Monday's Post-Practice Quotes
12/12/2006 7:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 12, 2006
Head football coach Ralph Friedgen visited with the media at the Gossett Team House, following Monday's practice session.
On preparing for Purdue: "We had a big day today. We were finally able to sit down and got a lot of the game plan in today. That is why it was a long practice; we had a walk through and a stall period. We really picked it up better than I thought we would. I thought we had a decent practice, it was a learning practice. The kids are working hard and they seem to be into it. They seem to be enjoying it too."
On taking time off between the season and Bowl game: "The way our exam schedule is here you don't have a whole lot of choices. First year, we didn't have a bye week we played all the way through, so we had six weeks off before we played the Bowl game. I was the new head coach and had two-a-days. I was trying to get a spring practice out of it. We had practice during exams and didn't do well on exams and we didn't do well in the game. The next year I had practice a week before exams like I did this year. We had three practices before they went home and then had a regular week before the game. Both of those games we played pretty well. It won't be exactly that but will be close to that now that we are going down on the 22nd. We will have one more practice than we normally would, but we will have a little more continuity even though, if we are doing how we are right now, I probably won't practice them on Christmas. I have been pleased that I gave them Sunday off and they came back today and practiced pretty well. I'll practice them tomorrow and then Sunday and then two more times after exams before they go."
On training for a Bowl game: "I think it's their frame of mind that is really important. You have to make it where they are having fun and enjoying themselves, but still getting the work done. I see them working pretty hard, we have them working on fundamentals. At the end of the year I cut back on fundamentals because it was just tough game after tough game. But I think we missed on that later in the season, so I am going back to it. I see us doing some things better right now than we were at the end of the season so hopefully that will carry over to the Bowl game.
On the importance of making it to a Bowl game: "I think these kids kind of have a bad taste in their mouths right now and when you look back we really did have a heck of a season. To go 9-4 and then win a Bowl game would be a great season for them and would be something they would be proud of. I think they want to make up for the last two games because I don't really it was indicative of who we are. It's not going to be easy Purdue is a good football team. I think they are a little bit excited because they are going to a Bowl and I think this is the Bowl they wanted to go to, a warm weather Bowl. I was surprised they wanted to go early. I am still concerned about that. We are probably going to have Christmas dinner and who knows maybe I'll be Santa Claus. If the lead up to a Bowl game was distracting I don't think they would be practicing like they are. I keep looking for it but I don't see it."
On the experience of a Bowl game for the players: "I'm trying to organize this so that they have a good time. They have some things that they have to do and they put them right in the middle of the day. So now, do you practice before these things, do you practice after these things and do they have enough time to go to wherever they want to go? I always say, and I tell them, we are going to do what we have to do to win the football game. That is paramount. If I can get that done and still give them time to enjoy themselves then we will try to do that. If we do both it will be a very rewarding experience and they will want to do it again. We practiced well, but we haven't killed them either. We went 24 periods today, we haven't done 24 periods since two-a-days, so there was a lot of inspiration. In those three hours I am trying to squeeze a whole other practice in because I know after tomorrow there is going to be four days where they aren't practicing. Another thing I am concerned about is their strength. They have to give me two lifts during exams. Two hours in one week, I don't think is too much to ask."
On the assistant coaching staff: "I think they have had a good year and they will get better as they go along. I see us communicating better as we go and getting more information for game planning. People are contributing more. Sometimes I think they are afraid to contribute, but I like that. I like people who have a belief, a thought and are man enough to stand up for it, I think that's good. I don't ever want it to be when one of the guys is making all of the decisions, but it is much more effective when you have two and I think that happens in the defensive room. It doesn't happen as much in the offensive room. It is happening more now than it was earlier on. I don't know, maybe sometimes they just don't know the answer to the problem. We have had some good thoughts here recently and I like that. I like being in rooms where everyone has an idea of how something should be run because that is where you get creative."
On linebacker Wesley Jefferson: "He has filled in very well. I think he has had a heck of a year. He has been very consistent and I think he has played very hard all along. He has very good instincts. He is not the strongest or the fastest guy, but I think he has played very productively this year. He has had a very good year for us and I don't know where we would have been without him. He has given us a lot, including leadership. He is going to graduate in January and is doing well in school too."
On wide receiver Isaiah Williams: "I don't think he is as confident as we think he is. I would like him to be more confident if you want to know the truth. He makes us better when he is on this team. He gives us another playmaker; he's a guy that has a lot of tools. To me, he has to get more physical, he has to get stronger, he has to catch the ball over the middle better. When he makes those plays for us, now we have another playmaker. I'm hoping that he will gain confidence. I thought he played pretty well against Wake Forest. He can plot pretty well too, that is encouraging. I really think he needs some competition, I think if we had a guy who was threatening his job he would become more productive. His twin sister plays basketball for Connecticut. I think he had a brother who played for Wake Forest and another brother who ran track. He comes from a very athletic family and I'm hoping he will be able to come into his own and reach his potential. He has a chance to be really good. He has all those tools, but like I said he has to become more physical, he needs to be willing to compete more and battle people more. Hopefully when he matures he will all of a sudden be pretty good."
