time, that was last year and I have to keep it as last year's memory. We're just ready to get it on with Temple. Move on to 2000."
"[Last year's ending] has been nothing but a motivator. Everybody's been working hard. Harder than we've ever been working in the last three to four years, at least since I've been there. I'm using it as a motivator. We know we were so close. We know what we have to do."
On what LaMont Jordan means to this team: "LaMont would mean a lot to anybody's team. LaMont is a great player. He's a tremendous back. He's a vital part of this team. He's a gifted athlete."
On what other DBs have to see when facing LaMont out of the backfield: "LaMont, for a guy his size, the first thing you notice is his feet. LaMont is really shifty for a person his size. That's the first thing that I notice about him."
On the gap between Florida State and the ACC: "I don't think there's that much a gap between their starting 11 and anyone else's starting lineup. It's when they start to sub and they start to rotate that you can notice a difference. When they start to substitute, they don't lose a step. But we go into every with the mindset of playing our hardest and doing what we have to do to win. We don't approach them any differently than any other game. It's a motivator to play against them, certainly, because you know there's a lot at stake when you play the No. 1 team in the country. But we don't prepare for them any differently."
On being picked the sixth-best team in the ACC media poll: "I don't really know anybody on the team that pays attention to those things. It's just a prediction. I feel that we're a young, strong, confident team. Where we end up finishing, I don't know and can't tell. We'll let you all watch us on the field."
