Quotes From Coach Friedgen's Tuesday Press Conference
10/16/2001 8:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 16, 2001
College Park, Md. - The following are comments which Maryland head football coach Ralph Friedgen made to the press today at his weekly conference.
(On players who received weekly honors)
It was wonderful that E.J. Henderson and Nick Novak were honored this week. Both of them were ACC players of the week in their respective positions. And then of course, E.J. Henderson got national Defensive Player of the Week. He's had six great football games. I'm proud of the fact that he is being recognized on a national level. He represents our school tremendously.
(On the win against Georgia Tech)
The Georgia Tech game was a very exciting game for us. We are very happy that we were able to come out of there with a win, but it's over and now it's time to move on and get ready for Duke and the rest of our season.
(On strength and conditioning)
"It is a tremendous factor. I am very conscious each and every game about how we match up both from a strength and a physical standpoint. A lot of times during the season, players end up losing their strength and their size and that is a factor. Dwight Galt and our strength coaches have done a tremendous job of maintaining our strength. I haven't seen where it has dropped at all since the beginning of the season. We have lost an average of about five pounds per man, but under the circumstances that is not bad."
(On linebacker Leon Joe)
"He is a young man that is maturing. He has tremendous physical skills. He runs a 4.4 second forty and his vertical jump is about 38 inches. He benches over 450, squats over seven hundred, but he still needs to learn how to play his position. Each game has gotten better and better to the point where it is tough to take him out. I'm proud of his competitiveness and the way he has performed. He has really been an asset to us."
(On quarterback Shaun Hill's drive to set up the tying field goal of the Georgia Tech game)
"I told him he had 1:26, no timeouts, and we need a field goal to get us into overtime. Let's get it done."
"I talked to Shaun last night and he wasn't very happy about how he played the whole game. I said, 'Shaun there are a lot of guys who cannot play as well as they would like to play, but when it really counted, you played the best you did all night. There are not many people who can do that. I know a lot of people who when they go in the tank, they go in the tank.' It is a credit to his character and to his competitiveness that he would come into that situation and have his best series of the night. That is something we should build on with him. He was very relaxed, the decisions that he made were excellent. He threw the ball away when he had to, he made a big play to Jafar [Williams] to get our third down play where he scrambled, and then, of course, he made the big play to Rich [Parsons]. Rich took a little while to get open-we had great protection-and then Rich Parsons comes up and makes a play. When he has the opportunity, Rich has made plays. He broke a tackle to get us inside field goal range. Afterwards, Shaun knew exactly what to do. He killed the ball without needing to look over to the coaches. He has been through that situation before. It was perfect because there were five seconds left and not only did we kick a field goal to tie the game, we did not give Georgia Tech any time to retaliate."
(On the effect of increased media attention)
"I reminded the team that two years ago they got beat by Duke on Homecoming day. It's a new week, a new day, and we have to go back to work. I was anxious to see how we would practice last night. After we warmed up, I pulled the team together and told them that I want everything to be exact, precise, and effortful. I saw that last night, I thought we had a very good practice. These kids really want to achieve. I'll be disappointed if they are not ready to play on Saturday."
(On the secondary)
"Randall Jones had two fumble recoveries and an interception. He had one of his better games, he seemed to be in the right places at the right times. I thought the whole secondary played extremely well. Not only did Randall play very well, but Tony Jackson played a good game, Dennard Wilson had his best game until he cramped up, and what more can I say about Tony Okanlawon? We did something in the middle of the game that we had not practiced. We were worried about Kelly Campbell and we put Tony O. on him man-to-man and he did a great job of defending a heck of a receiver. I think Tony is having an all-conference and maybe more year."
(On the effect of Maryland's national ranking on recruiting)
"We have a couple of commitments and there were some kids who wouldn't mention us before that are very receptive to us now on the phone. I have been assured by a couple of those kids that we will get visits now whereas a week ago we wouldn't. So I think it has a tremendous effect. It has been my experience that when you play on a Thursday night on national television and you do well that it does wonders for your recruiting and exposure. It broadens your reputation and does nothing but help you."
(On being bowl eligible)
"When I mentioned to my players that they were bowl eligible, they went nuts. It was almost like they didn't already know about it, but they told me they knew about it. Winning six games has been such a monkey on the team's back. I think they felt pressure not only playing against a very fine football team, but also getting over the hump of winning six games. After I finished talking to a couple of our seniors, I found that they were so happy that they finally broke through."
