Football Media Day Quotes
8/9/2002 8:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 9, 2002
Coach Friedgen on entering the season:
"I'm excited about the season. I don't think I've ever gone into a season with so many unknowns. I don't know who my quarterback is yet. Our all-conference, player of the year linebacker E.J. Henderson - I don't know how he will hold up to contact. Our offensive player of the year Bruce Perry hasn't done anything football-wise since the Orange Bowl. So, there are some unknown factors here. We have some kids at new positions, but that's what college football is about."
Coach Friedgen on how the schedule falls:
"I think the good part about our schedule is that we have most of our conference games at the end of the year. I hope that gives our young kids, our freshmen, time to develop going into the meat of our conference schedule."
Coach Friedgen on how last season will help for the upcoming campaign:
"I told them the one thing we have now that we did not have a year ago at this time was that we know we can win. Last year, that wasn't necessarily a fact at this time. If that comes with expectation levels, then I'm all for it."
Coach Friedgen on opening the season against Notre Dame on Aug. 31:
"It's a thrill. It's something that you can look back on the rest of your life and you can say you played the Fighting Irish. I told our kids it's a tremendously big game for us, for our program, for our season and that they will be the first Terrapins to ever play Notre Dame. I think they are looking forward to it. I know I am."
"I like to play a tough game to start with because I think it gives us something to point toward the whole winter, spring and summer. It gives us something to work towards and our kids have done it."
Coach Friedgen on the quarterback issue:
"What I have to do is get one guy ready to play. We have seven quarterbacks on our roster right now; I just can't get them all repped. We have to make some pretty early decisions. I don't want to push Chris, but I have to know something [about what he can or cannot do]."
Coach Friedgen on the attention the program and himself have been getting based on last year:
"It's been almost humbling. I'm so appreciative of the warmth. I can't go into a store, or anywhere, where people don't congratulate me and our team on last year's season. It was a long time ago and they are still talking about it. But I realize that you are only as good as your last ballgame or your last season, so it's time to move on."
Coach Friedgen on preseason media rankings in the conference and if it worries him:
"It aggravates my wife more than it aggravates me. You guys picked us for seventh and eighth last year so why should I get all excited they picked us second? It just sells magazines. To be honest with you, I don't even read them. So it doesn't matter what they say, but what we do. The conferences is going be tough again."
Coach Friedgen on building a true football fanbase at Maryland:
"In my opinion nothing replaces the atmosphere and enthusiasm of the college game. It's just not the same if you go to a pro game. I think people experienced that last year, and it is a reason our season tickets are up. I think the fans showed me a lot with attendance down at the Orange Bowl. When I walked out on that field and saw that whole side red, the hairs on my neck stood up."
Coach Friedgen on E.J. Henderson and his role on the team:
"He is the heart and the soul of our defense. The way he played last year, it's amazing. Here's a kid who wasn't even preseason All-ACC. He goes out and has a phenomenal year. He made himself into the defensive player of the year in the conference, player of the year in the conference, consensus All-American, finalist for the Butkus Award."
Coach Friedgen on the progress of his diet:
"It's 39 pounds today, pushing 40 hard. It's been slow. But I've been busy so I haven't had a chance to eat a whole lot."
Coach Friedgen on Chris Kelley:
"He's a great kid. I'm proud of him - not just that he has been cleared to play, but with the way he has handled a very difficult situation, after he hurt his ACL in the spring game. He's been focused on getting himself ready to play this season. What I have to do as a coach is make sure he is capable of playing. People that work hard have good things happen to them."
Chris Kelley on his comeback:
"Nobody in here, no coach or no doctor, has pressured me into coming back. This is my choice."
On starting the opening game of the season against Notre Dame:
"If I didn't think that [I had a chance to start the opening game], I wouldn't be here right now. I'm not thinking about it really, I'm just taking it a day at a time and getting my feet back under me."
Compared to his past knee injuries:
"They say the second one is easier to come back from. I feel great right now. There is no pain in it, no soreness at all."
On when he realized he would comeback this season:
"I talked to my rehab doctor the night before surgery and told him that I wasn't gonna sit out six months. I'm here to get back for the first day of two-a-day practices."
On trusting his knee:
"That's pretty tough. One thing you have to remember is that you can't go out there and play protective or say you don't want to get hurt, because you won't play to the best of your ability. I'm just going to go out there and see what happens."
Bruce Perry on Chris Kelley's comeback:
"It would be a storybook beginning. Chris has been though a whole lot with his knee situation. He has been in a whole lot of pain. For him to come back the way he has, there is nothing more that you can say except that he is just amazing."
Bruce Perry on the team's expectations:
"We expect to win. We put in the hard work. Right now, we know how to win. Last year, we were searching for ways to win. But now we know what it takes. It should be second nature for us."
Bruce Perry on the team maintaining its unselfishness:
"It's not going to be tough. We have a coach who instills in us day in and day out that we have to play together in order to be successful, and that is the main reason we were successful last year."
E.J. Henderson on the expectations for the team:
"It's better to have expectations than to have people say you are going to be at the bottom of the conference. It's definitely a good feeling."
E.J. Henderson on being ready to play in the opening game:
"I'm just trying to make it back on the 31st, giving a 110%. I'm working hard everyday, just trying to make it back to the top."
E.J. Henderson on being a senior leader:
"I'm trying to be a role model to the younger guys. I know they are coming in looking at me, and they saw me do big things last year, so I know that I have to come out and lead us as a senior. I've been here for the good times and the bad times. I'm looking forward to leading this team one more time."
