Oct. 9, 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 preparing for the Georgia Tech match on Thursday)
"I don't ever sleep in the office. I have to go home, even if it's for five minutes. But my coaches have been sleeping in their offices. I don't like it, but they do it. They are still asleep when I get back, that's the only thing I worry about. Today is Thursday for us but it's Tuesday for you...It is a bunched up week. We are still going to prepare for everything we will see in the game-we'll just have less time to do it. It makes for a very hectic week. "

"This is another new experience for our football team. They are going into a hostile environment, facing a team who thinks they should be where we are. I'm sure they are looking at us and saying, 'Who are these guys?' They are expecting this game with Florida State or Clemson. Their back is against the wall and they need to win this one-our team has to understand that. This is a whole new deal because we can't just say, 'We're 5-0 and we're at the head of the ACC.' With that comes a lot of responsibility. We become a target. I'm concerned how we are going to react to that situation and how prepared we are going to be."

(On returning to Bobby Dodd Stadium)
"There will probably be a lot of fans yelling at me, but I kind of like that. My father used to say, 'When they stop talking, then you start worrying.' I had a lot of great memories there and I hope this is another one. The people there treated me great, but that was another time. I'm happy where I am now. When I reflect on my coaching career, I feel very blessed. It took me a long time to become a head coach but if I became a head coach earlier in my career, I wouldn't have had the chance to win a national championship. I may not have been in the Superbowl. I may not have had the chance to win five ACC championships. I wouldn't have had the chance to coach Joe Hamilton, Shawn Jones, George Godsey. There are a lot of things that I have had and I'm thankful I had those opportunities. Now I have the opportunity to be the head coach at the University of Maryland. I have the opportunity to unite this place and get the spirit back in this place, and I'm having one heck of a time doing that. I feel so fulfilled right now that I wouldn't want to be in any other place."

(On Georgia Tech's offense)
"Stopping that offense is not easy. They have a great running game with Joe Burns. They have four really good receivers and one of them can fly. I need to get a couple of those here. If you guys know of anybody, let me know."

(On Georgia Tech QB George Godsey)
"The tough thing about George is that he knows where the pressure is coming from and he can get rid of the football. That's not as easy [to stop] as you might think."

(On Maryland's offensive line)
"Melvin has meant a lot. He is a very intelligent and very mature kid. I wouldn't say he is a 'rah rah' guy, but he is very composed and he doesn't get rattled. With the young linemen, that really helps. He's a leader that is having a very good year. Melvin always helps Kyle Schmitt who is playing this week. A lot of the credit needs to go to Tom Brattan. He is a tireless worker and he does a great job of communicating with the kids. Every program Tom has been involved with has been successful not only running the ball, but throwing the ball. I'm very happy that I have him on our staff."

(On coaching against George O'Leary in the Cherry Bowl)
George is a jokester if you know him. Back then, our players at Maryland weren't very happy that we were going to the Cherry Bowl. We were 8-3-we lost to Penn State by two points and I think we lost to Michigan and Miami. We were at the banquet and George came up to me and he knew our special teams coach Jeff Mann was with me. Typical of George, he says, 'Boy, you guys don't have very good special teams.' Jeff bristled at the comment. He got very upset and went to Coach Ross who also got upset, however, George was just pulling their chains. Well, in the beginning of the game when we punted, the Syracuse returner dropped the ball and we caught it and scored a touchdown. We were playing in the Silver Dome and I yelled all the way across the field, 'Hey George. How do you like those special teams now?' ...That was one of my memorable moments [coaching against Coach O'Leary]."